On Saturday night, I attended a party hosted by FabSugar. The stylish soirée was at San Francisco's Rye and the theme of the party, inspired by a book she recently read, was Blood is the New Black.
Fab took my advice and transformed a section of the bar into a personal party haven. Use these ideas on your next bash and make the space Fab-worthy. Here's what she did:
Arrive early. Fab showed up with a posse of pals at nine. This allowed her to scope out the scene, stake out several tables, and set up decorations.
Use balloons and rose petals to enhance the mood. Fab hung balloons from a nearby wine cage and scattered blood red rose petals across the tables.
Get guests ready to party with photos. Fab's bff brought along her Polaroid camera and snapped pictures of everyone. She left the camera on the tables allowing guests to snap party pics at their own leisure.
For more tips on how to host your own fab bar party, plus a full gallery of photos from Blood is the New Black, read more
National Cookie Day: What's Your Favorite?
It's National Cookie Day — what a fun day to celebrate with your child! Whether you make dough from scratch or buy it in rolls, it's always fun to get a little messy in the kitchen with the kids. And they always love the warm cookies with cold milk. We do too. So what are your favorite cookies?
If you tell me that there's not a single chocoholic on your holiday shopping list, I'm going to have to call you a liar. Everyone knows at least one — they may be a closet fiend, but they're on your list — and luckily, they're easy to shop for. You could rush out and buy them a box of generic sweets, but why stop there? Why not put a little thought behind your gift? No time? Well, no worries, I've rounded up a bunch of gifts that would be perfect for the chocoholic in your life. You could test their knowledge with Chocolate Smarts, a set of 60 cards with facts, tips, and chocolate techniques. Or, if you'd rather satiate their sweet tooth, surprise them with Hotel Chocolat's Cool Yule Goody Bag or a set of Theo's 3400 Phinney Bars. Looking for more? Scroll through for several other chocoholic gift options.
When creating a menu for a cocktail party be sure to look for recipes that can be made in advance. You don't want to spend the entire party in your kitchen. Make everything ahead and cook off batches as guests arrive. Choose several grocery store staples like nuts, olives, cheeses, crackers, and salumi to supplement a couple of homemade savory bites.
At my party I'll serve Moroccan style chicken rolls with a spicy tomato dipping sauce. Ham and cheese sandwiches grow up with caramelized onions and watercress. Tomato quiche tartlets are cute and bite sized. Sweet potato chips with caramelized onion dip rounds out the menu. To take a look at these tasty recipes, read more
Trifle
A delicious layered dessert. Originally from England, it usually consists of sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in liquor. The cake is covered with jam, custard or whipped cream and garnished with shaved chocolate, fresh fruit, or candied nuts. It's best served after several hours of refrigeration.
I'm not sure why, but the word custard has been on my mind a lot lately. So when I saw TeamSugar member celebrity_soup's recipe for a Super Moist n' Fluffy Custard Cake, I could barely stop from drooling all over myself. The cake itself is a vanilla cake with a hint of almond, and the whole thing is topped with a delicious custard. You could cut the cake in two and put the custard in between, but why bother, it's just going to be devoured in minutes. To get the recipe, read more
As part of our ongoing Best of 2007 coverage, we thought we'd find out which male celebrity chef ranks highest in your book.
Roberto Cavalli
Principles
Paul Smith