Blog Posts by YumSugar

POPSUGAR FoodSource: 9 Editor-Approved Chocolate Boxes For Valentine's Day and Beyond

It was a tough task at hand, but the food editors sat down with a stack of chocolate boxes and we tried them all to bring you the best of the bunch. Chocolate does not run cheap, so it's important that you guarantee your Valentine (or, let's admit, we like to treat ourselves too!) a delicious, decadent box of chocolates. We found these nine that we feel particularly passionate about. As you click through, be sure to zoom in on the pictures so you can see every detail, down to each sugar granule.

• Valrhona Valentine's Chocolate Gift Box : Fifteen ganache-filled bonbons fill this Valrhona Valentine's Chocolate Gift Box ($30), including dark chocolate hearts with dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate hearts with passion fruit ganache, and white chocolate hearts in vanilla bean ganache.
  What we loved: The milk chocolate with the passion fruit ganache reigned supreme and surprised us with its

YumSugarSource: 5 Fresh Valentine's Day Dinner Ideas

Wondering how to celebrate Valentine's Day? If you're feeling stumped or you're tired of the standard fancy-dinner routine, get creative and mix it up with a meal that steps outside your typical date pattern. Here are five great ways to get romantic for the heart-filled holiday, from a cozy indoor picnic to an anti-Valentine's Day dinner spread.

• An Indoor Picnic: Keep things casual and cozy with a sweet indoor picnic date. Turn on your favorite romantic film and enjoy simple floor-friendly dishes like salad skewers and fondue.
• A Global Spread: Feeling indecisive? Serve a little bit of everything by cooking up an ethnic dinner menu that features dishes from all over the world. You'll satisfy both your sweetie and your taste buds.
• A Feast of French Eats: Pretend you're in Paris with a delicious French feast for two. With a table full of ratatouille, crepes, and macarons, you'll have no problem channeling your inner

YumSugarSource: 9 Cheeses Worth Seeking Out

Last week's Winter Fancy Food Show was full of chips, crackers, and a number of new food trends, but if there's one product that always characterizes the show, it has to be cheese: it's everywhere. As cheese lovers, we tasted as many as we could spot, and discovered nine that are so memorable, we guarantee they're worth hunting down.

• Coach Farm Triple Cream Goat Cheese: You've probably had a triple cream made from cow's milk, but this triple cream goat's cheese from Coach Farm is out of this world. It's not crumbly like chèvre; instead it's velvety and smooth.
• Finca Pascualete Mini Torta: This petite Spanish sheep's-milk stunner had a somewhat unusual method of serving necessitated by its luxuriously oozy center. Instead of slicing off chunks, the top rind is sliced off, and the innards are stirred and then scooped out, while the outer rind is kept intact to serve as its container.
• Kaserei Tufertschwil Chällerhocker: When

Source: Cottage Cheese Goes Gourmet: 4 Savory Mix-Ins For Your Curds

When it comes to healthy eating, what's old is new again. Case in point: cottage cheese, which is making something of a comeback these days. It's time, however, to nix that canned pineapple and update your curds with a few new stir-in combinations. Here are a few of our current savory favorites.

• Olive oil, salt, and pepper: Give cottage cheese the Cal-Med treatment with a drizzle of peppery Tuscan olive oil, flaky sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. In Summer, during peak tomato season, insert fresh heirloom slices.
• "Everything bagel" spices: Friendship Dairies recommends mixing cottage cheese with bagel spices like dried onion, garlic flakes, sesame seeds, caraway seeds, poppy seeds, and sea salt. Use the seasoned cheese to flavor a toasted plain bagel or bagel chip.
• Smoked trout: Skin smoked trout fillets, and break them apart until flakes are small. Mix them into cottage cheese with

Source: Pink Grapefruit and Purple Pansies Brighten a Valentine's Day Salad

Some people care to receive flowers for Valentine's Day, but if you're like me, you would prefer an edible arrangement. While this salad isn't technically a bouquet of any kind, it does contain a colorful sprinkle of edible flowers. I chose purple pansies, snapdragon, and violets to keep in line with the Valentine's Day color scheme, but you can use bright yellow marigolds, orange nasturtiums, and other known edible flowers too. You'll find the flowers are mild in flavor and taste much like greens (slightly peppery and leaf-like).

Slices of pink grapefruit also adorn the salad. If you do not like the bitterness of grapefruit, try salting it before tossing the slices in with the greens. It neutralizes the tartness, letting the essence of the grapefruit flavor shine through. Slices of watermelon radish add a bit of crunch and vibrant color. Compared to other radishes out there, watermelon radish is mild in

YumSugarSource: 5 Tips For Smarter Composting

What's keeping you from composting? Is it too stinky? Does it attract fruit flies in your kitchen? Or does it just seem too difficult to bother with? Whatever your excuse is, these tips will help dispel your fears or bad experiences with composting so you can feel good about filling the green bin.

• Get rid of the stink and flies: While there are some airtight compost bins with charcoal lids that help prevent smells from getting out, here's a guaranteed stink-proof method. Place all the food scraps in a compostable green bag and store it in the freezer until the bag is full.
• Stop trashing your food: The compost bin can be the new home of all of your food scraps including vegetables, eggshells, coffee grinds, meat, bones, and leftover cooked food. Just remember to remove any stickers, plastic, or foil from the food.
• Toss the packaging: If it's made of wood, paper, or compostable plastic, then it belongs in the compost bin. If

YumSugarSource: More Ways to Think Big in a Tiny Kitchen

Recently, we showed you how to make better use of a tiny cooking space, but since we've started focusing on streamlining our kitchens, we've come up with even more ideas. Remember: no matter how small your space may seem, with just a few basic changes, you can restructure your kitchen's organization and make cooking a delicious and painless process. Don't let the idea of overhauling daunt you: just breathe deep and read on!

• Don't overlook your ceiling: If your cupboards are filled to capacity, don't overlook your ceilings (pun intended). Invest in some quality pots and pans that you'd happily show off from above. This will free up space to keep your kitchen stocked with ingredients.
• Keep counters clean: Use any flat surface you can and keep counters uncluttered: the precious little space you have should not be used for storage! Make sure it's cleaned off and utilized solely for cooking.
• If you can, import some

Source: 5 Creative Ways to Utilize Cream Cheese

While there's nothing tastier than a big schmear of cream cheese on a freshly toasted bagel, this tasty spread can multitask in some amazing ways. Whether you're going for something savory or sweet, cream cheese can add a layer of delicious decadence that won't go unnoticed by the people who love to chow down on your food. Ready to get inspired? Here are five creative ways to make the most of the cute cream cheese tub in your fridge.

• Add it to a dip. The addition of some cream cheese to your favorite dip can give it a whole new depth of flavor. If you haven't added cream cheese to a dip recipe before, we're partial to these tasty mushroom goat cheese queso and caramelized vidalia onion dips, both starring cream cheese.
• Create a creamy marinara. Throwing together a last-minute weeknight supper? Take your traditional marinara sauce to the next level by adding a heaping helping of tasty cream cheese to the pan when you're