YumSugar

Yummy Links: From Creme Brulee to Avocado Ice Cream

partysugar — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:00:24 -0700

Learn how to make a perfectly caramelized creme brulee top. Then invite friends over for a creme brulee making party! - The Kitchn
Take a behind the scenes look at the upcoming Julia and Julia film. - Serious Eats
Before planning what type of margaritas you'll serve on Cinco de Mayo, brush up on your tequila knowledge. - Slashfood
If your wedding is fido-friendly, be sure to know the difference between wedding cookies for dogs and wedding cookies for people. - PetSugar
Wondering what it's like to eat while in the army? Listen to this interesting podcast that describes - among other things - a replica of Starbucks that's open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. - Crispy on the Outside
Is there really a food crisis? The Daily Show hilariously investigates. - Eater SF
This avocado ice cream looks like a luscious ending to a spicy Mexican feast. - Mac & Cheese

Biscuits You Can Share With Fido

YumSugar — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:01:18 -0700

With the recent frightful pet food scare, many people have turned to making their own pet food or going to organic, high-end solutions. A London bakery has decided to take it to the next step by creating treats that can be enjoyed by pets and owners alike.

The Alldog Bakery is proudly stamping their products as, "made with human quality ingredients," and their range includes treats such as Honey Hearts (wholemeal flour, maize meal, milk, honey and coconut), Carob Crunch (heart shaped carob cookies), Liver Love (savory crackers with a hint of garlic) and Doggy Doughnut. All of which are made with natural ingredients, no preservatives or additives. They're good for you and your pup, but I don't know if your dentist would approve, apparently they're "much harder than human biscuits to suit dogs' teeth".

Source: Spluch and This Is London

Make Your Own Pet Food

YumSugar — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:59:31 -0700

We've received a bunch of emails lately about cooking for pets. The news of tainted pet food that sadly killed a bunch of beloved ones, and sickened many more, has gotten everyone clamoring for ways to make treats of their own. I don't actually own any pets (we're still working on asking the landlord to bend her no dogs policy), but can understand why this is a big concern. So to help out, I've rounded up a bunch of (better-educated-than-me) posts and resources to help you on your journey of homemade cuisine for your pets.

However, before you start be sure to check with your veterinarian first. Each animal and species may have different dietary needs.

Before you begin, be sure to consider whether or not homemade food is better for your pet or not.
Chiff.com has put together some great nutritional information to consider before making your own pet food.
Medical News Today has come up with a tip sheet regarding cooking for your pet.
Be sure to read the reviews before you buy, but there are a lot of pet food cookbooks out there.

Five more links (including a bunch of recipes) after the jump, so read more

The folks at The Blog Pound have done a round up of five pet food cookbooks with full reviews.

Get a great deal on the Real Food for Dogs and Cats book, plus some news rounded up by the folks at Apartment Therapy.
If you don't want to invest in cookbooks, here are five recipes for home-cooked pet food.
Here's another one for raw food health cakes for dogs.
And if you didn't know, every issue of Rachael Ray magazine has a pet friendly recipe in the back. This month it's a french grilled sandwich for your pup.

Got a great pet food resource? Let us all know below!

Yummy Links: From Club Sandwiches to Street Food

partysugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:50:00 -0700

There's nothing quite as delicious as the classic club sandwich.- Serious Eats
Stressed? Here are 10 nutrients that can help relieve the tension. - Chow
Paula Deen's beauty advice is featured in next month's Allure. - Eat Me Daily
What you need to remember when dining outdoors with your pet. - OpenTable
Learn how Corton's chef Paul Liebrandt makes rabbit and scallop duo. - The Feedbag
If you love street food, be sure to check out this extensive guide to the nation's best. - Gourmet

Source: Flickr User Geoff604

KFC Closing Stores For a Good Cause

YumSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:36 -0700

Is KFC trying to make amends for the Double Down, its infamous sandwich made with chicken patties instead of bread? The chicken chain is taking a break from inventing indulgent new foods to fight hunger, starting next Tuesday. Over the next few weeks, KFC will temporarily close more than 15,000 locations during the lunch rush and convert them into "World Hunger Relief Kitchens."

The kitchens will serve free grilled chicken meals to needy families while also raising awareness with charitable food drives and car washes at the shuttered stores. Fighting hunger is a pet cause of parent company Yum Brands, which launched a World Hunger Relief fund in 2007. Though there is some irony to KFC giving away free grilled chicken while it's being sued for grilled chicken, I can definitely get behind this good cause.

What do you think about the store closings: publicity stunt or sincere do-gooding?

Are Inspectors to Blame For the Peanut Salmonella Outbreak?

partysugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:00:38 -0800

While the company behind the peanut salmonella scare has been shut down, many people are still wondering who's really to blame for the ordeal. Was it the president of the Peanut Corporation of America, who knowingly sent contaminated goods to the stores? Or was it the government, who failed to detect that the production plants were in disgusting conditions?

According to a recent article by The New York Times, the guilty party could actually be the private inspectors who check and rate a plant's food safety level. An audit conducted by an inspector last March declared that the gross facility in Georgia had a food safety level of "superior." According to the FDA, however, the same plant had been plagued by salmonella for at least the past nine months. This isn't the first known case where a private inspector failed to properly monitor a food plant, the Times reports:

An examination of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in recent years - in products as varied as spinach, pet food, and a children’s snack, Veggie Booty - show that auditors failed to detect problems at plants whose contaminated products later sickened consumers.

Although I understand that food safety is an incredibly hard thing to oversee, I can't help but feel a little queasy about this news. I hope that after such a widespread contamination, changes are made to correct the system. How do you feel about the ordeal? Who do you blame for the outbreak?

