While I love martinis and martini-style cocktails, I'm not always a fan of martini glasses. Especially at a party where there will be a lot of excited and giggly females. They are just too easy to spill! Also, does anyone really own 10 martini glasses?
Thus, for a Sex and the City party, I'm recommending this simple concoction as the signature cocktail. It's an interesting mixture of grape-flavored vodka, 7Up, lemon juice, and red wine.
The recipe can easily be batched, so fill a pitcher with the cocktail and let the girls get their own glasses. Just be sure to tell them the red wine is floated on top. I would also stock up on your favorite bubbles as some people will prefer to celebrate with sparkling wine. To get the drink recipe, read more
YumSugar Community member smileyface just bought a slow cooker, and wrote in to ask us a burning question about it. If it's only designed for four quarts, she wondered, "how should I adjust recipes that call for a six-quart slow cooker?"
When selecting a slow cooker, the most important choice is deciding which size to buy. Six quarts or larger are ideal for a crowd, while a four-quart cooker is perfect for a family of four. Crockpot volume is extremely important because, to ensure food isn't either undercooked or burnt, appliances should be at least half but no more than two-thirds full. For this reason, most recipes will specify the size of slow cooker required.
If your slow cooker's smaller than the recipe's guidelines, I'd recommend adapting the recipe to fit your crockpot's size. In smileyface's instance, I suggest dividing the six-quart recipe by two thirds, or 0.66, to yield a recipe that her slow cooker can manageably contain. Likewise, an inverse calculation can be made to adapt a recipe for a larger slow cooker.
Looking for more slow cooker tips, or need clarification on something culinary? Join the Burning Question group in the YumSugar Community, and ask us your biggest questions.
From Skyy
Ingredients
2 oz. vodka
0.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz. fresh lime juice
0.5 oz. simple syrup or 1 tsp. sugar
Drop of crème de cassis
Directions
Makes 1 drink.
From Everyday Food
Ingredients
8 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups skim milk
4 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups heavy cream
Directions
Makes 1 1/2 quarts.
While I love eating quiche, my irrational fear of dough means I categorize quiche as a dish I cook on the weekends only. It's not fast for dough to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes and it's certainly not easy to roll the dough into a perfect circle. However, when I came across this recipe for a crustless quiche, I realized it's perfect for a weeknight because there's no dough to worry about. It has all the eggy wonderfulness of a quiche without the hassle of the crust: genius!
Oh, and the best thing is that you can use this recipe as a guide. Throw in your favorite vegetables, herbs, and cheese. Learn the simple technique after the jump.
Here's a guaranteed recipe for a successful event: round up all of the city's top bartenders and put them in a magnificent outdoor space with sweeping views of the Bay as a backdrop on one side, and all of San Francisco's downtown on the other. Add Spring's best market ingredients, from rhubarb to strawberries and Spring peas. What do you get? CUESA's Farmers Market Cocktail Night: a smashing party that's sold out every year. Last night, like the many years before it, was no exception, with incredible flavor combinations that I'm still dreaming about. See the best takes when you keep reading.
It's American Craft Beer Week and craft brewers are hosting celebrations all across the nation. Since I'm a fan of supporting small, local businesses like breweries (my favorite is Lagunitas, by the way), I thought I would put together a quiz. I'll list a beer maker and you tell me what state it's from. Sound like fun? Ready, go!
Source: Flickr User Ruben Laguna
Take the Quiz
Last year San Francisco hosted its inaugural food festival SF Chefs.Food.Wine in August. In preparation for the event in May, many of the city's restaurants participated in something called Strawberry Week. Each chef selected a special strawberry dish and put it on the menu. The recipes were complied in a booklet that was handed out at SF.Chefs.Food.Wine. Since strawberry season was over in August, I only recently pulled the booklet out of my recipe file. 
It's full of wonderful recipes, including this savory application for roasted strawberry bruschetta. The strawberries are cooked with balsamic vinaigrette until soft and syrupy. Crusty toasted bread is slathered with goat cheese before being topped with the strawberry mixture. A sprinkling of arugula finishes off the easy and elegant appetizer. It's an incredibly delicious dish that you really should make. To get the recipe, please read more
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