Photograph from HeyGabe on Flickr This adorable girl definitely fits in the proper age range of trick-or-treaters. But you know who you are: you're still holding that bucket, with a Blackberry in the other hand. Just put on that mask and poof! They'll never know! Ageless. Time to get all the Twixes before the toddlers do! Though there really shouldn't be an age limit on dressing up, trick-or-treating is another story. Some old woman will eventually call you out: "Aren't you getting too old for this?" And while there's an inner child in all of us, maybe she's right. I pushed the limits and went through high school (because I believed my costumes were so thoughtful, awesome, and worth... More

I was surprised to see this limited edition version of chocolate-filled biscuit snack Koala's March when I visited Japanese shopping center Mitsuwa last weekend. More surprising was finding out that the only difference between this version and the Halloween version is the packaging and the designs printed on the cookies; the flavor is the same (I was hoping for pumpkin). It's a pretty damn cute design though. Related Pumpkin-Flavored Pocky Snacks The Best Japanese Chocolate and Cracker Snack Shaped Like a Mushroom... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Show: If you didn't overload on candy already, try out Alex Guarnaschelli's techniques on baking with chocolate after watching The Cooking Loft on the Food Network. 9:30 a.m. ET, Saturday Saturday (November 1) Tyler's Ultimate (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Ultimate Sloppy Joes." Sloppy Joes topped with butternut squash; coleslaw in honey goat cheese dressing; homemade pickles; crispy parmesan butternut squash chips. 9 a.m. ET, Food Network The... More

Clicking in to the Serious Eats inbox, we've got ... Hey, Serious Eats! I love your website and just realized I am wearing a food-themed Halloween costume and wanted to share it with you guys!I'm a piece of flying fish roe, and the costume is completely homemade except for the dress! I also have chopsticks in my hair :)Well, keep up the good work! —S. B. The costume, after the jump.... More

From left: Sophie Dudemaine, Sirio Maccioni, Gwenaelle Ducasse, and Alain Ducasse. Photograph by Sara Jaye Weiss On Monday night, Serious Eats attended the launch party for Sophie Dudemaine's latest cookbook, Ducasse Made Simple. Dudemaine could best be described as the French equivalent of Rachael Ray. Bubbly and beloved, she is a French television personality and the unusually prolific author of 17 cookbooks. With each cookbook, she attempts to render the complicated into 45-minute recipes for fledgling home cooks. When asked why, of all French chefs, she chose to write an Alain Ducasse cookbook, she replied, "I listen to my viewers. I give them what they want." Asked what the 100 recipes chosen from Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine had... More

We're bananas for what goes on in Talk. There's so much useful, funny, and interesting stuff going on that we almost can't keep up. Here's some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week. KFC Box Meal Makes for Unhealthy Guitar Heroes: "Does it come with a side of shock paddles?"—dozertx Celebrate National Candy Corn Day with Candy Trivia and Candy Corn Products: "In honor of National Candy Corn Day, I'm going to buy my annual bag of Brach's Autumn Mix, and I'm going to eat the whole bag this afternoon. So there. See you next year, when I recover from my sugar crash."—jessie Chewing the Fat: Alton Brown on Donuts: "I love Alton and I love doughnuts! It's... More

We've already got a bunch of great submissions for the first annual Serious Eats Pumpkin Carving Contest, but here's a little nudge reminding you there's still time. Polls will close on Saturday at 6PM EST. So far, we've seen a cereal reference, tragic injury (how's that thumb?), and pomegranate sneak into the mix. After tonight's trick-or-treating, add your carving creation to Photograzing for a chance to win cookbooks and Viking knives.... More

Photograph from chippenziedeutch on Flickr In Talk earlier this week, JerzeeTomato asked where to find a blue pumpkin. After a three-day search, in which she checked back in on the thread to update us all, she finally found one at a small farm stand in Delaware. But not before she left a lot of us wondering what the heck a blue pumpkin looked like. The pumpkin photo above isn't from Jerz—I just wanted to highlight it to show everyone blue pumpkins. I've only ever seen them in photos. This one is from Flickr user chippenziedeutch. And here's a photo of a 'Queensland Blue' split open. The contrast of blue skin and deep orange flesh is quite striking.... More

The Rib-Eye of the Beholder: $19 for a sandwich? At Primehouse, nothing gets the mouth salivating like the rib-eye sandwich with steak frites. Canadians Eat Burgers Too: A reader hips us to Peter's Drive-In, apparently the best burger from the maple leaf country. While this Calgary joint doesn't have an array of fancy toppings, they do offer 60 kinds of shakes. Paradise Found in Chicago: Oasis Cafe may be in a mall, but the crispy falafel balls had one Windy City reviewer crying for more. Skip the Tuna: Hungry Cat goes for the beef. Damon Gambuto hits this West Hollywood seafood spot for their Pug Burger, a monster of a meal that includes a fried egg, avocado, and bacon.... More

I thought we'd seen everything bacon-related here at Serious Eats. But no. No. We had not seen the bacon lampshade. [via Donny] Related The Bacon Bra Bacon Mats... More

There was a lot of candy corn celebrating yesterday. Yeah, that's going to stop right now. For all of you who detest the triangular ickiness, watch this and feel validated. Cartoon couple Moose and Zee have a good head on their shoulders: they know even feet might taste better than candy corn. Thanks to Montmc for the sharing the video! Watch it, after the jump.... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, she "drinks" the words of historic wines. My new wine addiction isn't about drinking—it's about reading. These days, my favorite glass each day is the wine I'm drinking vicariously through the reviews of Michael Broadbent, quite possibly the world's most distinguished and experienced taster. You may know of Robert Parker, founder of The Wine Advocate. You also may recognize the name Marvin Shanken, who founded The Wine Spectator. But you've probably never heard of Broadbent. That's because he tastes and reviews wine that will never touch the lips of most people on this planet. The old stuff. The rare stuff. The stuff of legends... More

I've been eating really, really, carefully this week, yet as of yesterday morning I hadn't lost any weight since last Friday. I went to eat ramen with Erin and even though we tried six kinds, she agrees I didn't consume close to a full bowl in total. Even at fat-and-pork-centric Irving Mill, I limited myself to half a burger, a single rib, and a few bites of the charcroute plate. From my extensive dieting experience (and I do mean extensive), it appears as if I have hit a plateau. That is, my body's thermostat has readjusted to my reduced caloric intake (doesn't that sound like I know what I'm talking about?). The good news is that I have lost enough... More

Consider this: everything we eat today must be pumpkin-shaped (that includes the stem), starting with breakfast. Rachel of My Sisters Cucina made these pumpkin-shaped pancakes with Bisquick, then added orange and green food coloring for a realistic effect.... More

If you're having a Halloween party tomorrow, we hope you're serving more than just candy. Here are some Halloween appropriate recipes and dish ideas from this past month, most of which follow a pumpkin or "black and orange" theme. Savory Black Fettuccine with Shrimp and Butternut Squash Pumpernickel Grilled Cheddar with Apple and Thyme Spiced Pumpkin Bisque with Pumpernickel Soldiers Poppy-Crusted Sea Scallops on Fennel and Orange Salad Eyeball Caprese Sweet Dark Chocolate, Mint, and Pumpkin Gelato Patch Pumpkin Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping Homemade Pumpkin Yeast Bread California Pizza Kitchen's Jack-O-Lantern Pizza Black Cat Cupcakes Vegan Candy Corn... More

Your wish is our command. You said you were frustrated with the way the Talk section worked. We took your feedback and—presto chango!—made some improvements to the way you can view the many useful, fun conversations happening in Talk. Recently Commented On: This new tab puts the thread with the most recent response at the top of the page. See it in action » Hot In Talk: Sorting by this tab puts the "hottest" topics at top. "Hot topic" status is based on total comment activity over the last 24 hours. See it in action » The original view, Latest Topics, sorts the column the way you may be used to—newest topic at top. Thanks for the feedback. It's... More

Photograph from Mightyohm on Flickr It appears that Japanese TV mascot Domo-kun is pro candy corn! Look as he so joyously flings unsuspecting candies into his gaping mouth! That mountain of candy corn doesn't stand a chance. See more of Domo-kun's candy corn love, after the jump.... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week, The Kitchn introduces us to the Dried Persimmon Lady. Also on the Kitchn, DIY sauerkraut, a ball that stores snacks (but looks like a hamster toy), five uses of pumpkin seeds, and the deal with Jerusalem artichokes (or "sunchokes").... More

My mom's version of Monkey Bread; my version from the King Arthur Flour mix Every Christmas morning for as long as I can remember, my mom would make her version of classic Monkey Bread using Pillsbury dough, with at least a stick of butter and a cup of sugar (if not double of both). I have such fond memories of the bread that I set out to recreate it with the King Arthur Flour Classic Monkey Bread Mix ($12.50, williams-sonoma.com) and its accompanying baking mold ($29.95, williams-sonoma.com). This mix is not about saving time or saving calories; start to finish the process was approximately 3 1/2 hours, including waiting time (and lots of cleaning). For a good laugh, I... More

Who wouldn't want to try a rod of corn-flavored ice cream covered in a chocolate shell and wrapped in a cob-shaped wafer? Daniel Gray of food blog Seoul Eats excitedly tried this Korean ice cream novelty, but was ultimately disappointed. He described the taste as, "Sorta like soggy popcorn that fell on a pile of yellow snow." Yeah, I'm going to skip that one. Related Photo of the Day: Pasta in a Waffle Cone Photo of the Day: Fave Popsicle... More

Photograph of Oasis Cafe from Elizabeth Slabaugh on Flickr Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but for this hungry reviewer, nothing puts a glint in this serious eater’s eye like roast meat on a spit. I know because this afternoon I ignored a pharaoh’s ransom of gold and diamonds and ran straight for a rotating sizzling hunk of golden chicken schwarma. Never having worked downtown, what I don’t know about Chicago Loop lunch could fill a handful of blog entries, and so I had to rely on my best friend Aamir, a regular Windy City skyscraper denizen, when we met for lunch today. Aamir is so discriminating and enthusiastic an eater that I’m pretty sure he’s the only non-pork... More

A lie told often enough can become the truth—and candy corn is a lie. Sure, after so many fall seasons, we see candy corn and associate it with truth, with tradition, with goodness. But fall wants nothing to do with the tri-colored saccharine triangles. If you drank a bottle of Karo syrup and ate a candle, that's what candy corn would taste like. Fall doesn't want to taste like that. Fall wants to taste like pumpkin seeds, roasted butternut squash, and sure, a Snickers bar, or any of the acceptable candies on Halloween. Candy corn = not an acceptable candy. Candy corn = nausea.... More

I understand that candy corn is a topic about as sensitive as the cavities it produces, but it's a debate in which, as a candy corner, I have to take a stand. And I am for it. Candy corn is the symbol of fall—of the cooler air, of the changing leaves, of Halloween, of Thanksgiving (and of my birthday). It is, admittedly, a bit "corny," but it's also a classic. Although it tastes saccharine, its traditional flavor is honey, and while Technicolor in appearance, it is also reminiscent of the American ears of grain that mark the season and color our history. I can get Snickers, Three Musketeers, or Twix any time of year, and frankly—different as they are—they are... More

The Washington Post interviews Rusty Coco, co-owner of national chain Jason's Deli, on removing high fructose corn syrup from his stores. Except for soft drinks, everything they sell is now HFCS-free. Jason's Deli has already banned trans fat and MSG.... More

In honor of National Candy Corn Day, learn more about the quintessential, yet widely hated (and sometimes loved) Halloween candy with this look inside the Goelitz candy corn factory from Food Network's Unwrapped. While the candy corn-making process normally takes four to five days, this clip condenses it into three minutes. Watch the video after the jump.... More

Photograph from Josh Bancroft on Flickr Take the kids out of the room for this one. Yesterday, Chicago's 18th Ward alderman Lona Lane proposed an ordinance to city council prohibiting the sale of any frozen dessert from a vehicle operating in the 18th Ward. According to the Chicago Reader's blog Food Chain, her explanation: You see them exchange something at the window of the truck but they didn't have any ice cream. So I assumed that they were dealing drugs. I'm not saying every truck is doing that but I prefer them not to be in the 18th Ward. That way we're sure that they are not. A Drumstick with a side of powdery unknown substance? Won't somebody think... More

KFC has come up with a box meal tie-in for the new Guitar Hero: World Tour video game. The KFC Fully Loaded Box Meal consists of two Original Recipe Strips, an Original Recipe Snacker, your choice of a drumstick or thigh, two sides, a biscuit, and a 32-ounce drink for $7.99. That's more than 1200 calories and about 60 grams of fat. Maybe it's just me but I don't see how one person alone can eat this like in the commercial and not feel nauseous or the need to go run a marathon. So I have to give props to the guys at gaming blog Kotaku for taste testing it. Overall they gave it a D-. Some specific ratings... More

Aun Koh's blog may be called Chubby Hubby, but this week a more appropriate title would have been "chunky monkey." When, after a few weeks of testing, his wife, S., had finally perfected her banana cake recipe, she still had a stockpile of bananas reminiscent of "a gorilla about to face a harsh winter." She incorporated the bananas into banana ice cream and sandwiched them between little brownie cookies, which Aun dubbed "crownies." The results were little treats that could satisfy King Kong's sweet tooth.... More

When the Halloween candy season rolls around each fall there are two kinds of people in the world: those who love candy corn, and those who hate it. I have yet to meet anyone in between. In honor of National Candy Corn Day, October 30, here is some information on our favorite fall confection, at least for those of us who love candy corn. For those who don’t, I suppose we must share the same candy corn world until Christmas, so I tolerate your opinion as well A History Lesson Candy corn is as indigenous to the autumn season as corn bread. It has been around since 1880, when its new three-way technicolor look wowed candy consumers nationwide. At... More

Pull up a chair and watch as Serious Eats chews the fat (and the doughnuts) with Alton Brown. More

Every Thanksgiving we check in with food magazine editors around the country to see how they have gone about putting together their Thanksgiving issues. Leading off this year is Bon Appétit's Barbara Fairchild. The magazine features five approaches to different aspects of the Thanksgiving feast. More

Let's give Thanksgiving some props. It has to be the best overall holiday for serious eaters. What's not to love? Gravy? Awesome! Stuffing? One of the greatest foodstuffs ever! How about pie? Who among us doesn't lurve pie? So I'm going to flat-out say it: We hope you make Serious Eats your home on the web for all things Thanksgiving. Our coverage is going to feature recipes and tips galore from chefs, cookbook authors, and, of course, serious eaters everywhere—along with restaurant suggestions if you happen to be eating out this year. We're going to do Thanksgiving up right on Serious Eats. We invite you to join us.... More

In Julia Moskin's piece on molecular gastronomy in the New York Times today, I couldn't help but notice a familiar noodly-appendaged creature. To my dismay, the caption for the photograph of the Flying Spaghetti Monster just read "a noodle monster." Is it a conspiracy by the Times to deny recognition of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and its Pastafarian followers? Or are writers and editors at the Times woefully unaware of Internet memes that date back to 2005? Did they not check their own archives? What's the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you ask? Wikipedia has the answer: The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is a character created as a satirical protest to the decision by the Kansas... More

Oh! There's a giant bar of chocolate on the Serious Eats conference table!... More

Honestly, I don't know what's going on in this video. Fake Barack Obama makes bacon, some of the kids behind Sizzology rap about it, and then—how did we ever miss this tidbit of news?—they cut in a Michelle Obama breakdown in which she says, "I do my protein as bacon. We're bacon people." I'd imagine that was clipped from some appearance on a morning talk show where she either made a recipe or talked about breakfast. The video, after the jump.... More

