[1] Cool as a cucumber lemonade with gin. The recipe is below (photo: The Nibble).

[2] Hendricks ranks among the world’s most popular† gins. Note that they garnished this Gin & Tonic with cucumber instead of a lime wedge. (photo © William Grant & Sons).

[3] Different brands make cucumber-infused gin. Our favorite is Empress 1908 Cucumber Lemon Gin. Here’s more about it (photo © Empress Gin | Victoria Distillery).

[4] Why not grow these heirloom lemon cucumbers at home? Head to Burpee for the seeds (photos #2 through #5 © Burpee).

[5] These White Wonder cucumbers were a mutation. The seeds were then developed into this eye-catching variety, which happens to be extra-crisp.

[6] Check farmers markets for specialty varieties like the Armenian cucumber, shown here.

[7] Brown Russian cucumbers have a brown peel.

Updated July 2026

The different types of cucumbers are below, but we’re starting with a cocktail recipe to celebrate National Cucumber Day, June 13th. It’s a charmer we’ll serve throughout the warm weather months.

Hendrick’s Gin sent us a cocktail recipe called Cucumber Lemonade. We enjoyed both the drink and the garnish and thought: Why don’t we use more cucumber garnishes?

 
Try adding a cucumber spear or wheel to these drinks, and you’ll have a crunchy snack to enjoy with it. Check out the photo below.

Below:

> Recipe: Hendrick’s Cucumber Lemonade Cocktail.

> The different types of cucumbers.

> The year’s 4 cucumber holidays.

> Why cucumbers are a fruit, not a vegetable.

> Food Fun: Hendricks Cucumber Currency Exchange.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> 9 ways to use cucumbers besides “the usual,” plus recipes.

> The year’s 95+ vegetable holidays.

> The history of cucumbers.

> The history of gin.

> The different types (expressions) of gin.

> The year’s 14 gin holidays.

> Beyond cocktails: using gin in glazes, marinades, and sauces.
 

[8] Surprise guests with a cucumber garnish instead of the standard lemon or lime. From left to right: Gin & Tonic, Vodka Tonic, lemonade, Martini, beet juice, carrot juice, club soda, water (photo: The Nibble).
 
 
RECIPE: HENDRICK’S CUCUMBER LEMONADE COCKTAIL

Hendrick’s is the perfect gin for this: They distill their gin using actual cucumbers among the botanicals, although it is not a cucumber-infused gin.

You can find several cucumber-infused out there. Our favorite is Empress 1908 Cucumber-Lemon Gin.

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the first three ingredients in a tall glass. Add ice.

2. TOP with sparkling water, stir gently and garnish with a cucumber spear or wedge.
 
 
THE DIFFERENT CUCUMBER TYPES

You can garnish with any supermarket cucumber, but why not have fun and look for specialty varieties?

Add them to your salads, and serve them as crudités.

And check out the history of cucumbers.

Growers define cucumbers in five categories: slicing, pickling, burpless, space savers, and specialty.

 
There are nearly 100 varieties of cucumbers grown in most countries in the world.

Here’s your homework:

Go to a farmers market and look for specialty cucumbers. If you have a garden, check out the options and plan to plant at least one variety next year.

By the way: cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are a fruit, not a vegetable. They are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes watermelons, pumpkin, and zucchini, among others.
 
 
THE YEAR’S 4 CUCUMBER HOLIDAYS

Hendrick’s Gin Cucumber Currency Exchange gets our vote for the most creative marketing promotions out there. It’s based on the fact that Hendrick’s distills its gin using actual cucumber, and the distillers treat the fruit with what has been called “borderline religious reverence”—in this case, using it as legal tender!

 
What started as a small, quirky promotion in the U.K. has evolved into a massive international campaign.

The event heavily targets major global cocktail hubs across Asia (Bali, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore), Europe (London and elsewhere), and North America (Chicago, New York, Toronto).

How Do You Find A Local Event?

Because Hendrick’s treats this event with a high level of secrecy until right before it happens, there isn’t a master list of bars online. However, finding an exchange near you is quite easy if you know where to look.

 
_________________

*Botanically, cucumbers, Cumis sativus, are fruits. They are members of the same binomial genus as cantaloupe, honeydew, Persian and other melons. The difference between fruits and vegetables:

Fact: Fruits are not necessarily sweet. Tomatoes are fruits, avocados are fruits, hot chile peppers are fruits, cucumbers and squash are fruits. Because they aren’t sweet, people think of them (and classify them in recipes and in produce departments) as vegetables.

