JC Swift, Your Style Cultivator

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Pashmak is Turkey’s delicious alternative to classic cotton candy. Meaning ‘little wool’ in Persian, Pashmak is made from sesame and sugar and accompanies fruit, cake and ice cream.

With a variety of flavors to choose from, pashmak lends itself well to most desserts, and its whimsical appearance is perfect for Holiday entertaining. Gourmet Traveler has an excellent pashmak recipe that involves labne (strained yogurt), milk pudding and apricot. It’s delicious with fresh fruit, cookies… or on its own!

Purchase pashmak at Pariya.com, a Persian produce website. Based in Australia, the company sources all of their food from Iran and features a wealth of traditional Persian food including raahat and pistachio, rose petal and citron Turkish delights.

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Image credit: biritecreamery.com

It is a little known fact that Alaska has the highest per capita ice cream consumption. Ice cream is truly a perennial treat- Sprout picks the “cream of the crop”.

Bi Rite Creamery of San Fransisco uses organic cream to make their ice-cream. They source the milk, cream and eggs from Straus Family Creamery, which is located just a stone’s throw from their shop. Bi Rite’s ice cream rarely has over five ingredients- and tastings are served on metal spoons to reduce waste. Some flavor highlights include: Earl Grey, Honey Lavender, and Roasted Banana. Don’t forget about the Blood Orange popsicles, or the Gingersnap cookies with Pumpkin ice cream.

Image credit: marthastewart.com

As the wind turns colder, making your own sorbet is a wonderful indoors activity. Martha Stewart offers a Concord Grape recipe that boasts a vibrant color and an easy shopping list. Composed of Concord grapes, water, Simple Syrup, and freshly squeezed lemon juice- just make sure you have an ice cream maker.

If you live in NYC – fall and winter is the perfect time to avoid Shake Shack lines, and cruise right up to the counter to buy your favorite flavors. Take the guessing out of the Shake Shack experience with the “Custard Calendar.” This December: Figgy Pudding starts off the week with Eggnog on Thursdays and Candy Cane Crunch on Saturdays to round off a week well spent.

A favorite work time activity is to watch the “Shack Cam”. Unfortunately a busy line never discourages us here at Sprout!

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Health conscious Connecticans have a lot to be thankful for when prepping for a Holiday feast. Cedar Meadow Farm is a small, family-run farm in Southeastern CT that provides pasture raised turkey, as well as other heritage-bred meats.

A trip to the farm can become a new holiday tradition, or even a regular outing. Hurricane Farm in Scotland, CT has something for locals any time of the year, including maple syrup, flavored vinegars, goat’s milk, free range eggs, and even the firewood to warm your home’s hearth this Thanksgiving.

Ocean Spray has a handy tool that helps you choose your turkey’s size based on the number of dinner guests you’re expecting. Use this to plan your whole meal– although the dessert serving chart doesn’t take second helpings into account!

No matter where you live, localharvest.org can direct you to the best local, family owned, small-scale businesses. Or, you can even purchase an organic turkey on Amazon.com.

If you would like more in depth information about turkey and farming practices, Sustainable Table is a wonderful resource.

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Image Credit: bouchonbakery.com

With all the Holiday cooking and planning, sometimes its nice to treat yourself to a bakery purchased delicacy. At Bouchon Bakery its hard to choose between pastries, chocolates, and tarts. I suggest the macaroons for a colorful treat.

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Anyone within NYC limits can enjoy Gotham Chocolate Cake from Gotham Bar and Grill (best served with seasonal ice cream). For readers across the country, Lady M Confections’ Mille Crepes are available for shipping with only 24 hours notice.

Any desserts look beautiful served atop an elegant platter. Any of these suggestions also make excellent hostess gifts.

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Entertaining on Thanksgiving is a welcome challenge. One of my favorite NY food bloggers, Deb from Smitten Kitchen, posted a special Thanksgiving roundup back in 2007. Deb’s informative post answers frequently asked questions, and is just as relevant today as ever. She even lists a round up of Thanksgiving suggestions and recipe links broken down into “appetizers and sides”, “soups”, and “dessert.” I like the sound of her Acorn Squash with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette, the Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup, and Simplest Apple Tart.

The ever informative Epicurious offers how-to videos for those of us who feel that a picture is worth a thousand words. If you are looking for something more hands on that simply reading a blog post or watching a video, epicurious.com also lists a sample of cooking classes around the country.

Sometimes nothing beats an old fashioned cookbook. Blogger Amy of Cooking With Amy likes Thanksgiving 101 by Rick Rodgers so much that she interviewed the author.

If you are looking to brush up on elements of entertaining style,Florence Fabricant of the New York Times offers a touch up on “how to set the table and why.”

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“A farmer’s feast has no menus (at least not the traditional kind); instead we’re creating multi-course tastings around the day’s harvest.”  Blue Hill

Tired of the daily grind? Look no further. Plan a visit to Blue Hill at Stone Farms, a working four-season farm just 30 miles north of New York City in Hudson Valley. Walk the grounds and sit down to a farmer’s feast! A quote from their website: “An easy drive or train ride on the Metro-North (so you can enjoy their stellar wine list) make this an ideal getaway to wind down and appreciate the simpler things- even if just for a day.”

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There’s only one thing better than a hearty thanksgiving meal– the sandwiches that are made from the leftovers. For those of you who are die-hard sandwich makers, this truly ‘serious sandwich’ features stuffing as the bread.

For those of you who would rather dive right into the Thanksgiving spirit, the Food Network has their own delightful sandwich on their website. You can wash down these sandwiches with a sigh of relief after all the holiday clean-up is done!

Image Credit: bhg.com

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Unconditional love and steadfast devotion deserve to be rewarded, and what better way to do that than with a wholesome, organic treat! Dog treat, that is. The organic food craze has firmly planted itself in American society, so its only natural that man’s best friend would want to get in on the craze. recipes4gourmetdogs.com offers a great list of organic dog treats, featuring a few of my furry pal’s favorites by Newman’s Own and the Dog Whisperer.

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