YumSugar

Halloween Sake Tasting

Yum Community — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:02:46 -0800

This story was written by member lauren and comes from the Savory Sights group in the YumSugar Community.For Halloween, my husband and I opted for a quiet and delicious sake dinner at Hanazen rather than a crazy party! We tasted 5 different sakes, all of which were completely different. Some with the traditional earthy flavor and others with a light, fruit and flower flavor. All very different and uniquely delicious. Each sake was accompanied by a traditional Japanese dish. In my opinion, the perfect dinner! The pictures were taken with my iPhone!

View 10 Photos ›

Have you eaten an awesome meal? Join the Savory Sights group, upload your photos and a description of the experience and it could be featured on YumSugar! If you are new to the YumSugar Community, here's a detailed guide to posting to groups .

Noteworthy Nibbles - June 23-30, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:00:13 -0700

It's almost July, and the palatable parties just keep coming. If you're a wine enthusiast, head over to Pinot Days or the Telluride Wine Festival. Beer more your thing? Throw back some sake bombs at the Beer & Sake Festival, or hit up the Colorado Brewfest. Here in Fog City, the Best of the Bay looks to be one heck of a soirée. What happenings are you hitting up?

If you know of anything that's been left off the list, please go ahead and chime in below!

Sedona, AZ: Dine in Sedona Restaurant Fest - June 23-30
Hampton, SC: Hampton County Watermelon Festival - June 23-28
Gettysburg, PA: Gettysburg Festival - June 23-28
Portsmouth, NH: Taste of the Nation Portsmouth - June 24
London, OH: London Strawberry Festival - June 24-27
San Francisco, CA: Pinot Days - June 24-28
Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Cranberry Blossom Festival - June 24-28
San Diego, CA: Beer & Sake Festival - June 25
Milwaukee, WI: The 2009 Big Taste - June 25
San Francisco, CA: Best of the Bay - June 25
Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Taste of the Nation South Florida - June 25

To see the rest, read more.

Cedar Rapids, IA: Cedar Rapids BBQ Roundup _ June 25-28
Telluride, CO: Telluride Wine Festival - June 25-28
Luling, TX: Luling Watermelon Thump - June 25-28
Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Wine Festival - June 26-27
Emerson, AR: Purple Hull Pea Festival - June 26-27
Chipley, FL: Panhandle Watermelon Festival - June 26-27
Tacoma, WA: Taste of Tacoma - June 26-28
Long Grove, IL: Long Grove Strawberry Festival - June 26-28
Burlington, VT: Green Mountain Chew Chew Food & Music Fest - June 26-28
Chicago, IL: Taste of Chicago - June 26-July 5
Honolulu, HI: Slow Food's Honolulu Fish Auction Tour - June 27
Washington DC: National Capital Barbecue Battle - June 27-28
Fort Collins, CO: Colorado Brewfest - June 27-28
Pennington, NJ: East Coast Food & Wine Festival - June 27-28
New York, NY: Summer Rosé Celebration With Ariane Duarte - June 29

Source

Noteworthy Nibbles - May 12-19, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:00:45 -0700

How do you know that Summer's just a few weeks away? When there's a seemingly endless list of epicurean events and food festivals. We can hardly straddle them all, but have plans to hit up San Francisco Cocktail Week, shake hands with sake brewers at the Joto Sake Tasting, slurp a few slippery ones at Oysterfest, and swirl Sauvignon Blanc at the Uncorked! Wine Festival. What events are you penciling in? Tell us what you're tasting below!

Buckhannon, WV: West Virginia Strawberry Festival - May 13-17
San Francisco, CA: Joto Sake Tasting - May 14
Memphis, TN: World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest - May 14-16
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Strawberry Week - May 14-24
St. Pete Beach, FL: Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival - May 15-16
Monterey, CA: Monterey Bay Aquarium's Cooking for Solutions - May 15-16
Dermott, AR: Dermott Crawfish Festival - May 15-16
Magnolia, AR: Magnolia Blossom Festival & Steak Cook-Off - May 15-16
Pasadena, TX: Pasadena Strawberry Festival - May 15-17
Little Rock, AR: Greek Food Fest - May 15-17
Paso Robles, CA: Paso Robles Wine Festival - May 15-17
Lodi, CA: Lodi ZinFest - May 15-17
San Francisco, CA: San Francisco OysterFest - May 16
San Francisco, CA: Uncorked! Wine Festival - May 16

To see the rest, read more.

