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Definition: Stout

partysugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 07:59:12 -0800

Stout:
A strong, very dark, heavy-bodied beer made from pale malt and roasted unmalted barley and (often) caramel malt with hops. Stout was first introduced by Guinness as an extra stout version of their porter. The new stout was darker, hoppier and richer than porter, which it gradually overtook in popularity. It has a deep, dark color and bittersweet flavor.

What Food Are You Looking Forward To Eating On Super Bowl Sunday?

partysugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 03:28:45 -0800

Reader's Recipe: Super Bowl Meatballs

partysugar — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:42:47 -0800

When I was searching for a reader's recipe to feature, I was thinking Super Bowl food (as I will be for the rest of the week!) and came across a Super Bowl practice run in the Kitchen Goddess group on TeamSugar. Before the big day, LaylaCams wanted to test out her recipes and in this post she lists the entire menu complete with tons of great images. One of her delicious dishes is a meatball appetizer perfect for a party. The recipe was actually posted by audreystar and includes step by step instructional pictures. These meatballs look like they would make any party rock. Thanks for posting girls! To make the party meatballs at your Super Bowl party, read more

Recipe posted by audreystar

These meatballs are great for just about any occasion but since there will be lots of potluck Christmas parties coming up I thought I'd post these now. My hubby also loves these when he has the guys over to watch football. I got this recipe from a gal I work with but hers were for baked beans and I thought the sauce would be great with meatballs too. I was right. I haven't tried little smokie sausages yet but I am sure those would be great with this sauce too. If you want to try the baked beans recipe just disregard the meatballs and add 2 cans (16oz) baked beans drained and reduce the bbq sauce to 1/2 cup.

Ingredients:

5 slices of Hickory bacon, crisply fried and crumbled (I use the microwave bacon)
1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 bottles 18 oz. Hickory Smoked Barbeque Sauce
1/2 cup of brown sugar (packed)
1 bag of frozen meatballs
1 crock pot

Cut up the bacon, green pepper, onion and brown sugar and throw in the crock pot.

Add the mustard, ketchup and barbeque sauce to the crockpot.

Stir together mixture and turn crockpot on High until the brown sugar has melted.

Now you can add the frozen meatballs. Put enough in where each meatball is covered in sauce. I usually use about 1/2 - 3/4 bag. More meatballs can be added and heated up later if you run low.

After about 2 hrs on High your meatballs should be ready to serve.

Yummy!

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Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Invites

partysugar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:59:01 -0800

Some of you have been asking for it and here it is: my party plan for the ultimate Super Bowl party. The Super Bowl is one of those random holidays/events where EVERYONE celebrates. Even if you are like me and don't really care too much for football (or sports in general for that matter), you love the Super Bowl because of the parties. I can't remember a Super Bowl where I didn't attend or host a party, and this year will be no different. When else do we have an excuse to pig out on football and bar finger foods? As you can tell I am super excited for the Super Bowl. We have 6 days until the game (you can find the official countdown at Super Bowl Heaven) and we have a lot of work to do, starting with the invitations. To see what I'll be sending (including a TON of step-by-step pictures), read more

I am a Chicago Bears fan and will be rooting for their team. Therefore my party's colors will be the Chicago Bears colors: orange and blue. My invitation will be made using these colors, however if you are supporting the Indianapolis Colts you can make the same invite and substitute white for the orange. The invite is sporty and shaped like a football with sparkley glitter to make it festive.

To make this invite you will need:

animal stencils (either a bear or a colt)
blue (cut into a 7 by 7 inch square) and orange (or white) cardstock
blue and orange (or white) glitter
a computer/printer or a pen and white paper
scissors
glue
blue and orange (or white) satin ribbon
sports section of the newspaper (if you can find one with a super bowl related article use that)
pencil

To assemble this invite:

Using a pencil and the animal stencil trace the shape of the animal onto the orange cardstock.

Cut the animal shape out.

Turn the blue cardstock so that it is the shape of a diamond and glue the orange bear across the front.

On your computer create a document (with fun Super Bowl related pictures if desired) with the detailed information involving the party. I used the font Bradley Hand ITC TT-Bold and the color orange. Write something along these lines:

PartySugar invites you to join her for the Football Event of the Year: the 41st Super Bowl
Starring the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears
Sunday February 4, 2007
2:30 pm
PartySugar’s House, San Francisco
Please RSVP 415.444.5555
Guests are encouraged to wear their team’s colors
Go Bears!
Print the text out on white paper. Carefully fit the white text over the back of the blue cardstock.

Glue the text page to the invite.
Being sure not to cut off any of the bear on the front or the text on the back, cut the cardstock down to roughly the shape of a football.

