YumSugar

'Wich of the Week: Honey Baked Ham and Cabbage Reuben

YumSugar — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:05:07 -0700

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The Philippines Has Its Good Friday Ritual Nailed Down

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:26:35 -0700

pics

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Kidoodles: Eggcellent Bouquets

babysugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:11:00 -0700

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Eggcellent Fritatta With Asparagus, Leeks, Mushrooms

YumSugar — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:51:55 -0700

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Delilicious: Chocolate-Covered Peeps on Sticks

Angelica — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 16:53:31 -0700

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'Wich of the Week: Easter Ham Slider

YumSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:34:16 -0700

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The Washington Post's 2nd Annual Peep Show

YumSugar — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:45:12 -0700

Winning Peep dioramas from the Washington Post's contest 2008.

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Kidoodles: Easter Crowns and Masks

babysugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:16:56 -0700

How to make an Easter crown or bunny ears.

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Come Party With Me: Easter Brunch - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:04:11 -0700

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TV Dinners: South Park - Microwaved Peeps

YumSugar — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 11:51:42 -0700

Last night the bf was flipping through the channels and landed on a new episode of South Park. The episode itself poked fun at Easter in a Da Vinci Code style. The weirdest thing is I was actually writing a post about how we microwaved Peeps when, what? What is that? They are microwaving Peeps on South Park?!?

Sometimes the universe is wild like that.

So, for today's TV Dinner, I present microwaved Peeps. However, unlike the ones on South Park, ours did not expand to the point where they took over the building and burst out all the windows - but they did expand. We ran three tests and then tried a Peep joust (we didn't have toothpicks so we improvised). Unfortunately, the microwave in our office has a weird screen in front of the window, so we really couldn't see in. This meant no fun video for us (we tried, it looked terrible), so we'll have to show you what happened with still photographs instead.

We put the first Peep in for 15 seconds, it puffed up a tiny bit and deflated into a pile of sticky goo. I preferred the 15 second taste to the 0 second taste. It was warm and a tiny bit more flavorful. I was also surprised because it somehow still managed to look like a bird.

Our tests also ran at 30 seconds, 45 seconds and then a jousting event:

To see the rest of our microwaved Peep adventure (Peep jousting!), and a clip from South Park (while it lasts), read more

Next we tried upping the time to 30. It puffed up in the middle, got crispy on the sides, and then became golden in the back (note: our microwave's rotating tray thing, doesn't actually rotate). The taste reminded us a bit of roasted marshmallows, which surprised me since where was the roasting?

After seeing a slight burn and only a small puff (it was hard to see through the grate, but we tried our best), we upped the time to 45 seconds. At 45 seconds our Peep more than doubled in size (they deflate immediately after you open the door), became charred on the edges and made the office smell like burnt toast.

We were going to go for 1 minute, but decided that the last two Peeps would be better spent jousting. Unfortunately we didn't have any toothpicks in the office, so we broke off some tines off of a plastic fork and set them up that way. I was expecting one of the tines to pop the other (I think that's the point of Peep jousting), however instead of hating each other, they just merged into one big giant lovefest Peep. I guess our Peeps were lovers, not fighters...

Check out a larger image by clicking on one below, or scroll down for the South Park clip (the exploding Peeps are at the end - and I'm not sure how long til the clip gets yanked from YouTube).

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Have You Ever Poached An Egg?

YumSugar — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 08:51:37 -0700

It's no secret, I love eggs. I've perfected my fried egg and my hard and soft boiled, but I'm still working on my poached egg. I've read all the tips (and there are a lot of them, a bunch of conflicting points of view as well) and can make a pretty decent egg, even if it does look ragged. Last night I thought I'd give poaching another try (so much healthier than fried eggs) and have a poached egg on top of cut up toast, sliced tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Here's how I went about doing it:

Fill a skillet nearly full of water (at least one inch so to cover the egg completely.
Add a pinch (approximately 1 tsp) of salt and about 1 tbsp of white vinegar (this is to help prevent the "feathered" edges).
Heat on hight until water is boiling. Meanwhile crack egg into a small cup (like a handled cup measure).
When water is boiled, lower the lip of the cup into the water and slide eggs into boiling water. Remove from heat and cover for 4 minutes. I personally like it when the yolk is super runny, so I stop when the yolk is not completely milked over (about 3 minutes).
Gently remove from pan with a slotted spoon.

This time it came out okay. I could always trim the ragged edges off (which is recommended by many cookbooks), however it was just dinner for me, so there was no need.

Have you ever made poached eggs? What are your tips? Tell us below!

