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Soup's On: Sweet Pea Soup

partysugar — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:33:31 -0700

I couldn't let St. Patrick's Day pass without making a vibrantly green soup. This soup gets its brilliant color from peas. The recipe involves minimal chopping so it's super simple to make. The texture is smooth and velvety, and the flavor is rich and comforting. This soup would be an elegant starter to a St. Patrick's Day dinner or Spring-themed shower. To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth. To see how I made it, read more.

Sweet Pea Soup
From Instyle magazine, April 2004

Ingredients

5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white parts only
5 tbsp. all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken broth
5 cups fresh or frozen peas
3/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
croutons, optional for garnish

Directions

Heat butter in Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat.
Add leeks; saute until soft, 4-5 minutes.

Add flour, stirring until dissolved. Add broth; bring to a boil, whisking constantly.
Stir in peas; reduce heat and simmer, 10-15 minutes.

Using a handheld blender, puree. Stir in cream; season with salt and pepper. Garnish with croutons, if desired and serve.

Serves 8.

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Come Party With Me: Chinese New Year - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:28:31 -0800

Kick-start your Chinese New Year dinner party with an elegant cocktail. A lychee martini is sophisticated, cool, and festively flirty. When you sit down to dinner offer guests a dry Riesling, fruity Sauvignon Blanc, or crisp Chenin Blanc; all would pair nicely with the menu. If you really want to serve a red, look for a light, smooth Pinot Noir. Don't forget water and sparkling water. A refreshing option for non drinkers is lemonade. To see the recipe for the lychee martini, read more.

Lychee Martini
From InStyle magazine

1 14 oz. can lychees
2 cups vodka
1/2 cup cranberry juice

Drain the lychees, reserving 1 cup of the lychee syrup.
In a large pitcher combine the reserved lychee syrup, the vodka, and the cranberry juice. Refrigerate until very cold.
Fill cocktail glasses with ice water.
To serve, empty ice water from glasses. Place one lychee in the bottom of each glass, and fill with a cocktail.

Serves 8.

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Come Party With Me: Fall Dinner - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 06:57:13 -0700

To salute fall's arrival, I will make a big pitcher of a signature cocktail for my fall dinner party. The cocktail, an orange tequila concoction, has the gorgeous color of an autumn sunset. Make the cocktail an hour or two before the party starts. When guests arrive all you have to do is shake over ice and strain into the prepared champagne flutes.

Get several bottles of the same wine - one white and one red - to pair with dinner. When pairing wine with roast chicken, pay attention to the chicken's seasonings - in my case it's lots of fresh herbs, so a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Barbera would suffice. A delicate and buttery Chardonnay is an excellent choice for a white. At dinner, pour guests a cool glass of water with orange slices and rosemary sprigs.

For the recipe to the orange tequila cocktail please, read more

Orange Tequila Cocktail
From Dale DeGroff & Instyle magazine
Source

2 cups tequila
2 cups chilled blood-orange juice (or orange juice)
1 cup orange flavored liqueur
1 bottle (750 ml) chilled Champagne or sparkling wine
orange twists, optional

Combine tequila, juice and liqueur in ice filled cocktail shaker.
Strain into chilled flutes; top with champagne or sparkling wine. If desired, garnish with orange peel twists.

Serves 8.

Make ahead: Combine the tequila, juice, and liqueur in a pitcher. Refrigerate until ready to use.

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Come Party With Me: Housewarming Party - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:28:39 -0700

Much like the christening of a boat, to start the celebration off at your housewarming party, pop open a bottle of champagne and invite everyone to join you in a toast to your future in the new house. Guests can enjoy the glass as you show them around the space. Once the game night portion of the party gets started, offer an assortment of beers, wines, and a big bowl of "player's punch." Serve the watermelon punch in a pitcher because it will be easier to pour while playing games. Also be sure to pour the drinks in to real glasses (you registered for them so might as well use them!). A nice, light red - such as Beaujolais - or a crisp white unoaked Chardonnay will pair nicely with the pizzas. For those who do not drink alcohol, sparkling water on the rocks spiked with fresh watermelon puree and slices of cucumber or mint makes a festive and refreshing mocktail. You'll find the player's punch recipe after the break, so read more

Watermelon Punch
From Instyle magazine

6 cups watermelon juice (to make, purée fresh seedless watermelon)
One 3 oz. can frozen limeade
6 cups vodka
1 liter chilled club soda
Watermelon wedges

In a serving bowl, combine watermelon juice, limeade and vodka.
Refrigerate until cold.
Then add ice and chilled club soda; garnish with small watermelon wedges.

Serves 12-15.

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Yummy Link: Tyler Says "I Do"

YumSugar — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 06:28:19 -0700

Since we're in high wedding mode here at the Sugar Network, it would be a shame if I didn't point out the fact that celebrity chef Tyler Florence's wedding was highlighted in the latest InStyle Wedding Magazine. I found the full InStyle article on Tyler's website, but here are a few gems and classic FNA catty commentary. - Food Network Addict

Today's Special: Easy Chicken Potpies

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:02:31 -0800

Comfort Foods have made a real comeback in the past few years at some of the nation's top restaurants. Never one to overlook a trend, I like to make my own variations at home, adapting my grandma's recipes to suit today's palate. Tonight I'm making an easy chicken potpie that uses frozen vegetables and puff pastry instead of pie crust. I ripped this recipe out of an Instyle magazine way back in January of 2002. To make this for your family read more

Easy Chicken Potpie

1 box (17.3 oz) frozen puff pastry sheets
1 can (48 oz) chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 carrots, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
2 ribs celery, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 box (10 oz) frozen pearl onions, thawed
1 box (10 oz) frozen peas, thawed
5 tbsp butter
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°F. Thaw puff pastry according to package directions. Place broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, cut pastry into 8 squares; bake on baking sheet 10-13 minutes until golden.

