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Come Party With Me: Inauguration - The Look

partysugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:00:22 -0800

Make patriotism chic at the inauguration kickoff party with sleek scarlets and deep blues. Silver accents are a lux and sophisticated final touch.

Set up the food on a long buffet table covered with a red table runner. Stack blue plates and "Yes We Did!" napkins nearby, so guests can help themselves to sandwiches and pizza at their leisure. Put the punch on another side of the room and arrange the champagne coups next to the bowl.

A bouquet of red tulips is an eye-catching focal point. For a comfortable and inviting atmosphere, light plenty of candles and throw festive pillows on the couch.

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Come Party With Me: Inauguration - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:10:08 -0800

Although it's named after a city in Massachusetts, Cohasset Punch is a classic concoction native to Chicago. Since the menu of my Inauguration kickoff party is Chicago themed, in honor of Barack Obama's old home, the signature drink should be a cocktail with origins in the Windy City. A favorite since before World War I, Cohasset Punch is a mixture of rum, Grand Marnier, and canned peach syrup. Along with the punch, offer guests a small selection of beer, wine, and sodas. To learn how to make the Cohasset cocktail, read more.

Cohasset Punch
From The Wall Street Journal

Ingredients

1½ oz dark rum
1 oz sweet vermouth
juice of ½ lemon
½ oz syrup from canned peaches
½ oz Grand Marnier
2 dashes orange bitters

Directions

Start by putting half a canned peach in the bottom of a saucer champagne glass; then half-fill the glass with shaved ice.
Put all the liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass.

Makes 1 cocktail.

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Come Party With Me: Inauguration - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:15:58 -0800

Although the Inauguration isn't until next Tuesday, I'm inviting friends over to kick off the ceremony on Sunday. Since Barack Obama was senator in Chicago, the menu has a Chicago theme. After finishing the deep-dish pizzas, wait an hour before serving this decadent dessert. Eli's is the Windy City's famous bakery known for its chocolate chip cheesecake. While you could order a cheesecake from Eli's and have it delivered, I recommend whipping up a homemade variation. This recipe features sour cream (like most Chicago-style cheesecakes) and results in a cake that is firm on the outside, but deliciously creamy on the inside.

To look at the recipe, read more.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
From Ghirardelli

Ingredients

1 cup(s) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon(s) Unsweetened Cocoa
2 ounce(s) White Chocolate Baking Bar
2/3 cup(s) crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup(s) granulate white sugar
1/3 cup(s) (2/3 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cup(s) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup(s) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup(s) sour cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch springform cake pan.
To make the crust, in a small bowl, mix together the crushed graham crackers, cocoa, and sugar. Stir in the butter. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
Press firmly to distribute the crust mixture onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Chill the crust while making the filling.
To make the filling, in a medium-size bowl, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar with an electric mixer at low speed until smooth.
Gradually beat in the eggs, increasing the speed slightly as the mixture softens.
Beat in the sour cream. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips with a large spoon.
Pour the filling into the chilled crust and set the pan on a baking tray. Bake for 75 minutes, or until firm. The cheesecake may deflate and crack as it cools, so turn off the oven and let cool slowly in the oven for about 1 hour with the oven door open.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight before removing from the pan.
Sprinkle the top with grated white chocolate. This cheesecake is best if eaten within 3 days of baking.

Serves 8-10.

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Come Party With Me: Inauguration - Menu

partysugar — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:46 -0800

Next week Barack Obama will make history when he is sworn in as president. Naturally, this momentous occasion deserves a party! The ceremony takes place on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at 11:30 a.m. EST. Since most people will be working, I've decided to host my party the Sunday before. HBO is airing a special live program, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, to kick off the festivities, and I've invited my friends over to watch it with me. While my election night menu featured patriotic dishes, this party will highlight dishes from Barack Obama's old hometown, Chicago.

For appetizers offer guests Garrett Gourmet Popcorn, flown in fresh from the Windy City. Make mini Italian beef sandwiches topped with giardiniera peppers. For the main course, serve two nontraditional (they're square shaped - no special circular pans necessary) deep dish pizzas. A pepperoni, onion, and mushroom pie is perfectly hearty while a spinach-artichoke pizza will satiate the vegetarians in attendance. To check out these tantalizing recipes, read more.

Mini Italian Beef Sandwiches
From Midwest Living

Ingredients

1 17-oz. pkg. refrigerated cooked beef roast au jus
2 cups frozen peppers (yellow, green, and red) and onion stir-fry vegetables
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
1/2 cup pepperoncini salad peppers, stemmed and chopped, plus 2 tablespoons drained liquid
16 2- to 3-inch rolls, split
giardiniera peppers (optional, for serving)

Directions

Place beef mixture in a medium saucepan, breaking up any large pieces. Add peppers, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Heat through just to boiling.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine coleslaw mix, 1/2 cup chopped pepperoncini and liquid, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning.
To serve, use a slotted spoon to divide meat mixture among roll bottoms. Top each with coleslaw mixture; add roll tops.
Serve with giardiniera peppers, if you like.

