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King Corn: A Food Documentary to Watch

YumSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:45:05 -0700

"Everything on your plate is corn." That line, uttered by an interviewee in King Corn, is essentially the premise behind this new food-focused documentary. Much the way that Super Size Me uses a clever gimmick to take on the fast-food industry, King Corn follows two friends, Ian Cheney and Kurt Ellis, who move to Iowa to find out how this unassuming crop has made its way into so many grocery-store staples in the form of corn syrup, malodextrin, and other not-so-healthy ingredients.

With humor and a vagabond attitude, Cheney and Ellis establish a one-acre corn farm so that they can follow the life cycle of their crop. Along the way, they visit the Midwest's sprawling corn complexes and interview experts about how the highly subsidized crop has become an easy target in the fight against obesity. The movie opened this weekend in New York, and over the next few weeks will be showing in other cities, including LA, San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago. (Check the King Corn site to find out if it's coming to your city.) Watch the trailer and tell me what you think when you read more

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'Wich of the Week: Super Chicken Torta

YumSugar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:13:35 -0700

Though most of you will probably celebrate Cinco de Mayo this weekend, I have already marked the occasion by devouring a torta, and looking at the photos again makes me want to eat another one right now. Similar to a submarine sandwich, the torta originated in Mexico, though you can get them at many taquerias in the States. The sandwich features your choice of meat, served on a white roll called a telera or a bolillo and typically garnished with avocado, lettuce, and tomato.

For my first-ever torta, I visited Super Tortas when I was down in Los Angeles. After all, this family business, which has three stores in LA, specializes in tortas, and I figured if I was trying a new sandwich, I might as well start with one that calls itself "super." For more photos and details, read more.

Super Tortas owner Sacramento Guerrero recommended the house specialty, grilled ribeye, but having eaten my weight in sandwiches the day before, I opted for shredded chicken. It was indeed super - not just in size, but also in execution. Though the sandwich looks pretty basic - this one didn't even have tomatoes - it was actually very complex in its mix of flavors and textures.

Liberally seasoned with pepper, the shredded chicken was hot, juicy, and not the slightest bit greasy, which was a nice surprise. Chopped bell pepper and onions added an extra kick, and the guacamole was to die for, its creaminess was a lush contrast to the crisp, cool lettuce. But the pièce de résistance (anyone know how to say that in Spanish?) was the toasted bun. As you can see from the photos, it was grilled on top to a toasty brown, and the bread in the middle was still soft and chewy like the best white bread.

After my Super Tortas experience, I can't believe I've gone this long without eating tortas. If you've also been depriving yourself, I highly recommend trying one. The chicken was delicious, but torta fans also rave about the Milanesa, or breaded steak, variety. Have you eaten a torta? If so, tell me what you thought.

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:59:01 -0800

Some of you have been asking for it and here it is: my party plan for the ultimate Super Bowl party. The Super Bowl is one of those random holidays/events where EVERYONE celebrates. Even if you are like me and don't really care too much for football (or sports in general for that matter), you love the Super Bowl because of the parties. I can't remember a Super Bowl where I didn't attend or host a party, and this year will be no different. When else do we have an excuse to pig out on football and bar finger foods? As you can tell I am super excited for the Super Bowl. We have 6 days until the game (you can find the official countdown at Super Bowl Heaven) and we have a lot of work to do, starting with the invitations. To see what I'll be sending (including a TON of step-by-step pictures), read more

I am a Chicago Bears fan and will be rooting for their team. Therefore my party's colors will be the Chicago Bears colors: orange and blue. My invitation will be made using these colors, however if you are supporting the Indianapolis Colts you can make the same invite and substitute white for the orange. The invite is sporty and shaped like a football with sparkley glitter to make it festive.

To make this invite you will need:

animal stencils (either a bear or a colt)
blue (cut into a 7 by 7 inch square) and orange (or white) cardstock
blue and orange (or white) glitter
a computer/printer or a pen and white paper
scissors
glue
blue and orange (or white) satin ribbon
sports section of the newspaper (if you can find one with a super bowl related article use that)
pencil

To assemble this invite:

Using a pencil and the animal stencil trace the shape of the animal onto the orange cardstock.