Source

Let's Dish: What Are Your Restaurant Pet Peeves?

partysugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:00:48 -0800

A couple of week's ago I was at one of San Francisco's most well-regarded and popular restaurants. While I enjoyed the overall experience - the food was divine, the waitstaff friendly, the location hip - I couldn't get over one thing. As illustrated by the picture above, the food arrived at our table before the drinks! This is one of my restaurant pet peeves: I can't stand it when food comes before drinks. You order the drinks before the food, so it's not logical for the food to appear first.

Now that I've confessed mine, I want to hear about your restaurant pet peeves. Whether it's an overbearing waiter or uncleared plates, do tell: what drives you absolutely nuts when dining out?

Biggest Headline of 2008: Rachael Ray's Year of Ups and Downs

partysugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:30:22 -0800

Whether you love her or hate her, Rachael Ray, the Food Network's biggest star, is here to stay. Although 2008 was filled with many ups and downs, it was a huge year for Ray. Things got off to a rocky start in January, when a secondhand story claimed that Ray, a Dunkin' Donuts spokeswoman, refused to drink Dunkin's coffee, instead opting for Starbucks. A week later, Ray denied the claim as "absolutely ridiculous." In February, Ray happily hosted the wildly popular Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, but March brought worries that her daytime television talk show would not be renewed. However, these rumors were quickly squashed when reports showed that her viewership was growing. The weirdest bombshell came in May when Michelle Malkin, a conservative commentator, accused Ray of supporting terrorists in a Dunkin' Donuts ad. The donut chain pulled the ad and released a statement clarifying that Rachael was simply wearing a stylish scarf and not a traditional headdress sometimes associated with terrorists.

Ray rose above the controversy to win a daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show. In July she rolled out a line of pet food called Nutrish, and in early August Forbes named her the world's richest chef. The week before bringing the Burger Bash to New York City's first-ever Wine and Food festival, Ray revealed her plans to open a hamburger restaurant. Since then, Ray has laid low. She recently had throat surgery to get rid of her raspy voice and is currently taking some time off to recover.

What did you think about Ray's turbulent year? Will she continue to make headlines in 2009?

Source and Source

Do You Know What's Cooking This Week?

YumSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:30:00 -0700

The food industry was abuzz this week with all sorts of news. We were hooked: Is the Double Cheeseburger in jeopardy? Will Whole Foods survive the tough economy? Will Adam's new Food Network show top NFNS winner Aaron's?
We also aired out our greatest kitchen pet peeves, made a delicious frozen mojito cake, and continued our obssession with unusual nachos. How much did you tune in? Take our quiz to find out!

Take the quiz

Talking Top Chef With Padma and Tom

YumSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:35:11 -0700

As you probably know, the next season of Top Chef starts this Wednesday, Mar. 12. The contestants look - if I can borrow a word from Project Runway - fierce and the competition should be exciting.

We recently had the opportunity - along with a large group of other folks - to sit down and chat with Padma and Chef Tom. They talked about the talent during this season, their interaction with past contestants, the producers, and their food pet peeves. To find out what they had to say, read more.

On why they come back each year:

Padma: Well I’ve been doing it for three seasons, but I just love food. You know again, we’re surrounded by people talking shop and, you know, I’m the kind of girl that talks about dinner as I’m finishing up lunch.

So it’s the perfect job for me.

Tom: You know, for me the show is - sort of means something in the industry now. And what really keeps me going is I kind of treat the contestants as if they were working for me in my kitchen. And sometimes I’m harsh because I’m harsh on the cooks in my kitchen. And there are other times that I’m very encouraging. . . And so, you know, part of being a chef is teaching. And so I get a lot of gratitude out of, you know, meeting these young chefs who I probably wouldn’t know and seeing what they’re doing.

On keeping in touch with the contestants:

Padma: I run into Ilan and I run into Sam because they’re in New York. So once in awhile I’ll see them and, you know, it’s always nice to see them.

Tom: Well I run into - you know, Sam, I actually brought him down to Florida to do something. It was - we were cooking for the Naples Wine and Food Auction, and I brought him down to be one of the feature chefs down there. Actually, Harold was on that trip, too along with two other chefs that are friends of mine.

On their food pet peeves:

Padma: Tom doesn’t like skins on bell pepper.

Tom: But I’ll eat that. I will not eat okra. I hate it. That and grated mountain yams for the same reason - slimy.

Padma: It’s not slimy when I make okra. I fry okra.

Tom: I don’t care who makes it. You can fry it. You can do whatever you want with it. You can keep it. All the okra lovers out there, there’s just more for them because I don’t want it.

Padma: Yeah. I don’t like raw onions. It’s too pungent for me. I don’t mind, you know, little tiny bit of something but I really am not into raw onions - not on my burger, not on my salads, not on anything.

On the Top Chef producers:

Tom: You know, the one great thing I think about, at least I think for the integrity of the show is - and I know there’s a little disclaimer on the credits, but the producers so far - and I don’t expect they will - have never got involved with who stays or who goes.

They’re there when we’re deliberating because they have to be. They’re shooting it. They also need to know because they have to set cameras and stuff like that when we, you know, announce the winner or loser.

But they, at times, have said are you sure that’s the right person? And we’re like yes, and we’re sure it’s the right person. But they have never influenced our decision.

And most people will not accept that at all. They’ll just say no, this is all predetermined, someone figures it out and that’s it. And it’s not the case.

So there you have it. Be sure to tune in on Wednesday for the season premiere!

Photos courtesy of Bravo.