I'm totally looking forward to doing tons of fabulous entertaining outdoors this summer. At their vacation house, my parents recently got a brand new gigantic deck, so there will be plenty of grilling, eating, and wine tasting under the sequoias. Judging from some of the latest bookmarks over in the Yum Market on TeamSugar, it looks like entertaining outside has been on your minds as well. When the moonlight is not enough to see your food, cast a romantic glow with this hanging candle holder that was bookmarked by SU3. It creates a circle of light and can easily encircle your picnic table's umbrella. Fixing up your patio, backyard, or deck with a chic entertaining space? Get more ideas, just read more

In order to help folks across the nation "stop suffering from warm beer syndrome," the Coors Brewing Company is launching a new Cold Activated Bottle. According to research by Coors Light, consumers want to know when their beer is at optimum temperature. To help them out, Coors designed a label that will turn from white to blue when at the perfect temperature. The bottles will be hitting shelves at participating stores, restaurants and bars. I like to think of it as hypercolor for a beer bottle, how about you?

Source: PR Newswire
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It's cocktail week here in San Francisco and a whole bunch of the city by the bay's best bartenders are participating in celebrating the dynamic beverage community. This is the first year this event has been hosted and many popular bars, lounges, and restaurants are contributing by featuring two limited edition specialty cocktails: one classic recipe and one innovative concoction. As I browsed through the list of cocktails, I noticed two places were offering a negroni as their classic cocktail. Invented in Florence, Italy in the 1900s, a negroni is often consumed as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite. For the recipe (if you are an aspiring mixologist you better learn how to make this!) read more

My friend sent me a link to this great Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad - which is pretty much like it sounds - a table listing out the shelf-life of different condiments. The site that posted the table found it in some "weird day planner from 1997" and they're not claiming the info to be fully accurate, but it looks like decent advice. If anything, I think most of these are underestimated (I'm pretty sure honey lasts longer than 8 months). Either way, it's pretty fun to check out.

An important part of being a great hostess is understanding what it's like to be a great guest. The first step towards becoming an excellent guest is knowing when to arrive at the party. When hosting a dinner or an event, there is nothing I hate more than people whom show up early unannounced. Invitations are sent with a specific starting time for a reason and if your hostess is anything like myself she is running around adding finishing touches to her sauces, plating bite sized appetizers, polishing wine glasses, and lighting candles. (My aunt came 30 minutes early for a dinner once and the appetizers were still in the oven, I wasn't dressed and had curlers in my hair-you can imagine my complete and total mortification). Coming before the space and hostess is transformed into party ready is a complete and total no-no. Just don't do it. Unless personally asked by the hostess, do not come early and if for some crazy reason you end up getting off the freeway twenty minutes before the specified time call her to let her know there was no traffic and you will be arriving early so she can at least put on her party outfit and set out a bowl of olives.

In a recent survey conducted by The Nielsen Company on behalf of Anheuser-Busch, 95% of American adults think that, while inconvenient, ID checking is a worthwile way to reduce underage drinking. The survey was taken to determine how people view the effectiveness of ID checking. The survey also discovered that 94% of the people think that those who sell alcohol should be trained to spot fake IDs.

"Checking IDs is one of the keys to keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors. Simply put, if teens can't get alcohol, they can't drink it, and the survey reflects that America's retailers are doing their part, and that American adults fully embrace this concept," says John Kaestner, vice president of Consumer Affairs for Anheuser-Busch Cos.

In addition to the straightforward questions, the survey also asked a few ridiculous ones. The three that really stood out to me were:

• The person we want to see the ID of (and get to know their real age) is: Joan Rivers (26%), Oprah Winfrey (23%), Simon Cowell (16%) and Ashton Kutcher (15%).
• The lady we want to check our ID when purchasing alcohol is: Ellen Degeneres (32%), Kelly Ripa (24%), Tyra Banks (22%) and Ann Curry (9%).
• The guy we want to check our IDs is Regis Philbin (29%), Conan O'Brien (21%), Ryan Seacrest (19%) and Al Roker (18%).

First of all, who thought to ask those questions? The ID stuff I can understand, it's really interesting, but who do you want to check your ID? What? Also, are you telling me that Regis Philbin really beat out someone like George Clooney? America, I don't get you sometimes...

Source: PR Newswire

You all know how much I love pizza: in every shape, form, and flavor! Making homemade pizza does not have to be an elaborate production, with a little help from the grocery store you can have delicious crisp melt in your mouth pizza quicker than delivery. I know it's Friday and the last thing you feel like doing after a long week of hectic work is making dinner, but this is so fast, so simple, and so tasty that it really is a wonderful choice for tonight's dinner. The recipe calls for chopped green pepper but feel free to substitute your favorite vegetable: roasted red peppers, chopped tomatoes, or sliced mushrooms. Likewise use premade pizza dough if you're not a fan of pita. For the recipe, read more

When you purchase a pint of ice cream, you expect to receive a pint, right? Somehow the folks that pack the "hand packed pints" at Baskin Robbins didn't realize that. In an investigation of 416 pints, approximately 83% of their hand packed pints have been coming up short - with an an average of 4 oz (that's 25%!). Needless to say, savvy customers realized it and started to complain and Baskin Robbins was eventually slapped with a consumer protection lawsuit. The suit has been settled with the San Diego Attorney General and Baskin Robbins has been ordered to pay a total of $491,000 to the state. As of now, they are no longer offering the pint, but will continue to offer 12-ounce pre-packed containers.

Source: Trendhunter and NBC San Diego

The clock is ticking for the soon-to-be married Julie. She has time for one last fling before she faces the ring and this week I'm helping her maid of honor with a complete bachelorette party plan. It's going to be an amazing and memorable event, complete with a strip class, finger foods, slutty cocktails, and a boa-laced look (hopefully without much of a hangover!). Having a great soundtrack of girlie songs will only enhance the entire experience. Burn copies of your playlist onto a cd and include them in the goodie bags for all of your gal pals. To see my musical suggestions along with a few fabulous favor ideas read more

Do these look like raspberry topped lemon muffins? No, they look like little mounds of heaven if you ask me. Raspberry topped mounds of heaven. - Smitten Kitchen