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Happy Hour: Strawberry Watermelon Slushie

YumSugar — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:18:32 -0700

When the weather gets warm, I like to give fresh chunks of watermelon a whir in the blender. The result, a delightfully sweet and superbly cold affair, is the perfect way to beat the afternoon heat. When I was younger, I didn't think it could get much better than that, however I later learned that I was wrong. With the addition of fresh strawberries, lemon juice, and vodka, the innocent drink becomes a not-so-innocent concoction. If you've never had a Strawberry Watermelon Vodka Slushie, then do yourself a favor and get the recipe. Oh and consider yourself warned, these go down a little too easily. read more

Strawberry Watermelon Slush
From CD Kitchen

1 pint Fresh strawberries, hulled
2 cups Watermelon -- seeded, cubed
1/3 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Vodka
1/4 cup Lemon juice
2 cups Ice cubes

In a blender container, combine all of the ingredients except the ice, and blend well.
While blending, gradually add the ice blending until smooth.
Serve immediately, garnish with watermelon slice or strawberry on edge of glass.

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Happy Hour: Cranberry Apple Cider Shandy

partysugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:00:58 -0700

While Yum was into Tyler Florence's kitchen essentials, I was more interested in the cocktail - or should I say mocktail, it was nonalcoholic he was pouring. The refreshing beverage was a mixture of cranberry juice, ice, and sparkling apple cider. This cool and delicious concoction is perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Although you do need a blender, it's so easy to make that you could even get the kids involved. To get the technique for Tyler's festive slushie-like mocktail, read more.

Cranberry Apple Cider Shandy
From Tyler Florence

Ingredients

1 cup cranberry juice
2 cups ice
4 pints sparkling apple cider (for an alcoholic version, use hard apple cider)
mint, for garnish

Directions

In a food processor or blender, combine ice and cranberry juice and process for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture tightens up and takes on the texture of a slushy.
Use an ice cream scoop to portion out among glasses, then top off with chilled hard cider.
Garnish with a sprig of mint. Serve in mason jars for a fun presentation.

Serves 4-6.

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Carnival In The Office - Skittles Carnival Reviewed

YumSugar — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 12:13:18 -0700

When I heard about the new limited edition Carnival Skittles (thanks for the tip candyblog!), I knew I'd have to try them. Luckily my local 7-11 had them in stock, so I purchased a pack and rounded up the recruits for a quick taste test.

The pack was a nice bright yellow color with five flavors inside. Here's what we thought of them:

Red Licorice (red): Tasted suprisingly like red licorice, although the texture was wrong with that flavor. No one could figure out why you'd want to eat red licorice skittles over actual real red licorice. Quote that sums it up: "Why would you make candy that tastes like candy?"

Bubble Gum (pink): This one tasted exactly like what you'd expect. It also has a similar texture, and is a bit odd when it disappears. Quote that sums it up: "Tastes exactly like Bazooka Joe bubble gum."

To see what we thought of the other three flavors, read more

Cotton Candy (teal): I thought it shouldn't have been blue, but was out-voted. It was nice like spun sugar, but I couldn't quite figure out which flavor it was. Quote that sums it up: "Tastes like a circle lollipop." (You'll have to ask Molly to explain that one)

Green Slushy (lime green): We all agreed, this one should have been named "Margarita" instead. Quote that sums it up: "When's happy hour?" Oh and surprisingly, although a geek did not know the flavor choices, he was able to identify it as "slushy" flavored.

Candy Apple (pale yellow): This was my personal favorite. It was sweet, yet slightly tart, sort of like apple flavored mentos. However, I'm not sure it was "candy apple" flavored - candy apple makes me think of those sticky red apples that are sort of just sugary tasting - but it was delicious. Quote that sums it up: "I could eat a whole pack of those."

In the end we thought they "nailed it" - the flavors definitely tasted like the flavors they said they were. Our biggest complaint that was if you took a handful, the flavor combo wasn't so great. However I personally thought that meant they "nailed that" too. I mean, have you ever mixed stuff at the carnival? Not exactly pleasant either.

Overall we'd eat them again, but we wouldn't choose them over the regular flavor. If it was a bag of the candy apple only, well then that might be a different story...

What's Yummy This Week: YumSugar Weekly Recap

YumSugar — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:18:30 -0700

This week we're getting ready for the 4th of July - we're hosting a party, whipping up popsicles and slushies and building a beautiful tablescape.

Classic chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream is our second entry in the summer of ice cream sandwiches.
This week's cooking reality tv shows left me wanting more. Top Chef was a snorefest, Hell's Kitchen was its usually screaming self, and I don't think I'd actually watch anyone who wins The Next Food Network Star.
Would you eat a guinea pig???
Learn how to easily peel peaches. It'll make the simple peach puzzle an even simpler recipe.

National Candy Month ends today, and the reader favorite is the PB Buckeyes from TeamSugar member sweetheart_450. Speaking of candy, if you're ever in San Francisco, be sure to check out my new favorite candy store.
If you're going on a honeymoon (or even just a trip!) here are a few tips to help you eat well and choose the right restaurant.
Summer means light wines and cool drinks. Here's a few summer sipping tips.