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Fab Finding Follow Up: Lovely Easter Brunch

FabSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:12:22 -0700

So my bag is all packed and I'm heading to San Diego this weekend for a little mother daughter escape. I haven't been since I was a wee lassie and my mom and I made some Easter brunch reservations at a nice outdoor restaurant. I asked you all to go Fab Finding for a lovely Easter brunch outfit. No I'm not a huge fan of pink, but I do love the festivity of Easter and I started you off with this Bottega Veneta Chain handle bag, $2,760. I asked you all to make sure to throw in a great jacket or cover up in case it's breezy! To see all the Easter brunch fab finds click here. Let's see what you all came up with!

Look #1, found by WhiplashGirlchild is ladylike and fun with this Anthropologie - compass jacket and Christian Louboutin Piaf patent leather pumps.

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To see more, read more

Look #2, found by stickyheels is allowed because while she chose a different purse this is too cute to pass up! It's very beachy San Diego with this Tomato Red Shift and kate spade foldover patterned bag.

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Look #3, found by foreverdizzy is spunky with this Agate Tear Drop and Charm Necklace and Young Fabulous & Broke Short Trench Coat.

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Chocolate Billboard Disappears Fast

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 23:14:37 -0700

Yesterday, Thorntons (a British chocolate company) unveiled an 860 pound (390kg) pure chocolate billboard in London. Actually, make that the the world's first chocolate billboard. The billboard was 14.5 ft by 9.5 ft and was made from 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels. During assembly, one of the panels fell off and five bunnies were broken (luckily there were spares).

Once unveiled, Thorntons invited shoppers to jump in and grab a bite. However you had to act fast, the billboard didn't last long. Three hours, that's all it took for folks to devour the billboard that took three months, 10 people and 300 hours to assemble.

"There was something for everyone from giant bunnies to hazelnut eggs," said chocolatier Barry Colenso.

As the billboard was unveiled, 50 girls from the Brownies turned up on a chocolate finding mission.

"Their jaws dropped as they asked, 'Is it real chocolate?'" Mr Colenso [ said.

I suppose since it was gone almost immediately I would have eaten some, but could you imagine if it just sat there for days and days?

To check out images of the billboard during assembly and destruction, read more

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Source: BBC News
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Come Party With Me: Easter - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 06:58:13 -0700

Easter is this weekend and I know some of you have been asking me to help you plan your Easter dinners and brunches, so let's get started right away with making an invitation to an Easter themed meal. When I was deciding what kind of party to host this year, I was torn between Easter dinner and Easter brunch. I have recipes for both roasted marinated lamb and breakfast bread pudding that I've been wanting to try out... so I'm planning one fabulous party and offering you two menu choices. If you want to make a dinner use the dinner menu, and if you prefer to host a brunch follow my brunch menu suggestions. But before we can even think about the menu we must invite our friends and family. Come party with me, it's my favorite time of the week: invitation making time so, read more

Eggs, bunnies, and the sunny colors of yellow and green come to mind whenever I think Easter, so I've incorporated all of these things into my invitation.

To make the invitation you will need:

pretty, glitter-y paper to be the front of the Easter egg invite (I found mine at a craft store in the scrap booking section)

bunny silhouette
green glitter, optional
computer and printer

To assemble this invitation:

Start on your computer by creating a new word document. Choose the insert shape icon and insert an oval shape the size of your choice. Change the settings so there is no fill and the oval is outlined in the color green instead of black. Inside the oval (egg), in the green text of your choice (I used Harrington, size 12, Bold), write out a friendly message along with the details of the party:

Spring has arrived!

Miss PartySugar would like you
to attend a brunch to celebrate
the refreshing season of rebirth.

Sunday, April 8 2007
11:30 am

PartySugar’s House
San Francisco
Rsvp 415.555.5555

If you are hosting a dinner rather than a brunch substitute the word dinner for brunch and 7:00 pm for 11:30 am.

Print a test copy of the information on plain white paper. Adjust as necessary to your liking.

When you are satisfied with the basis of the invitation print out on the yellow cardstock.

Cut the oval/egg out leaving a small border surrounding the green oval printed on the yellow paper.

Glue the back of the yellow egg onto the back of the decorative glitter paper.

With the yellow egg side as your guide cut the decorative paper down to size.

Voila! Your simple Easter invitation is finished. Prepare the invite to send by placing it in the middle of your green recycled paper. If desired sprinkle extra green glitter onto the invite.

Fold the green paper up around the invitation like you would wrap a present, taking care to ensure that the sprinkled glitter stays inside.

Tie shut with a yellow ribbon formed into a pretty bow. Slide into an envelope and send.

What kind of invitation would you use to invite your friends and families to a spring themed dinner or brunch? Share your ideas with us below. And if you are hosting an Easter event come back throughout the week to check out all of my inspiring Easter ideas.

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