YumSugar

Yummy Links: From a Drink Calculator to Stephanie Izard

partysugar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:00:07 -0800

Hosting a New Year's Eve party? Use this drink calculator to determine how much alcohol you'll need. - Evite
A soup recipe for every season. - The Kitchn
Learn how to make the classic Champagne cocktail. - Cookthink
From cocktails to dinners to dessert, here are ten recipes that use vodka. - Chow
Barley risotto is healthy and delicious. - Serious Eats
Catch up with Top Chef Season 4 winner, Stephanie Izard. - The Epi-Log

Thanksgiving Tip: Calculate How Much Food You'll Need

YumSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:42:21 -0800

For an elaborate meal like Thanksgiving, it's crucial to consider how much food you'll serve. Too little, and you'll leave guests wishing they could gobble up more; too much, and you'll wind up with Thanksgiving leftovers for weeks. To make sure your food doesn't go to waste, take time to do some adequate planning. A few pointers, when you read more.

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Drinks

partysugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:59:32 -0800

Super Bowl Sunday is just a few days away and slowly but surely I'm putting together my blowout bash. In order for me not to get overwhelmed when planning a party, I like to do it in little increments. The invitations one day, the menu the next, and so on and so forth until the entire fete is prepared. After the game and the food, the next essential piece of any Super Bowl party puzzle is the drinks. I went all out in the menu and will do the same with the drinks that I pair with my food. (Random side note that has nothing to do with drinks at all: maybe I'm a little excited from FabSugar's sexy week but isn't this pic of a football player's body HOT?) To see what I will be serving my guests while I cheer on the Chicago Bears, read more

Obviously an assortment of beers is a must. I plan on purchasing 3 different twelve packs: Heineken Light (for the gals who are watching their weight), Pacifico (to pair with the Mexican flavors that run through the dishes: chipotle, chili, nachos...), and Stella (for those who are beer snobs). To figure out how much beer you will need in relation to the number of guests who attend your fiesta, check out this handy dandy party drink calculator. Place the beer in a spot close to your tv and make sure to have several bottle openers on hand - it always seems they go missing at my parties pretty quickly! A silver bucket or a big plastic bin in your team's colors filled with ice will work perfectly.

If you want to serve wine as well as beer, pick American wines - afterall the Super Bowl is the ultimate American event. As California produces every nine out of ten American bottles of wine, look to your favorite wines from the Napa or Sonoma Valleys or the Southern regions around Los Angeles. Look for a Zinfandel with attitude, an easy-drinking Chardonnay, or a crispy, light Sauvignon Blanc.

I find that at parties guests are inclined to try one cocktail and then shift over to drinking wine or beer. Since this is the case, I'll have one super special cocktail for when my guests arrive. What says Super Bowl more than the Ultimate Margarita? You can serve it blended (but you'll have to make the mess with the blender during the game...), but I'll mix mine in a pitcher to prevent watering down the cocktail and then pour it over ice into a fun festive glass. If you are feeling like a dare devil and want to have some really outrageous drinks on hand for your overly excited guests, why not mix up a few cocktails with beer as the base? Here's a list of ways to jazz up your boring old bottle of beer:

Lager and lime: Add a dash of lime juice or lime cordial to a light lager.
Snakebite: Mix your favorite beer (usually a heavier beer, like stout, works well) half and half with cider.
Black Velvet: Mix stout and champagne, half and half.
Beer Bloody Mary: Mix beer and tomato juice, half and half. Add a dash of Tabasco and a dash of Worcestershire.
Red Eye: Add a shot of tomato juice to any ale or lager (this cocktail is also known as Tomato Beer or a Red Rooster). If you add a splash of Tabasco, the drink becomes a Ruddy Mary.
Liverpool kiss: Mix a dark beer with Cassis.
BeeSting: Dark beer and orange juice.
Skip and go naked: Combine beer, lemon juice and gin, with a dash of grenadine.
Broadway: Popular in Japan, mixing beer and cola is known as a Broadway
Caribbean Night: Beer and an ounce of coffee liqueur.
South Wind: Beer with a shot of melon liqueur.

Lastly be sure to have lots of water on hand (both sparkling and still) and an assortment of classic ballpark sodas: Coke, 7-Up, root beer, and Orange Crush. Got an amazing drink recipe that you will be mixing at your Super Bowl Party? Please tell me about it below! Next up on the game plan: winning decorations that are sure to score you a touchdown. Look for Come Party With Me tomorrow for the details.

Source: That's The Spirit

Free Starbucks Shirts from Michael "Project Runway" Knight

YumSugar — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:08:28 -0800

Sorry I didn't get this to you guys sooner, but I just read about this one and even though there's not much time left, I knew that I had to share.

Starbucks has teamed up with Project Runway season 3 finalist Michael Knight (who, as an aside, was my favorite until fashion week rolled around, what happened?!) and together they will be giving away customizable t-shirts. I love the design and although I rarely drink coffee these days, I *have* to have one of these. Unfortunately, there are only a few days left in the giveaway and sadly they are only giving a limited number away each day (which I've calculated to be less than 1000 a day). Translation: my chances aren't looking so good. However, according to their website, the quantity refreshes at 10am PT / 1pm ET, so there's still hope - but not much, the whole thing ends Wednesday, February 28.

Even if you don't get your own shirt, you can customize your own Starbucks drink wallpaper. This one is my winter drink of choice, a tall single soy chai no whip. Wow, that sounds a bit pretentious, doesn't it?

So how about you guys, what would your shirt say?

Apparently There Are No Waiters In The Future

YumSugar — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:48:31 -0700

A restaurant in Nuremberg, Germany has figured out a way to eliminate bad service forever. How'd they do it? Simple, they eliminated service completely. At the bistro 's Baggers, which is now the first sit-down restaurant in the world without waiters, the waitstaff has been replaced by a fully automated ordering system. Each table has been connected to the kitchen via metal rails and meals are ordered via a touch-screen at each table.

Customers' orders are registered upstairs in the kitchen and a computer in the cellar keeps track of supply stocks. The system also calculates the likely delivery times for drinks and meals at every table and keeps customers informed.

What I want to know is what happens when the computers crash, and how do you get a refill, or send something back?

Source: Spiegel International

Yummy Links: Put Down the Peanut Butter!

YumSugar — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:13:12 -0800

PUT DOWN THE PEANUT BUTTER! Looks like Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter is being recalled due to a salmonella outbreak. - FitSugar and TeamSugar
Sure, you may be bettering your bod with clean water, but what about the planet? Sustainability Engineer Pablo Päster, has calculated the true cost of producing and transporting bottled water. - treehugger
Okay, it's official, the Stephen Colbert ice cream we reported about last week is definitely on its way to a store near you. Oh and all the proceeds will be going to charity.- USA Today
Is reclaimed whiskey, where you add water to old whiskey barrels to make new whiskey, cheating? - slashfood

Even though Valentine's day is over, doesn't mean I have to stop linking to things like this romantic Nougat Glacé on a Warm Fruit Compote, does it? - What's For Lunch, Honey?
Is it true that women expect to drink for free? - Chow
If you've ever wondered what a cloudberry was, now's your chance to find out. - Nami-Nami