Cut the animal shape out.

Turn the blue cardstock so that it is the shape of a diamond and glue the orange bear across the front.

On your computer create a document (with fun Super Bowl related pictures if desired) with the detailed information involving the party. I used the font Bradley Hand ITC TT-Bold and the color orange. Write something along these lines:

PartySugar invites you to join her for the Football Event of the Year: the 41st Super Bowl
Starring the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears
Sunday February 4, 2007
2:30 pm
PartySugar’s House, San Francisco
Please RSVP 415.444.5555
Guests are encouraged to wear their team’s colors
Go Bears!
Print the text out on white paper. Carefully fit the white text over the back of the blue cardstock.

Glue the text page to the invite.
Being sure not to cut off any of the bear on the front or the text on the back, cut the cardstock down to roughly the shape of a football.

On a piece of old newspaper or a work surface, spread the glue evenly over the inside of the bear. Work quickly, so the glue does not dry, sprinkle with orange glitter. Shake off the excess glitter.

Working in sections, slowly outline the bear with a thin line of glue. Sprinkle with blue glitter. Shake off excess blue glitter. Repeat process until all of the bear is outlined with blue glitter and filled in with orange glitter.

Set aside, let dry for several hours.
Once the glitter and glue has dried, you can get ready to wrap the completed invitation. Cut a piece of the sports section of the newspaper. Fold around the outside of the invite to create an envelope. Tape envelope closed.

Cut equal sizes of the ribbon, about 2 feet long. Wrap the ribbon around the envelope as you would wrap a Christmas present.

Tie a pretty bow. Congrats your invitation is complete!

I plan on hand delivering my invitations and leaving them as a surprise in each of my guests mailboxes. If you want to send yours simply slide the wrapped invite into an appropriate sized mailing envelope. Address, with dark blue ink, in your best handwriting, stamp, and send away.

This is only the first step of my Super Bowl Party...come back tomorrow, I'll be talking food and planning the menu.

For a larger view, click on a picture below:

View 50 Photos ›

Come Party With Me: Cinco De Mayo - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:58:19 -0700

I love Mexican food so much that sometimes I like to pretend I'm Latina - which is why I naturally love Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Ok, ok I really love practically every holiday/reason for a celebration, but Cinco de Mayo is one that I go out of my way to do something super extra special. Last year I went to dinner at a packed restaurant with a mariachi band and the year before I hosted a fabulous Mexican themed dinner party. I was pleasantly surprised when my sister called me about two months ago and asked me what I was doing for Cinco de Mayo. Turns out she signed up to be the Senior in charge of her sorority's BBQ and she wanted me to fly down to San Diego and help host the party with her. So this Friday afternoon I'm hopping on a plane and jetting down south. I've got a full week of planning ahead of me, this is one serious event with 300 people possibly in attendance!! This is going to be my biggest party yet - the last large event I hosted was a retirement party for my dad with a guest list of 150. In order for me not to get nervous, I've got to throw myself into making the invites (which is really more like a flyer than an invite), so come party with me and read more

To assemble this invite you will need an image (I started out with this one) for inspiration, a computer, and a printer.

To make this flyer:

Drag the image into photoshop. With the eye dropper select the background color. Next I used the insert oval tool to cover up all of the text with yellow ovals. I then added text boxes and filled in the information of the event:

Kappa Kup
Fiesta
The Sisters Of Kappa Kappa Gamma
invite you to their annual soccer tournament and barbeque
10am-6pm
Cinco de Mayo
2007
Muir Field
All proceeds from the event will be donated to the San Diego Center for Children and The Rose McGill Fund.
Entrance fee for all teams are $45 and will be donated to the charity. Raffle tickets will be sold at $1 each for an opportunity to win gift cards, and other donated prizes!

Instead of using one singular font I mixed things up and used three different ones: BlairMdITC TT, Copperplate Gothic, and Hoefler Text in various sizes.

