I love using sparkle-y glitter covered candles as decorations. Instead of spending a fortune on a bunch of expensive textured candles, buy an assortment of simple white pillars in varying widths and heights. Head to your local craft store and pick up loose glitter tubes, bright beads, or rock salts in the colors of your choice. Apply white glue to the candles and roll in the glitter, beads, or rock salt. Arrange your festive candles as a centerpiece or in a long row along a mantel, banquet, or bar.

• Earlier I gave you the Red Carpet coverage for the Food Network Awards, but be sure to read this hysterical recap of the actual award ceremony. It sounds almost painful and look at how empty the seats are! - Side Salad
• In honor of National Pig Day, be sure to check out this Pig heaven Honor Roll that lists the best pork dishes from coast to coast. - Serious Eats
• Should restaurants indicate unhealthy menu choices? - FitSugar
• You know you love doughnuts, don't fight it any longer. Just go read how to make doughnuts and get inspired to host your own doughnut party. - Eggbeater



• Be sure to check out how the whole John Mackey vs. Michael Pollan event turned out. Sounds like a potential food fight turned love fest. I couldn't make it, but luckily the webcast is up now too. The Ethicurean
• Where was this Wonder Pizza vending machine when I was going to college? - Tastespotting

Yesterday we took a lunch excursion to the nearby fancy pants food court. Since I was already paying too much for a tuna sandwich, I figured why not throw in a fancy drink too? I was originally going to grab some fancy bubble-water, but saw these sodas on display and was captivated by them instead. All four flavors, Kumquat, Lemongrass, Lavender and Rhubarb, glistened in their display case, each demanding my attention. It was a tough choice, but eventually I settled on Lemongrass.

When I took it back to the office and cracked open the bottle, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting it to taste sweet ( kind of like Sprite), but the drink was deliciously light and delicate. The lemongrass flavor was potent enough to taste, but definitely not overpowering. I would definitely recommend picking this up; I personally can't wait to try the Kumquat flavor next. And, I should probably also add that it only contained 50 calories (Coke has 140).

Based out of Seattle, DRY Soda claims to "offer the first culinary soda, a line of all-natural, lightly sweet beverages designed for those wanting a sophisticated non-alcoholic option" (see what did I tell you guys? Soda for adults is a big food trend). You can purchase 12-packs of DRY Soda for $25.00.

This weekend my friend April came over to watch the Oscars with me. Since the event goes on forever and ever, I thought it would be nice to have some baked treats to snack on. However there was one small catch, April is allergic to gluten and can't have anything made with regular wheat flour. So I went in search of something gluten-free and found a bunch of great looking recipes. However only one really stood out in my mind. It was ridiculously simple looking, required no unusual ingredients or different types of flour and contained peanut butter and chocolate chips. Talk about a no-brainer. If you want to give these a try (hey, why not celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover's Day?), then check out the recipe for flourless peanut butter bars. To see full step by step pictures, read more

Every week YumSugar highlights an essential tool for the ultimate kitchen. People are always asking her what her favorite kitchen tool is and in a response to this perpetual question, she is creating a list of kitchen must-haves and special splurges (attention brides: use this as a checklist when creating your registry!). Lately I've noticed that more and more people are asking me about what the perfect hostess should have in her bar. To answer this question I thought I would put together a list of important tools, glasses, and gadgets that The Ultimate Bar (for the ultimate at home mixologist) should have.


Let's start with a tool that no bar (or kitchen for that matter) should be without: a good, reliable corkscrew. I have tried out the more expensive rabbit screw pull gadget like wine openers (test for yourself: the one pictured is $100), yet the two that I had both broke after several months of use. That's why I prefer the leverage winged, modern spiral corkscrew. It's by far the most dependable and one of the easiest to use: as the center coil is screwed into the cork, the arms rise up. When you press the arms down, the cork extracts. In some circles this twin handled affordable ($9.99) corkscrew is referred to as the Charles de Gaulle. The top of most can also be used to remove bottle caps.

Two more corkscrews so read more

A few years ago my sister and I bought my dad a panini maker for Father's Day. My mom worried that it would never get put to use, but we make the warm pressed sandwiches at least once a week and she is the one who is always begging for more! If you don't have a panini maker you can still make this a pressed sandwich by placing another heavy pan on top of the sandwich, pressing down with a can of tomatoes or a bottle of wine (I've used this technique many times when I lived in Spain). Add a quick chopped salad, a glass of red wine, or pita chips and hummus and you can have yourself a little Mediterranean par-tee. Bread, melted cheese, olives, could delicious be described any more simply? Check out the recipe and, read more

Okay, now what's wrong with this picture from the South Beach Wine and Food Festival party? Go on take a good look.
Here we have Top Chef winner Ilan Hall, Gail Simmons, Sam Talbot and Tom Colicchio hanging out at the Food & Wine magazine after party. Have you figured it out? I'll give you a hint it has to do with attire. No it's not that Sam is looking under-dressed (although you have to admit that he is), it's that Ilan looks like he's spending his Top Chef winnings on fancy suits and bling!

In fact the folks over at snack spotted Ilan getting on to the plane for Miami and have put together their breakdown of Ilan's attire choices, including a $12,000 diamond encrusted watch.

Moncler black vest: $375
Pink shoe laces for white Nikes: $4
Louis Vuitton duffel bag: $1,100
Louis Vuitton white belt with candy-colored logo:$350
Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce watch in pure white (with diamonds): $11,950

To check out more pictures of our favorite Top Chef crew partying the night away, read more

After I graduated from Cal, I was scared by the thought that my education was officially over until I realized that while my school education was over I would never stop learning. Now instead of having to study subjects required of me I could study what ever I wanted: cooking, baking, current events, tennis, and knitting. In January I decided to further my admiration for the culinary world and fully understand wine. To aid in my quest for wine knowledge I am forming (and challenging you to do so with me readers!) a wine club that will meet monthly to discover, taste, and appreciate a distinct varietal of wine. I've made post card invitations (post card invites are great because you save money on postage!) that can easily be customized on my computer each month, planned a small, simple menu of savory and sweet appetizers to pair with the wine we will be tasting, and organized the tasting. Now I am envisioning the look of the wine club so read more