YumSugar

Yummy Link: Read the Amateur Gourmet's Book

YumSugar — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:21:31 -0700

You can now get your hands on your very own copy of the Amateur Gourmet's new book. If you're lucky you can even meet him at an upcoming book signing.

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats

YumSugar — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:01:18 -0700

Today is National Hunger Awareness Day and so I thought I'd tell you about this great book called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. It's a fascinating coffee table book with portraits of families, surrounded by the food they eat during the course of a week. It's amazingly thought-provoking (compare the Californian family to say, the family in Bhutan or Chad) and wonderfully interesting. There are 30 families in 24 countries, and each of them are profiled with a small story, a full shopping list (with prices) and a family recipe. If you get a chance, I highly recommend that you spend some time with it. It's available for $40, but you can probably find it at your local library. I've included some of the photos in the book, click on each one for more information (including location and money spent on food per week).

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Images from Hungry Planet courtesy of Time in Partnership with CNN

Must Read: Pestos, Tapenades, & Spreads

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:48 -0800

Much like PartySugar, I'll be paying special attention to the oft-neglected starters when I host this year's Thanksgiving meal. I've not yet determined what they'll be: should I serve soup? Dip in a bread bowl? So I am excited for a new book, Pestos, Tapenades, & Spreads ($17) by Stacey Printz, which offers up an array of spreads to serve when entertaining on the run. Were its offerings worthy of being on the Thanksgiving table? Find out when you read more.

Must-Read: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

YumSugar — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:40:24 -0700

"The best food doesn't have to be challenging in its preparation, but should recall our fondest food memories," Melissa Murphy writes in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book. That pretty much sums up the philosophy of this cookbook ($17.82), penned by the brainchild of Brooklyn's popular Sweet Melissa Patisseries. Here, the French Culinary Institute-trained pastry chef reveals the secrets behind the refined, yet homespun, baked treats that the bakery's known for. Was the tome a sweet success? Find out when you read more

Do You Read Food Books?

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:15:45 -0700

Now that Summer reading season is upon us, I'm wondering how many of you read food books. I'm not talking about cookbooks, but the nonfiction, narrative works that, when done well, can read like novels.

I'm a big fan of The Omnivore's Dilemma, so I might check out Michael Pollan's latest, In Defense of Food. Cast your vote and tell me what book is next on your list in the comments.

Nonni's Makes It Rain Meatballs With New World Record

YumSugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:05:14 -0800

When I saw the trailer for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, I wondered: what could be better than living in an alternate universe where it rains meatballs? Well, I think I've found my answer.

It's a 222.5-pound meatball that emerged over the weekend, blowing all other past meatball records out of the water. The gargantuan ground beef spectacle, which was created by Matthew Mitnitsky of Nonni's Italian Eatery in Concord, NH, was confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the (new) record holder of the world's largest meatball, beating out a recent 198.6-pound feat created on Jimmy Kimmel.

The best part? The now-famous meatball was broken down into manageable portions, then packaged and delivered to local shelters. What do you think? Delicious or disgusting?

Source

Happy Hour: Cran-Limoncello

YumSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:00:49 -0800

Every few months, I host a book club in my home, and find it a lovely occasion to try out a new cocktail. This time around, I couldn't wait to incorporate ingredients that evoke the holidays, like cranberries and the zesty Italian after-dinner favorite, limoncello.

This three-ingredient sipper couldn't be easier to pull together; it simply calls for seltzer, limoncello, and cranberry juice - no shaker required. Yet the payoff is in spades: "What went into this? Can I have the recipe?" friends asked me throughout the night. I assured them that even the most bar-challenged could make this drink. For a pretty garnish that's a hint of what's to come, toss in a few fresh cranberries, too. Keep reading for the recipe.

