Smartfood, a Frito-Lay brand, has made popcorn in Kettle Corn, Sea Salt and White Cheddar. And now, there’s Movie Theatre Butter.

Recently, Smartfood send us samples of their Movie Theater Butter flavor. As the name promises, it is very buttery (the ingredients include real butter). You get buttery flavor without buttery fingers.

The popcorn is well salted, too.

We personally like less salt—and also know excess salt isn’t good for you. But no doubt this recipe tested well with consumers. While devoured the whole bag, and if another bag were set in front of us, we would eat it as well.

Archaeologists estimate that popcorn dates back to around 3600 B.C.E. They deduce that popcorn was first made by throwing corn kernels on sizzling hot stones tended over a campfire, or onto heated sand.

It was not eaten as a snack food: The corn was sifted and then pounded into a fine, powdery meal and mixed with water. This same cooking technique was used by the early Colonists, who mixed ground popcorn with milk and ate it for breakfast as a kind of cereal.

Popcorn is the better-for-you salty snack. A cup of plain popcorn contains about 31 calories, compared to about 139 calories for a cup of plain potato chips.

Smartfood popcorn is air popped is all natural, free of artificial flavors or preservatives. It’s available in 7.5-ounce bags at grocery stores nationwide.

Discover more at Smartfood.com.
  

[2] In addition to (or instead of) plums, you can add other stone fruits: apricots, cherries, nectarines or peaches (photo © Washington State Fruit Commission).

[3] Love that burrata! (photo by Elvira Kalviste | © THE NIBBLE).

[4] Pluots, a cross of plums and apricots (photos © Frog Hollow Farm).

[5] Ripe black and green pluots (photo © Sid Wainer).

We’re always in the mood for burrata. After making grilled grapes with burrata a few days ago, we whipped this up yesterday.

This recipe combines fresh summer plums, creamy burrata cheese, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and honey into a dish that’s called a “salad,” but consider it a cheese course dessert.

The contrasting textures, flavors, and colors are what we should aim for in every dish.

The recipe is from Bee Raw Honey, which used its star thistle honey for extra special flavor. You can substitute pluots for the plums.

Star thistle honey, harvested from wild star thistle plants in Colorado, is thick and creamy with hints of cinnamon. It also pairs well with apples—drizzled over apple slices or added to baked or roasted apples.
 
 
RECIPE: PLUM SALAD WITH BURRATA, PEPITAS & HONEY

Ingredients For 2-3 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BREAK the burrata into about 24 bite-sized pieces,

2. PIT and slice plums into 8 slices each, set aside.

3. LAY out four salad or two dinner plates. Divide the burrata pieces equally among plates. Top the Burrata with plum slices. Dot plates with olive oil and honey, covering cheese and fruit with each.

4. SCATTER each plate with pumpkin seeds and mint; serve immediately.
 
 
WHAT IS BURRATA?

Somewhere around 1920 in the town of Andria in the Puglia region of southern Italy, a member of the Bianchini family figured out how to repurpose the curds from mozzarella making.

Burrata was born, a ball of mozzarella filled with creamy, ricotta-like curds. Cut into the ball and the curds ooze out: a wonderful marriage of flavors and textures.

Their burrata was premium priced, made in small amounts, and remained the delight of the locals for some thirty years.

In the 1950s, some of the local cheese factories began to produce burrata, and more people discovered its charms. Only in recent years, thanks to more economical overnighting of refrigerated products, did we find it in New York City’s finest cheese shops.

Now, you can find domestic burrata anywhere there’s a Trader Joe’s. It’s just as delicious as the imports (in fact, American-made burrata is so good that there’s no longer a need to import it).
 
 
WHAT’S A PLUOT?

Pluots, plumcots and apriums are all hybrid combinations of plums and apricots, but with different percentages of each parent fruit’s DNA. The names are trademarked by their respective breeders.

They were developed to present the best qualities of both fruits. For the consumer, this means more sweetness and juiciness; for the grower, easier to grow, harvest, and ship.