Charlotte and Martin Willmott have no formal training in tiny sculpture-making, but the husband-and-wife team impressively created this farmhouse table (£85) fit for a decent-sized beetle. The couple was first inspired 30 years ago by a man making 1/12th scale chairs. Today they live in Ipswich, England, and travel all over to miniature art fairs, where one of their mini Atlantic salmon goes for £45. Related Best Dinner Party Jewelry: Finger Food Rings Jewelry: Still Not Edible, But Close... More

Like sports teams and hot dog styles, candy inspires fervent regional loyalties. Thanks to the Great Depression, the candy industry was booming during the early 1900s, when a nickel was all people could afford for a high-energy snack or meal. It's kind of scary—maybe exciting for the sake of candy—to think we've come full circle, but regardless, economic crisis or not, we'll never stop loving the candies from home. More

Nick "Beef Aficionado" Solares sends us the photo above. From Golden Dragon restaurant in Los Angeles. Don't let the unfortunate translation put you off, though. Nick says, "The food was actually not bad at all." Golden Dragon: 960 North Broadway, Los Angeles CA 90012 (map); 213-626-2039... More

Next time you eat a Rice Krispie Treat, make sure a fluffy cat isn't inside. Cute Overload has quite the list of pet costumes, some of which are food-related.... More

©iStockPhoto.com/tcort Anthony Silverbrow on the Guardian's Word of Mouth blog contemplates what his daughter's first solid meal should be: There is surprisingly little independent guidance (i.e., not written by those trying to flog a series of books) on what babies should be fed. There's a mini-industry around last meals, there's a lot of gnashing of teeth about what to give early meals, but first solid meals seem to be overlooked.Is any meal more significant than our first? For the food obsessed, does it get any more existential than pondering what to pass between our lips for the very first time? I have a gut feeling that the first meal will determine how that child approaches food for the rest... More

"Most people don't realize that POTUS's 'Peaches' is not a weird novelty rock song; rather, it is actually a thinly veiled critique of the anti-locavore movement." —Helen Rosner, MenuPages Chicago... More

The gigantic candy corn decorations we reported on last week are still for sale, even if the Craigslist ad has been removed. If you're interested, call seller Steve D. at 612-805-4738. God knows what you'd do with them, but someone, please give these monstrously huge candy corns a good home! Related Gigantic Candy Corn For Sale on Craigslist, $3800 Crazy Craigslist Cookie Ad Candy Corn Knit Cap... More

From the guys who brought you Bacon Salt, there's now Baconnaise, a vegetarian and kosher bacon-flavored spread. It comes in Regular and Lite. Buy some today, and slather it on everything! Hell, eat it straight if you want. Seattlites will get the chance to trade in their jars of mayonnaise for Baconnaise this Thursday, October 30, at Baconnaise's Mayonnaise Wrestling Match, during which participants will wrestle in a ring filled with 200 gallons of mayonnaise. Related For the Best in Bacon News, Visit Bacon Today David Lebovitz's Candied Bacon Ice Cream I've Seen the Future, and It Tastes Like Bacon... More

On Tuesdays, Jamie Forrest (CurdNerds.com) drops by for some Serious Cheese talk. Photograph courtesy of FactoryFarm.org The answer, according to a recent study from the University of Minnesota, lies in the slim ratio between agricultural revenues and today's cost of living. The authors of the study found that it takes $74,804 in annual revenues to support a Minnesotan farm family of 3.4 people. This amounts to a herd of 127 dairy cows (where each cow earns a little less than $600 a year on average). By comparison, Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont has only 37 cows. And ten years ago the average U.S. farm had only 80 cows on it. Simply put, the cost of living has far outpaced the... More

Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to remind you of how great you have it. In this instance, I'm talking about pumpkin. Aran of Cannelle et Vanille didn't grow up on pumpkin pie, but as soon as she moved to the States, she "immediately fell in love and to this day, pumpkin pie is [her] favorite part of the American holidays." An homage to the pie that stole her heart, these Pumpkin and Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches bookend fresh roasted pumpkin ice cream with sugary gingerbread squares. They prove that spin-offs can be as good as the original.... More

Yesterday was a real trip for anyone who remembers when MTV actually played music. The network launched mtvmusic.com, making available a gigantic web library of original music videos. Though many food-related favorites come to mind, it's hard not to recall Weird Al Yankovic's take on Michael Jackson's "Beat It." Don't you tell me you're full, just eat it/ Get yourself an egg and beat it/ If it's gettin' cold, reheat it/ Have some more chicken, have some more pie. It doesn't matter if it's boiled or fried/ Just eat it The next time someone gives you sass about their food, borrow some of Weird Al's lines. Both videos, after the jump.... More

Clockwise from top: "Gastrotypographicalassemblage" as restored by the Center for Design Study, a detail of the wall, Lou Dorfsman in front of the wall. Photographs from TCFDS on Flickr Lou Dorfsman, who had a 40-year run as advertising and corporate design director at CBS, (during the heyday of what was once known as the "Tiffany Network"), died last week at 90. The food angle here? Dorfsman designed an amazing work of art for the cafeteria at CBS headquarters called the "Gastrotypographicalassemblage." It was a wall 35 feet long by 8.5 feet tall that represented all sorts of foods and food-related things as playful words reminiscent of the old wood type seen in advertising posters of the late 1800s. "Gastrotypographicalassemblage"... More

You know it's a late night when you're going home on a subway full of people making their morning commute, equipped with coffees and briefcases. More

"Hey, Dunkin' Donuts: America does not run on Dunkin'. You guys owe me a new gas tank." —Stephen Colbert, on Monday's show opener... More

The Big Cherry started in 1887 with Christopher's Candy, the oldest candy company in Southern California. Each individually wrapped candy contains a real maraschino cherry at the center, mixed with bright-pink goo and layered with chocolate and peanut hunks. Golf ball-sized, this is a three-biter. More

"Just had a fun-size Snickers. All it did is make me want a Snickers the size of my head. Sigh." —dyfl, on Twitter... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Show: Get educated on your favorite Halloween candy before you stuff yourself silly with Modern Marvels. Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, Discovery Channel Monday (October 27) Good Eats (warning, a video plays automatically on site: "Oh My, Meat Pie." The origins of shepherd's pie and mincemeat pie. 8 p.m. ET, Food Network How'd That Get On My Plate? (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Jalapeno." Pepper picking process; how jalapenos... More

Good news, carvers! You have until 6 p.m. Saturday, November 1 to submit your creations on Photograzing. We'll announce winners Monday afternoon (November 3). Prizes include cookbooks and sharp, shiny Viking knives.... More

What should your 2- to 5-year-old eat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture? Beats me, because its website seems to have been put together by 2- to 5-year-olds, and when I tried to generate a custom pyramid for my 4-year-old daughter, all I got was “Could not download Redirect.aspx.” Maybe it will work better for you: Food Pyramid for Preschoolers I’m having a hard time understanding who this material is geared toward, other than fans of Comic Sans. According to the Chicago Tribune, “The new MyPyramid for Preschoolers is intended to help parents make better food choices for preschool children, aged 2 to 5 years—a critical time when food habits and taste preferences are established.” Really?... More

Even ramen, delivery pizza, and Easy Mac can add up, which is why some college students are applying for food stamps. Despite the 26-page application, it's probably worth the time—and skipping the philosophy reading—if it means eating tomorrow. With 23,000 Denver residents receiving food stamp benefits, about 4,223 (18 percent) of them are students, according to the Denver Post. The qualifications can differ from state to state, but here's the government's fact sheet on food stamps. The nation's economic downturn is affecting all ages, even the young ones supposedly safe inside dorms.... More

A pomegranate bursting at the seams. In most states, you know it's fall because the leaves change colors, turning golden, crimson and persimmon, until the tops of trees look aflame. Here in Southern California you know it's fall when everything is actually on fire and the Santa Ana winds are blowing hard enough to knock down small children. While our crisp hills smolder and turn brown like burnt cakes from Ventura County to Fontana to the Sepulveda Pass, there's the upside in knowing that fall weather also means ton of marvelous fall produce at the Hollywood Farmers' Market (map). Aw, Nuts The new crop of pistachios has finally arrived! The Santa Barbara Pistachio Company, located in Sierra Madre Mountains... More

Blogger Grace Bonney puts together an overview of more than two dozen modern flatware sets. With sets ranging from $13 Ikea cutlery to thousand-dollar wallet punishers, there should be ideas in there for anyone in the market for some new knives, forks, and spoons. Worth a look if you need some new or extra flatware for Thanksgiving. [via The Food Section]... More

What has this family of corn terrified? See if the answer pops into your head before clicking play on the video after the jump.... More

Just because J. Kenji Alt is one of our burger correspondents on AHT, doesn't mean he's scared of tofu. Over at Goodeater, he argues that tofu shouldn't be a meat substitute, but a delicious addition to meatopia. In fact, he thinks homemade tofu can rival pork belly. As he notes, "you can't make a great burger with bad meat, and you can't make great tofu with bad soy milk." Start with a quart of the best unflavored soy milk you can find and add a couple drops of nigari. He makes a good case for coagulated soy bean juice, considering he's such an adamant carnivore. Related How to Make Old-School Miso Soup Talk: Tofu Throwdown Bacon vs Tofu: Battle... More

In my United Nations of a household, the Halloween tradition is for the housemates to contribute to a giant candy stash—so we have a pool of unusual, globetrotting candy to offer the neighbors’ kids. This year, I was ready to break out my childhood fave—chewy, milky, nougaty Chinese White Rabbit candy. But in September, four babies died and thousands of people got sick after drinking melamine-tainted milk from China. Tons of milk-containing products were recalled, and I had to feed my beloved White Rabbits to the trash. My housemates joke that I should have kept the candy and put them in a bowl with a sign that reads: Beware, Poisoned Apples. But I haven’t quite the same sick sense... More

Canned pumpkin is easy to use and available year round, but fresh pumpkin is worth the extra prep for real pumpkin flavor. More

The Observer's restaurant critic, Jay Rayner, takes the occasion of the publication of A Day at elBulli to do just that, and dine at El Bulli for the first time. My meal there was quite simply the best of my life—the most intriguing, the most entertaining, the most delicious—which is a staggering achievement for a place hyped beyond all bounds of sense or logic. I went nursing a fear that I would be disappointed. I left all those fears by a ragged Catalan beach. Read about the day in the Observer Food Monthly, or watch the video.... More

What could pass as a fruitcake but is better because you can't eat it? An inflatable fruitcake! No one wants to eat the real thing anyway; as long as you can blow air, the inflatable fruitcake offers the joy only a fruitcake could bring, year after glorious year. Practically a steal for only $9.50 (shipping included)! "This is the most perfect item ever created," declares the frighteningly enthusiastic dude in the commercial. You should listen to him. The inflatable fruitcake comes from novelty gift shop Archie McPhee, also the creator of the inflatable toast mattress. [via The Presurfer] Related Alright. Do people really hate fruitcake? The last bastion of fruitcake respect Fruitcake Defeated in Rap Battle... More

Usually, I can devour a new cookbook in the space of one or two evenings—reading all the front matter and back matter and giving a few thorough skims (and then some) to all the recipes in between. Not so with the recently released Alinea cookbook. Consuming this one has been a more protracted commitment, spanning a few weeks, filling the majority of my free time, and still, I feel as though I should pore over it a few more times. This is no ordinary cookbook. This is a culinary tome. Before any recipes are introduced, there are several lengthy pieces—replete with heady analogies to art and philosophy and written by such heavy hitters as Jeffrey Steingarten,—set forth to frame... More

Sabra spent a whole day watching her friend's mother make stuffed Indian breads from scratch. But she wrote about that just to make her Cookbook Catchall readers jealous. As appeasement, she offers the method for her Eggs Poha, a fried egg perched on a cake of spiced, flattened rice. It's Indian food "that is eminently doable by the layperson," she says. Picture perfect.... More

I don't like most chocolate cookies. They're confusing: unless they're absolutely loaded with chocolate, they don't taste much like chocolate at all; on the other hand, they don't quite taste like cookie, either. Chocolate chippers, fine. Oreos, fine, because the filling saves them. The typical chocolate cookie, though, doesn't do much for me. But chocolate biscuits are another story. Say what you will about the British and their food, our friends across the pond are very good at dipping things in chocolate. And Fortnum & Mason's Chocolossus Biscuits are no exception. In fact, they may be the tastiest chocolate biscuits I've ever eaten.... More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. A Guide to the Best Doughnuts in New York "It might be decades, or it might be never, before New York City is the home to a doughnut shrine like Leonard's in Honolulu, Glendora's Donut Man, or Seattle's Top Pot. But for a city not exactly known for showcasing the wonders of sweet fried dough, we're not doing too bad." [from Serious Eats: New York] 2. Ferran Adria: The New Foam Meets the Old Foam "Here's a question for all you serious eaters: Where do you take El Bulli's Ferran Adrià, the Spanish toque god, molecular gastronomy master, who closes... More

Photograph by static-photo on Flickr "I don't really like apples. Does that make me unpatriotic? Am I a real American?" —Amanda Hesser, on Twitter Make it apple pie, Amanda, and I think we'd have you on the next plane to Gitmo, but plain ol' apples, I sorta hear you. The regular supermarket variety are often flavorless, so why bother? But great heirloom varieties that are in season? Yum. What do you think, serious eaters? Who's pro-apple and who's anti-apple? As evidenced above, I'm taking a centrist stance here.... More

Make You Say "Moo": Relive childhood with a mix of concord grape juice and vanilla ice cream, blended together for a sweet, tangy, and slightly sour purple cow. Who Needs Bacon; You've Got Chewy Pork And Warm Apples: Bacon isn't the only pork to rave about. Curried pork with apples provides a healthy take on the other white meat, complete with sauteed apples and fragrant spices. Sugary Hole-y Cake, Oozing with Chocolate: Bundt cake can be boring unless you make a classic Tunnel of Fudge, filled with melted chocolate and packed with walnuts. Wine and Dine Like Mario and Gwyneth: Take a brief trip to Spain with a hearty rendition of Caldo Gallego, which brings together a filling combo... More

Want to keep up with the Joneses in the candy corn driveway decor department? This trio is so great, so surreal, and for some reason looks like they're posing for a family portrait. Found on a Minneapolis Craigslist ad: These "one of a kind" holiday decorations will set your house apart in your neighborhood! They just make people smile, in fact often people have left notes at the door saying how cool they are.3 pieces of candy corn make up the display: one 8 feet tall, another 6 feet tall and another 3 feet tall. Tradition candy corn colors of orange, yellow and white. They are of a very high quality, solid construction. They were designed and created by... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Shows: I'm obsessed with apples and especially cooking them with meat, so I'll be recording The Cooking Loft on Saturday morning to figure out dinner with my Greenmarket apples. Food Network is on a roll with new episodes of all the faves; A&E is serving up some tasty food bits which I just started following: We Mean Business and Rocco Gets Real. Saturday (October 25) Tyler's Ultimate (warning, a video... More

I'm trying to cook at home a bit more these days. (The economy, you know?) And one of the easiest meals to whip up quickly is, of course, a pasta dish. French Revolution's bechamel-based Wagon Wheels with Sauce Roquefort recipe is so simple and quick that you won't think twice about using your favorite jarred sauce. Note: SE intern extraordinaire Kerry Saretsky is the force behind French Revolution. Kerry usually writes the Blogwatch entries and is much too modest to toot her own horn, so I'm doing it for her today. Or, as Erin put it, "Who Blogwatches the Blogwatcher?"... More

