Lupie's pork, a Crock-Pot feast and more cookies

Today in our food coverage:

Can you make an entire Christmas dinner in a slow cooker? Amy Dunn, who writes about bargains and thrifty living for the Raleigh News & Observer, decided to try. Yep, it worked, and today you get seven recipes that can be used for the party season. By the way, Amy is the mother of Observer business writer Andrew Dunn, so they both are smart with a buck.

How do you open and eat a pomegranate? It's surprising how many of us are intimidated by one of the world's oldest and most popular fruits. In my column, I tried to take some of the mystery out of it. And in another "by the way," did you know you can grow pomegranates in North Carolina?

Fans of Lupie's can celebrate: For her column You Asked For It, Robin Domeier got the recipe for the slow-roasted pork with jalapeno sauce. You'll definitely want to save this recipe for use all winter.

Star anise and anise: What's the difference? I answered that one in this week's Q&A.

My fellow Observer writers and I will be signing books Thursday in The Observer lobby, if you want to drop by between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.: Get the details on that along with news in the Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend and new hours for Tupelo Honey's new Charlotte location.

Helen Schwab has news about a new Fort Mill restaurant, Flipside, with ties to Upstream and Mimosa.

Are nuts a good idea for your diet? Suzanne Havala Hobbs helps you figure that out.

If you had trouble with one of last week's Christmas cookie recipes and would like a corrected copy, we have them here, along with the full slide show of recipes. My apologies for that.

And more:
From-scratch chocolate pudding. 
Pork in Port Wine.
Decorate a Cookie Tree.
A Shortcut Cookie for the Holidays.

Texas Pete releases its own sriracha sauce

You can stop worrying about that rumored shortage of Huy Fong sriracha sauce after the shutdown of the plant in California: T.W. Garner Food Co. of Winston-Salem is riding to the rescue with Cha! by Texas Pete.

Yep, Pete is going Southeast as in Asia. T.W. Garner announced the release of the sauce Dec. 17. Cha! will be sold at national and regional stores that already carry Texas Pete brands. The company describes is as "a fiery blend of heat and sweet" that has been in development for more than a year.

That came long before the current worries about a shortage of Huy Fong sriracha, but Steve DeCorte, general manager of sales for T.W. Garner, says the company developed the sauce with the rabid fans of sriracha in mind.  Texas Pete is the third biggest hot sauce brand in the country.

Holiday shopping with a local-food angle

Remember, all this holiday fa-la-la-la-laderol will be over in January. While you still have time, here are two options if you're looking for something local and food-like:

The Atherton Market, 2104 South Blvd. in South End, is stocked with special foods from around the area, including Taste of the South gift baskets from Honest Harvest, or you can gather things from around the market and have them put together as a gift basket at Queen City Pantry or Cardais Gourmet. Queen City Pantry and the Food Hub also will be open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday, in case you suddenly realize you just haven't found the right thing for a passionate cook or eater.

The 7th Street Market, 224 E. 7th St., has increased its holiday foods and food gifts through Dec. 21. The Meat & Seafood Co. has special holiday items, including new charcuterie offerings and Kurobuta ham. Plus you can see Nutcrackers on Parade, nutcrackers decorated by art students at Central Piedmont Community College. Market hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (some vendors) Sundays. )If you park in 7th Street Station, remember to take your parking ticket in to get stamped.)

One Great . . . kids' baking activity

Decorating cookies with the kids is fun, for sure. It's also messy, chaotic and sometimes a little frustrating. Most little kids just want to get straight to the frosting part and skip the mixing, cutting and baking part.

When Betty Crocker did a Google Hangout recently on holiday entertaining ideas, this project caught my eye. Cute as it can be, and just the thing for holiday parties with lots of kids. You can go the cookie mix route if you just want a fun, fast activity, or you could adapt it to your favorite homemade ingredients.

Put out the baked trees, a bunch of green frosting and a bowls of colorful candy and let the kids go to town. Even the big kids - the ones a few decades beyond 21 - will like this one.

DIY Cookie Tree

From Betty Crocker.

1 pouch sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
Green food coloring
1 container white icing, such as Betty Crocker Fluffy White Icing
Candies and sprinkles for decorating

HEAT oven to 375 degrees. Line a 15-by-10-by-1-inch pan with foil.

