The elegance of the holidays starts at the table with meals, desserts and drinks shared among loved ones. This year, let grapes add easy elegance to seasonal recipes as a signature ingredient perfect for special occasions.
(Family Features) The elegance of the holidays starts at the table with meals, desserts and drinks shared among loved ones. This year, let grapes add easy elegance to seasonal recipes as a signature ingredient perfect for special occasions.
As a highly versatile addition to appetizers, snacks, main courses, sides and desserts, grapes are an essential ingredient to keep on hand. Thanks to their delicate sweetness and juicy texture, Grapes from California can be the star at the center of the meal in unique and tasty Braised Pork Chops with Spiced Honey and Grapes served with Spiked Grape Cider for a cozy adult beverage.
Finish the celebration by sharing Grape Basque-Style Cheesecake, where delicious, fresh grape juice is used in the cheesecake batter to lend natural sweetness and enhance flavor. Decorate the top with fresh, juicy grapes for a final festive touch.
Set the stage for a delicious get-together by serving an easy, attractive appetizer like this Grape Party Tray with fresh grapes, prosciutto, cheeses, pistachios and more holiday favorites. Grapes are easy to include as they offer variety – different colors, shapes, sizes and textures – which makes them an ideal healthy snack or ingredient in tasty recipes.
Braised Pork Chops with Spiced Honey and Grapes
Servings: 4
4 thick pork chops (about 3 pounds)
4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups whole red or black Grapes from California
1/3 cup honey
2 small cinnamon sticks, broken
3-5 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Heat heavy, lidded saute pan or casserole dish over medium-high heat. Dust pork chops with flour and brown slowly in melted butter. Do not let flour burn.
Remove pan from heat and add grapes, honey, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt and pepper. Cover and place in oven. Braise slowly 50-60 minutes, or until pork is tender. Remove pork from pan and keep warm. Skim pan sauce of excess fat. Arrange pork chops on serving platter, spoon with sauce and sprinkle with chopped mint, if desired.
Nutritional information per serving: 569 calories; 54 g protein; 41 g carbohydrates; 21 g fat (33% calories from fat); 9 g saturated fat (14% calories from saturated fat); 33% calories from fat; 165 mg cholesterol; 407 mg sodium; 1.6 g fiber.
Grape Basque-Style Cheesecake
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus cooling and chilling Bake time: 40 minutes Servings: 12
2 cups green Grapes from California, divided
1/4 cup, plus 2/3 cup, granulated sugar, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large pinches kosher salt
21 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup cold heavy cream
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (optional)
Heat oven to 425 F with rack in center. Use 12-by-16-inch sheet of parchment paper to line 9-inch springform pan in center. Press paper into bottom edge of pan and flatten creases around sides. Place pan on shallow baking sheet.
In mini blender or food processor, blend 1 cup grapes, 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt on high until smooth, about 1 minute.
In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. With mixer on medium speed, gradually pour in heavy cream; scrape down and beat on high speed until mixture resembles soft whipped cream, about 1 minute. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down between additions. At medium speed, gradually add grape puree mixture; scrape and mix until well blended, 1 minute.
Pour batter into prepared pan, transfer to oven and bake 38-40 minutes until cake is puffed and top is caramel brown. Cracks will appear around edges and cake will be wobbly when touched gently with finger. Set cake pan on baking sheet on rack to cool. Cake will sink to half its height. Cool to room temperature, 1-2 hours, then refrigerate uncovered. Do not unmold cake from pan until well chilled, at least 5 hours or overnight.
Slice remaining grapes in halves or rounds. In small bowl, combine grapes with orange liqueur, if desired, and set aside.
When ready to serve, remove side of pan. Carefully pull creased parchment away from side of cheesecake then transfer to serving platter by peeling parchment away from bottom of cake and underneath pan while gently tugging cake toward platter and off parchment.
Garnish top of cheesecake with grape-liqueur mixture, if desired, or fresh grapes. Cut cake into wedges with thin, sharp knife.
Note: Cheesecake can be made up to 2 days ahead. Once cake is well chilled, cover pan with plastic wrap until ready to serve
Nutritional information per serving: 350 calories; 6 g protein; 25 g carbohydrates; 26 g fat (67% calories from fat); 15 g saturated fat (39% calories from saturated fat); 135 mg cholesterol; 200 mg sodium; 0 g fiber.
5 cups red Grapes from California, plus additional for garnish, divided
3 cups water
1 tablespoon honey
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise (optional)
1 large navel orange
6 ounces amber rum
In large saucepan, combine 5 cups grapes with water, honey, cinnamon and star anise, if desired. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until grapes are tender, 50-60 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes.
Lay medium mesh strainer over bowl and pour grape mixture through. Gently press on solids to remove juice from fruit for about 2 cups grape cider.
With peeler, peel off large strip orange zest and add to warm juice. Let cool, cover and refrigerate.
When ready to serve, gently warm cider over medium heat. Pour 1/2 cup cider into each cup. Add 1 1/2 ounces rum and garnish with twist of orange and small skewer of grapes.