Print out the flyer in the size of your choice. I printed out two per page. Double check for grammar errors and read through the text to ensure there are no mistakes. Unfortunately, I took the pictures for making this invitation, before I did this step (I was just so excited at how great it came out!), so if you look closely at the flyer in the images you may notice a few errors. Luckily I caught and corrected the blunders before I printed out a mass quantity of the invitation.

Cut down to size.

What do you think of the flyer? The best thing about this invitation is that it can be printed out in many sizes from a small hand out flyer to a large poster advertising the event. Come along with me as I take on the biggest party of my life all this week.

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Off to Market Recap: Super Bowl Snacks

partysugar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:43:19 -0800

A little while ago I asked you to help me with some tasty Super Bowl snacks to feed my older brother's friends, PJ and Matt, during the game on Sunday. The food has to be

filling: PJ manages a gym and Matt coaches a college baseball team-so these boys like to eat
simple: nothing too gourmet or fancy for these boys it is after all, a football game
easy to make: no gadgets or crazy pots necessary.

You saved your recipes and Super Bowl snack accessories in the recipe database and Yum Market, respectively with the tag Super Bowl Snacks. Here's my top picks of what you found:

Chiefdishwasher posted a recipe for pigs in a blanket that consists of two easy store bought ingredients. Simply roll up little cocktail hot dogs in pre-made biscuit dough from the refrigerator section of your supermarket for a bite sized snack that is pure genius. I going to take the advice listed and add a tiny glob of mustard and piece of cheese.
More game day snacks, so read more

You can't watch the Super Bowl without some form of chips and dips, so I'll be making a fresh batch of Crispet1's spicy southwestern corn salsa. Lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeno give this salsa an extra punch that is sure to keep the boys reaching for their Bud Lights (yes these boys love light beer).

For a little something sweet I'll make Rubialala's slacker jacks a scrumptious sounding sweet snack mixture of popcorn, peanuts, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. If there is any left over I'll leave it for the boys to munch on for the next few days.

I know these boys have a very nice glass table in their apartment (along with an amazing, perfectly sized flat screen television) so I'll be sure to bring over the cute little football coasters that celebrity_soup saved in the Yum Market.

Thanks for sharing your super Super Bowl recipes with me girls! I hope everyone has a fabulous game day. Go Bears!

To learn how to share your recipes please read the following explanation.

Come Party With Me: Easter Brunch - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:15:51 -0700

Easter Sunday is this weekend and I'm inviting some family members over for a wonderful brunch. If you're hosting an Easter party, try taking my advice and translate it to fit your entertaining needs. Before any party can get started, I have to make and send an invitation. Since we moved into a new office this week, I'm keeping the invite super simple and in the form of a lovely handwritten note. To see how I made it, read more.

To make a similar invite you will need the following supplies:

cardstock
a nice pen
scissors
paper Easter decoration
tape
shiny pens

To assemble the invite:

Fold the cardstock in half and cut down to size.
Tape the Easter decoration to the front of the invite.

Inside the card write out a message along these lines:

Dear Grandma,
Happy Almost Easter!
I would love it if you could join me for an Easter brunch Sunday, March 23 at 11 a.m. Please let me know if you can attend. Looking forward to it - PartySugar

Slide into an envelope and send.

View 6 Photos ›

Does Coffee Dream of Electric Chocolate? New Starbucks Chocolate Reviewed

YumSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:30:31 -0800

This summer a press release went out with limited fanfare. The folks at Hershey's were teaming up with Starbucks. At the time there was very little news available, other than an upcoming Starbucks-branded premium chocolate. The news piqued my interest, but there was no word on when the products would hit the shelves. Turns out it's today.

Using the expertise of Artisan Confection Company - a division of Hershey's that includes Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt - Starbucks has created a line of products to sell in stores. There are three types of chocolate bars, tasting squares and filled truffles. Thanks to FabSugar - who hand-carried these samples back from New York - we were lucky enough to give them a try. If you want to learn more about each flavor, as well as what we thought of them, read more.

