by partysugar

Try to get all of your Thanksgiving grocery shopping done before next Wednesday. Heading to the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving is like getting on the freeway in the middle of rush-hour traffic — not a good idea. Shoppers are inevitably grumpy, store clerks are stressed, shelves are empty, shopping carts are nowhere to be found, and the checkout lines are gigantic.

If you've made your lists you should be able to shop for nonperishables like vegetables, canned goods, alcohol, and dried foods today or tomorrow. Shop for last-minute items like fresh herbs and flowers on Tuesday afternoon. Pick up bags of ice the night before from your local convenience store and store in coolers outside in the garage or your back patio.

Most stores and bakeries are open on Thanksgiving morning, so make a quick pit stop to pick up bread and any forgotten ingredients as early as possible. Treat yourself to a coffee while you're at it, it's going to be a long day!

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by POPSUGAR Food

Congratulations to Daisie and starsmom, they're the two lucky winners of our Haute Hostess Apron giveaway! Both of these YumSugar readers will be receiving a fabulous Fifi Apron for all of their entertaining needs! Thanks to everyone who participated, and keep reading YumSugar for more great giveaways.

by partysugar

On Monday night I was lucky enough to attend a preview of DIFFA's Dining By Design. The fundraising event, sponsored by Elle Decor, invited designers and corporations to create one-of-a-kind installations of dining tables set for dinner and the surrounding room. While the food was practically non-existent, the four floors were filled with over 40 incredible tablescape designs. From the avant garde to the extravagant, each table represented a different design concept. Here are some trends I noticed in table designs:

• Table tops made of anything but tables. A piece of a wall, a door, glass, mirrors, even a stove top were some of the objects that replaced the ordinary table top.
• If you didn't have an alternative table top, the table was definitely covered. Fur, moss, fabric, and paper were popular choices.



• Creative napkin rings. Rope, fake diamonds, strands of stems, and even disco ball reflective mirrors were used instead of your average napkin ring.
• Bold prints — paisley, animal, Moroccan — were present everywhere as plate designs, placemats, tablecloths, and chair covers.
• Nothing was minimal, everything was over the top and detail oriented.
• Interesting chairs were all the rage. The ones with fur were Medieval-esque, while the tree stumps and open hands conversation provoking.
• Favors were an important piece of the table setting with books, gift boxes, and candles being the most popular. One table even had a gold fish in a bowl at each seat!

If your looking for inspiration on how to create a gorgeous Thanksgiving table — or wedding table— look no further! Check out a huge gallery of the tablescapes when you read more

by POPSUGAR Food

Looks like the writers' strike will be providing Eva Longoria with a little extra time to dedicate to her new venture. The Desperate Housewives star is currently finalizing plans for her new restaurant, BESO.

Located in Hollywood, BESO is a partnership with celebrity chef Todd English. However, Eva wants to make sure that you know she's really involved. Here's more:

"I'm so involved, I picked the uniforms," she said. "A lot of these are my recipes. We've developed a really fun menu."

The restaurant, which is scheduled to open in mid-December, recently hosted the Blackjack II launch party. Check out the gallery for a few of the interior pics. According to geeksugar, the place is massive.

So what do you guys think? I'm personally interested to see what the menu will be like. Todd English has a pretty impressive list of restaurants under his belt, but how well does he know Mexican food? I guess only time will tell.

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by partysugar

When I was a teenager, I thought I was so cool when I cooked. I wasn't much of a chef, but I enjoyed any type of gift that encouraged me to expand my culinary knowledge. So if you know teens who love to cook, this holiday season give them a foodie gift that will enhance their skills and increase their affection towards food.

An herb garden is a fun idea for the teen who is obsessed with Alton Brown's Good Eats. Individual pizza plates will encourage the Italian teen to experiment with pizza dough. Splurge on a garnishing set for the foodie teen and watch as she gets fancy with lemon twists and butter curls. Scroll below for more ideas.

by POPSUGAR Food

Yesterday we ran part one of our interview with Christopher Kimball — editor, TV personality, and all-around food superstar — and today we've got part two. In this section Kimball compares gourmet cooking to gourmet sex. If you want to know exactly what that means, you'll just have to keep reading.

YumSugar: When you cook for yourself, do you follow recipes, or do you just make things up as you go?
Christopher Kimball: I have preached the value of a limited-recipe repertoire at home for years. Most folks should start with just 25 or so recipes until they can make them from memory and make them well. Then expand from there. So I have my repertoire and for those, I don't need a recipe. Plus, there are master recipes for roasting, braising, sautéing, stewing, etc., which — once one gets the hang of it — can be improvised. That being said, if I am making someone else's recipe, I always follow it religiously the first time. If it looks suspect or something seems out of whack, I just won't make it at all.

YS: I read an interview with you in which you said, "I think the gourmet cooking thing is over. That happened in the '70s." With our easy accessibility to fancier ingredients and exotic spices, do you think this is true still? If so, why?
CK: Gourmet cooking is for restaurants, not home cooks. This is hobby cooking and, for the most part, I am against it. It implies that everyday cooking is a chore and something to be avoided. I would rather focus on really good, everyday cooking — from-scratch oatmeal, a really good pancake, the perfectly-cooked skillet steak — then get all caught up in exotic ingredients and cuisines that most of us are not intimately familiar with. That doesn't mean that one shouldn't try new things once in a while for fun. But what would you think of someone who was promoting "gourmet sex" or "gourmet childrearing?" What's wrong with the day-to-day stuff? And isn't that more important anyway?

For the rest of the interview — learn all about his four freezers! — read more