On a piece of old newspaper or a work surface, spread the glue evenly over the inside of the bear. Work quickly, so the glue does not dry, sprinkle with orange glitter. Shake off the excess glitter.

Working in sections, slowly outline the bear with a thin line of glue. Sprinkle with blue glitter. Shake off excess blue glitter. Repeat process until all of the bear is outlined with blue glitter and filled in with orange glitter.

Set aside, let dry for several hours.
Once the glitter and glue has dried, you can get ready to wrap the completed invitation. Cut a piece of the sports section of the newspaper. Fold around the outside of the invite to create an envelope. Tape envelope closed.

Cut equal sizes of the ribbon, about 2 feet long. Wrap the ribbon around the envelope as you would wrap a Christmas present.

Tie a pretty bow. Congrats your invitation is complete!

I plan on hand delivering my invitations and leaving them as a surprise in each of my guests mailboxes. If you want to send yours simply slide the wrapped invite into an appropriate sized mailing envelope. Address, with dark blue ink, in your best handwriting, stamp, and send away.

This is only the first step of my Super Bowl Party...come back tomorrow, I'll be talking food and planning the menu.

For a larger view, click on a picture below:

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Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:38:52 -0800

Technically the Super Bowl is not a holiday, but it's such a celebrated day that it really should be considered a holiday. I've always wondered why they (they = the people in charge, ex. the US government) don't schedule the game for a Monday instead of a Sunday and let everyone in the nation have the day off to watch the game? When I say everyone, I mean everyone - even the people who work at Safeway and McDonalds. It could be called National Super Bowl Day, or for those who are seriously PC, National Football Appreciation Day. Is there any other day that is so whole heartedly American and celebrated by all religious groups, ethnicities, and ages? I think not and thats why it's time to appropriately go incredibly over the top when planning your Super Bowl Party. I'm cheering for the Chicago Bears (because my mom was born in Baltimore-the original home of the Colts who packed up their team in the middle of the night and sneakily moved to Indianapolis - ask any true Baltimorian who they want to win and they will answer: The Bears) and made fun little blue and orange football shaped invites. Today I'm sharing my menu (which is full of delicious ideas that will take you from kick-off to overtime) so, read more.

Please note: if you are looking for healthy diet friendly recipes to make for your Super Bowl party stop reading.

Below I have compiled a menu of my favorite Super Bowl Sunday dishes that I only splurge on once a year. It's Super Bowl food, it's not supposed to be healthy. To start I'll have a smorsgasbord of appetizers to be consumed during the first and second quarters. Classic Spinach Dip and Baked Feta and Goat Cheese with Marinara will be paired with french bread croutons. You can't have the Super Bowl without nachos or chicken wings and I'll do my own interpretations with the Best Ever Nacho Layer Dip (if you only make one of my recipes make this one! I've been making it for four years and it gets rave reviews every time) and Chipotle Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip. After Prince's performance during half-time, I'll bowl up the main course: a hearty Chili with Cornbread Topping. Finally if people are still hungry or craving something to satisfy their sweet tooth, during the fourth quarter commercials I'll plate a delightfully divine dessert: Black Bottom Chocolate Pie.

Got a must-make Super Bowl party recipe? Tell me about. Stay tuned because tomorrow I'll be talking drinks for this party!

Click on an image below for the recipe:

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Drinks

partysugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:59:32 -0800

Super Bowl Sunday is just a few days away and slowly but surely I'm putting together my blowout bash. In order for me not to get overwhelmed when planning a party, I like to do it in little increments. The invitations one day, the menu the next, and so on and so forth until the entire fete is prepared. After the game and the food, the next essential piece of any Super Bowl party puzzle is the drinks. I went all out in the menu and will do the same with the drinks that I pair with my food. (Random side note that has nothing to do with drinks at all: maybe I'm a little excited from FabSugar's sexy week but isn't this pic of a football player's body HOT?) To see what I will be serving my guests while I cheer on the Chicago Bears, read more

Obviously an assortment of beers is a must. I plan on purchasing 3 different twelve packs: Heineken Light (for the gals who are watching their weight), Pacifico (to pair with the Mexican flavors that run through the dishes: chipotle, chili, nachos...), and Stella (for those who are beer snobs). To figure out how much beer you will need in relation to the number of guests who attend your fiesta, check out this handy dandy party drink calculator. Place the beer in a spot close to your tv and make sure to have several bottle openers on hand - it always seems they go missing at my parties pretty quickly! A silver bucket or a big plastic bin in your team's colors filled with ice will work perfectly.

If you want to serve wine as well as beer, pick American wines - afterall the Super Bowl is the ultimate American event. As California produces every nine out of ten American bottles of wine, look to your favorite wines from the Napa or Sonoma Valleys or the Southern regions around Los Angeles. Look for a Zinfandel with attitude, an easy-drinking Chardonnay, or a crispy, light Sauvignon Blanc.