Newberry, FL: Newberry Watermelon Festival - May 16
Healdsburg, CA: Quivira Vineyards Inaugural Farm-to-Table Dinner - May 16
Frankfort, KY: Slow Food Kentucky Herb Festival - May 16
Montrose, PA: Montrose Chocolate & Wine Festival - May 16
Little River, SC: Blue Crab Festival - May 16-17
Seattle, WA: Seattle Cheese Festival - May 16-17
Oxnard, CA: California Strawberry Festival - May 16-17
Castroville, CA: Castroville Artichoke Festival - May 16-17
Dallas, TX: Taste of the Nation Dallas - May 17
New Orleans, LA: New Orleans Wine & Food Experience - May 19-23

Source

Noteworthy Nibbles - Mar. 31-Apr. 7, 2009

YumSugar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:00:20 -0700

From Mississippi catfish cookoffs to Louisiana strawberry celebrations, this week is full of can't-miss Spring food festivities in the South. What delectable diversions will you be hitting up this week? Be sure to chime in below!

Plantsville, CT: Flavors of Connecticut - Mar. 31
San Francisco, CA: Nirvino Mixology Contest - Mar. 31
Kona, HI: Kona Chocolate Festival - Mar. 31-Apr. 5
Vail, CO: Taste of Vail - Apr. 1-4
Atlanta, GA: Atlanta Food and Wine Month Kickoff Party - Apr. 2
Boston, MA: Taste of of the Nation Boston - Apr. 2
Clear Lake, TX: Clear Lake Crawfish Festival - Apr. 3-4
Newport, NC: Newport Pig Cookin' Contest - Apr. 3-4

To see the rest, read more.

Ponchatoula, LA: Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival - Apr. 3-5
Poteet, TX: Poteet Strawberry Festival - Apr. 3-5
Timonium, MD: Maryland Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival - Apr. 4
Austin, TX: Swamp Thing and Crawfish Festival - Apr. 4
Belzoni, MS: World Catfish Festival - Apr. 4
Winnsboro, LA: Franklin Parish Catfish Festival - Apr. 4
Greenville, SC: Taste of the Nation Greenville - Apr. 5
New Orleans, LA: Mai Tai Seminar - Apr. 6
Philadelphia, PA: Sake Fest - Apr. 7

Source

Come Party With Me: Chinese New Year - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:30:25 -0800

For a large dinner party select a specialty cocktail that can be made in advance and in a large batch. This recipe for a white wine sangria gets an Asian twist with the addition of canned lychees and sake. It will pair perfectly with spring rolls and Chinese noodles.

To make it a truly festive celebration stock up on Asian beer (Tsingtao is a nice option) and good sipping sake (I like Sake One's selection). To check out the recipe for the shinsei sangria, read more.

Shinsei Sangria
From Food and Wine Cocktails 2008

Ingredients

3 pears, sliced
3 oranges, sliced
6 Granny Smith apples, sliced
24 canned lychees, drained
1 1/2 pineapples, peeled and cut into large chunks
One 750-milliliter bottle vodka
One 750-milliliter bottle Sauvignon Blanc or other dry, citrusy white wine
One 750-milliliter bottle sake
Ice

Directions

In an airtight container or large bowl covered with plastic wrap, combine all of the ingredients except the ice and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Strain the mixture into a punch bowl, discarding all of the fruit except for the lychees.
Add enough ice to chill the sangria to serving temperature. Serve in ice-filled white wine glasses.

Makes 18 drinks.

Print recipe with images | without images

Noteworthy Nibbles - Oct. 21-27, 2008

YumSugar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:00:02 -0700

This week's events have left me curious: Exactly what activities does one partake in at a Pig Stein? Or a Yambilee? If you have attended these in the past, I'd love to know. Will anyone be at the James Beard Foundation's Taste America in Las Vegas?

If you know something we've left out, please leave a message in the comments below!

Las Vegas, NV: Rising Stars Las Vegas - Oct. 21
Torrance, CA: Oktoberfest at Alpine Village - Oct. 21-26
San Francisco, CA: Joy of Sake San Francisco - Oct. 23
Atlanta, GA: Celebrity Chef Tour Atlanta - Oct. 23
Portland, ME: Harvest on the Harbor - Oct. 23-25
Mountain View, AR: Arkansas Bean Fest - Oct. 23-25
Kohler, WI: Kohler Food & Wine Experience - Oct. 23-26
Opelousas, LA: Louisiana Yambilee - Oct. 23-26
Las Vegas, NV: The James Beard Foundation's Taste America Las Vegas - Oct. 24-26

To see the rest, read more.

Lynchburg, TN: Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue - Oct. 25
Keene, NH: Pumpkin Festival - Oct. 25
Orlando, FL: Central Florida VegFest - Oct. 25
Lexington, NC: The Barbecue Festival - Oct. 25
Kitty Hawk, NC: Pig Stein 2008 - Oct. 25
Powhatan, VA: Festival of the Grape - Oct. 25
Fredericksburg, TX: Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival - Oct. 25
New York, NY: Feast With Famous Faces - Oct. 27

Source

Noteworthy Nibbles - Sept. 23-29, 2008

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:00:54 -0700

This week, spice up your free time with the chili cook-offs that are setting the country aflame. Whether you're looking for an epicurean adventure at the Bellagio, or something more along the lines of a back-country roadkill cook-off, you're in luck. Check out what's going on in your neck of the woods this week, and let us know if we've left anything off the list!