We're bananas for what goes on in Talk. There's so much useful, funny, and interesting stuff going on that we almost can't keep up. Here's some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week. Chicken feet, served fresh at dim sum:"I learned on my recent trip to China that the word for "chicken" is a term for prostitute, so when ordering chicken in restaurants, "phoenix" is used instead, you know, to avoid confusion..."—Shelby Atomic food containers, to protect yourself from the school bully:"Don't ever label your meat as human remains. The handyman at your apartment complex might freak out, forget to fix the seal on your freezer, and call the cops. Bovine Experiment #3 is not really smart either."—isol8d... More

Atkins is a misleading name for a farm that makes fried rings of dough, covered in sugar and cinnamon. Located in Amherst, Massachusetts, part of the idyllic motherland of apple orchards, Atkins Farms makes the classic cider doughnut. The kind you want in your mouth now, and for every autumn forever. When my friend sent me a three-dozen box of them for my birthday this week (she was a Smithie, and has fond memories visiting the nearby farm), I couldn't be happier. "That's a lot of doughnuts," Serious Eaters said as they walked by, already weighed down by pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cookies, pastries, and chocolates (we had two birthdays in the office this week). Though a surplus of cider... More

A Burger Shack Grows in Los Angeles: Ketchup doesn't belong at Bill's Hamburger Shack, just off the industrial San Fernando Valley strip. According to our new burger correspondent Damon Gambuto, you'll forget ketchup ever existed after the salty patty, sweet onions, and oily mayo. Cabbies Turned Deep Dish Pizzaiolos: Daniel Zemans tells the story of two former cab drivers who opened Gino's East in Chicago. Not necessarily the best deep-dish in the city, but definitely up there, and a great story. AQ Kafé, Just OK: Manhattan's new Scandinavian bakery and cafe is good for pretzels, potato salad, and bittersweet chocolate tarts, but Ed Levine would still opt for Bouchon Bakery across the street. New York Fried Tire Round-Up: Where... More

To promote Iron Chef Japan, Fine Living Network made this fake music video spoofing "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors. Watch close up of various things being chopped and gutted to a catchy song. You'll have "I'm cooking Japanese I think I'm cooking Japanese by Morimoto," stuck in your head all day long! Video, after the jump.... More

Why don't they make a GIANT CANDY CORN? Like a single candy corn "kernel" that's like two feet tall? THAT would be awesome. (This one doesn't count; it's not a retail product.) [via Twitter; response tweets here]... More

Photograph by Matthew Amster-Burton See these awesome maple-bacon doughnuts I made? I actually can’t take any credit for them. The idea came from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, Oregon, where they serve a maple bar with bacon strips on top. The idea of doing it at my house, with bacon sprinkles, came from Dana Cree, the talented pastry chef at Poppy in Seattle. The raised doughnut recipe is from Baking Illustrated, which comes from the editors at Cooks Illustrated. Making raised doughnuts at home sounds like a major undertaking, but it’s not. All you need is a lot of hungry people to eat them, because one batch of dough makes a lot of doughnuts, and you don’t want to waste... More

I freaked my son out last week. For perhaps the first time ever, I opted for the broccoli instead of the fried shrimp at the mediocre Chinese restaurant where we were eating. Will was incredulous: "I'm not believing what I'm seeing. What is going on here? You're really serious about this diet stuff, aren't you, Dad?" I'm even freaking myself out with my fervent embrace of (gasp) vegetables. We're talking about way more than broccoli here. We're talking carrots and green beans and even bok choy. My appetite is a bok choy-seeking missile. Do you know what it's like to eat the bok choy and leave the pork alone? This is more than a sea change. It's an appetite transplant.... More

If you're caffeinated enough, you can apparently make a TIE fighter from Starbucks cups, cardboard jackets, stirrers, and lids. Got something better? Enter the Wired contest. You're limited to the Starbucks thingamabobs, glue, tape, and string. Upload a picture on this wiki page.... More

These cute ginger skeleton cookies made by artist and plush toy-master Heidi Kenny of My Paper Crane are perfect for Halloween. Just make sure you have some knowledge of skeletal systems before you pipe on the frosting.... More

From blacktreacle.com. Yes, there is a blacktreacle.com. "Mom, that smell is making me want to throw up," is the unintended reaction Rebecca Koffman of the Washington Post got when she tried to feed her kids black treacle toffee as a Halloween treat. She gives us the story behind this beloved British treat, which is traditionally eaten on Guy Fawkes Night, along with a recipe so you can make it at home. Despite her kids' reactions of horror, I'm now curious to try this shiny, black candy with a rich, smoky flavor. Buy it online or head to your nearest purveyor of British goods.... More

Carved turnip with vision troubles. Photograph from soozums on Flickr My Irish kin have some interesting Halloween customs, including turnip-o-lanterns. The jack-o-lantern creation story actually starts with a turnip in Ireland during the 18th century. A blacksmith named Jack dropped a coal ember into a gouged-out turnip, and so it began. When Irish immigrants arrived in America, they substituted turnips with pumpkins—much plumper, and thus, better carving potential.... More

Not only are autumn leaves falling all over the sidewalks and our lawns this time of year, they're also popping up on pies, cookies, and chocolates. Autumn leaf cookie cutters are a savior when you don't have the patience to trace a leaf shape for 20 cookies or 50 tiny leaves on an apple pie. Take a peek at these savory and sweet Autumn leaf pies by Megan Reardon from Not Martha, perfectly shaped with a cookie cutter to reflect the outdoors and filled with market ingredients. Though Megan based her creations on recipes, I'm convinced the sky's the limit for this variation on a hand pie. For a sweet pie, I'd stuff mine with sautéed pears, honey, and... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week, The Kitchn makes us want to eat more acorn-shaped things. Also on the Kitchn, appreciation for in-season pomegranates, William Faulkner's salmon snack, freezer-friendly recipes, and knit jackets for pears and apples.... More

From Word on the Street: dinneruption is when a co-worker's meal explodes in the office microwave.... More

Pretty Province Manzanita Trees at Province Randy Zweiban, formerly of Norman Van Aken’s Miami outpost Norman’s and Chicago’s Nacional 27, opened up his new spot, Province, last week. When I spoke with Zweiban recently he said he’d chosen “maybe the worst time in the last 150 years to open a restaurant.” He wasn’t worried though, saying his former mentor Van Aken always used to ask why, if the restaurant business was so hard to make money at, was there a restaurant on every corner in America? Hard to argue with that. That being said, Zweiban’s new LEED certified dining room featuring reclaimed wood, cork, a breathtaking ceiling mounted grove of petrified Manzanita trees, and mouth-watering food photography from Laurie Proffitt... More

As if you needed a reason to do your civic duty, but free ice cream don't hurt nothin'. "Come to participating scoop shops on November 4 from 5 to 8 p.m., show us you voted and you'll get a free scoop of ice cream. Show us your 'I Voted' sticker, a photo of you in front of your polling station, do the 'I Voted dance,' or just tell us you voted." Hmm. Those guidelines seem pretty lax. I predict a rampant amount of ice cream fraud the evening of the election.... More

You probably can't put nuclear waste in these Atomic Food Containers, but if you could then their claim, "They'll never steal your lunch again!" would come true. Because anyone who did would become horribly sick. Related Ctrl Alt Del Cups Subliminal Dinnerware Paper Plates You Can Display On Your Wall... More

Look at all this grape candy! It's awesome! Last week, as I went up to the register to pay my bill, I looked into the candy cup on the counter for a lollipop. There they were: six or seven Blow Pops, all grape! I smiled secretly to myself as I pocketed one, thanking my lucky stars that almost no one else on earth loves grape candy. I considered doing the other customers a favor by taking all seven and forcing the check-out lady to replenish the strawberry, cherry, and watermelon reserves. When you are little it’s natural to want to fit in, but there is one way, especially around Halloween, in which it’s quite convenient to be a bit... More

Jeanette Ordas of Everybody Likes Sandwiches just bought a cheap Japanese mandoline, which led to her "skillz," which led to her confidence to copy Vancouver's Crave's goat cheese and apple omelette, which culminated in her "serious style" with this apple-and-cheese omelette. Finally, a totally new way to use all those apples. Looks like everybody likes omelettes.... More

Kellogg's cereals. You probably don't go for sugar kids' cereals when you have a craving for savory food, but according to this report from the Wall Street Journal, some cereals may be saltier than potato chips, more specifically in reduced-sugar cereals. London-based group Consumers International explains that "manufacturers are likely to add salt to boost the flavor of the product, and may use salt to maintain customer appeal when sugar levels are reduced." Although Kellogg's Frosties Reduced Sugar cereal showed higher sugar and salt contents compared to potato chips, Kellogg spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz said that she wasn't aware of Kellogg adding salt to reduced-sugar products. Of course, the main problem with kids' cereals is that they have too much... More

Photograph by roboppy After so many PBJs in a lifetime, we tend to make them without thinking. Peanut butter here, jelly there. But wait. There's a method to that madness. Instinctively, many people slop peanut butter on the bottom slice and jelly on top. Why? John Kessler, food columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has a theory: "Since taste buds are on the tongue, then the peanut butter goes on the underside so I can taste it first." Kessler goes back and forth, until eventually, he has no idea why he does what he does. But he's got one thing certain: Relative weights and densities are an issue. Heavier ingredients logically go at the bottom, and peanut butter is heavy,... More

Frank, the freaky Donnie Darko bunny-man who knows exactly when the world will end, is a lot more manageable when he's made of hot dog franks. Because that way, you can destroy him! Frank: 28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds. That...is when the world...will end. Psh, you'll be in my stomach by then, Frank!... More

At the Wageningen University cafeteria, behavioral scientists spy on you from a separate control room. They record what foods you pick up, the facial expressions you make, and what your body type says about that purchase, all for a study on consumer food consumption. Ceiling cameras can even zoom in on your plate. [via CurdNerds]... More

Hypothetical conversation between watercolors, pastels, and sausage: Watercolors and pastels (to sausage): You think you can be part of the art community? You think you have what it takes? Sausage: Yes. Watch me. I'll go do it in Russia. And that's just what happened. We weren't sure if we had covered this before, but then realized, we had just covered many other instances of meat artwork. Previously Meat Paintings Photo of the Day: Meatscapes Amazing Charcuterie Floor 'Pig Meets Its Potential'... More

The folks in the video here have created a "font" called EatStreet out of different foods. I put "font" in quotes because at least one of our readers cough, cough...Norman...cough will come here and tell us that this is not truly a "font" but lettering. The "font" is available, free, here. Video, after the jump.... More

The USDA will unveil MyPyramid for Preschoolers this weekend at a nutrition conference in Chicago. Geared to two-to-five-year olds who need to watch that extra cookie.... More

This year, pumpkins are the newest form of campaigning. There's campaign-o-lantern patterns for both McCain and Obama couples. Some more here. Over at Zombie Pumpkins, Obama is ahead by over 25-percent in pumpkin polls. Obama's team even has their own blog called Yes We Carve, dedicated to Obamalanterns.... More

Photograph by .mands. on Flickr Fewer Japanese people can get skinny these days. With bananas the hot new diet trend, it's hard to keep them stocked. Over the last year, the Japanese division of Dole has increased shipments by 25-percent, but still fails to keep up. The Banana Diet regimen includes: a raw banana and glass of room-temperature water for breakfast, then basically anything thereafter, except sweets and limited alcohol. Once Asian celebrities started endorsing the banana diet, the yellow fruit got hot. If you're eating a banana right now, you're probably not in Japan.... More

Serious Eats and our favorite food mail-order source, Zingerman's, have teamed up to put together three seriously delicious student care packages, and we'd like you to help us design the fourth—what we're calling the Senior Package. Go to Zingermans.com, check out the array of available items, and comment on this post with the one thing you think every senior or would-be senior absolutely has to eat—or design an entire package. We'll choose the most popular Zingerman's eats from your comments to be a part of the exclusive-to-Serious Eats Senior Package, and a $25 Zingerman's gift card for the best package idea overall. These packages are exclusively designed for Serious Eats readers, and I can personally vouch for the inherent deliciousness... More

Mental Floss compiles a list of the birthplaces of ten iconic American foods. Among them, the hamburger at Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut; the Cobb salad, at the Brown Derby in Los Angeles; the root beer float, in Cripple Creek, Colorado; the corn dog, in Springfield, Illinois; and the pizzeria, at Lombardi’s in New York City.... More

Lately, I've been seeing crêpes all over the place. At first, I thought I was imagining some sort of French oasis in the culinary desert of my daily life, but no, they're real. They are gossamer thin, chocolate stuffed, individually wrapped, 144 calories, 89¢, and actually made in France. In short, they are perfect. I put mine in the toaster oven to crisp up on low—the chocolate in the center melts, and it is positively unbeatable. No, they are not the fresh buckwheat beauties you find in Breton, but they are the perfect snack for the flight over. Let's hope the other flavors make their way over soon; Whaou! sells these crêpes in France in Chocolate, Cracky (crispies and... More

Faraway look at the broccoli bag (bottom right). So easy to miss the faces. Upon closer inspection of a Cascadian Farm bag of frozen broccoli florets, blogger Alicia Carrier of bread & honey noticed tiny freakish faces popping out. She needed her macro lens to confirm such weirdness. Talk about a real-life scene from Honey I Shrunk the Kids! Remember when the kids are drowning in a bowl of Cheerios and daddy Rick Moranis almost swallows them? Tiny things are cute by nature, but when they have faces that are ecstatic to a disturbing degree, they instantly become terrifying.... More

George Foreman, the boxing champ and patron saint for college students eating grease-less chicken breasts everywhere, has reached a whole new level. His new Lean Mean Fryer ($149.99) undergoes a "spin cycle," like a washing machine, to get rid of fried fattiness. The Smart Spin™ technology claims to knock out "up to 55 percent" of grease, but still deliver on crispiness. This spinny fryer makes me wonder: what if you take fried foods on the swing ride at the fair? Will it have the same effect?... More

Photograph courtesy of Ile de France Cheese Gone are the days when the Pillsbury Bake-Off stood proudly as the only recipe contest in the world worth entering. Nowadays every food company has a contest; there's the Uncle Ben's Rice Recipe Contest, the Quebecois Grain-fed Veal Recipe Contest, and absurdly specific Jif Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest. But for a cheese geek like me, Ile de France's Cheese Recipe Contest takes the cake, so to speak. Unfortunately the deadline to enter the contest has passed, but until November 3rd, cheese lovers can go to the Ile de France site to peruse and rate all the thirty-seven recipes chosen as finalists for the grand prize ($1000 cash--a paltry sum compared... More

Coined earlier today on Twitter: Pronunciation: ōt-nət... More

Watching a giant human-sized doughnut skateboard is funny; watching a giant human-sized doughnut wipe out is funnier. Señor Donut is a character in the recently released movie Sex Drive, a tale of boy-meets-girl, except the boy has to dress up in a clunky doughnut outfit for his job at a pastry shop in the mall. Video after the jump.... More

The AP sayeth: "Chief marketing officer Andy England says the decision was due to weakness in the "malternative" segment and declining consumer interest. He says distributors can get remaining Zima inventories most likely through December." I had no idea it was still being brewed."Malternative." Ha.... More

