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The Basics: Potato Pancakes

partysugar — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:13:42 -0800

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Hanukkah 101: Create Your Own Menorah

PRSugar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:46:53 -0800

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Soup's On: Golden Beet Soup

partysugar — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:03:31 -0800

The other day my girlfriend was flipping through the December issue of Bon Appetit at my house. She came across their Hanukkah menu and got super excited about the delicious looking golden beet soup. She liked the way it sounded so much that she asked if I would help her make it. Instead of taking control, I agreed to let her be chef and I would act as the lowly-onion-chopping line cook.

The final result was a luxurious, perfectly smooth soup. Golden beets are an out-of-the ordinary ingredient, one that would be lovely on any holiday menu. To see how we made the soup, read more

Golden Beet Soup
From Bon Appetit magazine

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
9 2 1/2-inch-diameter golden beets, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (8 to 9 cups), green tops reserved*
4 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
6 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add beets, onions, ginger, and lemon peel.
Cover; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 6 cups broth and bring to boil. Cover; reduce heat and simmer until beets are very tender, 1 hour.

Remove from heat; let stand 20 minutes.
Puree soup in blender in batches until smooth. Return puree to pot. Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to soup and thin with more broth, if desired. Season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice.

Slice enough beet greens to measure 3/4 cup. Microwave greens 1 minute to wilt; place in blender. Add 3/4 cup soup; puree greens until smooth.
Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle some of greens puree over soup and serve.

Serves 8.

*When reading the recipe my girlfriend did not see this note and threw the beet greens in the garbage. Hence there is no pretty green garnish on our version.

Do ahead: Make soup through step 5 up to 1 day ahead. Cover soup and puree separately; chill. Rewarm both separately before using.

Print recipe with images | without images

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Product of the Day: Bald Guy Holiday Greeting Cards

GiggleSugar — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:12:40 -0800

Bald Guy Holiday Greeting Cards manage to be irreverent and warm and fuzzy at the same time. And the little hipster troll/elf up there with a missing tooth warms the cockles of my heart.

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Kidoodles: Making a Menorah

babysugar — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:30:33 -0800

Hanukkah's coming up next week and there are some fun ways to get in the spirit while spending quality time with your kids. One simple project is making a paper menorah.

Even if you're not Jewish, doing this activity can teach your child about other religions and traditions. To see how to do this activity step by step and learn more about the menorah, read more .

You will need these supplies:

Two pieces of blank paper
A pen or pencil
Glue
A piece of paper at least as big as your paper
Blue glitter

Now to get started, here are your steps.

Either draw a menorah or cheat, like I did, and download one from the Internet and print it out.
Place the drawing on top of the foil and trace it. It will leave an outline on the foil for you to cut around.

You guessed it! Cut around the traced outline of the menorah. You have to be careful since the foil can tear easily.

When you have your silver menorah cut out, place some glue on the back of it and paste it down to the plain white piece of paper.

Draw the flames for the candles atop each candle holder.

Fill in the flames with glue. You can let it go outside the lines and get a little messy.

Sprinkle the blue glitter on the glue.

Shake off the glitter and you're done. A masterpiece has revealed itself!

The Hanukkah menorah is called a Hanukiyah. It has nine candle holders. There are eight candles, one for each night of Hanukkah. The ninth is called the Shamash and is used to light the other candles. The Shamash is lit first and then is used to light the other candles. The candles are placed in the menorah from right to left. But when the candles are lit, you light from left to right.

Have fun with all the glitter and glue!

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Come Party With Me: Hanukkah Luncheon - Invite

partysugar — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:27:18 -0800

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is already over. Now that the big meal has been eaten, it's time to start planning holiday parties! To kick off our holiday coverage, I am putting together a Hanukkah party. Instead of the traditional dinner, my party is a late lunch consisting of a delicious and hearty menu. But before I get carried away with menu planning, I have to send the invites. Download our Hanukkah festival of lights invite or make one like the dreidel shaped invite - it doubles as a festive decoration! - seen here. To see how I made it, read more

To make a similar style invite you will need:

cardstock in two different tones
glitter
glue
old newspaper
pencil
foil
scissors
hole punch
ribbon
computer and printer
menorah image
dreidel template

To assemble the invite:

Start by creating a new Word document on the computer. Drag the menorah image into the document. Arrange the text around the menorah. Include all of the details of the party. On mine, I used Monotype Corsiva in size 16, text color navy blue and wrote the following message:

You’re Invited…

Please join me for a late lunch
to celebrate Hanukkah
Saturday, December 10, 2007
2:00 in the afternoon

PartySugar’s House, San Francisco
Rsvp 415.555.5555

Print out a test copy and check spelling and grammar. Once satisfied with the look of the invite print out on the cardstock. I used a sparkling silver cardstock for mine. Set aside.

Using the dreidel template, trace the shape onto the cardstock and cut the invite and the backing cardstock down to size.

Cut the foil down to the same shape as the dreidel. Cut into strips.

Place the backing dreidel on a surface covered with newspaper. Tape several strips of foil to the newspaper covering part of the dreidel.

Brush the glue on, covering both the foil and dreidel.

Sprinkle the glitter over the top and shake to remove excess. Let the glitter dry.

Remove the foil. Punch a hole in the top corner of both sides of the invite.

Slide the ribbon through the hole and wrap around the top of the dreidel. Tie a knot to create a loop so guests can later use the invite as a decoration if desired.

Gently place in an envelope, address in your best handwriting, and send to the guests.

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