I find that at parties guests are inclined to try one cocktail and then shift over to drinking wine or beer. Since this is the case, I'll have one super special cocktail for when my guests arrive. What says Super Bowl more than the Ultimate Margarita? You can serve it blended (but you'll have to make the mess with the blender during the game...), but I'll mix mine in a pitcher to prevent watering down the cocktail and then pour it over ice into a fun festive glass. If you are feeling like a dare devil and want to have some really outrageous drinks on hand for your overly excited guests, why not mix up a few cocktails with beer as the base? Here's a list of ways to jazz up your boring old bottle of beer:

Lager and lime: Add a dash of lime juice or lime cordial to a light lager.
Snakebite: Mix your favorite beer (usually a heavier beer, like stout, works well) half and half with cider.
Black Velvet: Mix stout and champagne, half and half.
Beer Bloody Mary: Mix beer and tomato juice, half and half. Add a dash of Tabasco and a dash of Worcestershire.
Red Eye: Add a shot of tomato juice to any ale or lager (this cocktail is also known as Tomato Beer or a Red Rooster). If you add a splash of Tabasco, the drink becomes a Ruddy Mary.
Liverpool kiss: Mix a dark beer with Cassis.
BeeSting: Dark beer and orange juice.
Skip and go naked: Combine beer, lemon juice and gin, with a dash of grenadine.
Broadway: Popular in Japan, mixing beer and cola is known as a Broadway
Caribbean Night: Beer and an ounce of coffee liqueur.
South Wind: Beer with a shot of melon liqueur.

Lastly be sure to have lots of water on hand (both sparkling and still) and an assortment of classic ballpark sodas: Coke, 7-Up, root beer, and Orange Crush. Got an amazing drink recipe that you will be mixing at your Super Bowl Party? Please tell me about it below! Next up on the game plan: winning decorations that are sure to score you a touchdown. Look for Come Party With Me tomorrow for the details.

Source: That's The Spirit

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Decorations

partysugar — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 06:58:19 -0800

It's the week before the big game and I'm obsessing so much about the Super Bowl you'd think that I was a member of the Chicago Bear's non-existent cheerleading team. I am hosting a fantastic fiesta to watch the commercials. Oops, did I just say commercials? I meant to say football game. Even if I'm not a crazy die hard football fan (if you are - more power to you!) throwing a watching party will allow me to enjoy the show and when bored I'll busy myself by blending up another batch of margaritas. When planning an epic party of these proportions there are many factors to consider: the invitations should evoke the football-y feel, the menu chock full of stadium food, and the drinks pack an extra punch of game day goodness. Not to be forgotten are the decorations: just because the party revolves around a big screen television doesn't mean that you can't have a fabulous time decorating your house in bright blue and outrageous orange. To see how I'll change the decor of my house from everyday to game day, read more

Start with your screening room (aka whatever room has the largest television in your house) and make sure there is enough seating for all of your guests to sit comfortably. Add pillows, cushions, fold out chairs or chairs from other rooms of your house if you have to. The television is the focal point so make it so by clearing out the area around it for clutter free viewing. If you have a bear or colt stuffed animal place it on the sofa to act as team mascot. Set up a strand of cheap football lights around the windowsill or along the entryway into the room.

If you know that all of your friends will be decked out in their Chicago Bear wear-yourself included-make blue and orange the underlying tone of the decorations. Pick up a roll each of blue and orange streamers at the local party supply store. Be sure to check out the selection of Super Bowl related stuff because party stores always have a lot of fun theme supplies to make your bash especially memorable. Twist the streamers and arrange decoratively throughout the room and wrap around banisters. If your friends are a mix of Bears and Colts fans decorate one side of the room with blue and orange and the other half with blue and white. Have guests sit on their side of the "stadium."

Arrange appetizers and snacks on your coffee table or small tables around the space. Cover your kitchen table with a green table cloth to simulate a football field and adorn with a centerpiece made of mini footballs placed in a French fry basket. Put several chairs in your kitchen for the less enthusiastic football fans to converse and gather without taking the attention away from the game. Serve the food on colored paper plates to reduce clean-up and give it an authentic feel (if you were at a stadium you'd be using paper products!).

Since I will be serving margaritas on the rocks I'll purchase fun orange light up football ice cubes for guests to submerge in their drinks. I want my friends to be in the party mood from the moment of their arrival and will stick the ends of orange and blue metallic pom poms into the gravel surrounding the walkway up to my front door.

What's the look for your Super Bowl Party? Please share your winning decoration ideas with me below. Tomorrow I'll talk about game-day music!

