“Why the different shapes and sizes of wine glasses?” writes a reader. “Can’t I just use one generic glass?”

The bottom line is: You can serve wine in a juice glass, if that’s what you have. It’s how wine is served in many working class eateries the world over.

Just as you can drink soup from a bowl or a mug, you can drink wine from a tea cup, a vessel used by some during Prohibition lest the neighbors spot them drinking alcohol.

But for more elegant consumption that helps show off the qualities of the wine, three different shapes work best. Here’s why:

Larger Bowl Wine Glasses For Red Wine

Red wine glasses hold a minimum of 12 ounces. The wider bowl shape allows the wine to breathe more, opening up the flavors of red wine.

Those balloon glasses at 24 ounces may look impressive and appeal to major imbibers; but they take extra space to store, extra care to wash, and are more showy than useful.

White wine glasses range between 10 and 12 ounces. The shape’s narrower bowl helps to keep the wine cool longer.
 
Flutes For Sparkling Wine

Champagne and other sparkling wines are best served in an 8- to 12-ounce flute. The narrow shape keeps the bubbles from dissipating quickly (which is exactly what happens in a Champagne coupe), and focuses the bubbles to rise in a festive display.

In some better stemware lines, tiny dimples are etched into the bottom of the bowl, which produce more bubbles and help to improve the way it tastes.

In fact, the added effervescence increases the volatile compounds that are released when the bubbles burst, enhancing the bouquet.

The Science Of Stemware

For some time, the design of the best wine glasses has been a matter of science. At Riedel, the pioneer in stemware engineering and the glass of choice among connoisseurs, the bowls are designed to show off the qualities of each style of wine, enhancing the flavors and aromas. It’s scientific, and it works (it’s easy to do a side-by-side comparison between Riedel and a generic glass).
 
More Wine Glass Tips

Stems. The stem length will vary based on the designer. While tall stems look elegant, they may not be the most comfortable to hold. Also consider if they will fit easily into your cabinet and, if you hope to wash them mechanically, your dishwasher. On a similar plane, novelty stems—in the shape of cubes or diamonds, for example—are not as easy to hold.

Bowl designs. Avoid colors and designs. If you’re serious about wine, you need to be able to focus on the subtleties of its color.

Engineering. Experts look for thinner glass and a lip that curves in slightly to focus the aroma.

A final tip: Wine glasses should be filled only about two-thirds full, not to the brim.

[2] A gourmet touch: a topping of pickled mustard seeds and green pea purée (photo © The Eddy | New York City),

They’re not quite senior citizens, but Tater Tots® hit the big 6-0 this year. You could buy a box to celebrate, or you could make your own, tastier tots—bite-size potato croquettes—from scratch.

The Idaho Potato Commission salutes the tot as both an inspired potato product and a springboard for potato creativity. Its website boasts a collection of innovative tot recipes and variations on the theme.

For example, enhance the potato mixture with:

ROBUST SEASONINGS

 
ELABORATE STUFFINGS

Stuffed Tots with elaborate fillings:

 
HEARTY TOPPINGS

 
Check out the recipe for Loaded Potato Tots below.

The history of potatoes.

Potato types.
_______________

*The ingredients in Tater Tots are potato, vegetable oil, salt, corn flour, onions, dextrose (a simple sugar also known as glucose), disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate (an antioxidant that prevents potatoes from turning brown) and natural flavoring.

*Traditional poutine consists of these toppings on fries, but we’re borrowing them for tots.

The term Tater Tots is used generically, like Kleenex; although it’s a trademark of Ore-Ida, which invented the little potato bites in 1953. If you’re referring to anything but the Tater Tots brand, call them “potato tots.”

Tater Tots are made from deep-fried, grated potatoes, resulting in crisp little cylinders of hash brown-style potatoes. Tater is English dialect for potato, and “tots” came from their small size.

Ore-Ida founders, brothers F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg, were considering what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes from their signature French fries. They chopped them up, mixed them with flour and seasonings, and pushed logs of the grated/mashed potato mixture through a form, slicing off and frying small pieces.

Tater Tots began to arrive in grocery stores in 1954. They quickly caught on as a snack food, a side dish, and the foundation for casseroles at dinner tables across America.

The Ore-Ida brand was acquired by H. J. Heinz Company in 1965.

This potato tot recipe borrows from the “loaded baked potato” concept, adding bacon, chives, shredded cheese and sour cream.

Ingredients

1. BOIL 2 pounds of potatoes. Cool, peel and mash.

2. COMBINE bacon, cheese, chives, butter, cream, pepper, and salt to taste in a large bowl; blend well. Roll into 1-ounce pieces, place on a wax paper-lined sheet pan, and chill overnight.

3. SHRED remaining potatoes, using a box grater, into a shallow bowl.

4. PLACE flour in another shallow bowl. Roll potato tots in flour to lightly coat then coat in egg. Roll in shredded potatoes to form a crust. Return to sheet pan and chill.

5. HEAT oil to 375°F in a heavy-bottomed pot, and fry balls until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Season with salt and serve.
 