 
You’re most likely to find these specialty stone fruits at a farmers market.

If you don’t see them, ask!

Here are 5 tips for using chiles from Chef Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill:

 
HOW MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHILES HAVE YOU HAD?

Check out the types of chiles in our Chile Glossary.

Whiskey Sour. Photo by Lognetic | Fotolia.

The Whiskey Sour is one of the most famous of the classic cocktails, one that survived Prohibition, which saw the fall into the obscurity of many other classics of the time (Satan’s Whiskers, anyone). Those that survived include the Manhattan, Planter’s Punch, Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Tom Collins, etc).

The “sour” refers to lemon juice, which is added with sugar to create the drink. Whiskey is a generic term, referring to any spirit, or alcoholic distillate, made from a fermented mash of grain or malt and aged in barrels (the brown color comes from barrel aging).

Thus, requesting a “Whiskey Sour” enables the bartender to use any whiskey. If you want something specific, say so: a Bourbon Sour, Scotch Sour, etc.

There are numerous types of whiskey—American (Bourbon, corn, Tennessee, rye), Canadian, Irish, Scotch, and others. Each is distinguished by the type of grain (barley, corn, rye) used in the fermentation process, as well as the distinct distillation and aging process. Each nation has its own rules and regulations about what constitutes a true whiskey. Regardless of the variety or country of origin, a general rule of thumb is that all straight whiskeys must be aged at least two years in wood, generally oak.

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE bourbon, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously.

2. STRAIN into an ice-filled rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

As easy as this is, most bartenders use a commercial sour mix, which often means either reconstituted lemon juice. You can taste the difference, and it isn’t good. Since you’re not turning out hundreds of drinks a day, don’t try to save time: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup.
 
Variations

 
There are simple recipes—whiskey and sour mix—plus complex versions, like the Maple Sour below, created for Basil Hayden’s Bourbon by Jason Stevens, bar manager at Congress Austin.
 
 
RECIPE #2: MAPLE BOURBON SOUR

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds and double strain into a double Old Fashioned glass with ice.

2. GARNISH with a lemon wheel and a maraschino cherry.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

The history of Nonni’s Biscotti begins in the little town of Lucca, Italy, in the heart of Tuscany. There, among meandering cobblestone lanes and venerable piazzas, one particular Nonni (an endearing term for Grandma) made biscotti for her family and friends.

When Nonni moved to America almost a century ago, she continued baking the family biscotti to acclaim. One day, her children decided to take the recipe to the bank, creating the Nonni’s brand—now the number one brand of biscotti in the U.S.

In the modern manifestation of the American Dream, the company was sold to a private equity investment firm several years ago.

Since then, the original classic biscotti have been joined by two line extensions:

 
In Tuscany these biscotti are called cantucci di Prato—cantucci (con-TOO-chee) for short. They were originally baked with almonds from the plentiful almond groves of Prato, a town in Tuscany.

We are very keen on the Biscotti Bites, and appreciate that the smaller size gives us a great biscotti experience with fewer carbs. Each is a two-bite treat; the suggested serving size, five pieces, is 120 calories. But two or three pieces is more than enough, and one can suffice.

The varieties include:

 
The Italian dessert tradition of dipping biscotti and a glass of vin santo—a sweet late-harvest wine—doesn’t really work here. Plain biscotti are typically dipped into the wine, which softens the biscotto and adds the sweetness of the wine.

Biscotti Bites are too short to dip, and the chocolate or yogurt coating kind of interferes with the honey notes of the wine. But the work-around is: Don’t try to dip; sip and bite, alternatively.

The shiny, perky bags are just waiting for you to make someone happy. Bring to a friend’s house, to teachers, to hairdressers and anyone who deserves some tasty crunch.

Our new favorite snack with tea or coffee. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

The line is certified kosher (dairy) by United States K.

There’s a store locator on the website, or you can buy them online: