Posts for December 17th 2012

Sugar Shout Out Dec. 17, 2012
Sugar Shout Out

Sugar Shout Out: Meet Our Pets!

See our employees' best friends The best gifts under $100 for gadget geeks Learn how to decorate holiday sugar cookies with love Ben and Jen have family fun on a rainy day with Violet and Sera The most dazzling red-carpet looks of 2012 Thoughtful gifts for your number-one dad Vitamin C-rich recipes to ward off kids' colds Get your hands on the best leather gloves for every occasion Design ideas to steal from a mansion-turned-hotel Check out the hottest shirtless TV moments of 2012 Test the best life hacks of the year Gluten-free chocolate cake recipe CelebStyle: Sneakers are the celebrity accessory of the year Make your own shower and tile cleaner
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Best New Foods of 2012
taste test

What Was Your Favorite New Food of 2012?

This year was a foodie's dream, with loads of new food products emerging to the market.
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This year was a foodie's dream, with loads of new food products emerging to the market. New twists on classic foods like cake-flavored marshmallows, Wonka candy ice cream, and Girl Scout cookie-flavored candies added a few new items to our grocery list. Check out our 2012 favorites, and tell us which new food from this year you found most delicious. We can't wait to hear what you have to say in the comments!

Appetizer Recipes
party planning

65+ Appetizers Perfect For Any Occasion

Whether you're hosting a casual game-day viewing party, a ritzy cocktail party, or something in between, we have an appetizer to match.
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Whether you're hosting a casual game-day viewing party, a ritzy cocktail party, or something in between, we have an appetizer to match. Keep reading for our favorite party bites from mini twice-baked potatoes to zesty quick-pickled vegetables (and many more).

Patatas Bravas Rick Bayless's Salsas Baked Buffalo Chicken Strips Cucumber Salad Marinated Goat Cheese With Olives Antipasti Skewers Latkes Fried in Duck Fat
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Rosemary Pecans Recipe
Appetizers

12 Days of Edible Gifts: Rosemary-Sesame Pecans

This holiday entertaining season, make certain to master at least one back-pocket appetizer — a treat so easy and low-stress that you can whip it up in a flash to fill out a menu, or have it on hand if guests will be unexpectedly popping over.
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This holiday entertaining season, make certain to master at least one back-pocket appetizer — a treat so easy and low-stress that you can whip it up in a flash to fill out a menu, or have it on hand if guests will be unexpectedly popping over. I can tell you now, that these salty-piney-sweet nuts will be mine.

Crisp and crunchy, with a hit of breath-freshening rosemary these nuts are dangerous in the best way; I can't seem to stop at a small handful, much less one or two. I suspect you will feel the same way.

Keep reading for the easy yet impressive recipe.

Best Sparkling Wines
Wine

Sparkling Wines We Can't Wait to Drink on New Year's

While many people squirrel away sparkling wines for special occasions, we tend to live by the mantra that anytime is a good time to celebrate with a bottle of bubbly.
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While many people squirrel away sparkling wines for special occasions, we tend to live by the mantra that anytime is a good time to celebrate with a bottle of bubbly. Thankfully, the rest of the world shares our enthusiasm around this time of the year. We've been hard at work popping bottle after bottle to discover downright delicious sparkling wines (for any budget!) to enjoy on New Year's Eve — or, of course, any time of the year. Click through to see them all — and share your sips with us. What'll you be drinking come Dec. 31?

Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rustico Nino Franco Prosecco Sofia Blanc de Blancs Chandon Sparkling Red Mumm Napa Brut Prestige Santa Margherita Sparkling Rosé Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut
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How to Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies (Video)
Dessert

Learn How to Decorate Holiday Sugar Cookies With Love

Even adults love the adorable shapes and vibrant colors of an iced cutout sugar cookie.
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Even adults love the adorable shapes and vibrant colors of an iced cutout sugar cookie. If you've ever wondered how to decorate these festive treats at home, this video will teach you three ways to do this using royal icing. Whether you're looking to precisely pipe, spoon it on, or marble together two (or more) colors of icing, this video has you covered.

John Tesar's New Restaurant
Food News

Link Time: An Update on 9 NYC Chefs Who Disappeared From the City

Tracking nine NYC chefs who shuttered doors and disappeared from the city — Zagat Plan the menu for a blowout Christmas feast — HuffPost Taste How to serve a perfect cheese plate — Tasting Table The top viral food videos of 2012 — Eater Watch the first episode of Epic Chef from the Epic Meal Time guys — Grub Street NY The makers of "pink slime" sue Jamie Oliver — Delish Light, fresh recipes to start the New Year right — The Kitchn A pickle recipe you probably haven't made before — Saveur
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Miso Mustard Steak Sauce
recipes

Magical Miso: Miso Mustard Steak Sauce

Miso and I are having a bit of a moment.
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Miso and I are having a bit of a moment. Essentially any weeknight I'm dining solo, my plate is filled with steamed kale tossed with miso butter and topped with a poached egg or two. My snack of choice? Miso kale chips with tingly shichimi togarashi. Miso carrot soup: check! Miso-glazed salmon (take a wild guess). And this — tangy miso mustard sauce made luscious with a hefty dose of butter — is sure to enter the rotation. For starters, I'll be slicking steaks with a light coating, drizzling it on pork chops, and tossing it with snappy, steamed vegetables, and (shamelessly) eating it with a spoon . . .

Keep reading for the versatile sauce recipe.

Kitchen Equipment Gifts
gift guide

Kitchen Unitaskers Actually Worth Giving (or Buying For Yourself!)

Many kitchen unitaskers are simply not worth the money or precious cabinet space.
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Many kitchen unitaskers are simply not worth the money or precious cabinet space. So when we find ourselves turning to one of these much-maligned tools time and time again, it only seems fair to share the tip. As a sneaky bonus, with creative thinking, a few of these unitaskers even shed their one-trick pony reputation. Click through for our top picks from stocking stuffers to bigger-ticket items.

OXO Cookie Spatula Mr. Coffee Spice Grinder Norpro Egg Timer Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper OXO Garlic Peeler OXO Potato Ricer Wooden Gnocchi Board
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Candy-Making Tips
Cooking Basics

3 Tricks For Easier Candy-Making

I recently learned that making homemade hard candy isn't as easy as it looks.
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I recently learned that making homemade hard candy isn't as easy as it looks. It's all about timing and temperature to make sure the candy reaches the proper consistency. To complicate matters further, it's stretched and pulled while still hundreds of degrees hot. Keep these three tips in mind for a smoother candy-making experience.

  • Use a probe thermometer instead of a candy thermometer. The digital reading allows you to monitor the current temperature as well as set a desired temperature, so the thermometer will beep when the candy has reached the set temperature. Scorched pans, begone!
  • Wear rubber welding gloves. It seems silly, but candy has the potential to seriously singe your fingertips. Since candy hardens so quickly, you really need to work with it while it's molten lava hot. Wearing thick gloves is the only way to make that happen safely.
  • Keep the candy warm with a heating lamp or an electric stove. In my kitchen, I placed the candy atop a Silpat-lined metal cookie sheet, then placed the cookie sheet atop the electric stove. Set the temperature to the lowest setting ("1" or "Melt" on most stoves). It keeps the candy warmer and thus malleable longer, so the candy doesn't harden before you have a chance to stretch and cut all of the pieces.