Lisa Fain, the Homesick Texan, may wax nostalgic for her home state's fair, but she refuses to go without just because she lives in New York. While pining for Fletcher's corny dogs, she develops a recipe of her own: use turkey or tofu dogs, or add jalapeños or chipotles to the corn bread batter. But she makes hers plain and old-fashioned, much like she'd always had at the Texas State Fair: "And that’s the best thing about corny dogs; no matter how old you are they always make you feel like you’re a kid again." Who says fried food on a stick isn't the best thing ever?... More

Why did the super nice couple who professed their love for me, the wine, the cheese, and the place, leave nary a tip? Why did the angry man who grumpily guzzled his wine tip fifty percent of the bill? I'll ever know. People are endlessly mysterious in their tipping ways. More

rd.com Breakfast means different things to different people, as Reader's Digest points out. For sumo wrestlers, it's a bulk-up food called chanko-nabe (chunky stew of vegetables, noodles, and meat or seafood). In rural Cambodia, school children digest morning lessons with a bowl of rice and split peas. The rest of us non-sumo wrestlers, non-Cambodians often hit up cereal (part of a $9 billion business) or a fruit smoothie. Do you have a favorite breakfast specific to your lifestyle or region?... More

Carving ideas from pumpkinway.com As we mentioned last week, we're excited to hold our first Pumpkin Carving Contest. But we're even more excited now that we know specifics on the three top prizes: 1st place: Viking Professional Chef's Cutlery Starter Set (Set includes: Five-inch flexible boning knife, eight-inch chef knife, four-inch paring knife) 2nd place: Eight-inch Viking Professional Chef's Knife 3rd place: Four-inch Viking Professional Paring Knife All Viking knives are stainless steel, have a lifetime warranty, and are handmade in Germany with authentic Old World craftsmanship. (They are not necessarily for pumpkins.)... More

Chicken feet are nothing surprising to the frequent dim sum-eater, but to others a bowl of this stuff might look strange and inedible. During a meal at 88 Palace in New York City's Chinatown (which you'll soon read about on Serious Eats New York), we shared an order of steamed chicken feet. One of my Chinese friends said that she's seen them referred to as "Phoenix Claws," which sounds way cooler than it actually is. What do "Phoenix Claws" taste like? In my experience, mostly bone and insubstantial bits of gooey meat matter. I can't say it's my favorite dim sum dish. But don't take my word for it—some people love chicken feet as though it's a gift from... More

Editor's note: Spicy thrill-seekers have been getting their fix from Chile Pepper magazine for more than 20 years. Editors Gretchen VanEsselstyn and Andrea Lynn, plus a team of intrepid tasters, testers, writers, and photographers, put together the bimonthly print magazine, temporarily paralyzing their taste buds by working through the newest hot sauces, salsas, and more. And now you'll reap the benefits, as they'll be sharing thoughts and observations from the fiery food world with Serious Eats readers. Check out their posts for the hottest products, recipes, events, and news around. In case you missed the first part of Your Spicy Food To-Do List, here's a quick primer: Every year in Fort Worth, Texas, culinary professionals and hot food aficionados gather... More

"And if you look twice at the reasons why Palin hunts, they resemble an ideal cherished by city-dwelling, New York Times-reading folks. Sarah Palin is a locavore, harvesting meat from her local 'foodshed.'" [Slate, via Eater L.A.]... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Show: Tonight on No Reservations, Tony Bourdain visits WD-50 in New York City, for what he calls a night where: "I get to sit down, talk about a lot of pretty obscure, insider food and travel-related issues with some opinionated friends—and at the same time—eat for free at a restaurant I respect and find intensely interesting." This isn't a new series, but he may continue the theme with a couple... More

©iStockphoto.com/fotofrog The San Francisco Chronicle surveyed 30 Bay Area food shoppers to see how many actually knew their monthly food expenditures. While many wing it, throwing out random estimates, others could quantify to an exact dollar amount. My favorite part is when one woman munched on her "CCOF Certified Organic Shinko Asian Pear" for $1.45. While logging the steep price in her records, she listened to a report on credit default swaps. Which category do you fall under? The "wing it" or the "tally up receipts" crowd?... More

Ahhh, a nice cuppa tea and a sit down. The sky may be falling in, but there's always time for a break, especially the kind that gives you a minute or two to yourself and something sweet to nibble on. Some people "forget to eat" when they're stressed (what a concept!). I forget lots of things (like the ironing, or a looming paper deadline), but I've not quite found a way to ignore a rumbling belly. A good thing, given I'm always left restored and better able to take on the world post-break. You'll have your own perfect tea-and-munchie combination, of course. But to my belly, nothing beats a piping hot pineapple bun, fresh from the oven, accompanied by... More

I frequently work as a freelance recipe tester. Most people think that it must be a dream job—they imagine me puttering about my kitchen, popping delicious creations in and out of my oven all day long. This couldn't be further from the truth. Like any job, recipe testing is often incredibly stressful. Recently, I spent six hours slaving over homemade croissants—pounding the butter, rolling the dough, chilling them, letting them rise, and tying them into little knots—only to have them emerge like butter-drenched hockey pucks. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. Along with the failed croissants, the same assignment yielded recipes for a perfectly balanced chilled cucumber soup, and to-die-for apricot-almond bars. But nothing is more upsetting... More

Can Mario Lopez get a prime reservation at Sbarro? Sbarro, as in, the pizza chain in most airports and train stations. Maybe his Saved by the Bell fame will score him some extra cheese. Lopez's "assistant," who also poses as assistants to James Gandolfini, Martha Stewart, and George Clooney, tries to get his supposed "bosses" the star treatment at Sbarro-level chains (like Planet Hollywood and Olive Garden). The social experiment recalls a similar-minded, and brilliant, series in the late magazine Jane. A writer would phone up cheesy chains pretending to be dead celebrities looking for dining perks. RIP Jane. We watch this, and remember your pages, always. The video, after the jump.... More

We're back with Vintage Candy Monday, in celebration of Halloween. This week, an oldie-but-goodie from way out west. There are other taffies, and then there are Abba-Zabas. It's weird to grow up eating (and loving) Abba-Zabas and only later realize that every child east of the Rockies didn't. The white outside has the look and chew factor of Airheads, but the inside filling is peanut butter—mildly salty peanut butter, which provides that sweet-to-salty factor we love (kettle corn, salted caramel, trail mix). In 1917, a Russian immigrant named Sam Altshuler arrived in the United States and later founded the Annabelle Candy Company, responsible for the Abba-Zabas (which come in regular or sour green apple taffy flavors). The fact that the... More

While we're all very familiar with the sustainable agriculture and farm-to-table movements, sustainable seafood has gotten lost in the shuffle. With all the sushi Americans consume each year, you'd think there would be more concern for the history of how sashimi gets to your table and what's done to the environment in the process. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, "Sustainable seafood is from sources, either fished or farmed, that can maintain or increase production into the long-term without jeopardizing the affected ecosystems." It's easy to go uninformed about your fish if you don't ask questions. Most sushi restaurants don't provide specific origins, and asking a chef can be intimidating but might be the only way... More

Where do I take Ferran Adrià, the man who is generally considered to be the greatest, most influential and innovative chef in the world, for a late breakfast or brunch in New York? Not an easy question, is it? Find out! More

Like any good dentist, Linda King of Locust Grove, Georgia, is handing out toothbrushes and pretzels for Halloween. Additionally, as a godsend to parents, she's buying back candy after Halloween is over. For $1 a pound, she'll take kids' extra candy and send it to military members overseas through Operation Gratitude. Last year she bought back about 60 pounds of candy. Imagine yourself as a kid. Would you sell your candy back to Dr. King?... More

Photographs from Halloween Mart and Fire Box I came across this brain Jello-O mold while searching for decorations for my Halloween party. It's pretty creepy looking, and I'm not sure I would eat it, but I bet it make a great centerpiece. If a human brain isn't your thing, consider a zombie brain, an anatomical heart, or a hand. Related Photo of the Day: Rainbow Jell-O This Is What the Internet Was Made For: Jello Time... More

Light radiating from anything but a huge Gummi Bear now just seems unfair. Available for $79.99 from Target (only online), these aren't edible or squishy, but would make nighttime reading so much better. [via productdose] Related The Anatomy of a Gummy Bear ZOMG! Absinthe Gummi Bears In Videos: Gummi Bear in Molten Potassium Chlorate... More

We've received some great tweaks in the inaugural Sweet Tweaks dessert contest. The deadline is Monday, October 20, 10 a.m. ET, so you still have this evening and all day Sunday to come up with something and enter. The gist, again: How to Enter Get the Recipe: This week's base recipe is Caramel Popcorn Tweak It: Use it as a coating or a component in a dessert, sculpt it, pulverize it—whatever—just be creative and have fun Submit your Sweet Tweak: Email it to sweettweak@seriouseats.comInclude: A brief description (30 words or thereabouts)—and a photo or two, if possible Deadline: 10 a.m. ET, Monday, October 20, 2008 More Details: Introducing Sweet Tweaks, a New Serious Eats Bake-Along Contest Good luck!... More

Who knew that Doritos even had an online virtual universe? Well, the nacho-snack-chip folks there have added a virtual haunted hotel to it. Hotel 626 is only open from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., otherwise you have to make a reservation to visit later. It's best to visit with headphones, a webcam, and a microphone—they help you complete challenges once inside. [via AdRants]... More

"Iran failed on Friday to register the sandwich as the world's largest sandwich in the Guinness book of World Records after people rushed forward and began eating it—before it was measured." [Reuters]... More

Photograph by niznoz on Flickr. Carrots were probably one of the first vegetables I ate growing up, straight from a baby food jar. Luckily, over the years, my preference for the most vibrant of the root vegetables has matured, making way for slow roasting, puréeing with ginger, or simply washing and eating with a container of hummus. Not only are carrots at their most orange this time of year, they're also at their cheapest--and sweetest. That sounds like music to my ears. As the temperatures continue to decline, I'm craving carrot cake or a simple puréed carrot soup dolloped with some goat cheese. Get experimental with your creations if you can find any of the differently colored carrots at... More

We told you how Jones Soda Co. made it possible to vote with soda, but Schlafly's brewery in St. Louis is offering you a beer ballot. The St. Louis brewery is advertising its beers with campaign slogans; drinkers can choose from Baracktoberfest, McCain's Maverick APA Ale, Palin Ale, and Hefebiden Unfiltered Wheat Ale. The company is also offering Baracktoberfest and Palin Ale T-shirts, all endorsed with the quipping "I'm Tom Schlafly, and I approve this beverage." In a further attempt to gauge the election through food, the Schlafly website says of the Baracktoberfest shirts: "Due to overwhelming demand, we have sold out of our first run! We are currently restocking Baracktoberfest shirts." They are, however, "very low in stock"... More

Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake makes the most of the Indian Summer with a smoky Southwestern Mahi Mahi from the surf-and-turf she made for her husband’s birthday. Her rendition of Bobby Flay’s Barbecued Mahi-Mahi with Yellow Pepper-Cilantro Pesto, made with "Spanish paprika, ancho chile powder, cumin, and chile de arbol powder" is "a lightning-quick, delicious entrée that takes less than 10 minutes on the grill." After a glimpse at this picture, how can you not dive right in to the surf in this surf-and-turf?... More

The Smilecup series from Studio Psycho is yet another cool design you can't buy yet. :( But we thought it was a cute way to start the day. :) [via Doobybrain]... More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. The Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt, a Bacon Burger with Two Bacon-Stuffed Grilled Cheese Sandwiches as Bun When we introduced The Hamburger Fatty Melt, the more minimalist, elegant version of the sandwich referenced above, all we heard was "Where's the bacon?" We're not above pandering, sometimes, so we made the Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt. [from A Hamburger Today] 2. Top Ten Worst Halloween 'Candies' Toothbrushes? DO NOT WANT. Raisins? FAIL! Candy corn? SUCK. 3. How Far Does Restaurant Loyalty Go? After a bout of food poisoning from a favorite restaurant, Carey Jones asks, "Should our favorite restaurants be given a little... More

Photograph from thebittenword.com on Flickr A Slate reader asks the Green Lantern, "If I can't eat my share, is a CSA still an environmentally sound choice?" This spring I considered joining a local CSA. I like knowing exactly where my food comes from and the direct connection to a farm, and the weekly or biweekly pick-up meant I'd be eating plenty of fruits and veggies, at least in theory. In practice, I find it can be challenging to cook with unfamiliar ingredients or even familiar ones that I'm tired of. I ultimately decided that shopping at the local farmers' market would be a better choice for me—I could support local farms, and buy only what I needed and wanted. If... More

As documented earlier today, the Wafels & Dinges truck near Serious Eats HQ conceived a new combo. Their normal Belgian wafel topped with sauced-up pulled pork, coleslaw, and a fuchsia koolickle (pickle brined in Kool-Aid). WTF, you ask? It's meant to be eaten like a taco, with those sloppy innards falling out. I don't know about this one. I usually like to keep my pulled pork and waffles separate.... More

Halloween Dinner for Grown-Ups: Kerry Saretsky shares her black and orange version of a Giada DeLaurentiis dish: black fettuccine with shrimp and butternut squash. Sausage Makes Everything Better: Hesitant Brussels sprouts eaters should try this recipe with Mexican chorizo, cooked with a bit of butter, olive oil, and chicken stock. More Pumpkin Needed, Just Enough Sweetness: Lucy Baker compares Trader Joe's pumpkin bread to a homemade pumpkin yeast bread and decides the homemade version would make for exceptional French toast. Barely Any Beef, Just Enough Richness: Bring out any ounce of Polish you may have by making an Almost Meatless version of stuffed savoy cabbage. Flourless Chocolate Cake with Meringue Topping: Amanda Clarke gets inspired by fellow pastry chef... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Show: Giada DeLaurentiis is back again with her new show Giada at Home, where she cooks for family and friends, California-style. Though you might be sick of her, you can't deny that her shows are always filmed beautifully. Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, Food Network Saturday (October 17) The Cooking Loft (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Soup's On at the Loft." Alex teaches the students how to make... More

We're bananas for what goes on in Talk. There's so much useful, funny, and interesting stuff going on that we almost can't keep up. Here's some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week. CTRL-ALT-DEL cups, for the computer geek who needs coffee:"Real men kill processes from terminal."—AllenW On the hottness scale, young Tom Colicchio vs. Anthony Bourdain:"I would have told my mom I was going with Tom, and met Tony at the prom."—beth1 Mother's Cookies is going bankrupt:"I once ate half a bag of these cookies before I realized that they had like 3 grams of trans fat per serving. Then I finished the bag."—jonny509 Adam Kuban: Readers want to give your mom an honorary blog:"Your mom is... More

When Carmen Rocha moved to Los Angeles from San Antonio in 1959, she brought nachos with her. A waitress at El Cholo Mexican restaurant for many years, Rocha will be missed, but her legend lives on in every bite of cheesy chip.... More

Icy, Flaky, and Good?: "Shaved ice" seems like a misnomer for coarse, gritty grains of frozen sugary dessert which Wan Yang Ling is desperately trying to find in the Bay Area. Four Bucks A Pop: Looking for cheap food in the Mission District of San Francisco on a Thursday night? Get yourself to the Mission Street Food truck, where sandwiches are on house-made flatbread. Endless Sandwich Possibilities: A taste of Spain in New York, specialty food shop Despaña features a menu of appealing sandwiches (including one with Jamon Iberico for $25). "Hola!": Nick Solares enjoys the scent of medium rare lamb chops, perfectly seasoned, and covered in mole at Real Tenochtitlan in Chicago. Steak, Burgers, and Fries: Ten ounces... More

