YumSugar

Europe to Ban Certain American Wines

partysugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:00:20 -0700

Last week, in a frustrating turn of events, the European Union passed a law that bans the sale of any American wine with one of the following words on the labels:

Chateau, classic, clos, cream, crusted/crusting, fine, late bottled vintage, noble, ruby, superior, sur lie, tawny, vintage, vintage character

The legislation comes as a follow-up to a 2006 agreement that limited the American use of terms like "Champagne" or "Chablis." Because it preserved certain wine growing regions, this pact was widely accepted. However, the new stricter ban is not related to protecting a specific region. The law will affect American growers of port and sherry, and many large American wineries, like Washington's popular Chateau Ste. Michelle and Napa's famed Chateau Montelena, will no longer be able to sell wine in Europe.

Like many wine enthusiasts, I think this is an absurd regulation and hope that the Europeans will reconsider the terminology ban. How do you feel about it? Are you surprised to hear that Europe is prohibiting the sale of American wine?

Source

Citizen Bean's Coffee of the Month Club

YumSugar — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:30:48 -0700

I've heard of beer of the month clubs that let you sample different microbrews, as well as wine of the month clubs, which are a great way to discover small wineries. Now, I've just discovered a similar service for coffee lovers, called Citizen Bean. Guided by the principle of "coffee with a conscience," Citizen Bean sends its subscribers a new organic or fair-trade coffee each month, selected from micro-roasters all over the US.

The service ranges from $79.99 for four months to $199.99 for an entire year. Each month, you get a full pound of coffee, sent within days of its roasting date, along with assorted coffee-related accessories and treats. Plus, Citizen Bean asks each of its featured roasters to designate a charity, to which CB donates a portion of sales. This would be a great way to branch out from your supermarket offerings, and it would also make a delicious gift for any coffee aficionados in your life. What do you think? Would you use a service like this?

Yummy Links: From Shrimp Roll Pizza to Pie Pans

YumSugar — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 07:59:31 -0700

As if that crazy Japanese Double Roll pizza wasn't enough, now Korea has its own Double Roll and it includes shrimp! - Serious Eats
The five cookie finalists in the Mrs. Fields Search for the 30th Anniversary Cookie Contest have been announced. - iVillage
Learn more about fair trade, including 12 ways to shop fair trade. - TeamSugar
Moving to college? Check out these desperate dorm-room tricks and microwave hi-jinxs. - Chow
Summer is full of great produce, and here are five ways to eat more of it. - Apartment Therapy: The Kitchen
Take some time to learn the science behind the restaurant menu. - Will Work For Food
Here's another fascinating vintage recipe. This time it's for Velveeta Nutburgers. - Slashfood
Don't miss this list of eight foods men (and probably women) should eat everyday. - FitSugar
Ever wish you could make just a slice of pie? Well the individual pie slice pan takes you one step closer to that goal. - Baking Bites

RuMe Reusable Snack Pack: Love It or Hate It?

YumSugar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:50:35 -0700

If you already carry your groceries in reusable bags, then you might take a liking to reusable polyester snack packs. The colorful, patterned one pictured above, by fair trade maker RuMe, is meant to store your sandwiches and midday snacks not once or twice but many times over. Although it may require a little maintenance cleaning every once in a while, a reusable snack bag makes a colorful fashion statement - and more sense for the environment. Is it a change you'd be willing to make?

All the News That's Fit to Eat!

YumSugar — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:47:12 -0800

Every Wednesday, most major US newspapers include a food section in their daily lineup. To ensure that you're not missing out on anything, I'll keep up with it all and bring you links to some of my favorite stories.

Imported Spanish ingredients, such as chorizo, serrano ham and piquillo peppers, are the new must have items for Bay Area chefs and home cooks. - San Francisco Chronicle
Beware of the breakfast wars! Starbucks takes on McDonald's with hot egg-and-cheese sandwiches, while McDonald's promotes new higher quality coffee. - New York Times
Banana's appeal extends to the Fair Trade movement. Includes a recipe for chocolate stuffed bananas. - Boston Globe
To help you stick to your New Year's resolutions, Chef Wolfgang Puck offers up a lighter version of Bolognese. - Chicago Tribune
Trade in your box of chicken stock for an easy homemade version. - Seattle Times

Farid Zadi shares his passion for North African cooking. I'll definitely be trying a few of these recipes. - Los Angeles Times
Looks like the little ones are jumping on the culinary bandwagon too. Cooking classes, culinary summer camps and private cooking birthday parties are becoming more popular with the wee ones. - Houston Chronicle

2007 Winter Fancy Food Show - Final Recap

YumSugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:04:40 -0800

It has only been two weeks, but I feel like I've been talking about the Winter Fancy Food Show for months now. If you're bored of it, don't worry, this is the last one and if you're afraid you've missed some of the coverage, then fear no more. I've got one final recap that rolls all the other recaps into one.

The Winter Fancy Food Show was a "gorge yourself silly, check out our new products and taste our old ones too" sort of an event. With over 1,000 vendors and 80,000 things to eat, it was a bit overwhelming, by day three I was tired of walking the aisles and needed to take a long nap (that happens after a sugar crash).

While there we ran into a few celebrity chefs:

Paula Deen
Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) - be sure to see our video interview
Martin Yan - he was also kind enough to do a video interview

We also identified some major food trends:

Teas - blooming teas, organic teas, fair trade teas - be sure to check out our video interview with Ineeka's Shashank Goel
Superfruits - who doesn't love anti-oxidants?

Infused Waters and Sodas - apparently if your water doesn't give you something else, it's just not good enough
Infused Alcohols and Mixers - a drink is no longer just a drink - be sure to check out our video with TMD's enthusiastic Michael Ward
Goat Dairy Products - Move over cows, goats are taking over!
Real wasabi - okay, this one isn't a food trend, but I forgot to mention it anywhere else and wanted to share this picture with you

If all of that is overwhelming, then check out this video clip to get the complete idea:

To check out a LARGE gallery of images, read more