Makes 16 sandwiches.

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Deep-Dish Pizzas
From Everyday Food

Ingredients

Olive oil, for pans
All-purpose flour, for work surface
2 balls (1 pound each) store-bought pizza dough, thawed if frozen
1 1/2 cups jarred tomato sauce
6 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella (1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
For Pepperoni-Onion Topping:
4 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 pound thinly sliced button mushrooms, sauteed (optional)
For Spinach-Artichoke Topping
1 package (10 ounces) frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts in water, drained, quartered, and squeezed dry

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of two 13-by-9-inch metal baking pans with oil.
On a lightly floured work surface, stretch each ball of dough into a 10-by-14-inch oval (if dough isn't holding its shape, let rest a few minutes).
Transfer each oval to a prepared pan, pressing to fit into corners, and one inch up sides to form a rim.
Dividing evenly, spread sauce over each oval of dough.
Using 3 cups of cheese per pizza, spread three layers each of cheese and topping, ending with topping (layering with cheese helps to hold each pizza together). Season with salt and pepper. (If making ahead, cover and refrigerate, up to 1 day.)
Bake pizzas side by side until cheese and crusts are golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating once (if refrigerated, add 10 minutes).
Let rest in pans 10 minutes. To serve, use two wide spatulas to transfer pizzas to cutting boards.

Serves 8.

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Cheese Lovers Battle It Out at SF Macaroni Cook-Off

YumSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:26 -0700

Call it the daddy of all mac-and-cheese battles: Earlier this month, a new group, SF Food Wars, hosted its first-ever event, a macaroni and cheese cook-off. Twenty contenders - and more than 200 eaters - attended the inaugural event, which benefited the San Francisco Food Bank.

Among the cheesy plates of pasta? Bourbon Duck Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese from Beer and Nosh, The Modern Halitosis Lovers' pungent Makeout Mac, and Milo's Macaroni and Cheese from Team Fromage. KKR and Bike Basket Pies took home the big-ticket prize with their Mac & Cheese Pies, which were filled with blue cheese, spinach, shiitakes, and walnuts.

View more savory sights from the competition after the break.

Should "So Help Me God" Be Banned at the Inauguration?

LibertySugar — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 10:00:01 -0800

A group of atheists and non-religious organizations want Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony, which will take place Jan. 20, to exclude any references to God and religion. In a lawsuit filed this week, the plaintiffs demanded that the words "so help me God" not be added to the end of the president's oath of office. Similar unsuccessful suits were filed before the 2001 and 2005 Inaugurations, but this one claims "there can be no purpose for placing 'so help me God' in an oath or sponsoring prayers to God, other than promoting the particular point of view that God exists."

Obama will follow presidential forefathers and use the Bible Abraham Lincoln used for his inauguration. Do you think the reference and use of the Bible interferes with the Constitution's ban on the establishment of religion?

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Website of the Day: Ustream.TV

GeekSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:00:44 -0800

Gearing up for Tuesday's big inauguration day? If you've got all of the festivities scheduled to tape on your DVR while you're at work, but you don't want to miss any of the action as it happens, a site called Ustream.TV will broadcast everything live and for free! And not only that, but if you have an iPhone, Ustream has created an iPhone viewing application so you can watch the inauguration live - directly from your cell phone. Oh, and for Hulu fans, don't worry, you can catch all the action on Hulu as well!

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

What's Yummy This Week - YumSugar Weekly Recap

YumSugar — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:30:46 -0800

Make a lasagna bolognese that's to die for.
Meet Kelly Choi, host of the upcoming series Top Chef Masters.
Do you know what's being served at this year's inauguration luncheon?
Get caught up on this week's Top Chef drama.
PartySugar plans a White House-worthy inaugural viewing party.
My new favorite drink, the salty dog, is cousin to the classic greyhound.

Cheney Warns of Attack - Bring Him Back or Put Him Away?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:00:17 -0800

Ignoring accusations of torture, Dick Cheney wants to make sure everyone knows he still supports "enhanced interrogation techniques" because they keep America safe. In an interview with Politico yesterday, Cheney predicted that the Obama administration will either backtrack on their softy views, or put Americans at grave risk. He said:

When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry. . . These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.

To imagine how President Obama would respond to Cheney's critique, we only have to look as far as his inauguration speech when he said:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

Whose view of national security do you agree with more?

Source

Lil Links: Jennifer Meyer Knows How to Flatter Her Figure

LilSugar — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:00:38 -0800

Jennifer Meyer sports basic black and a belly - Celebrity Baby Blog
Coco Arquette is pretty in pink - Celebrity Baby Scoop
Going green: protect your baby while you protect the planet - Fit Pregnancy
What your heart needs now - Heath
Hello Kitty hospital a hit with moms-to-be - Parent Dish
Inauguration viewing party - Alpha Mom
When the kids are gone I'm going to . . . - The Poop
Let's talk about sex baby! - The Mommy Files