"Houston, there appears to be a steak-laden alien vessel in low earth orbit, and it's comin' in hot." To help train astronauts, NASA has hired a chemist, Steven Pearce, to recreate the smells of space. Astronauts interviewed after spacewalks reported smelling peculiar odors on their suits and helmets. Pearce: "For them, what comes across is a smell of fried steak, hot metal, and even welding a motorbike, one of them said." [via The Presurfer] Related: Historic Shuttle Mission Sends First Bagels into Space... More

BANG, BANG, BANG! That's the sound cleanliness makes! The Kitchen Gun is just like any normal gun (dangerous, makes loud noises, could kill people) except it also turns a dirty, grungy sink into a sparkly surface (with bullet holes, mind you). This silly commercial appeared on the BBC sketch comedy show, The Peter Serafinowicz Show. Video, after the jump.... More

Hel-lo, pumpkin. As Helen of Ready Steady Go points out, this is a good reason to love October and Japan simultaneously. The Japanese stick snacks Pocky have been spotted in such flavors as banana, green tea, and milk, but pumpkin? Even lifetime Pocky eater Robyn was speechless. Good News: The ingredients contain actual pumpkin. Bad News: They may not taste like actual pumpkin.... More

In the wake of last week's weight loss, I've been trying extra, extra hard this week. Serious Eater Erin told me yesterday: "After your post last week, you better lose weight this week, for the sake of your marriage. And if you don't, I would consider lying." (She said this all with a twinkle in her eye.) I can't lie to you guys. (What's the point?) So you can't believe how careful I've been this week. Because in diets, just like in elections, momentum is key.... More

Photograph from t1mmyb on Flickr At the bakery/cafe/lounge Buzz in Alexandria, Virginia, babies (and baby-ish age range) can get a kick-start on their fancy $4 coffee addiction. According to a press release: Kids can now enjoy their very own coffee bar beverage with Buzz’s new Babycino. The child-friendly concoction is caffeine-free, and made with cold regular or chocolate milk served in a 12-ounce cup, and topped with frothed foam and a drizzle of homemade chocolate sauce for $1. So basically it's just milk with stuff on top. "Babycino" was new to me, but actually has entries on both Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary. Do babies really care? Don't they just want bottles and juice boxes?... More

Photograph from rochelle, et. al. on Flickr Halloween candy allegiance is so subjective. An Almond Joy can inspire love or nausea in different people. Same with Laffy Taffy, Milk Duds, and Whoppers. Please reveal your favorite candy, and fight for why you think it's so good. Related: Top Ten Worst Halloween 'Candies'... More

Photograph from AndWat on Flickr I hope this little girl always remembers how beautiful cranberries swirling in a bog can be. Last weekend, she and others celebrated the National Cranberry Festival at Edaville USA, home to a 1300-acre cranberry plantation in Carver, Massachusetts. Activities included: train rides through bogs and staring wistfully at berries.... More

State Fairs prove that you can deep fry anything your heart desires. Video blogger Sarah McColl of Pink of Perfection visited the State Fair of Texas and reports on its stomach ache-inducing culinary delights, including deep-fried Coke. The dessert consists of deep-fried Coke-flavored batter nuggets topped with Coke syrup and whipped cream. "If you like funnel cakes, you'll like this," says Sarah. Deep-fried coke was created by Abel Gonzales Jr. You can watch a video of him making it on The Today Show. [via Homesick Texan] Related Deep-Fried Jelly Bean Time at the Texas State Fair Visit the Indiana State Fair: Fried Food and Crawling Through a Colon Involved In Videos: Foods on a Stick at the Minnesota State... More

Gourmet lists their top picks for eight great lobster rolls in Boston.... More

Evil Mad Scientist has a detailed guide on making edible googly eyes for cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods. The trick lies in using edible gelatin capsules cut down into eye domes, with jumbo round sprinkles as pupils. Sprinkles go in the cut-down capsules, and capsules are affixed to an appropriate substrate: It "needs to be sturdy, so that it can support the rest of the eyes, light in color, and completely dry and free of oil. At the same time, it needs to be soft enough that we can press the gelatin capsules into it." Whoppers cut in half seem to make an ideal substrate. For the complete how-to, step into the EMS laboratory.... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week, The Kitchn shares a crafty idea for mini pumpkin and apple votive candles—perhaps the only thing that could make a mini pumpkin cuter. Also on the Kitchn, glow in the dark kitchen wallpaper, Alaskan food, where to store flour, and how to tell when figs are ripe.... More

Photographs from jeanne bee on Flickr It was an amusing sight: Last Thursday night, food-lovers around town converged on a corner in the Mission, politely lining up next to a closed up catering truck that said "antojitos." Strangers stopped and asked us what we were all waiting for. Line waiters chatted on their iPhones, telling friends to meet them on the corner. Then, right at 8 p.m., the windows were opened, and new signs covered the antojitos signs that said "Mission Street Food." This is what we had all been waiting for: the promise of delicious sandwiches from a gourmet chef serving from a taco truck. The Mission Street Food truck is the brainchild of Anthony Myint, who cooks... More

"[Steve] Connolly's pumpkin weighed in at 1,568 pounds, just 121 pounds shy of the world record, at the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Grower's Annual Weigh-Off. But he was disqualified because of the hole, located along a rib of the pumpkin." [Boston Globe via Bostonist]... More

The so-called Oscars of the Food World will now accept nominations for blogs: "The Journalism Awards program has established a new James Beard Foundation Award for Blogs focusing on Food, Restaurants, Beverage, or Nutrition." It's not like web entities had been barred from entering, but its nice to see the foundation tip its hat explicitly to the impact blogs have had on the food world. Enter here, bloggers! [via Eater]... More

Photograph from nycblondieandbrownie on Flickr Food blog Blondie and Brownie discovered a Halloween doughnut at the new Krispy Kreme in New York City's Penn Station: this cute pumpkin-shaped Jack-o'-Lantern doughnut (or as we prefer to call it, the Jack-o'-Doughnut)! Blondie says the icing was incredibly sweet and turned her mouth orange. Halloween lovers can grab these doughnuts at participating Krispy Kremes until October 31. Krispy Kreme is also offering pumpkin spice cake doughnuts until November 30.... More

Carving ideas from pumpkinway.com You've already proven that you're good with knives in the kitchen (chopping and dicing), but now let's see what happens when a pumpkin is involved. We're holding our first Serious Eats Pumpkin Carving Contest to see what carving talents lurk out there! Just upload your photos to our easy-to-use Photograzing (you'll need to log into your Serious Eats account, or sign up for free). We want to see your orange masterpieces, be they funny, creative, or scary! Deadline: You have until October 29th Saturday, November 1 at 6PM (EST) to upload photos. We'll announce the winners Halloween morning Monday afternoon (November 3). What we're looking for: Originality, creativity, and craftsmanship. Try to take the best... More

Ice cream made with bacon fat and mixed with chopped bacon sounds pretty awesome, but you know how it could be even better? By adding mini corn dogs! Bacon corn dog ice cream is the brainchild of James Boo of The Eaten Path. With the help of two friends, this flavor—"the greatest ice cream I have ever tasted," according to James—became a reality. After reading his description, I'd have to agree with him: ... [W]hile the taste of bacon emerged as a subtle undercurrent, the richness of the mixture was downright devilry. Sensations of maple, meat, and brown sugar streamed from the spoon in deceptively smooth ribbons of flavor, each more consummate than the last. The fresh bacon bits... More

Editor's Note: To continue our Halloween coverage, Matthew Amster-Burton shares this holiday cupcake idea for the kids: black cat cupcakes. "My corporate overlords at Serious Eats have demanded a Halloween post," I told my daughter, Iris, 4. "What's something we could make together to eat for Halloween?" "How about an edible cat?" she replied. "That sounds hard." "We could use cupcakes." This is her solution to everything. We wanted them to be black cats, of course, but my wife Laurie reminded me that black food coloring tastes terrible, so we decided on dark chocolate frosting. (Chocolate is my solution to everything.) For tails and whiskers, we'd use black licorice whips. For the ears, wedges of York peppermint patties. And for... More

Thomas Colicchio, courtesy The Feed Bag, and Tony Bourdain, courtesy Michael Ruhlman's blog. This is a toughie. Both were stud muffins in high school, but based on VFF (Voluminous Fluff Factor), we must hand it to Bourdain. That hair is just too good. Who would you have gone to the prom with? Related High School Anthony Bourdain Sure Had a Lot of Hair Hair Inspirations for Young Anthony Bourdain Meet & Eat: Tom Colicchio... More

There was no search result for "hot dog flower" on this site. Until now. Serious Eats New York contributor Tam Ngo bought these cumin-flavored skewered meats in Chinatown for $1 each. Check out her Street Meat photo set for more examples of meats on sticks. Related Photo of the Day: Tornado Potato The Craziest Food Ever: Deep-Fried, French-Fry-Coated Bacon on a Stick What's Your Favorite Food on a Stick? It's Gotta Be Served at the Minnesota State Fair... More

Variety reports that the Daily Show duo is working on a show for CBS that would revolve around Jones as a celebrity chef and Bee as one of the two women who run his chef empire. Hard to tell from the Variety story whether it's already green-lighted, but this EW blip seems to indicate it hasn't been. [via The Food Section]... More

Béa, of La Tartine Gourmande, is from Lorraine, which should make her an expert on quiche. Except, she hates Quiche Lorraine! Manipulating the classic French quiche into something lighter for the early fall, she used the ingredients one should use in quiche: whatever is in the fridge. For a gourmande like herself, that happened to be: organic leeks, Danish blue cheese, and Zebra tomatoes. Et voila. The perfect quiche, a "spontaneous" recipe that turned out "simple and lovely."... More

"Today we visit one of the most unhealthy environments in all the world: the wild Formica plains." Watch this entire episode of Junkfood Geographic, a computer-animated short by Jason Tremblay, to learn about this desolate land of barbecue pools and herds of chicken nuggets. Also, get a rare glimpse of the hungry cheeseburger as it chases its processed chicken prey. Where else can you watch a hamburger leap with the agility of a tiger? (If the animation looks a bit unpolished, that's because it's a student project that was made in 1999.) Watch the video after the jump.... More

This is really cool. Serious eater maportofu started a Talk thread and points out that there's a handful of New York City food and drink destinations with labels on Google maps: "I find it funny that it actually has labels for Magnolia Bakery and The Bitter End. I also see a label for Lombardi's, Fraunces Tavern. Mysteriously, none for Shake Shack." My guess is that Magnolia gets one because it's a huge tourist trap for Sex and the City hauteheads while the rest get them for sheer historical value. I poked around to see if other historic or notable NYC food destinations appeared but no dice—no Katz's, no Old Town Bar, no Sylvia's, no Peter Luger, no Di Fara.... More

Photograph from omadsa on Flickr I am not vegan, but would totally eat these. Over at the blog Method, they used soy butter and soy milk for the crepes, and mixed berries, apple cider, and honey for the pink drizzle. Soy products in a classically French recipe? My inner mad scientist is fascinated to see this actually worked.... More

Honor thy lunch lady. Photograph from ricko on Flickr Despite the stomach-churning memories you might have of elementary school lunches, The Healthy School Lunch Campaign is around to make sure that mystery meat is healthy, safe, and hopefully edible. The organization formed in 1946 as a response to Harry Truman signing the National School Lunch Act. They've decided this week is National School Lunch Week, which means anthropomorphized mascots like Petunia Pita Pocket and Gloria Grilled Cheese, but also means awareness about what goes onto the little munchkins' plastic trays. (I'll always remember the pizza served in rectangular boxes.) What's your favorite school lunch or lunch lady memory? Bonus: After the jump, an ode to the lunch lady, which... More

Only five more days of the Texas State Fair (it ends October 19), which means only five more days of Jelly Bellys rolled in funnel cake batter, then deep-fried. The menu also includes: fried grilled cheese, fried s'mores, fried Pop Rocks, a fried dinner roll, and fried cantaloupe pie.... More

If someone in your office ever sends out a mass email about a missing peanut butter and jelly sandwich, retaliate by making a "MISSING" flyer for the sandwich. In my friend's office, one of her coworkers responded to the cry for help by making a flyer for the lost sandwich, which another coworker followed up with by posting a fake newspaper article. The story has a happy ending; my friend informed me, "The sandwich was eventually found and left unbitten." Related: Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report... More

Halloween brings out the strangest, most disturbing baking impulses in all of us. Suddenly, it's acceptable to eat Barbie witch, blood-shot eye balls, and leaves. The best is when pastry perfectionist Martha Stewart asks for photos of such frightening creations on her site. Check out her gallery of creepy treats, where some submissions look a little too creepy for Martha's taste.... More

You could almost mistake Bacon Today for a regular news website, except that this one is focused on "Daily Updates on the World of Sweet, Sweet Bacon." In case our bacon coverage isn't enough, visit Bacon Today for the best in bacon news, recipes, reviews, and anything else that might be related to bacon, like this parody song about bacon or this quote about bacon. Too bad it doesn't smell like bacon.... More

Congrats, Imbibe. And here we thought Jacko's tipple of choice was Jesus juice.... More

Last Friday we unveiled a new contest feature on Serious Eats called Sweet Tweaks. The gist: We give you a recipe, you tweak it, and the best tweak of the week wins a prize. It probably didn't help that we were unclear about how to submit your tweaks—or that we debuted the feature on a Friday, giving you too little notice to cook along with us. Apologies for that. So we've extended the deadline to next Monday so all of you can join in. The prize this week? A pair of wonderful baking books: Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours and Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert. How to Enter Get the Recipe: This week's base recipe is Caramel... More

If you're all too familiar with having to frustratingly press Ctrl + Alt + Del during a frozen computer session, you'll appreciate these Ctrl Alt Delete cups by MOD Design of Taiwan. The cups are shaped like giant keys and the tray is modeled to look like a computer's circuit board. The cup set made an appearance at this year's Maison et Object trade show but isn't available for purchase yet. [via Neatorama]... More

"You don't love us anymore?" the circus animals wonder. Photograph from Food Librarian Mother’s Cookies (responsible for the frosted animal cookies covered in rainbow sprinkles) won't be around for future children. The company, founded in 1914 in Oakland, California, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, which inspired a halt on all cookie production. Could this be one of the worst ramifications of the economic meltdown yet? The private equity firm that owned Mother's didn't even give employees the federally required 60-day notice, due to "unforeseeable business circumstances." As someone raised on the West Coast, I opened my brown bag to find these often. Non–West Coasters may not understand the joy of little pink and white blobs (supposedly rhinos... More

Guinness decided to use fridges flying down the street with magnetic qualities as a marketing tactic in this new commercial. Though it's a little odd that the people involved don't get severely injured due to fridge impact, it's also kind of funny. And maybe when people giggle, they crave more Guinness. The commercial, after the jump.... More

NME reports that Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas is among the investors in the new Hollywood Korean barbecue joint Shin, which officially launched last night with a veritable who's who of former That '70s Show actors in attendance. 1600 North Wilcox Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90028 (at Selma Avenue; map); shinbbq.com... More

To continue our Halloween coverage, here's a look at what the "bad houses" give out. Trick-or-treaters, beware: This is the gross stuff you probably want to avoid. More

Prudy of Prudence Pennywise wanted a dark and spooky snack while reading the vampiric Twilight series (how very of the moment!). A little food for thought, if you will. Something she could devour as quickly as the novel. The result: Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies, crowned with candy corn, which Prudy describes as "brownie-ish." What’s more, according to her estimate, these cookies can be created for just around $3. These cookies make me wonder why vampires crave blood, when really, there is so much chocolate to lust after!... More