 
MORE TATER TOTS RECIPES

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[1] Nutella, jam, and panettone French toast (all photos © Bauli).

[2] Panettone is a tall yeast cake.

[3] It’s usually filled with raisins and candied fruit.

Panettone is not just for the holidays. You can freeze them and enjoy them year-round.

Panettone (pah-neh-TOE-nay) began in medieval Italy as a Christmas bread; but today, the fluffy yellow yeast bread variously filled with raisins, other dried fruit and orange peel, is available year-round. There’s also a version with chocolate bits—an ingredient not available until the latter half of the 19th century.

Bauli, whose panettone is imported into the U.S., creates year-round recipes Raspberry Jam & Hazelnut Spread Stuffed Panettone French Toast.

We have more panettone recipes, too: Panettone Bread Puddin, Panettone Classic French Toast and a Panettone Nutella Sandwich.

> The history of panettone is below.

> The history of French toast.

> The history of Nutella.

> The different types of bread.

> The different types of cake.
 
 
RECIPE: PANETTONE FRENCH TOAST WITH NUTELLA & JAM

Think of this as the most indulgent peanut butter and jelly sandwich you’ve ever had—except that it’s a chocolate hazelnut spread instead of peanut spread.

You can make it for breakfast, but also eat it for dessert.

Ingredients For 2 French Toast Sandwiches

For The Whipped Cream

 
For The French Toast

 
For The Filling

 
Preparation

1. WHIP the cream and vanilla with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and mix until incorporated.

2. WHISK together the milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Soak Panettone slices in the mixture for 30 seconds on each side. Place bread into the pan and cook until the bottom is golden and crisp. Turn, and repeat with the other side. Repeat with all of the bread, keeping it warm in a 200° oven.

3. SPREAD 2 tablespoons of hazelnut spread and 2 tablespoons of jam on two of the bread slices. Top with remaining slices and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Serve warm.

Panettone is a medieval Italian Christmas yeast bread, filled with candied fruits and raisins. The Milanese specialty is tall, dome-shaped, and airy, in contrast to the other famous Christmas bread, panforte, which is is short and dense (although there is a less common, flat version of panettone).

Panettone means “large loaf” in Italian. While the origins of a sweet leavened bread date back to Roman times, and a tall, leavened fruitcake can be seen in a 16th-century painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, the first known mention of panettone with Christmas is found in the 18th-century writings of Pietro Verri, who refers to it as “pane di tono.”

The dough is cured for several days (like sourdough), giving the cake its distinctive fluffiness. Raisins, candied orange peel, citron, and lemon zest, are added dry; some modern versions add chocolate (which was not available when the recipe originated); others are plain.

The classic Panettone accompaniment is a sweet hot beverage or a sweet wine such as spumante or moscato; but any dessert wine will do. Some Italians add a side of crema di mascarpone, a cream made from mascarpone cheese, eggs, and amaretto (or you can substitute zabaglione).

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Customers pick up to three flavors of ice cream (standards and specialties like coffee mud pie, dulce de leche and red velvet), the icing flavor (chocolate or vanilla) and the topping—many choices from M&Ms and sprinkles to gummi bears.

But you know how to slice a donut and scoop ice cream. Make your own!

Thanks so much to Jean-Philippe Garbi for taking this yummy photo. We could almost eat it—but instead, we’re heading down to Holey Donuts at lunch time.

MORE DONUT SANDWICHES

A little less appetizing, to our eye, are the nine donut sandwiches featured in Women’s Day magazine.

Take a look.
 
DONUT SANDWICH TRIVIA

Paula Deen is [in]famous for creating The Lady’s Brunch Burger: hamburger, bacon and a sunnyside-up fried egg sandwiched between two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts.

To add alarm, it is served with a side of cheesy fries.

We’ll stick with the ice cream donut—thank you very much.
 
  

Hungering for a salad dressing served at a local Asian restaurant, we made our own this weekend. It was so easy and delicious, we made up an extra-large batch to keep on hand for regular use.
 
For lunch we tossed it with a package of shredded cabbage, essentially creating Asian cole slaw to go with sandwiches. Delicious! That evening, we served it with a conventional romaine tossed salad, with bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and red onions (plus some dried cranberries and slivered almonds we wanted to use up).

This vinaigrette awaits everything from mesclun to Asian chicken salad, steamed vegetables to steamed rice.

RECIPE: ASIAN VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients For 1 Cup

We love the flavor of Asian dark sesame oil. It’s very strong, so you only need a touch. We mix a smaller proportion of it with a larger proportion canola oil; you can use your salad oil of choice.

Don’t try to solve the problem by purchasing light sesame oil: The ones we’ve had tend to be bland and don’t deliver delicious sesame flavor.

You can use olive oil instead of canola—but not your best EVOO, since the sesame flavor will cover up its flavor nuances.
 
Preparation

1. WHISK the ingredients together in a bowl (or use a blender). Let stand for 30 minutes or more to let the flavors meld.

2. WHISK again before serving.