Nutritional information per serving: 170 calories; 0 g protein; 18 g carbohydrates; 0 g fat (0% calories from fat); 0 g saturated fat (0% calories from saturated fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 5 mg sodium; 0 g fiber.
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Rebecca Jo is a mother of four and is a creative soul from Phoenix, Arizona, who also enjoys new adventures. Rebecca Jo has a passion for the outdoors and indulges in activities like camping, fishing, hunting and riding roller coasters. She is married to Rod Washington View all posts
Rebecca Jo is a mother of four and is a creative soul from Phoenix, Arizona, who also enjoys new adventures. Rebecca Jo has a passion for the outdoors and indulges in activities like camping, fishing, hunting and riding roller coasters. She is married to Rod Washington
How Pecans Became a Holiday Staple: 8,000 Years of American Pecan History
Pecan History? Discover the 8,000-year history of pecans—America’s only native major nut crop. Learn how pecans evolved from wild, overlooked trees to a beloved holiday staple found in pies, pralines, and more.
How Pecans Became a Holiday Staple: 8,000 Years of American Pecan History
Shelley Mitchell, Oklahoma State University Pecans have a storied history in the United States. Today, American trees produce hundreds of million of pounds of pecans – 80% of the world’s pecan crop. Most of that crop stays here. Pecans are used to produce pecan milk, butter and oil, but many of the nuts end up in pecan pies. Throughout history, pecans have been overlooked, poached, cultivated and improved. As they have spread throughout the United States, they have been eaten raw and in recipes. Pecans have grown more popular over the decades, and you will probably encounter them in some form this holiday season. I’m an extension specialist in Oklahoma, a state consistently ranked fifth in pecan production, behind Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. I’ll admit that I am not a fan of the taste of pecans, which leaves more for the squirrels, crows and enthusiastic pecan lovers.
The spread of pecans
The pecan is a nut related to the hickory. Actually, though we call them nuts, pecans are actually a type of fruit called a drupe. Drupes have pits, like the peach and cherry.Three pecan fruits, which ripen and split open to release pecan nuts, clustered on a pecan tree.IAISI/Moment via Getty Images The pecan nuts that look like little brown footballs are actually the seed that starts inside the pecan fruit – until the fruit ripens and splits open to release the pecan. They are usually the size of your thumb, and you may need a nutcracker to open them. You can eat them raw or as part of a cooked dish. The pecan derives its name from the Algonquin “pakani,” which means “a nut too hard to crack by hand.” Rich in fat and easy to transport, pecans traveled with Native Americans throughout what is now the southern United States. They were used for food, medicine and trade as early as 8,000 years ago.Pecans are native to the southern United States.Elbert L. Little Jr. of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Pecans are native to the southern United States, and while they had previously spread along travel and trade routes, the first documented purposeful planting of a pecan tree was in New York in 1722. Three years later, George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, had some planted pecans. Washington loved pecans, and Revolutionary War soldiers said he was constantly eating them. Meanwhile, no one needed to plant pecans in the South, since they naturally grew along riverbanks and in groves. Pecan trees are alternate bearing: They will have a very large crop one year, followed by one or two very small crops. But because they naturally produced a harvest with no input from farmers, people did not need to actively cultivate them. Locals would harvest nuts for themselves but otherwise ignored the self-sufficient trees. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that people in the pecan’s native range realized the pecan’s potential worth for income and trade. Harvesting pecans became competitive, and young boys would climb onto precarious tree branches. One girl was lifted by a hot air balloon so she could beat on the upper branches of trees and let them fall to collectors below. Pecan poaching was a problem in natural groves on private property.
Pecan cultivation begins
Even with so obvious a demand, cultivated orchards in the South were still rare into the 1900s. Pecan trees don’t produce nuts for several years after planting, so their future quality is unknown.An orchard of pecan trees.Jon Frederick/iStock via Getty Images To guarantee quality nuts, farmers began using a technique called grafting; they’d join branches from quality trees to another pecan tree’s trunk. The first attempt at grafting pecans was in 1822, but the attempts weren’t very successful. Grafting pecans became popular after an enslaved man named Antoine who lived on a Louisiana plantation successfully produced large pecans with tender shells by grafting, around 1846. His pecans became the first widely available improved pecan variety.Grafting is a technique that involves connecting the branch of one tree to the trunk of another.Orest Lyzhechka/iStock via Getty Images The variety was named Centennial because it was introduced to the public 30 years later at the Philadelphia Centennial Expedition in 1876, alongside the telephone, Heinz ketchup and the right arm of the Statue of Liberty. This technique also sped up the production process. To keep pecan quality up and produce consistent annual harvests, today’s pecan growers shake the trees while the nuts are still growing, until about half of the pecans fall off. This reduces the number of nuts so that the tree can put more energy into fewer pecans, which leads to better quality. Shaking also evens out the yield, so that the alternate-bearing characteristic doesn’t create a boom-bust cycle.