I blog by day and wait tables by night. I'm excited to bring you Served, dispatches from the front of the house. Enjoy! I remember Zach Brooks’s reaction upon news that I worked in one of his favorite spots: “That place is like the Cheers of wine bars,” he said. Sometimes, it is. I Want to Play but Have to Work I really, really didn’t want to leave the New York Food and Wine Festival on Saturday and book it to a long night of waiting tables. I mean really didn’t want to leave. I waited until the last possible moment, then tried to hunt down a cab. The task proved more than a little challenging. When I finally got... More

If you're already at work (or if someone is still sleeping in your household), put on headphones and click through to the following fake breakfast cereals to hear a crazy jingle for each one. And then vote for your favorite. Here's Cap'n McCains and Obama O's. Limited edition boxes of each are still available and run $39 each. Related: Vintage Cereal Box Gallery... More

©iStockphoto.com/DNY59 It's hard to say how the credit crunch will affect the food world. The decadent prix fixe meals with multiple courses may become a thing of the past, but with more people cooking at home, recipes and high-quality ingredients will remain important. Our friends across the pond are also feeling the recession, and already predicting the future of recession cuisine. According to the Guardian: High-quality fresh produce is doing nicely, in some areas. Several online organic meat providers say that orders are well up, possibly because more people are eating at home. Yet organic egg sales were 18% down in September—proof, perhaps, that at nearly £4 [US$6.90] a dozen there is a limit to how far people will... More

The New York Daily News encourages this trick for those of us who want to doll out treats come October 31: buy candy in bulk online. The newspaper offered 10 online venues that sell the sweetest things at the sweetest deals online, and I decided to pay each a visit to see if we can’t get a little more detail on what each has to offer—like cool candy finds, shipping costs, and site accessibility. Penny [candy] for my thoughts? Note: I didn’t include anything that wasn’t individually wrapped without so indicating. MetroCandy.com has a great selection of wrapped mini candies and Halloween themed treats. Favorites: Antique-looking wrapped caramel filled apples and peanut butter pumpkins ($16.18 and $15.60 for 40,... More

Photograph from franjmc on Flickr Australian cake designer Fran made this awesome rainbow with a pot of gold cake for a seven-year old's birthday. Zoom in on the pot of gold for more detail. Fran explains that she made the gold coins out of thinly rolled icing that she cut out with a number 4 icing tip. After allowing them to dry, she shook them in a jar with edible gold dust. Related Photo of the Day: Mario Cake Photo of the Day: Duff Goldman's Stack-of-Books Cake Photo of the Day: Homer Cake #2... More

Congrats to ckzen, Fanciesmom, darcybel, hmneilson, and dvchurch. Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page. Thanks to everyone who entered the Weekend Book Giveaway!... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Monday (October 13) Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (warning, a video plays automatically on site) : "Grabbin'a Sandwich." Meatball subs and a cheesesteak done Philly-style; ostrich, alligator and beef burgers; one-of-a-kind Mexican sandwich. 10 p.m. ET, Food Network... More

The 2009 edition of the San Francisco, Bay Area, and Wine Country Michelin Guide goes on sale tomorrow. Here's word on the starrage: "The French Laundry remains the sole Michelin three-star selection, Coi joins the ranks of Michelin two-star restaurants, and Murray Circle, Plumed Horse, Trevese and The Village Pub join the Michelin one-star selections." $11.53, from Amazon.com... More

More than 300 people nationwide have signed up for the annual Eat Local Challenge this year. This is my fourth year taking (and leading) the challenge and it's a way of life for me now. Taking the challenge means that I step up my visits to farmers markets during the month-long project, and am more diligent in knowing where my food comes from. In San Francisco, October is a good time to eat local, as there is an abundance of fruits and vegetables in the market. The true overlap of seasons seems to be in October this year, and walking through the market I saw peaches next to persimmons, and winter squash next to summer squash. Tomatoes should still... More

Congrats to eluckstead, oishi, daveandcat, winebill, and cdsamford. Winners have been notified by email and also appear on our Contest Winners page. Thanks to everyone who entered last week's Cook the Book!... More

telegraph.co.uk At desert's edge in southern Namibia, Allan Walkden-Davis produces "rustic" wines: He works on the edge of the Namib Desert where it only rains between February and April, and the average fall can be less than an inch. Yet he produces annually 3,000 to 3,500 bottles of shiraz, as well as a shiraz-merlot blend.... Walkden-Davis seems to have a sense of humor about the affair: "One fellow could not understand why I couldn't go bankrupt farming sheep or cattle the same as everyone else."... More

If you believe young people should make cheese not war, here's an upcoming documentary for you. Greenhorns spotlights the young cheesemakers, urban gardeners, and CSA (community supported agriculture) organizers who make up a wave of first-time farmers. This new farming generation doesn't have the scruffy peasant with a pitchfork look. They are spunky-scruffy, in their 20s or 30s, and choosing agriculture over more "normal" desk jobs. Film producer Severine von Tscharner Fleming was featured in this weekend's New York Times Sunday magazine for her work on the documentary and ability to bring together fellow young things that double as stewards of the land. Watch the trailer, after the jump.... More

The Telegraph reports that the famed Spanish restaurant, the restaurant named No. 1 in the world, will be taking reservations by email starting the on the 15th. But it looks like you might already be able to submit via the El Bulli website.... More

Editor's Note: We're back with Vintage Candy Monday in celebration of Halloween. This week, the Necco Wafer! As far as nostalgia candies go, Necco Wafers go way back. Since its launch in 1912, not much has changed about the chalky candies except the price. It was 5 cents in the '50s, and remains a low 90 cents per roll of 38 to 40 wafers today (making each wafer as close to penny candy as you’ll get in the twenty-first century). The Necco Wafer has an illustrious history. In 1913, explorer Donald MacMillan took Necco Wafers on his Arctic expedition as nutrition for his men, and as rewards for Eskimo children. In 1930 Admiral Byrd took two and a half tons... More

Says Ted Allen: "We’re going back into production ASAP, and we’re bringing on new blood to smooth over the bumps that some of you were kind enough to point out (ahem) in season one. We’re taking every aspect of the show to the next level: the set, the myths and questions we tackle, the design of the experiments."... More

While I'm a pretty adventurous eater, I have my standby restaurants that I go to over and over—weekly, or even more, if time and bank account permit. In New York City, with so many zillions of dining options, it's nice to have those places where you know the staff, they know you, and your favorite dish is always on the menu. So a few weeks ago, I stopped by my go-to neighborhood brunch spot with a friend. Let's call it Café X. Nothing, I thought, could ever challenge my devotion to Café X. But I was wrong. About 18 hours after my tasty meal, I was sick. Really sick. Incapacitated, bedridden, eventual ER visit sick. Easily the worst stomachache I've... More

Don't want to get your hands messy or don't have time to order a pizza or make a sandwich during an intense session of Breakout? Gamer Grub is the snack for you. You can't go wrong with these four awesome flavors, "Action Pizza," "Racing Wasabi," "Strategy Chocolate," and "Sport PB&J." Here's a breakdown of what's in each flavor: Action Pizza: Pizza Cashews & Pitas, Tomato Sesame Sticks, Tomato Almonds, Cheese Pitas, and Mozzarella PeanutsRacing Wasabi: Wasabi Soy Almonds and Peanuts, Wasabi Peas, Honey Mustard Sesame Sticks, and Pita ChipsStrategy Chocolate: Almonds, Chocolate Raisins, Cherries, White Chocolate ChipsSports PB&J: Peanuts, Peanut Butter Chips, Strawberry Jelly Chips, Bread Cubes OK, so I'm really not that enthusiastic about this new snack marketed... More

Behold, the perfect gift for the Guinness lover in your life: an authentic Guinness home pub, being offered in honor of Guinness's 250th anniversary. The $250,000 price tag includes a VIP trip for two to Dublin to get an inside look at Guiness's St. James's Gate brewery, and a year's supply of fresh Guinness Stout. Check out Neiman Marcus's Christmas book for more gift ideas you probably can't afford. [via Uncrate]... More

Turn up the volume and CLICK HERE! (The song is "Milk & Cookies" by the Buckwheat Boyz.) Related Pillowy Mounds of Mashed Potatoes... More

This Red Berry Almond Milk Panna Cotta from Tartelette may have a few components: the classic French red berry combination, the Italian preparation (and name). But there is one thing it is missing: dairy. This delicate, thoughtful dessert in its sugar-rimmed glasses was concocted for a lactose-intolerant friend, and the result is anything but a compromise. Helen writes: "The end result could have fooled the best dairy lover out there (hmmm that might be me!), and the almond milk added a little extra nutty flavor that was perfect with the berries." So this panna cotta isn't just looks—although, isn’t it gorgeous?... More

The first lady of Italian cooking is undoubtedly Marcella Hazan. Is there any serious eater who has not made something delicious from one of her books? I doubt it. I for one am partial to the pork-cooked-in-milk recipe (sooo good). Hazan has written what is apparently quite a controversial memoir, Amarcord: Marcella Remembers. According to the New York Times, Hazan doesn't shrink from calling out certain members of the food establishment. Thanks to the good folks at Gotham Books, we've got five (5) copies of this snappish, non-warm-and-fuzzy memoir to give away. Just tell us here in the comments of this post what your favorite Marcella Hazan recipe is. Contest will end and comments will close at noon ET, Monday,... More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. In-N-Out 60th Anniversary Promotion: It's a Hoax October 22 is In-N-Out's 60th anniversary, and there's been an email making the rounds talking about price rollbacks at the legendary California-based chain. But something sounded "off" about this offer. Sure enough. It's a hoax, and In-N-Out officially refutes the rumor. [from A Hamburger Today] 2. Peanut Butter Slices If you hate the best part about peanut butter—licking it off the spoon or butter knife—then P.B Slices are just the product for you. Watch out Kraft Singles. These individually packaged, peel-off sheets of peanut butter are totally inviting themselves to your party. 3.... More

Photograph from daveknoph on Flickr At some restaurants, servers can electronically punch in “L” for “lady" to ensure the gals get their menus and meals first. But at the recently-opened bar Apiary in Manhattan, this isn't an option—and in this day and age, the management thinks that's just fine. This week, Frank Bruni weighed in on the gender role situation while dining. Us ladies here at Serious Eats have been mulling it over. Here's what we think, after the jump.... More

Healthful Attempts at Creaminess: Shrimp scampi with pasta, tossed with butter, lemon, and white wine, takes the cake for a quick last-second meal when there's not much left in the kitchen. Mellow, Salty, and Sweet: Tart goat cheese, fresh figs, and sweet caramelized onions are layered in slices of country bread for a contemplative and portable lunch. Don't Miss the Red Meat: Eggplant, "the poor man's meat", and ground lamb shoulder are a great replacement for ground beef in these creamy lavash wraps. Trick or Eat: What's black and orange and melted all over? A pumpernickel grilled cheddar with apple and mustard, providing a welcome crunch for this Halloween-themed sandwich. Cookies for a Kid at Heart: Who needs boxed... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Shows: This Saturday delivers the season premiere of Anne Burrell's show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on Food Network at a new time: 10:30 p.m. ET. View the episode schedule here. This weekend is also the series premiere of The Chef Jeff Project, featuring ex-con Chef Jeff Henderson, which takes six at-risk youth and introduces them to a culinary career through jobs at his own catering company. Check it out... More

We're bananas for what goes on in Talk. There's so much useful, funny, and interesting stuff going on that we almost can't keep up. Here's some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week. One pound burger at Chateau Louise: Big chunk of medium rare meat?"Come on, why call that a burger? That is clearly a cow core sample."—phauxtoe Do monkeys make better waiters than humans?"I've been waiting for this day ever since I saw Planet of the Apes. We have been warned."—Laurel E Taste We Can Believe In: Bacon and Donuts 2008:"Donuts is a lightweight. Bacon should be at the top of this ticket." —Adam Kuban Do you think a woman would actually like a man covered in... More

Photograph by roboppy In a move that may or may not threaten the Middle Eastern peace process, Lebanon is planning to sue Israel in Trade Court over Israel's proprietary Arab food claims: According to a report by the Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany's news agency, a Lebanese trade union is planning to sue Israel for claiming that the Jewish state has propriety over traditional Arab cuisine such as falafel, tabbouleh and hummus, which Lebanese consider their own. All right, if Lebanon is going to sue Israel for falafel copyright infringement, my imagination runs wild at the thought of other countries getting into the food copyright business. After the jump, my list of domestic and international food lawsuits waiting to happen.... More

Hardcore Meat-Smoking: Adam Kuban attends the 29th Annual American Royal Barbecue Contest in Kansas City, chowing down on some delicious ribs, sausage, and plenty more smoky meat. Burnt Sugar vs. Burnt Caramel: Christina's and Toscanini's battle it out for best ice cream in Boston. Who wins? The shop that delivers the bountiful, quality goods at the cheapest price. Fight the Sex and the City Urge: Who needs Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes when you can indulge in banana pudding, peanut butter icebox cake, and various cheesecakes on your lunch break. Wonderfully Wonderful Pizza in Maine: A Slice reader delivers us a review from Community Flatbread in Portland, Maine, raving about the perfectly balanced pie, wood-burning clay oven, and delightful service. Delicious... More

BoingBoingTV debuted a series this week where they send their coffee correspondent and barista champion Kyle Granville far and wide to track down the best beans. In this inaugural episode, he visits the Fazenda Conquista plantation in Minas Gerais, Brazil, one of the largest coffee plants in the country. With the help of super-cool agro-gadgets, the coffee beans grow, but the most interesting part of all: the cherry-like fruit that encases the bean. Did most coffee drinkers know about this edible guy? It turns bright red when beans are ready to pick. Watch the informative video, after the jump.... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, she discusses the scenario of drinking wine alone while traveling for business—minus the hotel room's plastic tumblers. The McCormick & Shmick's bar at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Photograph from Paul Keleher on Flickr If you are a business traveler like me, dining alone on the road can be more than a bit depressing. This is especially true if, like me, you drink a glass of wine with dinner each night. Room service might be able to produce competent hamburgers and fries, but I can't face an industrial-strength "wine glass" full of warm red wine with a piece of plastic wrap on top and... More

My wife, Vicky. I haven't lost weight in a couple of weeks, and I have to admit it's kind of discouraging. But I've been telling myself that it's only a matter of time. My wife does not brook such talk easily. She worries all the time about my weight and its effect on my health and longevity. I guess she really does want me to to stick around for awhile. But what does she know? She's been thin her whole life, as has her entire family, and in times of great stress she forgets to eat. What a concept! Earlier this week, my wife let me have it with both barrels. She told me that my love of food... More

They don't look new and different, but apparently the straw slits on the lids went through renovations. Now straws don't really fit through them! According to B-Side Blog, "you'll have to remove it and pry open a hole." Lid fail.... More

Between the upcoming election and the financial crisis, all eyes right now are on Washington, D.C., making this the perfect time to scope out the city’s best eats. In the latest installment of Serious Eats City Guides, we check in with food writer Jane Black at the Washington Post for her top picks in the nation’s capital. More

Bakeddoritos.com is the No. 1 Baked Doritos fan site on the web.... More

Photograph by dlayphoto.com on Flickr At Parmageddon, the final battle between good and evil sandwiches, this monster was the clear victor. It gets packed with potato and cheese pierogies (yes pierogies inside a sandwich), grilled onions, and cheddar cheese between two huge slices of bread. The Parmageddon sandwich is available at the Melt Bar and Grilled, where it's served with napa vodka kraut and fries. Talk about an act of Revelation! Melt Bar and Grilled 14718 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood OH 44107 (map) 216-226-3699 meltbarandgrilled.com... More

