If your New Year's plans include a dinner at home, whip up a batch of this champagne citrus sorbet to serve as a dessert, or as a unique treat at midnight. One your girl will remember all year.

And fresh fruit sorbets are much easier to make that you might think. Especially if you have an ice cream maker... which are available from major home retailers for about $50. If you don't have one, you'll have more work to do, but it's still no harder than mixing and stirring ingredients.

This sorbet mixes the dry, clean flavor of a good champagne with the tart sweetness of citrus fruit. Think of it as a frozen Mimosa. Which also makes it good for serving when you invite her over to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Champagne Citrus Sorbet
2 cups good champagne
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice
1 tsp orange zest (optional, but adds a flavor kick)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
(Makes about a quart)

In a medium saucepan bring sugar and water ...More

There's something about the pairing of sweet and salty that gets your taste buds firing. Dip anything salty in chocolate - pretzels, peanuts, potato chips - and you've instantly upped the flavor factor by adding polar opposites together.

Here's a recipe for an incredibly easy to make sweet and salty treat to bring to your next holiday party. Or just have a round the house. There are several versions I've seen, but this particular one comes from my brother. He's always called them PMS Cookies and would make them, oh every 28 days or so, for my sister-in-law. (Apparently the salty/chocolate combo has powerful "mood regulating" properties as well.) Not sure if the term "cookie" is what they should be called. Technically they are made using crackers, but I'm not going to argue semantics. But I will say that anytime he's made them for a party, they are the first thing to go. That sweet and salty combo is hard to resist.

You don't need any baking skills whatsoever to make these, so give them a try for something homemade to bring to your next holiday party. Or just to have on hand every 28 days or so.

Ron's PMS Cookies
3/4 cup Butter
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1 Bag chocolate morsels or chips (can substitute any flavor, like butterscotch as well)
1 Box Saltine crackers ...More

You procrastinated. Or got caught up in all the whole gotta-get-it-done-before-the-end-of-the-year nonsense while those last few holiday parties snuck up on you. And you think you've run out of time to get something special to bring for the party hosts. Or get something for the people at the office.

Don't panic. You've still got time. Dancing Deer Baking Company can still get your order to you by Christmas if you order by tomorrow. And that's with standard shipping. They'll still be taking orders all this week. And offering a discount to BG readers.

Based in Boston, Dancing Deer is an all-natural, gourmet baking company that makes a wide variety of delicious cookies, cakes and brownies, all baked from scratch without preservatives. They arrive to you in gift-ready, artsy packaging (perfect for those of us that can’t even tie a bow, let alone wrap something). And instead of the done-to-death gift baskets, their baked goods come stacked in towers.
...More

Not every party is an "adult only" affair. Around the holidays, nieces, nephews, friends' kids and various other rug rats could be running around the living room as you enjoy some rum-spiked nog.

If kids will be at some of the parties you're attending this season, bring something from Wonderland Bakery. They make a wide variety of cookie "bouquets" and gift tins filled with holiday shaped cookies that'll keep the little ones bouncing all night.

They have sweets for grown-ups too, like their Chocolate Pyramid and Cappuccino Surprise and Chocolate Dream Cake. And the caramel and chocolate dipped apples could make a bishop kick out a stained glass window.

Wonderland ships overnight anywhere in the nation, so even if you're late finding something to bring to a party early next week, you can have a delicious dessert in your hands in plenty of time. In a beautiful gift package ready to hand to the hostess. Or her kids. (Just bail before the sugar high kicks in.)

www.wonderlandbakery.com

If you love barbecue, you've probably heard of Stubb's. If you haven't, it's a name you should get to know. You may have seen Stubb's sauces in the supermarket, but unlike most bottled brands, his taste of the same homemade flavor and exceptional care that made him famous.

And with his new overnight delivery service, you can have his smoked-to-perfection meats on your dinner table tomorrow. Besides ribs that fall off the bone, you can express order peppered pork tenderloins, smoked turkey, pork sausages, legendary beef brisket and all of his sauces. Forget cooked goose and plum pudding, this is what makes a holiday party to remember. And without any prep or cooking. You can order at www.stubbsbbq.com

But if you're looking to roll up your sleeves and get knee deep in some old fashioned barbecuing this weekend, here is his recipe for Tender Brined Pork Loin Chops from the Stubb's Bar-B-Q Cookbook. According to Stubb's, brining the chops does two things: It permeates the meat with flavor, and it helps keep the meat moist when cooking. And nothing beats moist meat.

Tender Brined Pork Loin Chops
1 cup Stubb’s Pork Marinade (or lemon-pepper or Italian marinade)
1 3/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar ...More