The box the samples arrived in was dramatic. It was a high quality brown box filled with all sorts of goodies. There were six different tasting squares, four truffles, three chocolate bars and covered coffee beans. I thought the bars were better than the squares, and that the truffles were a bit overpowering. The beans on the other hand, were absolutely delicious. Overall, the flavors that paired coffee with chocolate were highly successful, the other tea-inspired flavors, not so much.
Truffles

Dark Chocolate Vanilla Bean Truffle: A rounded chocolate-covered-cherry sized truffle with a large dollop of vanilla bean cream in the middle. It was creamy and smooth, slightly buttery. Overall very nice.

Milk Chocolate Chai Truffle: This was the least favorite truffle. It was super heavy-handed with the cardamom and tasted more like sucking on chocolate covered cardamom pod, than it did like chai.
Milk Chocolate Caffe Mocha: The chocolate is slightly waxy. I thought it seemed rather Hershey's-like. Reminded us of the Hershey's Treasures, only better.
Dark Chocolate Espresso: This was by far our favorite truffle. The dark chocolate was smooth - almost too smooth - and it had a great melt, with a hint of smokiness. The espresso really came through, but was not overpowering. We'd definitely eat this again.

Milk Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans
This was my favorite thing in the box. FabSugar - who is a bit of a chocolate snob and hates on milk chocolate - even thought they were delicious. Unlike most chocolate covered beans, these are more like ground up beans covered in chocolate. It's a big coating of chocolate on a lovely amount of crunch.

Tasting Squares

Milk Chocolate: This was sort of generic. It would hit the spot if you craved chocolate, as it was tasty, but there was nothing special about it.
Dark Chocolate: Strangely, we liked the milk chocolate better. We thought it was a bit waxy. Again, tasty, but nothing special.
Mocha Dark Chocolate: This was our favorite square, the flavor pairing was really nice. There were bits of beans in it. I almost wished they offered this in a milk chocolate version too.
Chai Milk Chocolate: Like the truffle, there was way too much cardamom going on. Some of the folks here liked it because of that, but I was disappointed by how much it didn't taste like chai.
Passion Dark Chocolate: This was the worst thing in the entire box. Some of the folks thought it was okay, but I hated it. It was highly floral in taste, and there were bits of things in it that were just too much. It sort of tasted like artificial powder stuck inside of the chocolate. I say pass this one off to your friends, so you can eat the others.
Citron Dark Chocolate: Like the passion square, this one is also infused with tea. It was nicely flavored and okay. However at the end, it started reminding me of cleaner. If you love lemon/chocolate pairings you'd probably like it, but once again I say pass this one and eat the others.

Chocolate Bars
There are three flavors of chocolate bars - milk, dark and mocha dark - the flavors are reviewed above, but it should be mentioned that they tasted much better in a thicker bar format. It was nice to have something to sink your teeth into.

So, have you seen the new Starbucks Chocolates - they'll be in large grocery and drug stores retailers soon. If so, have you tried them?

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Come Party With Me: Mother's Day - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 07 May 2007 13:22:16 -0700

I have the best mom ever. Although she doesn't cook, she is unbelievably cool, young beyond her years, and is fabulously patient. I don't want to have kids because I know I could never be as an amazing mom as she is. I like to tell her I love her everyday, but I know sometimes she may feel a little under appreciated. This year I want to do something super special for her and make her a lovely breakfast in bed. She has done so much for me in the last twenty five years (I mean she gave birth to me, that in itself should grant her a lifetime of brunches) and the very least I can do is make her a meal made with 100% love. Since she is the guest of honor - and the only guest - I'll be making her an intimate invitation inspired by the ones you used to make in elementary school. So come party with me: make your mom a handmade card to go along with your homemade meal, read more

Remember when you were little and you made your mom silly little cards and she loved and praised them and placed them on the fridge? Well I wanted to recreate that sentiment in a card with simple text and a photo collage of pictures of me and mom.

To make this card you will need:

cardstock in the color of your choice (I chose a creamy butter)
satin ribbon in an attractive color that matches the cardstock (I chose pale yellow)
single hole punch
scissors
glue
a computer and printer
old photos: I chose one of my mom when she was pregnant with me, one of myself (yes I had a mullet), and one of my mom and me when she was pregnant with my little sister

To assemble this card:

Scan the images into your computer or make color copies of them as you don't want to cut up the original images. Make a collage in photoshop or with scissors and glue. I did mine on photoshop and printed out the image when I was done.

