Posts for February 7th 2013

popsugar

Check Out How POPSUGAR Is Changing!

At POPSUGAR, we have a blast sharing everything we all love across all the topics we're so passionate about.

At POPSUGAR, we have a blast sharing everything we all love across all the topics we're so passionate about. We've gushed over our favorite products and the most amazing celebrity images and videos; we've shopped the up-and-coming trends and discovered designers with ShopStyle; we've even watched some of you become moms. And we've grown to create unparalleled original videos about all the things you care about. Today, we're making a big change. We're bringing all of our content and shopping together under one home: the new POPSUGAR.
 

Over the next few weeks, there will be some exciting innovations here, and while we'll be adding to the editorial and video content you love, we won't be losing anything. We're making it easier to find and shop. We'll continue to deliver the biggest moments, the hottest trends, and the best tips in entertainment, fashion, beauty, fitness, and food — and the ability to shop for it all.
 
POPSUGAR and our companion site names now reflect a unified place as your leading entertainment and lifestyle content and shopping destination. We also got a bit of a face-lift. We're bringing you new, easy-to-navigate categories across the top of the site. Click through to find everything you love in fashion, beauty, fitness, moms, living, entertainment, celebrity, sex and culture, and so much more!
 
Plus, there are new ways to view your favorite POPSUGAR stories. View stories by "latest" or "popular," or see our gorgeous new "grid view." Our videos and POPSUGAR Shopping — formerly ShopStyle — are also more accessible along the top of the site. In the coming weeks, we'll be rolling out even more exciting features, ways to interact with our stories, and our huge POPSUGAR TV launch.
 
We hope you love it as much as we do, but we want to hear what you think. Send your feedback to redesign@popsugar.com!

POPSUGAR is everything you love, all in one place.

fast and easy

Classic Chinese Recipes For the Lunar New Year

This Sunday, Feb. 10, may seem like any old day of rest, but halfway across the world, millions of people will be celebrating.

This Sunday, Feb. 10, may seem like any old day of rest, but halfway across the world, millions of people will be celebrating. According to the lunar calendar, the day marks the official start of the Year of the Snake — and in most Asian countries, the Lunar New Year is such a big holiday that it's celebrated for not one day, but one entire month.

Want in on the festivities? Celebrate with five of our favorite classic Chinese recipes, many of which are thought to bring health, wealth, and prosperity in the coming year.

Dessert

3 Layers of Decadence: Chamomile-Rose Pudding Cake With Meringue

Valentine's Day involves going all out to show your loved one you care, and this floral pudding cake with fluffy meringue surely does just that.

Valentine's Day involves going all out to show your loved one you care, and this floral pudding cake with fluffy meringue surely does just that. It's a mouthful that's as delicious as it sounds.


The recipe holds true to the original, from an enchanting cookbook called Vintage Cakes, but I changed up the flavor profile quite a bit so that these pudding cakes taste of chamomile and rose (instead of lemon). If you have access to edible roses, sprinkle the petals throughout the cake. Otherwise, the rose water will be strong enough to express that floral flavor.


If you've never made a pudding cake before, here's the deal. There's only one cake batter involved, so you don't need to make both a pudding and a cake. When the batter bakes in the ramekin, half of it rises to the surface to form a cake, while the bottom half remains viscous and pudding-like.


But this is no ordinary pudding cake — it's topped with marshmallow-y meringue, which is lightly toasted in the broiler. The meringue is so pillowy, sweet, and addictive that you should just plan on scraping the bowl clean.


Once the cakes emerge from the oven, it's extremely fun to crack them open and scoop up a bite. Impress your Valentine this year by making this three-tiered treat.

Wine

Get Into the Grüner Veltliner Groove

Has Grüner Veltliner's consonant-heavy name put off your interest in enjoying a bottle?