But by botanical definition, fruits have their seeds on the inside; the only exception is the strawberry. With fruits, the seeds, or pits, are contained in the fruit’s ovary sac. True vegetables have no pit or seed sac.

†According to the annual bar survey by VinePair, Hendrick’s ranks #4 among the world»s best-selling gin brands in top bars worldwide. Known for its distinctive rose and cucumber botanicals, it sells more almost 2 million cases annually.

By overall retail sales volume worldwide, Hendrick’s is a major premium brand, currently in 8th place. The top place is held by a brand popular in Philippines and Southeast Asia, Ginebra San Miguel. Following in order of sales are Gordon’s (Diageo), Seagram’s (the leading gin brand in the United States, from Pernod Ricard, about 2 million cases), Tanqueray (the best-selling gin in U.S. bars Diageo, about 1.36 million cases), Beefeater (3 million cases, Pernod Ricard), Bombay Sapphire (Bacardi), .Hendrick’s (William Grant & Sons, about 1.8 million cases).
 
 

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While several of us tried to determine the name of the company, we all agreed: These Pistachio Chewy Bites are good stuff.

Simple and nutritious, they’re a blend of roasted pistachios and dried cranberries, bound in a honey-like mix of two low-glycemic* sweeteners, agave and brown rice syrup.

The bites are small—2″ x 1-1/2″—but nutrient dense and filling. One is enough, really, although the serving size is two.

We’ve been enjoying them as an on-the-go snack, for breakfast and at tea time. We have afternoon tea at THE NIBBLE, and these snacks can hold their own with biscotti, cookies and other sweets we sample each day.

If you need a quick dessert garnish, you can dice the bars as a topping for cupcakes, ice cream or sorbet.

The only confusion is the name of the company, only visible on the bag in the logo. There’s no URL, no company name in the marketing copy on the bag.

We don’t have room for a photo here, but look at it.

Is it Seffon Farms? Selton Farms? Setton Farms.

It’s the latter. We had to Google it.

The line is certified gluten free and certified kosher by OK.

Learn more about Setton Farms, a California pistachio grower,

Buy the bites on Amazon.
 
*The glycemic index of table sugar is 60-65. The glycemic index of agave is 32, and brown rice syrup is 20. Honey is 58 and pure maple syrup is 54. Agave is 1.4 to 1.5 times sweeter than sugar and honey, so you don’t need to use as much.
 
  

We love burrata, and love it all the time since our local Trader Joe’s always has it in stock.

In this recipe from EatWisconsinCheese.com, burrata provides a different take on a fruit and cheese dessert. It’s more special than simply putting out a platter of cheeses and fruits, but not much more difficult.

 
> The history of burrata.

> The history of mozzarella.

> The history of cheese.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 30 cheese holidays.

> The year’s 80 fruit holidays.

While there isn’t yet a National Burrata Day, some burrata lover out there should make it happen!
 
 
WHAT IS BURRATA

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, creamy and luscious, made in the Apulia region of Italy. The name means “buttery” in Italian. It’s a hollow ball of mozzarella di bufala, filled with panna, cream that contains scraps of mozzarella left over from mozzarella-making.

How Burrata Is Made

Small pieces of mozzarella curd are soaked in a bath of hot water and sea salt. The cheese is then cooked and stretched with a wooden spoon until the curds can be stretched to create a pouch. The pouch is filled with a combination of mascarpone cheese, ricotta cheese and heavy cream, and tied off with a knot.

Some cheese makers use different recipes, but the center is always a rich, oozing cream. When you cut into the ball, the cream oozes out.

In Italy, the cheese is packed into plastic bags with a bit whey to keep it moist, and the bag is tied with a fronds of an Italian plant called asphodel, a relative of the leek. The cheese is highly perishable, and the leaf is an indicator of freshness. As long as the leaf is still fresh and green, the cheese within is still fresh. Dried-out leaves mean a cheese is past its prime.
 
 
RECIPE: BURRATA & FRUIT

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SCOOP granola into an individual bowl or onto a dessert plate.

2. SLICE fruit and arrange atop granola.

3. TOP with two quarters of a burrata.

4. DRIZZLE with honey and garnish with chopped pistachio nuts.
 
 
WHO INVENTED BURRATA?

This addictively good cheese was created by a mother (or father) of invention, in the Puglia region of southern Italy. Cheesemakers had curds left over from making mozzarella.

Somewhere around 1920 in the town of Andria, a member of the Bianchini family figured out how to repurpose the curds, and burrata was born. It was a local product, premium priced, and remained the delight of the townspeople only 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.

It was love at first bite.

[2] Burrata: a shell of mozzarella with a creamy center (photo by Elvira Kalviste | © The Nibble).