Since packaged candy corn tends to have non-vegan-friendly ingredients like gelatin, egg whites, and beeswax, vegan baker Melissa Elliott of The Urban Housewife made her own vegan candy corn by using Earth Balance and soy milk. She also shares tips and tricks for an optimal candy corn-making experience. Since they're a bit tedious to make, she recommends throwing a candy corn party with friends. [via The Kitchn]... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week The Kitchn, what happens when a fungal infection and brown rot get the better of a batch of quinces. (Sounds like some pretty sad quince jam.) Also on The Kitchn, ways to properly transfer pie dough, what the heck a flammeküeche is, fair-trade wine explained, and how to toast autumnal spices.... More

At the Pontrhydfendigaid primary school in Wales, students have been banned from eating Marmite, the popular yeast extract-based spread, because of its high salt content. Marmite-loving parents have criticized the decision, calling it a "nanny state" ban.... More

Do you like video games, computer programming, and Star Wars? And cake? C'mon, geeks have to eat cake too. Geekcake is a blog reminding the sci-fi gamers who read Harry Potter and watch Jurassic Park while caring for ant farms, that some cakes exist just for them. Related Divorce Cakes Cake Wrecks Custom Cake From Wal-Mart... More

When it comes to tea and biscuits, our relationship with the Brits hasn't always been a smooth one. (Remember that last Tea Party—around, say, 1773? Didn't end well.) But in a burst of transatlantic good will, the Queen's Grocer Fortnum & Mason is launching its first American product line, bringing all manner of quintessentially British goodies to the States at last. Fortnum & Mason has been one of the gold standards for British goodies for over three centuries—the Queen doesn't put her name on just anything. Their jams, desserts, champagne, and teas are packaged as prettily as products from America's Harry and David, but are much more widespread—and much tastier. Although British cuisine often gets a bad rap, no one... More

Our intern Kerry Saretsky and I searched high and low for the best non-edible but edible-looking costumes for men, women, and children this season. Because the only thing better than eating food is looking like it! Men Pez Available on brandsonsale.com for $39.99. T-Bone: Available on amazon.com for $49.99. Taco: Available on fantasytoyland.com for $34.95. Women Blueberry Muffin: Available on animalmascots.com for $659.00. (What the..?) Peeps: Available on buycostomes.com for $64.99. Deviled Eggs: Available on mooncostumes.com for $38.95.... More

Or, 'They'll Pry My Drink from My Cold Dead Hands' You know that detective-show trope where someone gets stabbed with a knife made of ice? And how it melts before the forensics team shows up? But they figure it out anyway from the watery nature of the blood or the trace amount of water-borne elements found at the scene? Well, this ice-bullet-making ice tray ups the ante. Now TV killers have a whole new M.O. The ice ammo resembles bullets from an AK-47. Not that you could actually fire one of these from an assault rifle, as Mythbusters proved in its first episode. $13.95, from findmeagift.com [via Uber Review]... More

Photograph from oskay on Flickr Though the new season of Battlestar Galactica doesn't start up until January, remind yourself of the amazing show by attempting to carve a Cylon Jack-O-Lantern, complete with intimidating red-eye scan. You might even be able to program it to destroy mischievous teenagers on Mischief Night. Or maybe you can get it to divulge the Final Five or spill if the humans really did get to Earth. No matter what, you'll need a mechanically-trained mind to figure out the instructions. Check out some of the Cylon Jack-O-Lanterns in action, after the jump.... More

With Mark Bittman sharing the small screen with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow in Spain...On the Road Again, food blogger Sabra Krock of Cookbook Catchall takes this timely opportunity to remind us of his "Perfect Pancake" piece for the New York Times. She re-creates her favorite "foolproof" Bittman ricotta pancake recipe with syrup and blueberries. Sabra writes, "I love Mark Bittman. His recipes are always straight-forward and just work. You can never have enough Bittman."... More

Certain foods are as '80s as shoulder pads, side ponies, and Teddy Ruxpin. Inspired by a thread in our Talk community, here's a list of ten iconic '80s foods and some corresponding commercials. 10. Jawbreakers Like spicy food, these dangerously choke-inducing balls inspired serious candy egos. Can you handle it? No, seriously, can you? They came in a slew of sizes, depending on your tolerance. "Oh snap, he has the three-incher!"... More

Quinoa, an inexpensive and versatile pantry item. Sometimes we need to rely on what's in the pantry when produce isn't looking too swell or when the market on the corner has shut down for the evening. SFGate continues their Kitchen Essentials series with 10 versatile pantry items, including mirin, dark chocolate, fish sauce, quinoa, salted capers, chipotle peppers in adobo, garbanzo beans, high-quality honey, whole-grain mustard, and fancy tuna in olive oil. The thrifty shopper in me would love to add red lentils and Israeli couscous; both can adapt to many recipes, yet are never boring. While most of you might not have every item on the list, there are plenty of substitutions, and none of the ingredients are... More

Over at design blog Signal vs. Noise, Jason Fried discovers the napple—an apple with a nipple.... More

I've never been a fan of wasabi—it gives me the sensation that my nasal passages are on fire—but if anyone could make it taste good, it'd be master French pastry chef, Pierre Hermé. Wasabi-flavored macarons are a part of his fall pastry line, found at his shops in Paris and Tokyo. He just opened a new shop last month in Paris at 4 rue Cambon, in case Parisians need another reason to get to Pierre Hermé (not that they should). Can't get to his shops in Paris or Japan? Maybe you can get some help from his recently released macaron recipe book, Macaron. It's available at amazon.fr for €28.41 ($39.22). Related Introduction to French Macarons Where to Find Macarons... More

SE reader FastFoodCritic tipped us off to this commercial for Axe Body Spray, featuring the line: "As irresistible as chocolate, New Axe Dark Temptation." Desperate women chomp pieces off Chocolate Man's ears, arms, hands, and butt. If I actually saw this guy in person, I'd definitely run the other way, even if he was made of Guittard 72% Cacao. Instead, he'll just be invading my nightmares--especially the image of him with his hand melting down as he makes hot chocolate. Catch the one minute ad in all its entertaining chocolatey goodness (and the seductive swoon of "Sweet Touch of Love" by Allan Toussaint) after the jump.... More

If you watched last night's town hall debate and thought, both campaigns could use a morale-booster, might I suggest newcomer Donuts Bacon '08? While they may be polarizing factors (vegetarians ain't behind this one), for many Americans, it's a Taste We Can Believe In (starting at $23.80). If you eat a piece of bacon and think, yes, this is who I can trust for four more years. Or get frosting all over yourself and think, my investments will be safe with this—then, this is the ticket for you, my friends.... More

Has anyone seen Sweet'N Low's new commercial, with Regis Philbin hacking to the Pink Panther, his cab driver, about how he doesn't want his coffee to taste like sugar, but wants it to taste like Sweet'N Low? My first reaction was: really? I just don't believe you. The commercial is in celebration of Sweet'N Low's 50th birthday; no surprise then that the star, the ad, and the product seem a tad too reminiscent of another era—an era of canned casseroles and Wonderbread. In this green age, don't artificial sweeteners seem a bit anachronistic? Sugar is only 15 calories per teaspoon; why not do something REALLY old fashioned, and give that a try? So, which sweetener do you prefer?... More

As LunaPierCook points out in SE Talk, the local offices of Congressional Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) were evacuated yesterday after a suspicious package of bacon arrived there. Authorities think it was sent by a constituent upset that the congressman voted for the $700 billion bailout package on Capitol Hill last week. Pork, get it? Sounds like a waste of bacon to us. Thanks for the link, LPC! Here's some video, after the jump.... More

It's official. Monkeys can do a better job waiting on tables than some humans. What, you don't believe me? Watch these videos. The first one has proper British narration that, in fact, explains a lot. The second has no narration. It's a purer form of monkey business. I so want a monkey to bring me a hot towel the next time I go to a bar. Don't you? Animal rights activists, take note: The monkeys only work two hours a day. If they work more, they must get a banana break every thirty minutes. Watch both, after the jump.... More

A photo of Stephanie Izard, the winning Chicagoan of last season's Top Chef, appeared on the show "What's Cookin' with the Republicans!" without her consent, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. The show features a cooking segment inside a local Chicago restaurant, followed by a roundtable discussion led by Cook County Republican Tony Peraica, who is also running for Cook County State's Attorney. The logo features Izard next to Peraica, but Peraica had no clue who she was. The show's producer and fellow Republican Dan Schmitt said he picked her because she resembled one of his old girlfriends, and overall, "looked generic."... More

Photograph from angela n. on Flickr This past weekend I drove about 2 hours down to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to see a good friend from college get married in the backyard of his parents' beautiful historic farmhouse. The food in general was better than average, but was topped off by an incredible dessert spread of Italian pastries and cakes all baked by the groom's sister, an Italian-trained pastry chef. During the cocktail hour, I was given insider information from the groom's other sister not to miss the mini-cannoli (also called cannulicchi), which were the real deal--made with sheep's milk ricotta rather than mascarpone or, heaven forbid, custard. Adding to their value was their relative scarcity: there were only 30... More

When I think of the success of the Mini Cooper or the Smart car across the pond, I realize how much those Europeans love everyday essentials in miniature. And now Italian pasta company Barilla takes the trend one step further with its Piccolini, five old pasta shapes that newly come in "mini-me" sizes. To go with the little cars, Barilla now makes little wheels, my absolute favorite, but hard to find, pasta shape. When craving wagon wheels, I have to walk to the gourmet market to buy De Cecco's, but the trip is a hassle when I want a quick pasta dinner, and frankly, no matter how much I try to retain their al dente integrity, they come out mushy.... More

"Sonya is having a little bit of a hard time being a Caesar salad. She really wanted to be a pie." As if little babies couldn't get any cuter and pudgier, that factor gets multiplied by infinity when they wiggle in lobster, lemon meringue pie, and roast turkey costumes. Isabele Ortley is responsible for the crafty Halloween costumes, and showed them off on an episode of the Martha Stewart Show in 2006. At the end, Ortley demonstrates step-by-step how to turn your munchkin into a succulent roast turkey, complete with drumsticks! The best is the little one passed out in the apple pie costume. She seems pretty over her lattice-topped belly. Video, after the jump.... More

When I first heard about the pumpkin spice Hershey's Kisses, I didn't know what to expect. Would there be chocolate? A pumpkin center? A pumpkin shell? There's no chocolate involved. A cinnamony creme center. And yes, a pumpkin shell. More

Over the last month in New York's Market Scene, heirloom tomatoes, week after week, have dominated the market stalls. This week looks like it might be the end of the heirloom’s Indian summer—a time to make heirlooms of the heirloom tomatoes we have left. This Tomato Appetizer Platter from Laylita's Recipes is one last glimpse of summer, as we here at Serious Eats headquarters finally shut our windows for the first time against the encroaching autumn chill. Laylita encourages using this platter as a re-recognition of the tomato, mixing it and matching with such standbys as mozzarella and basil, but also with some unusuals, like goat cheese, sharp cheddar, and thyme, and accessorizing with garlic or fig balsamic and... More

I blog by day and wait tables by night. I'm excited to bring you Served, dispatches from the front of the house. Enjoy! It was one of my first nights hostessing at the fancy, stuffy restaurant where I worked for more than a year. Our clientele happened to be predominately over the age of sixty. In no time, I would apprehend the immeasurable import of flats. (A revelation!) But that night, I still insisted on sporting beautiful shoes with the highest of heels. I did know that we were always to walk our customers all the way through the dining room to the restrooms. Simply pointing was unacceptable, never mind that the route was as straightforward as could be. One... More

When asked by the New York Post's Page Six this weekend what his food fantasy would be, Anthony Bourdain replied: "Chef Marco Pierre White and Keith Richards would be throwing something on the barbie in a backyard in Red Hook." Attendees would include, among others, silent film actress Louise Brooks (allowed to speak, presumably) along with Orson Welles and the "CIA director of counterintelligence." Interesting, Anthony. My fantasy dinner would be held on the Massachusetts shore on a warm summer night. Mario Batali would be the ringleader, partly for the food he'd bring, but mostly because I'm quite sure he knows how to lead a Bacchanalian feast. He would also cook, of course, but the pizza would come from Di... More

Behold, the best barbecue smoking team logo ever. Adam mentioned Transformer BBQ's logo in his post about the American Royal Barbecue Contest, but the logo's awesomeness warrants its own post. Compare the original Transformers logo to the porky version, after the jump.... More

I guess I could just ask Noodlr, a web-based bowl-a-noodles generator: The back story lies here. [via SE Talk]... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Recommended Show: If you need a recommendation of what to make this fall with the season's freshest ingredients, turn on Martha on Wednesday morning: polenta, roasted pumpkin, peppers, shepherd's pie... I say no more. Monday (October 6) Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: "Cookin' It Old School." Guy discovers restaurants that put a piece of history on the table. 10 p.m. ET, Food Network How'd That Get On My Plate?: "Wheat." Sunny visits... More

Last week, we visited Toscanini’s Ice Cream, a contender for Boston’s best ice cream—as seconded by Boston correspondent Amy Traverso in her guide to Beantown’s best eats. But Tosci’s has competition. It’s an oft-cited fact on both sides of the Charles that Bostonians eat more ice cream than anyone else in the country. One hardly needs statistics, though, to realize that Boston is an ice cream town. Just walking down Newbury Street or around Harvard Square is enough to see a veritable parade of happy cone lickers. And it’s easy to see why. The quality and variety of scoop shops can’t be beat. Steve Herrell has been smashing candy into super-rich ice cream since three decades before Coldstone came... More

Looks like someone had too much extra ham lying around. Trendhunter has a gallery of gadgets made out of meat. Artist is unknown, but he/she probably isn't a vegetarian. [via Engadget] Related Make This Bacon Tiara at Your Own Risk Another Meat Sneaker Bacon Bra... More

In her article about rice cooker cooking, Julia Moskin refers to a bread recipe "from a popular television show about a superhero’s quest to develop a 'national loaf' for Japan." Her description missed a few key bits of information: the television show is Yakitate!! Japan, the superhero is Kazuma Azuma, and it's the best and strangest show you will ever watch about a bread making competition. Here's a video of the rice cooker bread tutorial that appeared at the end of episode 27. You can also read the directions at wikiHow.... More

Editor's Note: Every Monday, we'll spotlight a vintage candy to put you in the Halloween mood. This week, the Charleston Chew. Named after the dance craze during the 1920s, the Charleston Chew (née 1922) comes in vanilla with chocolate coating, strawberry, and chocolate. Though there's no directions on the wrapper, it's an unspoken rule to put a Charleston Chew in the freezer first. Once hard and ice-cold, the Charleston Chew gets a “Charleston Chew Crack," or smack against the table to make for a zillion its and bits. Basically, if you don't know someone with a freezer, you should properly fixate on another candy. I like that the school bus yellow wrapper has outlived any color changing initiatives, and the... More

The barbecue contest at the American Royal in Kansas City essentially comprises two competitions that bring in a total of about 500 meat-smoking teams. Serious Eats walked the 20 acres of smokin' action on Saturday and came back with this photo gallery. Dig in! More