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl Party - Music

partysugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 06:57:19 -0800

Are you ready for some football? I certainly am! I've been gearing up for the biggest sporting event of the year, the Super Bowl, all week. I am throwing a fabulous fiesta to watch the game and I've invited over a group of rowdy friends to chow down on some classic football food. The margaritas will be fuerte (tequila + beer + grand marnier) and the decor a huge helping of blue and orange (Go Bears!). Everything is prepped down to the last crunchy tortilla chip and shiny metallic pom pom, there is only one last thing to do before I begin the best part (the cooking!) and that is to figure out a pump-them-up playlist to listen to while the guests arrive. To see my selection of game day tunes, read more

I went a little crazy on this one and got back to my cheerleader roots with a collection of fanatical football songs.

We Will Rock You/We are the Champions, Queen
Eye of the Tiger, Survivor
Final Countdown, Europe
Jump Around, House of Pain
The Hey Song
Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team

Other ideas are the soundtrack to Rocky and BuzzSugar's very own super special Super Bowl playlist (OMG she includes the The Chicago Bears, "Super Bowl Shuffle"!). I plan on putting all of her songs and mine onto a playlist entitled Super Bowl Sunday on my iPod. When it's time to party, I'll hit the play and shuffle buttons and be good to go.

Did I forget one of your most inspiring songs? Tell me about it below. Hope you all have a fabulous Super Bowl, and go Bears!

Come Party With Me: Super Bowl - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:00:08 -0800

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and to make sure you host the best blowout bash, I'll be sharing all of my ideas for an awesome party. To get things started let's talk about the menu. Before you select a bunch of dishes, think about the crowd you will be serving. Will it be mostly people who are invested in the game? A male heavy group? A mix of football fans and people who are simply there to socialize? Choose dishes that will accommodate this group. My crew falls into the last category with a variety of meat-lovers and vegetarians planning to attend.

For appetizers set up a buffet of store bought or homemade dips (guacamole, buffalo chicken dip, hummus, and artichoke crab dip are my favorites). As the main course, offer oozing grilled mozzarella sandwiches and cheesesteak sliders. No Super Bowl party is complete without a deep fried treat and guests will be delighted to snack on super crispy onion rings. To look at these recipes, read more.

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut into 4 equal pieces about 3-inches by 4-inches
8 1/2-inch thick firm white sandwich bread
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon coarse salt
A grating of nutmeg
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Place the mozzarella on 4 slices of the bread. Cover with the remaining slices to form sandwiches. Trim the crusts off to make perfect 4-inch squares.
In a wide shallow bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the cream, thyme leaves, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk until well blended.
In a 10 to 12-inch nonstick saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking.
Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and cook until the sizzling subsides.
Dip 2 of the sandwiches into the egg mixture, turning to coat, place in the pan, and cook until golden brown on the first side, about 2 minutes. Flip over and brown on the other side.
Transfer the sandwiches to individual plates and repeat the process with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon butter, and 2 sandwiches. Cut in half, and serve immediately.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

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Cheesesteak Sliders
From Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients

7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into thin strips
Salt and pepper
2 large bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
16 dinner rolls, split
6 ounces provolone cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until rippling. Season the beef with salt and pepper, increase the heat to high and cook in the skillet for 3 minutes; flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl.
In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add the peppers and onions, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium high heat, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes.
Place the roll bottoms on a large rimmed baking sheet and top each with the beef and vegetables; sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake until the cheese is melted, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a platter and cover with the roll tops.

Makes 16 sliders.

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Supercrispy Onion Rings
From Food and Wine

Ingredients

2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
3 cups cake flour
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
2 1/2 to 3 cups chilled club soda
2 large Spanish onions, cut into 1/2-inch slices and separated into rings

Directions

In a very large pot or deep fryer, heat the oil to 365°F.
In a bowl, whisk the cake flour with the cornstarch, baking soda and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Add 2 1/2 cups of the club soda and whisk until smooth; the batter should be thick but pourable. If necessary, add the remaining 1/2 cup of club soda, a few tablespoons at a time.
Working with 6 to 8 onion rings at a time, dip them in the batter until completely coated; as you pull the rings from the batter, scrape some of the excess against the side of the bowl.
Carefully add the onion rings to the hot oil and fry until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain the onion rings on paper towels.
Sprinkle the onion rings with salt and serve immediately or keep warm in an oven on low heat while you coat and fry the rest.

Serves 8.

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Do You Know What's Cooking This Week?

YumSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:30:47 -0800

The excitement of this week continues as we head into a fun-filled weekend of Super Bowl madness. In preparation, we planned a viewing party, enjoyed Top Chef's Super Bowl showdown, and chowed down on the Sloppiest Joes ever. Were you around this week to catch all of it? There's only one way to find out!

Take the quiz