Add chicken to broth mixture; simmer 12 minutes.

Stir in onions and peas; simmer until heated through.

Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan; stir in flour. Cook until golden; add cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Mix in remaining ingredients and stir into the chicken mixture.

To serve, ladle into bowls; top with puff pastry square.

Serves 8.

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Must-Read: Matthew Mead Halloween Tricks and Treats

partysugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:00:08 -0700

Move over Martha Stewart, there's a new kid on the crafty Halloween block, and his name is Matthew Mead. Mead is a producer, stylist, and author whose creative work has appeared in numerous publications including InStyle Weddings. To see what I thought of his Halloween Tricks and Treats ($19) book, read more.

Pros:

The book is full of festive and fun ideas. Each idea is accompanied by a photo.
Mead excels when it comes to fabulous party themes. I love his owl-oween children's party and his mummy cooked dinner.
His decorations are spot on. The fun house section teaches readers how to cover a wall with eyes and create a spooky clock.
The book is very inspiring. While browsing the pages I came up with many ideas.

Cons:

Some of the how-tos lack templates and details. Its assumed that everyone will be capable of cutting a witches face out of pizza dough.
I was bored by the entire chapter devoted to fondant creations. While they look adorable, I'm just not a fondant fan.
Some of the ideas are more hokey than chic. They're appropriate at a cheesy child's affair but wouldn't be stylish at a grown-up party.

Recipes: The recipes are innovative, but too many rely on packaged ingredients like snack cakes or lu biscuits. Still, there are some I'm dying to make:

Candy corn freeze (a layered ice cream dessert)
Green gruel with eyeballs (a broccoli cheddar soup)
Bleeding berry pie (a mixed berry pie decorated with edible candy eyes)
A jack-o-lantern cocktail (a vodka carrot juice concoction)

Imagery: The pictures are clear and plentiful. Each idea is represented with a coinciding image.

Overall Rating: If you're a hardcore, crafty entertainer, whose favorite holiday is Halloween, you will love this book. Its chock full of amazing ideas.

Are you familiar with Matthew Mead? Have you checked out any of his books? What did you think?

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Yummy Links: From Food Photography to Budget Weddings

partysugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:45:36 -0700

Tips for taking the most beautiful food photos. - Vegan Yum Yum
Learn how to participate in a hunger challenge. - Cooking With Amy
Simple and delicious: Asian pear and gouda grilled cheese sandwich. - Chow
More on Hershey's chocolate's new formula. - Candy Blog
Chopping chocolate is easy if you use a serrated knife.- The Kitchn
Hold a bake sale for kids' cancer.- The Epi-Log
Why do Italian noodles cost a lot more than their Chinese counterparts? - Serious Eats
Breakfast ideas to keep you full until lunch.- FitSugar
Tricks for keeping your wedding menu costs to a minimum. - InStyle Weddings

Source

Happy Hour: Lemonade Mojito

YumSugar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:30:45 -0700

The other day, I cohosted a barbecue so, of course, I served a signature cocktail. As an added challenge, the barbecue was actually a baby shower, and the guest of honor was pregnant. So I searched for a recipe that would be just as refreshing without booze as with it.

I dug this recipe out of my recipe file, ripped out of InStyle magazine years ago and just waiting for its moment. It's great for big groups since it can be made in large batches, and I like that it uses vodka instead of the usual rum, since I have a lot of friends who find rum off-putting. It's very tart and sufficiently sweet, and without the vodka, it's just a minty homemade lemonade. To get the recipe, read more.

Lemonade Mojitos
InStyle magazine

Ingredients

1/2 cup mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish
1 cup sugar syrup (recipe follows)
5 cups club soda
4 cups vodka
4 cups fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup superfine sugar

Directions

To make the sugar syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water over low heat, stirring with wooden spoon until sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and increase heat to medium. Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool; refrigerate 2 hours before using.
In large bowl, muddle 1/2 cup mint leaves with sugar syrup.
Stir in club soda, vodka*, lemon juice, and 2/3 cup superfine sugar. Chill.
Pour into ice-filled pitchers with lemon rounds and mint sprigs; serve in tall glasses.

* To make a nonalcoholic batch of lemonade, reserve the vodka and add 1 1/2 ounces to each glass before pouring.

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Happy Hour: Winterthyme Cocktail

YumSugar — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:43:18 -0800

For a dinner party I hosted a few weeks ago, I needed a cocktail that would pair nicely with a Greek-inspired pork tenderloin. In my InStyle Parties book, I came across something called an Early Autumn Cocktail that sounded perfect; it combines lemon juice, the anise-y Galliano liqueur, and fresh thyme sprigs. But since it's January, not Fall, I decided to change the recipe slightly and give my cocktail a different name.

I thought the InStyle recipe was too tart, so I added more Galliano, honey liqueur, and a bit of simple syrup to create my Winterthyme Cocktail. The drink goes down easy, but the flavors are complex; it's like the anise, the honey, and the lemon all hit your taste buds at different times. The thyme sprigs offer an aromatic effect, since you inhale the scent as you sip. To get the recipe, read more

Winterthyme Cocktail
Adapted From InStyle Parties

Serves 8.

1 1/2 cups vodka
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup Galliano liqueur
1/2 cup honey liqueur, such as Berenjager
1/3 cup simple syrup
Fresh thyme sprigs

In a large pitcher, mix together the first five ingredients and stir vigorously. Fill eight glasses with ice and divide cocktail evenly between glasses. Garnish with a fresh thyme sprig.

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