STIR together the cookie mix, butter and egg to form a soft dough. With moistened fingers, press the dough into the lined baking pan. Bake 10 to 14 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut out a tree shape. (Use extra baked cookie to cut out a star for the top of the tree and presents to put around the bottom, if you like.)

STIR food coloring into the frosting to create the color you like. Frost the tree, then use candies to decorate it.

Come see us at The Observer

If you're coming to uptown Charlotte to do a little shopping and sightseeing on Thursday, stop by The Observer building at Stonewall and Tryon streets. We're trying something different: A book sale and reader appreciation event for the holiday.

It's from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at our building, 600 S. Tryon St. I'll be there, selling and signing copies of both of my books in the Savor the South series, "Pecans" and "Bourbon." And I'll be in the company of fellow writer Scott Fowler ("100 Things Panther Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die") and editor Roland Wilkerson, with a new book version of his "I'm So Clever" column for reader home tips.

You'll also be able to buy some of the posters we've done over the years on N.C. phenomenon. All sales are cash or checks (my books are $18 each, Scott's is $14.95 and "I'm So Clever" is $5.99).

If you're in the area, drop in and see us. There's a limited amount of free parking under the building.

Feast your eyes on gingerbread houses

Is that you, Santa Claus? Great Wolf Lodge has a gingerbread dining room.

This is shaping up to be an unusual Christmas for me. It's Dec. 12, and I haven't been asked to judge a single gingerbread house display. I'll never meet my annual quota of counting Lifesaver roofing tiles and meringue snowmen this way.

Don't let that fate befall you. Here are a few places where you can catch up on the wonders of royal icing mortar and giant confections:

1. Gingerbread Lane at the Ballantyne Hotel is open for viewing through Dec. 29. The judging for the annual amateur and professional was Dec. 11, but I haven't heard the results yet. So I don't know if there's anything to top my personal favorite from last year, "Night of the Living Bread," a gingerbread zombie battle. (Don't worry, most displays are much sweeter, mostly happy elves and gingerbread cathedrals.) The display is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and you can cast votes for your favorites with $1 minimum donations to the Levine Children's Hospital. There are other events going on like holiday teas and hot chocolate sippings, if you want to make a bigger event of your trip. Details: www.ballantyne.com. 

2. Wait, the Ritz-Carlton Charlotte doesn't have its annual lifesize gingerbread house this year? Never fear, there's an 8-foot Christmas tree made from French-style macarons instead. And it includes chocolate reindeer, so we'll accept that. It's on display near Bar Cocoa, conveniently stocked with macarons and very near the gelato machine. There are holiday teas available, too. Bar Cocoa hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays. For teas, go to www.ritzcarlton.com/charlotte or call 704-547-2244.

3. Now here's a giant gingerbread event: At the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, you can dine inside a life-size gingerbread house at Snowland! through Dec. 30. Seatings are at 8 am., 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. The house can hold up to six people. Reservations are required; call 704-549-8206, ext. 5036. You don't have to be a guest at the lodge. It costs $10 to sit in the house; meals are extra and range from $7 for kids and $14 for adults at breakfast to $20 for adults at dinner. The house-sitting fee goes to Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Details: www.greatwolf.com/concord/waterpark

What's on the table for today's recipe feast?

If you click on over to The Observer's food page, www.charlotteobserver.com/food, here's what you can pile onto your pre-holiday plate today:

Cookies, cookies, cookies. Yes, we have the four winners - the grand prize and three runners-up - in our Family Holiday Cookie Contest. But wait, there's more: We also have a slide show with the winners and 13 more finalists, with their stories, recipes and pictures of the cookies. That's 17 cookies, folks. Even Santa couldn't finish a plate like that.

It's the spirited season, so we have lots of news on spirits this week: A new locally made rum, Queen Charlotte's Reserve, hits the stores, Daniel Hartis shares ideas for beer-related gifts, and I answer a question on whether bourbon has gluten. 

Suzanne Havala Hobbs says you can help yourself and the environment if you skip the bottled water.

Yes, you can make your own soft pretzels: Here's how.

And there's more:
Shrimp and coconut stew.
A stream-lined version of spinach and artichoke dip.
A yellow dal from Raghavan Iyer's new book on Indian cooking.