[3] Burrata is delicious with prosciutto, and makes a dish of melon and prosciutto even better (photo © Chris Ralston | Wesual | Unsplash).

[4] Roasted beets and butternut squash with burrata and pepitas on a bed of arugula. Here’s the recipe (photo Facebook).

When we first wrote about burrata seven years ago it was hard to come by, made only in Puglia and flown to the U.S. The limited amount that was imported went straight to top cheese stores; the minute it appeared on store shelves, it was snatched up by burrata lovers on the prowl. (We knew what day of the week the plane set down.)

But that’s old news. Since then, American cheese makers have been making burrata, and much of it is just as delicious and creamy as the Apulian product.

Burrata works with sweet or savory pairings. In addition to fruit (figs, pears…any fruit, really), serve it as a first course, cheese course, light lunch or snack:

 
Once, at the end of a trade show, we were given several burratas to take home. We used three of them to top a pizza: a memorable luxury.

For breakfast the next day, we married the burrata with pan-fried slices of herbed polenta and sundried tomatoes, but it could just as easily have been fruit and honey.

The memories still resonate happily, whenever we pass a cheese case.
 
 

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We often make a “double cookie dough” ice cream sandwich: chocolate chip cookies with cookie dough ice cream. But this recipe from McCormick uses raw cookie dough—not baked—as the sandwich.

You make the cookie dough yourself, and don’t need to add eggs since it won’t be baked. Or, you can use pasteurized eggs.

RECIPE: COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Ingredients For 16 Bars

1. MICROWAVE the butter and sugars in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute. Stir until mixture is melted and smooth.

2. STIR in milk, vanilla and salt. Add flour; stir until well blended. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. LINE an 8-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Press 1/2 of the dough into pan.

4. ROLL out remaining dough on lightly floured surface to 8-inch square. Gently spread ice cream over layer on pan. Place 8-inch square layer over ice cream. (If the dough layer is too warm, freeze for 15 minutes before placing over ice cream.)

5. COVER with foil. Freeze 2 hours or until firm. Cut into 16 bars. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Store in freezer.
 
NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY IS AUGUST 2ND

See all the food holidays.
NATION

Looking for a fun activity? How about making lollipops?

Today is National Lollipop Day July 20th, and Exploratorium has a recipe that lets you be a lollipop chef.

You can make favorite flavors that aren’t often found in commercial products. We’ve got anise, banana, hazelnut, mint, and rum extracts that are just waiting to flavor lollys (the original spelling).

The other ingredients include sugar, corn syrup, water, cream of tartar, and liquid food coloring.

You can mix up standard or unusual colors with food coloring; but the idea that really appeals to us comes from Sacred Sweets in Greenport, New York.

They turn lollipops into edible art with:

 
 
LOLLIPOP HISTORY

Lollipop sophistication has come a long way since prehistoric man licked honey off the stick he used to scrape it from the beehive.

The ancient Arabs, Chinese, and Egyptians made fruit and nut confections candied in honey, which may also have been eaten from sticks, owing to the stickiness of the confection.

But what we think of as a lollipop may date to Europe in the Middle Ages, when sugar was boiled and formed onto sticks as treats for the wealthy—the only people who could afford sugar.

Beginning in the later part of the 18th century, industry, including confectionery, became mechanized. Horehound drops, lemon drops, peppermints, and wintergreen lozenges became everyday candies.

While we don’t know the inventor of the modern lollipop, the first automated lollipop machine was invented in Racine, Wisconsin in 1908. The Racine Confectionery Machine Company’s machine put hard candy discs on the end of sticks, producing 2400 lollipops per hour, 57,000 per day. Today’s machines can produce 3 million lollipops daily.

Far beyond the specialty Blow Pops, Tootsie Pops, Sugar Daddys of childhood, today’s lollipops come in all shapes and sizes, from hand-crafted works of sugar art to caffeinated Java Pops and bacon lollipops.

And handcrafted lollipops still exist, made by companies like Hammond’s Candies, where artisans coil ropes of boiled hard candy into colorful jumbo lollipops.
 
 
SEE’S LOLLYPOPS: SOMETHING DIFFERENT

See’s Candies chooses the original spelling for its “lollypops,” but perhaps that’s to differentiate the creamy candy-on-a-stick from conventional lollys.

See’s are made with butter and heavy cream, in a square shape (see photo at right).

Available in butterscotch, café latté, chocolate, chocolate orange, root beer, and vanilla (plus holiday flavors), they have the consistency of butterscotch and are certified kosher by KSA.

And they’re addictive! Treat yourself to some at Sees.com.

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