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On the 10th Day of Chukar…cookie decoration with Chukar: Part II

December 21, 2009 in 12 Days of Chukar, Recipe by jamen

We mentioned before how much we love decorating with Chukar dried fruits and nuts, but we also love decorating with our chocolates. Today we’ll show you a little of both:

Berry and Pistachio SprinklesChopped Berry and Pistachio Mix

Ingredients:

-Your favorite sugar cookie recipe

-1 8oz bag Berry & Pistachio Mix, chopped

-Your favorite frosting (or ours)

Preparation

Bake cookies according to recipe, let cool and frost. Before frosting sets, sprinkle chopped Berry & Pistachio mix over frosting.

Sprinkling Berry & Pistachio Sprinkles

Let set 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Berry and Pistachio Sprinkles

Raspberry Truffle Thumbprint CookiesRaspberry Truffles

Ingredients:

-Your favorite sugar cookie recipe

-1 8oz. bag Chukar White Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

Preparation

Prepare cookies according to recipe. Press 1 Raspberry Truffle into the center of each cookie 1-2 minutes before cookies finish baking. Enjoy as is, or frost with simple sugar frosting around Truffle center.

Raspberry Truffle Thumbprint Cookies

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On the 7th day of Chukar… tips for preparing for unexpected guests

December 18, 2009 in 12 Days of Chukar, Recipe by jamen

Hosting guests during the Holidays is stressful. Hosting unexpected guests during the Holidays can be traumatic. After years of scrambling to find extra food and last-minute gifts, we’ve discovered a few easy tricks for taking the stress out of the unexpected:

squash soupPrepare and freeze hearty winter soups ahead of time.

Hearty soups leave every guest satisfied. We always make and freeze some ahead of time, just in case we have extra mouths to feed. Particularly suited for the job is our Butternut Squash Soup with Dried Bing Cherries.

Keep ingredients on hand for quick, filling sides52_801_large

We always have a few bags of dried Bing Cherries and long grain wild rice on hand for our quick and easy Dried Cherry Wild Rice side. It goes great with anything and fills up even the hungriest guest.

3 oz stacksAlways have a few extra small gifts

You never know who’s going to show up, so purchase a few small gift gifts that anyone can enjoy. Our favorite trick is to take apart on of our Hostess Gifts and wrap each 3 oz. box for 10 small gifts or stacks of 2 or more boxes tied with a bow for up to five larger gifts.

Most importantly, make sure all of your extra food and gifts can be enjoyed by anyone, including you! That way even if you don’t need the extras, you can treat yourself to some wholesome meals and Chukar goodies. Find more easy recipes and gifts at Chukar.com!

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On the 2nd Day of Chukar… Garnishes for your Holiday Wine (or Cocktail) Party

December 12, 2009 in 12 Days of Chukar by jamen

rainier skewersRainier Cherry and Cherry Medley Wine Garnishes

We love adding cherry flavor to our wine tastings with these fun, unique skewers. Best of all, they only take about 20 minutes to make and can be assembled ahead of time then stored until you need them.

Both skewers are made the same way, but we recommend our Dried Rainier cherries for white wines and our Dried Cherry Medley for reds.

 

 

 

Ingredients:ingredients2

 

Rainier Cherry Wine Garnishes

12- 6” bamboo skewers

1 8oz. bag Chukar Dried Rainier Cherries

1 cup of your favorite Viognier or other quality white wine

 Cherry Medley Wine Garnishes

12- 6” bamboo skeweres

1 8oz. bag Chukar Dried Cherry Medley

1 cup of your favorite red wine (Cabernet, Pinot Noir and port wines work well)

 

 

 

Step 1: Skewer 3-4 cherries on the tip of each bamboo skewer

Assembling Skewers

Step 2: Soak fruited end in cup of wine for 10-12 minutes

Soak sewers 10-12 minutes

Step 3: Remove and garnish each glass of wine with skewered cherries

 Garnished wine glass

Step 4: Enjoy sipping and nibbling the wine-soaked cherries!

skewer in wine

 

These garnishes are also a wholesome and natural alternative to maraschino cherries in cocktails. Enjoy!

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On the 1st Day of Chukar, some tips for traveling…

December 11, 2009 in Uncategorized by jamen

Picture2 

Traveling can be one of the most stressful parts of the holidays, but here are a few easy tips for making your trips a little more enjoyable.

Problem: Traveling with gifts

Countless gifts are broken during long flights and car rides and over weight bags can mean large fines for air travelers.flatRateShippingnew

Solution: Pack travel-friendly gifts and ship the rest

Avoid carrying large, fragile gifts when traveling. Instead, bring gifts that fit easily into your luggage and ship the rest. Our Original Assortment and 8 oz Chocolates pack 24_899_largeeasily into both checked and carry-on size luggage and won’t weigh you down. Right now, we’re taking advantage of Free Shipping on Chukar’s Sumptuous Assortment and $4.95 shipping on orders over $75.00 (which ends 12/15!!) to make sure our larger gifts arrive safely.

 

 

The natural jet-lag fighter

Problem: Jet lag

 

 

Many of us travel cross country to see family this holiday season, and we don’t want jet lag to ruin the visit.52_801_large

 Solution: Dried cherries! 

In 2007, the New York Times published this article describing how to use dried cherries to fight jet lag. With no added sugar and no sulfites to cause headaches and fatigue, our Bing, Rainier and Totally Tarts fit the bill perfectly.

 

Problem: Junk food at the airport and on the road

   Travelling nowadays is virtually synonymous with fast-food dinners and snacking on junk food.

458_673_largeSolution: Wholesome snacks

To avoid unhealthy eating, we always bring along some healthy, satisfying snacks like our Nuts over Bing, Berry and Pistachio and Triple Cherry Nut mixes. They’re high in fiber and protein, meaning they’ll fill you up while giving you a boost of energy.

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