Has Grüner Veltliner's consonant-heavy name put off your interest in enjoying a bottle? Fret no more! Pronounced GROO-nur velt-LEE-ner, this Austrian gem is more than worth the enunciation effort, as is evident on the first sip of the mineral-rich white. Even better, thanks to its relatively limited prominence in the US market it's often a great bargain buy, with quality far surpassing its moderate price tag — many exceptional bottles are in the $15-$25 range. But before you snap up a bottle (or two) to try, let's delve briefly in the nitty-gritty of this superb varietal:

  • While Grüner Veltliner is Austria's national grape — and commands the greatest acreage of any grape grown there — it's also grown (in much smaller quantities) in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and regions in Washington, Oregon, and California.
  • Grüners are known for having a marked sense of terroir, making the region from which they hail a particular point of interest. Much of the crop comes from the rocky terraced river banks of the Danube river in the northern part of Austria, which lends a pronounced mineral note to the wine — something we can certainly get behind.

Keep reading for general tasting notes and our top pick to sip now.

Wedding

Fall in Love With Lemon-Curd-Laced Cupcakes

I'll pick a slice of cherry pie over a cupcake any day, with one exception: these lemon-curd-filled cupcakes.

I'll pick a slice of cherry pie over a cupcake any day, with one exception: these lemon-curd-filled cupcakes. Pleasantly dense cream cheese pound cake flecked with lemon zest would make for a killer cake without further adornment, but velvety lemon curd is the real star here.

Thankfully (or dangerously), they're not too tricky to make, so I can whip them up with regularity. Just remember not to fill them with lemon curd more than four hours before serving as the lemon curd will start to leach into the cake, marring their otherwise lovely appearance.

Keep reading to learn how to prep them ahead of time — and, of course, for the recipe.

Food News

Link Time: Contemporary Steakhouses Are Having a Moment

Trend alert: steakhouses with friendlier pricing, more options — Tasting Table Tension builds in the scandal over horse meat — HuffPost Food Restaurant chains are going lighter with healthy options — Zagat Tumblr alert!

Instagram

Instagram Challenge: Valentine's Day Treats

We love Valentine's Day, because it involves the most delectable chocolates, candies, and confections.

We love Valentine's Day, because it involves the most delectable chocolates, candies, and confections. Today I couldn't resist opening up a heart-shaped box of See's Candies chocolates. The chocolate-covered toffee had my name all over it!

We're curious to learn what Valentine's Day treats you're baking up (or simply enjoying). Share all your Valentine's Day food photos with us! All you need to do is upload your photos to Instagram and include the hashtag #savorysight in your caption; keep checking back, because you could be featured in a slideshow of our favorite submissions. And make sure to follow POPSUGAR Food on Instagram (@heyyumsugar) for mouthwatering inspiration. If Instagram's not your thing, don't worry: you can still participate by sharing snaps of your dishes and drinks in our Savory Sights community group.

Wine

5 Huge Misconceptions About Visiting Wineries

As a writer of food and drink, I have a pretty big blunder to admit.

As a writer of food and drink, I have a pretty big blunder to admit. Though wine country is a mere hour away, I don't know the first thing about choosing a tasting room. On my last trip to wine country, I hit up three spots: one fantastic, another mediocre, and a third downright horrible.

If only I had known what I know now, after speaking with Tilar Mazzeo, the author of Back Lane Wineries of Napa and Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma, two helpful books that guide visitors to vineyards that are off the beaten track. After a lengthy discussion with her, I discovered that I've been approaching wine country all wrong. Not only that, but many of my perceptions about visiting wineries are completely incorrect.

Now that I'm much better equipped, I'm already plotting my next trip! Curious to know what mistakes you might be making? Read on.

savory sights

Savory Sight: Hot Chocolate Chili Cookie

As Valentine's Day approaches, bake these hot chocolate chili cookies by Jessica Gavin for a hot way to celebrate.

As Valentine's Day approaches, bake these hot chocolate chili cookies by Jessica Gavin for a hot way to celebrate.


Decadent, sweet, and with a hint of spiciness . . . chocolate, chili, and cinnamon are the perfect trio of flavors, especially when delivered in the form of a hot chocolate chili cookie! The star is the dark, bittersweet chocolate; it balances the sweetness of the dough and mellows the heat of the chili.

For more — and the recipe — check out her blog, and then be sure to share your food photos in the YumSugar Community or by starting your own blog. If you're on Instagram, then chime in on the conversation with the hashtag #savorysight.