US pecan consumption
The French brought praline dessert with them when they immigrated to Louisiana in the early 1700s. A praline is a flat, creamy candy made with nuts, sugar, butter and cream. Their original recipe used almonds, but at the time, the only nut available in America was the pecan, so pecan pralines were born.Pralines were originally a French dessert, but Americans began making them with pecans.Jupiterimages/The Image Bank via Getty Images During the Civil War and world wars, Americans consumed pecans in large quantities because they were a protein-packed alternative when meat was expensive and scarce. One cup of pecan halves has about 9 grams of protein. After the wars, pecan demand declined, resulting in millions of excess pounds at harvest. One effort to increase demand was a national pecan recipe contest in 1924. Over 21,000 submissions came from over 5,000 cooks, with 800 of them published in a book. Pecan consumption went up with the inclusion of pecans in commercially prepared foods and the start of the mail-order industry in the 1870s, as pecans can be shipped and stored at room temperature. That characteristic also put them on some Apollo missions. Small amounts of pecans contain many vitamins and minerals. They became commonplace in cereals, which touted their health benefits. In 1938, the federal government published the pamphlet Nuts and How to Use Them, which touted pecans’ nutritional value and came with recipes. Food writers suggested using pecans as shortening because they are composed mostly of fat. The government even put a price ceiling on pecans to encourage consumption, but consumers weren’t buying them. The government ended up buying the surplus pecans and integrating them into the National School Lunch Program.Today, pecan producers use machines called tree shakers to shake pecans out of the trees.Christine_Kohler/iStock via Getty Images While you are sitting around the Thanksgiving table this year, you can discuss one of the biggest controversies in the pecan industry: Are they PEE-cans or puh-KAHNS? Editor’s note: This article was updated to include the amount of protein in a cup of pecans.Shelley Mitchell, Senior Extension Specialist in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Oklahoma State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Unwrap the Holidays: Whataburger Launches 12 Days of Whatacheer With Daily App Deals
Celebrate the holidays with Whataburger’s 12 Days of Whatacheer! Discover daily in-app deals, exclusive to Rewards members, from December 12–23. Unwrap new menu favorites, BOGO offers, and festive savings—only on the Whataburger App.
As the holiday lights go up and the year winds down, Whataburger is serving up more than just its signature burgers—it’s delivering a sleigh-full of savings and cheer to its loyal fans. For Rewards members, the season just got a whole lot tastier.
12 Days of Whatacheer: Festive Deals for Rewards Members
From December 12 through December 23, Whataburger is rolling out a new holiday tradition: the 12 Days of Whatacheer. Each day, Rewards members can unlock a fresh, exclusive deal in the Whataburger App—think crave-worthy classics, “buy one, get one” surprises, and complimentary add-ons that make every meal feel like a celebration.
Whether you’re craving a hot Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit to start your morning, a classic Whataburger for lunch, or a sweet Strawberry Shake to cap off your evening, there’s a daily treat waiting to be unwrapped. Just sign in to your Rewards account, check the app, and claim your deal to add a little extra joy to your holiday routine.
How It Works
Who: Whataburger Rewards members (sign up in the app if you’re not already!)
When: December 12–23, with a new offer every day
How: Open the Whataburger App, claim the day’s deal, and enjoy with your next order
A new reward pops up each morning—so there’s always a reason to check in, tap, and treat yourself. According to Scott Hudler, Whataburger’s Chief Marketing Officer, “12 Days of Whatacheer is Whataburger’s way of celebrating the season with a bit of holiday magic and special savings just for our Rewards members.”
Holiday-themed graphic reading ‘12 Days of WhataCheer’ on a red background with white dots. Below the text are images of Whataburger menu items: a Cinnamon Roll, Onion Rings, a Whataburger, a Whatafresher, a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, and a Strawberry Shake.
Why Join the Whataburger Rewards Fun?
It’s not just about the deals (though those are pretty great). It’s about celebrating the season with a brand that’s been a community favorite for 76 years. With over 1,100 locations across 17 states, Whataburger’s family members serve up more than just food—they deliver hospitality and hometown spirit.
Plus, the Whataburger App makes it easy to order, customize, and save—right from your phone. If you haven’t joined the Rewards program yet, now’s the perfect time to start.
Get Started
Ready to add some Whatacheer to your holiday countdown? Download the Whataburger App on iOS or Android, create your Rewards account, and get set to unwrap a new deal every day. For more details, visit Whataburger.com.
Wishing you a season of flavor, fun, and festive deals—see you in the drive-thru!
Pumpkin spice may be all the rage this time of year, but don’t forget another fruit that’s sure to please: sweet, delicious apples. For an ooey-gooey breakfast, office snack or potluck dessert, turn to this Apple Spice Cake.
(Family Features) Pumpkin spice may be all the rage this time of year, but don’t forget another fruit that’s sure to please: sweet, delicious apples. For an ooey-gooey breakfast, office snack or potluck dessert, turn to this Apple Spice Cake that looks and tastes like it’s made for the season. Visit Culinary.net to discover more recipe inspiration.
Peel, core and chop apples into bite-sized pieces. In bowl, mix apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and flour, if desired, which helps keep apples from sinking to bottom. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, mix spice cake mix, butter, eggs and milk. Mix in apples and pour into 9-by-13-inch pan. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool.
To make glaze: Mix powdered sugar and milk; pour over cooled cake.