Must Read: Field Guide to Candy

YumSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:30:04 -0700

With tomorrow being Halloween, we've unofficially opened the Pandora's Box that is Fall sweets season. That's why the Field Guide to Candy ($16) couldn't have come at a better time. Pastry chef Anita Chu, who authored the Field Guide to Cookies, has come out with a second book, which promises to teach you "how to identify and make virtually every candy imaginable." Does it live up to its promise? To find out, keep reading.

Must Read: Colin Cowie Wedding Chic

partysugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:00:58 -0700

Colin Cowie is one of the world's most extravagant party planners. He's known for his outrageous chicness and attention to detail. While he's planned stylish soirees for Oprah and other famous celebrities, he's also helped many brides create the perfect wedding. His latest book, Colin Cowie Wedding Chic ($26.40), is an extensive guide that provides ideas for celebrating every moment of the big day. It's a great resource if you're getting married. To find out more about it, read more.

Pros:

Cowie leaves no detail undiscussed. The book is broken up into ten informative sections including bouquets and other ceremony flowers, centerpieces, reception decor, ritual and ceremony, etc.
The tone is conversational, yet informative. It's a very easy read.
It's filled with inspirational ideas (many with corresponding color photographs) taken from real weddings that Cowie planned.

Cons:

The book's focus is on the wedding day. There is no mention of other wedding related events such as the engagement party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, etc.
Many of the weddings illustrated are lush and over the top making it obvious that they were planned with an unlimited budget.

It's a hard covered heavy book: you won't be able to toss it in a purse and bring it to a meeting with caterers.

Imagery: The spectacular photographs make this book. Each page has at least one picture, and the entire tome is filled with hundreds of beautiful color photos.

Overall: If the sky is the limit for your big day or if you're in need of wedding inspiration, get yourself a copy of this book. However, if you're looking for a knowledgeable manual that discusses every aspect of planning a wedding - choosing an event planner, bridal party etiquette, planning the rehearsal dinner, etc. - you might want to consider another book.

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The Guide to the Chocolate Guide

YumSugar — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:32:14 -0800

If you've ever found yourself in a new city and wished you knew where to go to find a chocolate payload then consider yourself lucky. Just in time for chocolate month, the folks at TasteTV have released The Chocolate Guide, a book on local chocolatiers, chocolate makers, chocolate shops, and more. This edition covers the West Coast - it says it covers California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia; however, I found it to be really California-centric - and gives you descriptions and photos of each place. It's a pretty comprehensive guide - to California anyway - and would make for a fun chocolate road-trip tour guide. However, as much as I love drooling over chocolate, I found it to be somewhat frustrating. To see my thoughts on the book, read more.

Let me start by saying, on a whole, this book is a fun idea. I'm assuming this is a first in a series, and I think over time this could be a really neat set of books. From a chocolate lover's point of view, it's mission accomplished: I don't know a chocolate lover who wouldn't like this book. From a book lover's point of view, it really falls flat.

First of all, the book is separated by region (Southern California, Northern California, everything else), but within each region there is no rhyme or reason to the ordering. It's not alphabetical and it's not by location - to be fair, there might be a hint of location ordering, but it was far too complex for me to figure out. The same can be said about the full directory at the end. Also, I find it really hard to believe that Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia can be lumped into 28 pages when California receives 130.

Secondly, the photos are inconsistent, for every stop-in-your-tracks droolicious photograph there is one that is an obvious television screencap. While it's nice to have images for the different chocolatiers, it was more than distracting to have dithery, dark, pixelated images. I didn't understand why they didn't visit each place with a photographer instead.

My last complaint would have to be that it's difficult to tell which ones are chocolatiers and which ones are shops. They provide the address to most of them, but do not say which are actually open to the public. Oh and in the Southern California/Mexico section, they weirdly show photos of the Nestle Chocolate Museum and do not give an address, or any information about it, a total shame as it could have been the highlight of the book.

Overall it's a fun concept, I can't deny that. It's also a nice overview to what is being created on the West Coast. Yet, I hope the publishers learn from their mistakes before putting out other editions. I mean, like I said earlier, who wouldn't want a true chocolate road-trip tour book?