Ratatouille opens this weekend. If you're a food fanatic, you have got to see this film.
Finally this week we want to know:
- Which appliance would you splurge on?
- Do you pay attention to expiration dates?
- How often do you barbeque?
- Do you use coupons when grocery shopping?

Yummy Link: Carnival Flavored Skittles

YumSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 02:08:19 -0700

Seems like there's a new "limited edition" candy flavor just about every day. This time it's Limited Edition Carnival Flavor Skittles. There are five flavors: Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum, Candy Apple, Red Licorice and Green Slushy. - Candyblog

Happy Hour: Raspberry Lemonade

YumSugar — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:58:32 -0700

Today it is HOT - and that's supposed to be said with a double H and probably a bunch of Ts - more like, HHOTTTTTTT. We're talking the kind of hot where I am slowly slipping into a heat induced coma and every girl (except geeksugar, what were you thinking with long pants!) has slipped into a summer dress and sandals. Anyways, you're not here to read about dresses and sandals, you're here to read about what to drink when it's that hot outside.

When the heat gets up there (and I know, some people enjoy this weather, but not me) I really need something that can quench my thirst. A large margarita sounds good, and so does a slushy daiquiri, but the alcohol is just going to make it worse. So on a day like today, I suggest a nice tall pitcher of raspberry lemonade. The tartness of the raspberries and lemons mix really well together, and you can adjust the sweetness as you please. To check out the recipe, read more

Raspberry Lemonade
From Sunset Magazine

1 cup rinsed fresh raspberries (6 oz)
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
2 cups water
ice

In a small bowl, with a potato masher or spoon, mash raspberries with sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. Press through a fine strainer into a pitcher (at least 1 1/2 qt.); discard seeds. Stir in lemon juice and water. Taste and add more sugar if desired. Pour into tall, ice-filled glasses.

Makes about 1 quart; 4 servings

CALORIES 157(1.9% from fat); FAT 0.3g (sat 0.0g); PROTEIN 0.5g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; SODIUM 13mg; FIBER 0.0g; CARBOHYDRATE 41g

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2007 Winter Fancy Food Show - Part 3 (Alcohols & Mixers)

YumSugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:48:48 -0800

DSC_8290.JPGBelieve it or not, we're not finished with all of our Fancy Foods coverage. There are still a few trends that I wanted to discuss in a little more depth, so expect a few more posts throughout the week. Today it's the all things alcohol trend. Okay, so this isn't exactly a new thing, but it was definitely something I noticed a lot of. There were organic mixers, regular mixers; hand bottled infused alcohols, organic alcohols, new flavors and so much more.

One of my favorite things at the entire show was the Tamborine Mountain Distillery booth. At first I was just wild for founder Michael Ward (when you watch the video you'll find out why, he's so amazingly charismatic and fun!), but after tasting several of the infused liqueurs as well as the Australian Vodka Company vodkas, I was wild for their product too. They were all deliciously smooth (seriously, the Lemon Myrtle vodka was amazing) and beautiful (the liqueur bottles are all hand-painted). Besides, he's a great storyteller and like I said, I was wild for him too. To check out their history in Michael Ward's own words, watch the video (more show highlights below the video, so scroll down).

Two more products I liked, plus a gallery of others, read more

Another really interesting product was from 267 Infusions. Their hand-bottled "premium" spirits (which have been at all the latest celebrity parties) contain actual pieces of fruit inside of a perfectly pretty bottle. As they said, "their trick is how they get the fruit in, your trick is how you get it out." Normally, I would find something like this to be rather gimmicky. However their product stands up to the hype. Available in eight flavors (including olives & pearl onion vodka, and mango infused rum), a bottle of 267 will definitely bring a zing to your party.

Aside from flavored and infused liqueurs, there were several different mixer companies. One of the ones that stood out was Mixerz (which actually launched the first day of the show). I had an opportunity to speak with one of the founders (Al Williams) and he told me that the company was born due to the resurgence of retro cocktails and that he wanted to make a product that was "bar-chef quality - something that would be easy to make in the home or in the bars." Personally I enjoyed their Sour Apple mixer, it was nice and crisp and lacked the awful sweetness found in most apple mixers (also, it wasn't bright green). After the apple, I tasted the Bloody Mary mixer, and thought it was okay, but a tiny bit thick. Based on some of the things I overheard, it seems that fruit is the way to go.

Stirrings was also around. I've been a fan of their company for a while now. In addition to mixers, they now offer bar ingredients (grenadine, bitters, triple sec, etc.), as well as cocktail essences (rose martini, rosemary martini, etc.).

To go along with your mixers, there were also several organic alcohols. Most of the ones we saw were imported from England (such as Juniper Green and UK 5 Vodka). Both PartySugar and I found these to go down easily and both lacked a weird aftertaste. I definitely think I'd hunt these down again.

Overall there were many mixers (even Jelly Belly had some new slushy options) and many alcohols to taste. The biggest trend was definitely more all natural and organic products. And if you ask me, if all natural and organic means tastier and easier to drink, then I'm all for it.

Check out some pictures of the alcohols and mixers:

View 17 Photos ›