You have been doing an amazing job filling the Yum Market, on TeamSugar with fabulous food-related finds. As I was looking through it today, I noticed several functional, interesting everyday items that I just had to share. The first is a stainless steel soap bar. Redegg says she loves to give this as a gift to cooks because the steel eliminates the smell of garlic, fish, and other strong orders from your hands.

Two more so, read more

This week I'm all about planning the perfect menu. Surprisingly it's not hard to do if you keep in mind a few helpful tips. Presentation is essential; as we eat with our eyes first, so pay attention to the color of the ingredients in your dishes. Don't over use an ingredient or stick to one cooking technique; variety of tastes and textures will only enhance the taste experience. If you are interested in learning more valuable pointers, read more

Last Saturday night I attended an opening party for a new exhibit at the de Young museum here in San Francisco. Lately I've been trying to develop a taste for gin and tequila, so I order the gin specialty cocktail, something pretty with floating blueberries called a Blueberry Crush. I talked to the lovely ladies over at Plymouth Gin - one of the sponsors of the event and the creator of the drink. On Saturday night when I drank the cocktail, I was certain pomegranate juice was a part of the concoction, but when I got the recipe I was surprised to see that it is a mix of fresh blueberry puree and Sweet & Sour mix. At the party, the blueberry crush was made with Plymouth but you can make it with whatever gin you prefer. I think I'll give this one another try in my own kitchen. To do the same, read more

Okay, so I'm going to throw a wrench in to an otherwise working system...

I've received some emails wondering how to submit recipes to the Secret Ingredient challenge that have already been posted/are are going to be posted in other groups (Kitchen Goddess, Let's Have a Drink, etc.).

So from now on, we'll try taking advantage of the cool keyword thing. Each week I'll tell you exactly which keywords to use on your recipe. This way you can post them in any group you want! If you don't have another group, feel free to keep posting them in the Secret Ingredient group.

This week the secret ingredient is cumin.

So please give your new recipes (or edit old recipes) the keyword phrase: Secret Ingredient Cumin.

I can't wait to see what you come up with! To learn how to post a recipe, read more

This week the secret ingredient was bananas and I really enjoyed the recipes you guys came up with. We had delicious crispy Fried Bananas, indulgent Frozen Banana Mousse on top of brownie torte, and frozen Chocobananas. However the one that really caused me to start drooling was the Banoffee Pie (banana + toffee = banoffee) submitted by TeamSugar member SaraSmile. Her mother made a version with rich gourmet caramel sauce, but her recipe has us creating our own toffee. It sounds delicious and highly sinful (shhh... dont' tell FitSugar). To check it out read more

Sweet & Sour mix is an important and necessary ingredient for the at home mixologist. Sour mix, as it's commonly called among bartenders, is used as the base of margaritas and as a component of countless other drinks. Essentially sour mix is a simple sugar syrup with citrus juice. If your bar is already stocked with a store bought, premade Sweet & Sour mix, I recommend you try making a homemade batch at least one time. You will find that homemade Sweet & Sour mix is one hundred times better than the processed stuff. Your drinks will be more flavorful and enjoyable. I guarantee that your guests will marvel at your excellent mixologist skills. It's super easy to make and your can keep it in a tight-lidded container refrigerated for a week. This is a must add to your recipe collection if you pride yourself on being a modern, trendy hostess. To see how to make your own Sweet & Sour mix, read more

A little while back, I told you about my godmother Terry who has spent the last 24 years of her life surrounded by men. Now that her boys have finally grown up and moved out, Terry has decided it's time to give her kitchen a feminine makeover. She wants to brighten up the kitchen with the color yellow. She called me and asked if I could suggest cool websites where she can purchase kitchen tools, gadgets, and linens in sunny yellow. Lucky for her, I had you search the web for mellow yellow kitchen supplies with a hint of femininity. I was really impressed and awed by how you filled up the Yum Market with stuff for a Yellow Kitchen. Here are a few of my personal picks:

To brighten up her counter tops I'll tell Terry to purchase this yummy yellow canister set. ForgetMeNot bookmarked this set which totally makes me want to bake up some Lemon Bars.

Two more ways to incorporate some sun into the kitchen so read more

How can you go wrong with chicken and rice? This is a fresh, health-friendly one-pot meal with minimal effort. This is a great meal to make on nights when you don't have time to run to the grocery store because the ingredients are staples that you most likely have in your freezer and pantry all of the time. This meal is so fool proof that I'm telling my older brother Michael who isn't really much of a cook that he can easily make this one. Practically everyone has a few frozen chicken breasts and a bag of peas in their freezer. Likewise, who doesn't have rice, chicken broth, and an onion in their pantry? To save this recipe in your collection, read more

I have a weakness for gummi bears (especially sour gummi bears). There's just something about those bite-sized delicious bear-shaped jewels that cause me to salivate. So when I saw these gummi bear sculptures by artist Ya Ya Chou I immediately went gaga. I mean look at this gorgeous chandelier, can you believe it is made out of gummi bears? I absolutely love how they catch the light, and the best part? Even though it was made two years ago, the gummi bears are still fresh now.

Another one of her creations is named "Simon." It's a bear skin rug made from gummi bears! Talk about ingenious. Her site has a few other creations (be sure to click on the word "sculpture").

Source: Craft