Sante Fe, NM: Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta - Sept. 24-28
Las Vegas, NV: Gourmet's Taste of Bellagio - Sept. 25
New York, NY: Joy of Sake New York - Sept. 25
Providence, RI: Food for Thought - Sept. 25
London, KY: World Chicken Festival - Sept. 25-28

To see the rest, read more.

Emporia, VA: Virginia Peanut Festival - Sept. 25-28
Kingwood, WV: Preston County Buckwheat Festival - Sept. 25-28
Marlinton, WV: West Virginia Roadkill Cook-Off - Sept. 26
Charlotte, NC: Culinary Arts Experience - Sept. 26-27
Irmo, SC: Okra Strut - Sept. 26-27
Los Angeles, CA: American Wine & Food Festival - Sept. 26-28
Lawrenceburg, KY: Anderson County Burgoo Festival - Sept. 26-28
Los Angeles, CA: Feast of San Gennaro - Sept. 26-28
Redondo Beach, CA: Redondo Beach Lobster Festival - Sept. 26-28
Cape Charles,VA: Fall Tomato Festival - Sept. 26-28
Warrens, WI: Warrens Cranberry Festival - Sept. 26-28
Wilmington, VT: Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival - Sept. 26-28
Atlanta, GA: The Great Miller Lite Chili Cook-Off - Sept. 27
Wichita, KS: Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cook-Off - Sept. 27
Charlottesville, VA: Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival - Sept. 27
Urbana, IL: International Beer Tasting & Chili Cook-Off - Sept. 27
Orlando, FL: Festival de Sabores - Sept. 27
St. Louis, MO: St. Louis Wine Festival - Sept. 27-28
Saugerties, NY: Hudson Valley Garlic Festival - Sept. 27-28
Newport, RI: Taste of Rhode Island - Sept. 27-28
San Jose, CA: Family Festa - Sept. 27-28
Manassas, VA: Virginia Wine Festival - Sept. 27-28

Source

Noteworthy Nibbles - Aug. 27-Sept. 1

YumSugar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:00:37 -0700

Labor Day weekend means food-happenings galore. At front and center is Slow Food Nation '08, the country's first ever slow food event, to be held in San Francisco. I'll be in attendance, so I can learn more about eating sustainably. Locals, perhaps I'll see you there! Here's the lineup; enjoy your long (and tasty) weekend.

Sparks, NV: Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-off - Aug. 27
Millersport, OH: Millersport Sweet Corn Festival - Aug. 27
Honolulu, HI: Joy of Sake - Aug. 28
Morgan City, LA: Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival - Aug. 28-Sept. 1
San Francisco, CA: Slow Food Nation - Aug. 29-Sept. 1

To see the rest, read more.

Denver, CO: A Taste of Colorado - Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Plymouth, IN: Marshall County Blueberry Festival - Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Indianapolis, IN: Rib America Festival Indy - Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Cleveland, OH: Taste of Cleveland - Aug. 29-Sept. 1
Pinson, AL: Butterbean Festival - Aug. 30
Buffalo, NY: National Buffalo Wing Festival - Aug. 30-31
Shawnee, PA: Pocono Garlic Festival - Aug. 30-31
Las Cruces, NM: Harvest Wine Festival - Aug. 30-Sept. 1
Arthur, IL: Amish Country Cheese Festival - Aug. 30-Sept. 1
Bernalillo, NM: New Mexico Wine Festival - Aug. 30-Sept. 1
Martin, TN: Tennessee Soybean Festival - Aug. 30-Sept. 7

Source

Sake to Me

YumSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:15:00 -0700

Whenever I seek a break from sipping everyday wines, I turn to sake. The Japanese beverage has a completely different flavor, but is equally refined and extensive in selection.

My favorite way to serve sake is with a coordinating set. The flasks and matching cups make it virtually impossible for guests to refuse a taste. I love this wooden set because of its elegant silhouette and subtle texture. To see more options check out the collection below!

Happy Hour: Ozeki Hana Awaka Sparkling Sake

YumSugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:15:29 -0700

To me, Summer months are meant for bubbly. After a warm day, it's relaxing to have a glass of something cool, chilled, and sparkling. Usually I reach for an inexpensive Prosecco or sparkling rosé, but recently I tried something a little more unusual.

At a little sushi restaurant in Japantown, I saw a sign advertising "Sparkling Flower." The sparkling flower was actually called Hana Awaka, and it was a delicious sparkling sake. The flyer declared that it would "bring your taste buds alive with bursting bubbles," and it actually did. The flavor was light and sweeter than most sakes. The bubbles lent a refreshing bite. The best part was that it was only $8 a bottle, and that meant more for everyone!

Have you ever had sparkling sake? Do you think it would be something you'd try?