Once you have the collage done, create a new document in word on your computer. Type out a nice note in a fun font (I used Lucida Handwriting in size 12) for your mom. Here's what mine said:

Dearest Mom,
Without your loving care and undying support I would be lost.
To celebrate your absolute wonderfulness I will be making you a special-private mother/daughter brunch.
Please set aside Sunday morning for me.
I love you,
PartySugar

Print out on a plain sheet of paper. If you are statisfied with the layout and wording, print out on the colored cardstock.

Cut the collage down to size with no edge.

Glue to the back of the text. I glued mine at an angle because this is an invite that is not about perfection.
With the single hole punch, punch holes, roughly 1 inch apart.

Thread the satin ribbon between the holes and tie in a bow at the top on the text side.

Voila your invitation is done! I'm going to place it on her pillow so it will surprise her when she goes to bed tonight. What will you do for mom (or the person who you're celebrating) on Mother's Day? Tell me your party plans below!

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Come Party With Me: Book Party - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:43:18 -0700

In honor of this month being Summer Reading month here on YumSugar, I'm planning a book party! Planning an event with your favorite book as the theme, allows you to get super creative. My party is based around the classic Jane Austen novel, Pride & Prejudice. However, take the basic ideas and suit them to your favorite book - a meeting with friends that follows Oprah's book club, a child's birthday party based around the Madeline books, or even a Harry Potter party to discuss the final book in the series.

A party that promotes reading is good for the soul and the mind, so let's get started by making the invitation! To see how I made the aged Pride & Prejudice invite, read more

To make an invitation similar to the one shown here, you will need:

computer and printer
old time image
ribbon
cold coffee
a large sheet pan (or container of some sort)
cream cardstock

To assemble:

Start by dragging the image into a new Word document. Add the text and information of the party next to the image. Enclose with a border that matches your picture. Use a font that matches your book. For the Pride & Prejudice theme, I used Snell Roundhand Black size 12 to write

Miss PartySugar invites you to join her for a discussion of Jane Austen’s classic love story, Pride & Prejudice

Saturday August 18th
5:00 pm
Afternoon Cravings

Please bring a copy of the book & rsvp to PartySugar 415.555.5555

Print out a test copy of the invite and check for spelling and grammatical errors. Once satisfied with the invite, print out on the cream cardstock.

Pour the cold coffee into a baking pan and submerge the cardstock in the coffee. Leave for at least 30 minutes or longer. For a darker aged color, let it soak overnight.

Remove the invite from the coffee and set aside to dry in the sun near an open window.

Once the invitation has completely dried, carefully tear off the sides shaping it down to size.

Roll up into a scroll and tie with a pretty ribbon. Hand deliver to guests, place in mailboxes, or mail in small boxes.

What book would you base your book party on?? Tell me below!

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My Hands-Down Favorite Ginger Cookies

YumSugar — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:00:29 -0800

I'm usually not one to Super-size anything, but I'll make the exception for cookies. Last year one of my good friends bought me Elinor Klivans's Big Fat Cookies, a beautiful book full of tantalizing treats. The first recipe I tried, Super Sized Ginger Chewies, ended up being the last... I just can't get enough of these cookies! I'm sure the rest are just as fantastic, but believe me, once you try these you'll need to make more. For the recipe, read more

Super Sized Ginger Chewies
From Elinor Klivans's Big Fat Cookies

2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cloves
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temp.
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup molasses
about ¼ cup granulated sugar

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and molasses and mix until blended and an even light brown color, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate.

Spread the granulated sugar on a large piece of wax or parchment paper. Roll ¼ cup of dough between the palms of your hands into a 2 inch ball, roll the ball in the sugar and place on one of the prepared baking sheets. Continue making cookies, spacing them 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm, but they are still soft in the center and there are several large cracks on top, about 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 9-12 cookies (and yes, they'll be big).

Print recipe with images | without images