After a three month hiatus, The Hills girls are back, and along with them, my weekly food quiz! Last night's season premiere was filled with drama. Lauren hosted a barbecue and Heidi's sister annoyed Spencer, but the most climatic part was the showdown between Lo and Audrina.
Did you watch? Take our quiz and find out up if you picked up on all the foodie details.
These little toaster bags quickly turn your toaster into a sandwich maker. While I think it's a creative concept, I'm also rather skeptical: How would a whole sandwich fit into a one-slice toaster? Wouldn't the melted cheese settle at the bottom of the bag? And, more importantly, couldn't this be a serious fire hazard? I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Have any of you ever tried a Toastabag?
After drooling over PartySugar’s mojito cakes, I wanted to experiment with my own freezer pie. When searching for a recipe, I remembered one of my favorite frozen dessert cookbooks, Icebox Pies by Lauren Chattman. Since I'm crazy for Nutella, I decided to make her Gianduia Pie. Gianduia is a type of chocolate candy made with hazelnuts or almonds. I was unable to find chocolate wafer cookies, so I substituted Fudge Stick cookies, a wafer sandwich-cookie covered in chocolate. To my delight, the creamy, chocolately, hazelnut filling and crunchy crust reminded me of delicious Ferrero Rocher chocolates, minus the gold wrapping! Learn how to make this divine yet minimal, no-bake pie when you, read more
There is nothing that I love more than Southern barbecue, so when I heard that the Bay Area Barbecue Cook-Off was being held this weekend, I eschewed any social engagements in favor of firing up the 'cue. It was a perfect day for the event with clear blue skies, live country music, and some of the best barbecue around. Here are a couple of highlights.
He Eats With His Mouth Open You just started dating a great new guy and you're completely smitten by him. You've been spending a lot of time together and you're starting to learn about each other's quirks and insecurities. While your parents put a lot of emphasis on table manners growing up, his clearly did not. At first you thought he was just being funny, but you quickly learned that he chews with his mouth open, every time he eats!
The other night I found myself at Nopa, a San Francisco restaurant known for its great food and equally respectable drinks. My drink of choice was the pisco sour, the slightly sweet, tart, frothy lemon cocktail made with pisco, a regional South American brandy. This is a wonderful concoction and I'm excited to re-create it at home.If you don't own pisco, you can find it at a well-stocked liquor store or online. The pisco sour and its namesake spirit have been at the center of a centuries-old battle between Chile and Peru, with both countries claiming it their own.
Note that this recipe calls for Chilean pisco, which is sweeter, with slightly lower alcohol content than Peruvian pisco. If you substitute Peruvian pisco, increase the amount of simple syrup and lemon juice according to your taste. To get the recipe to this lovely Latin libation, read more
The culinary world is gearing up for Slow Food Nation. The festival, which celebrates local, sustainable farm-to-table food, is in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. Slow Food encourages people to purchase seasonal produce from farmers markets in an environmentally-friendly manner. That means toting the goods in a reusable bag rather than a disposable one. In my opinion, carrying a fabulous farmers market tote is just as glamorous as sporting a designer handbag. Currently, I'm obsessed with this large, bright-blue tote by Chronicle Books. The tote perfectly demonstrated the publisher's motto ("see things differently") because it folds up into a flat book when not being used.
To celebrate Slow Food, we've (YumSugar will share hers later this week) both taken pictures with our beloved farmers market totes. and now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. You can use the Look Book feature on TeamSugar, post it in a blog, or on your own website. When everyone's submitted their photos (due date: Sept. 1), I'll do a giant post featuring everyone's pictures (and you don't have to cover your face, we're just shy!)!
To be included in the roundup, notify me via email with "YumSugar Farmers Market Tote" in the subject line, or personal message me with the following information:
- Name you want me to use
- Where you're from
- What farmers market you shop at
- Details about your favorite totebag
- Link to your Look Book, blog post, or website OR photo of you holding your favorite tote
- One short sentence on why you chose that tote
After we've received all of the submissions, we'll pick one lucky winner and send her her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.
After a three month hiatus, The Hills girls are back, and along with them, my weekly food quiz! Last night's season premiere was filled with drama. Lauren hosted a barbecue and Heidi's sister annoyed Spencer, but the most climatic part was the showdown between Lo and Audrina. 
Singh S. Madan
Kate Moss
Roberto Cavalli