The only way to become a true pork princess is to wear a tiara made of meat. And now you can by following The Anticraft's directions for making a bacon tiara! Be sure to follow all of the safety precautions; the meat paste ingredients include transglutaminase, a protein-binding enzyme. The directions say, "If any area of your body comes into contact with the transglutaminase, flush it thoroughly with water and consult a health care professional." Is the prospect of donning a meat tiara is worth the trouble? [via Boing Boing] Related Bacon Bra Molecular Gastronomy at the French Culinary Institute: Meat Glue Make Your Own Bacon Soap... More

Photograph by jasja dekker on Flickr Did you know the Wall Street Journal has great food coverage? I didn’t, until I started obsessively following the banking crisis. After a while I got bored with Bernanke and Paulson (amazing, I know) and found that the Journal is particularly strong when it comes to food and restaurants in Asia, presumably because they cover the Asian markets and reporters get hungry. That’s how I came across this delightful story, Where the Slimy Things Are. The writer, Stephen Yoder, wrote for the Journal from Japan in the ’90s, and when his assignment ended, he told his 8- and 10-year-old sons they could choose a restaurant for their farewell dinner from any of their... More

Or is that turkey my Lego? Beats me. But if you're a Lego head and you've always wanted a turkey figure for your Thanksgiving-themed tableau, this Medieval Market Village set might do you right. You'll have to wait till next year's turkey day, though; this set comes out in 2009 but was recently unveiled at BrickCon 2008. [via Boing Boing]... More

To me, anything comforting done up French becomes even more fabulous. So when I came across these Brioche Cinnamon Rolls, Marianne and Uncle Sam rolled up in one fabulous, puffy, crusty, oozing sweet Doughboy confection, I melted as thoroughly as the frosting. Vanessa proclaims: “I absolutely love brioche and I absolutely adore cinnamon rolls. Bringing the two together is beyond obvious but leave it to me to point out the obvious. These cinnamon rolls turned out tender, buttery, rich, and sweet, with that fabulous bite of cinnamon. These are my new favorite cinnamon rolls.” These rolls may be What Geeks Eat, but they seem pretty cool to me!... More

A cake for every occasion—literally. Even one that involves the legal split of two spouses, a complicated child custody battle, and mess over who really owns the furniture. Like a wedding, a divorce can be a celebratory event, and Divorce Cakes are that perfect way to untie the knot. Related Cake Wrecks: A Gallery of Hideous Cakes Same-Sex Wedding Cakes Super Mario Kart Wedding Cake... More

mredepot.com Why does canned bacon exist? So The Onion's A.V. Club can taste it and tell you how terrible it is. In their review of Yoder's Canned Bacon, available at MREdepot.com ($109.95 for 12 cans), watch them unleash the nine ounces of beastly, greasy, slime pork-based horror out of the can. It tastes about as good as it looks: Yes, it tastes kind of like bacon, the same way Purina Beggin' Strips might taste kind of like bacon. (Not that we'd know… really!) The essence of bacon was there, thanks to a healthy injection of "smoke flavor," but the texture was completely off—stringy and mealy and not at all meat-like. In a taste test against Oscar Meyer Ready To... More

We've been telling you about what might be the best dessert party ever, Sweet, taking place October 11 at 9 p.m., at the New York Wine & Food Festival. Thanks to the festival organizers, we've got 4 more pairs of $175 tickets to give away over on Serious Eats: New York. If you want to win these prized ducats, you've got to hurry. You've got to enter before noon on Wednesday, October 8. The bash is going to feature almost 50 of the nation's best pastry chefs putting out a sweets spread the likes of which we have never seen before. Folks like Johnny Iuzzini from Jean-Georges, Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin, Nancy Olson of Gramercy Tavern, and Francois... More

If you hate the best part about peanut butter—licking it off the spoon or butter knife—then P.B Slices are just the product for you. These individually packaged, peel-off sheets of peanut butter are totally inviting themselves to your party. More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. The Hamburger Fatty Melt, a Burger with Two Grilled Cheese Sandwiches as Its Bun The title says it all. [from A Hamburger Today] 2. Served: My Waiter Peeves "We waiters all have different things that provoke us; things that make us grumble to each other, “I hate people!” Things that inspire even the most warmhearted and sweet to harbor homicidal fantasies. Here are a few of mine." 3. In Season: Broccoli, and Cooking It Creatively I think this is the first time an "In Season" has made it into the Tasty 10. And for broccoli! Glad to see this oft-dissed... More

With all the channels on broadcast TV and cable—and the inevitable episode repeats—it's hard to sort out what's new or worthwhile. Let us sort it out for you so you don't miss anything worth watching. Times may vary with region; check your local listings for exact hour and channels. Saturday (October 4) The Cooking Loft (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "By the Slice." Basic pizza dough; cast iron pizza with sausage and caramelized onions; blackberry and ricotta pizza; easy garlic knots. 9:30 a.m. ET, Food Network Ask Aida (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Chicken." Pan roasted chicken; roasted garam masala chicken; cucumber-bell pepper quinoa. 12:30 p.m. ET, Food Network... More

Buy seeds from Uncle Steve's Hot Stuff I have always assumed the mighty habanero pepper is the hottest on the planet, but according to a recent New York Times story the habanero's hotness is child's play compared to the Indian bhut jolokia, which has a scoville rating of a hot, hot, hot, million Scoville units (the habanero red savina has a measly 400,000, in case you're wondering). Has anyone screwed up the courage to try one of these bad, bad, bad boys?... More

Photograph by Robyn Lee. Yesterday, Robyn and I traveled out to quaint Tarrytown, New York to see Andrew Bird perform. Before the show, we popped our little heads into a nextdoor coffee shop, Coffee Labs Roasters, only to find this sign on the glass case. Too many muffins is never a bad thing. Because it only means that, somewhere, it's raining muffins! Wherever "they" are.... More

We're bananas for what goes on in Talk. There's so much useful, funny, and interesting stuff going on that we almost can't keep up. Here's some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week. Barbie as a Celebrity Chef?:"I'll buy when they make a realistic female chef doll. My idea: about 10 lbs overweight, chef's whites with a few stains, a few burn scars on her arms, and a pull string in the back that causes the doll to scream a profanity laced 'If you #####in' steal one more *****in' plate, I'll $$$$$in' stab your ass.'" Then you've got a real chef doll. —beth1 What do you think of Spain... on the Road Again?:"As beautiful and well-shot as the... More

Since it turns out that Coke can be used as a contraceptive and that there's a new testicle cookbook out.... More

Editor's Note: It's time to introduce another new and predictably awesome intern, Kerry. When she's not concocting orange and black Halloween recipes for us, she's making whimsical fondue and beignets over on her blog French Revolution. Kerry is taking a gap year between masters at Oxford to work on a cookbok of French recipes, a novel, and a children's book. Please say hello to Kerry! Name: Kerry Saretsky Location: New York City Occupation: I am a writer and a student taking a gap year between masters (literature and business) at Oxford--and, most importantly, a Serious Eats intern! URL: frenchrevolutionfood.com Favorite comfort food? French fries, with a side of hot and bubbly, fresh mac'n'cheese. Guilty pleasures? Macarons, in all the floral... More

Fatty Porcine Fantasies: Ed Levine visits Porchetta, a new Italian take-out joint in New York City's East Village featuring its tasty namesake dish of crisp-skinned roast pig. From the North End to South Boston: We bring back the Serious Eats City Guides to feature the best places to eat in Boston—from splurge spots to brunch to clam chowdah. This is how we chow down in Red Sox Nation. Thick, Dry Crust Advertised as "Thin": At Pizza Capri in Chicago, a thin-crust pizza disappoints Daniel Zemans, while a classic stuffed pie only qualifies as "passable." Dim Sum, A Feast for the Eyes (and Mouth): Robyn Lee shares some of her favorite dishes at Jing Fong in Chinatown—from deep-fried bacon-wrapped shrimp... More

"Who would've guessed it'd be a massive coronary, diabetes, and total organ failure that killed him?" In College Humor's latest video, "McFuneral," the characters of McDonaldland mourn the death of their leader, Ronald McDonald, and Hamburglar unleashes everyone's dark, mostly homicidal secrets. But their secrets are kept safe by a surprise character. Watch the video after the jump.... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, she rethinks how we should make, package, and ship wine. Photograph from brewrat on Flickr Picture yourself walking into your favorite market. You've got your reusable grocery bags and a few wine bottles with screw caps. You do your shopping, you head to the wine section before checking out, and a nice person in the wine section takes your wine bottles. He or she either fills them with wine or cleans them and gives you replacements, filling the new bottles with wine and screwing on the cap. In a time when everyone is thinking about alternative packaging and the environment, why isn't anyone talking... More

Amy of We Are Never Full opines that she is not the biggest fan of Bon Appetit, but the magazine's version of this tart caught her eye—and her version caught ours. Amy's tart combines both puff pastry and pie crust, ricotta and petite Jurassic cheeses, as well as salami and a garden of vegetables for this "lighter than quiche" pastry: Using various different veggies and ricotta over all eggs helped me convince myself that I was eating healthy. Even after a few helpings, I knew I was kidding myself. Indulgence is encouraged with beach season behind us. And anyway, this is lighter than quiche. Serving it "à cheval" with a runny egg on top makes it ideal for a... More

Editor's Note: Every morning in October, we'll have something to put you in the Halloween mood! Candy corn is a love or hate situation, but some people just really really love it. If your ears are cold and you're on the pro side of the candy corn debate, then here's a free hat pattern through Reenie at the yarn site Material Whirled. [via Craftzine]... More

As most serious eaters know, holidays are full of temptation for those of us trying to lose weight. I went to two Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) dinners this week, and they could have been my undoing. But in both cases, I had a plan going in that just might have worked. I tried to fill myself up with freshly picked farmers' market apples and bananas (from farms far away from New York) before I arrived at the dinners, and I think I might have succeeded. In a week that could have been disastrous weight-wise, the apples and bananas could have saved me. Something else might have helped as well, namely, since it was forgotten. Let me explain.... More

Cinnamon rolls have been vegetarian for too long. Too long. While grocery shopping the other day I picked up a tube of ready-to-cook cinnamon rolls and thought hey, I wonder how these would taste with bacon. As I read the back of the package I was reminded that the rolls are actually un-rolled when you remove them. Yup, he did it. He made a bacon cinnamon roll. After rolling a bacon strip up with cinnamon roll dough, he just went ahead and baked those suckers. [via Serious Eats community member dithie]... More

Serious Eats City Guides are back, and this week we're shipping up to Boston, where Boston Magazine's Amy Traverso gives us the rundown on Beantown from post-Fenway feeding to the best clam chowdah. Go Sox! More

Yesterday in the New York Times, Kim Severson reminded us that the late, great Paul Newman's contributions to the world of food go way beyond his epic fifty hard-boiled egg eating performance in Cool Hand Luke. Newman significantly impacted the world of food with his line of Newman's Own products. His salad dressing isn't half-bad, his lemonade is refreshing, and his dark chocolate peanut butter cups are the stuff of serious food greatness. What's your favorite Newman's Own food?... More

The Huffington Post has Rachael Ray suggestively shucking corn in an amusing (and potentially NSFW) video titled "Rachael Ray Corn Porn." It's worse than you think.... More

All Burger Kings across the country are now cooking with only trans fat free oils and by November 1, all menu ingredients will contain zero grams artificial trans fat.... More

Kenny Shopsin doesn't make just any fried chicken; he makes taco-fried chicken coated in spicy buffalo wing sauce. And it's goooood. Random shards of tortilla chips provide pockets of crispy, corny deliciousness in every juicy bite chicken. If you can't make it to Shopsin's restaurant, try out the recipe at home. Now you have a use for those tortilla chip bits at the bottom of the bag. Related Cook the Book: 'Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin' The Best Fried Chicken in Fast Food: Not the Colonel, Not Popeyes The Best Fried Chicken Recipe Ever?... More

This week, The Kitchn discusses how long butter can be left outside the refrigerator and explains how to prevent it from going rancid. Also on the Kitchn, a recipe for harvest cake with goat cheese frosting, rocks that look like food, five things to do with ricotta, and tips for boiling potatoes.... More

Photograph from karen2754 on Flickr When Steve Kaplan of New York City fractured his tooth after biting on an unpopped popcorn kernel at an Upper West Side movie theater, he demanded that the theater pay his $1,250 dental bill. Civil Court Judge Matthew Cooper denied the claim, saying that unpopped kernels were unavoidable: Until such time as the same bio-engineers who brought us seedless watermelon are able to develop a new strain of popping corn where every kernel is guaranteed to pop, we will just have to accept partially popped popcorn as part and parcel of the popcorn popping process. To prevent potential tooth fractures, Cooper suggested eating the popcorn one by one or avoiding popcorn and just eating candy.... More

amazon.com I loved Julia Moskin's story in yesterday's New York Times about "rice cooker cooking," but c'mon, Julia—after you tell us that older rice cooker models are easier to cook in because their controls are easier to override, shouldn't you have told us which rice cooker we should buy? Serious eaters want to know. Can anybody help me out here? Related Rice Cooker FAQ Rice Cooker Cooking: More Than Just Rice... More

Serious Eats caught up with Hanoi restaurateur, Bobby Chinn, to talk about his new cookbook, Wild, Wild East: Recipes & Stories from Vietnam. Though we originally scheduled to meet up over a bowl of pho, we instead met up at the Guggenheim. Here’s why: So here we are at the Guggenheim. What happened to your appetite for pho? I had the most disappointing meal in Chinatown yesterday. At Thai Son, recommended by three different friends in Hanoi who know their food! All in all, Vietnamese food in Manhattan has been pretty average at best. So sad, so true. Why do you think that is? I don't know. Access to ingredients? Equipment? Indifference? The fact that management is more often ethnic... More

If you're an ice cream vendor, or feel attached to one, sleep with one eye open. Because Burger King may be crafting ways to throw that beloved truck into a bottomless ditch right now. The fast food chain is launching an 89-cent vanilla cone, and they know the biggest competition is the guy on wheels playing the happy-making jingle. The video, after the jump.... More

We've seen some mock-ups of vertical farms before, but Popular Science's gallery gives us a closer look inside a vertical farm. Aside from showing how crops will be cultivated, it also gives ideas for how meat will be grown and how sewage will be treated. Related In Videos: Dickson Despommier Interviewed on 'The Colbert Report' About Vertical Farming Local Urban Efforts: Vertical Farms... More

If you're in Phoenix, Arizona, "Yes." If you're in Berwick, Maine, "No—Try it hot." Enter your zip code at Is It Iced Coffee Weather? to find out. (Or go outside.) [via Eater]... More

Editor's Note: Every morning in October, we'll have something to put you in the Halloween mood! It's not hard to find Halloween snacks to impress kids, but finding something classy and creepy enough for adults can be a bit more difficult. That’s why the Eyeball Caprese makes the perfect appetizer for any Halloween party. It’s a simple twist on a classic insalata caprese, and it looks fantastic. The key ingredient here is the Castelvetrano olives, an Italian specialty that has the perfect shade of bright green skin—as Evil Mad Scientist notes: "You can of course use other types of green olives, but they probably won't look quite as alive." If you're wondering how to make the pupil shape precise, the... More

The Guardian reports John Lydon, singer for legendary punk bands Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd., is fattening up the UK in his first ever commercial for Country Life butter. Lydon was known in the past for his anarchist attitude, but in the last few years has pierced through the souls of TV viewers on British reality TV, Discovery Channel, and VH1. Now, instead of the grating chords of "God Save the Queen" running through their heads, Brits will never forget his intonation of "It's not about Great Britain, it's about great butter!" I'm not sure he'll ever live this one down—especially the part when the cows chase him off-screen. Since we can't embed the video, see the over-enthusiastic... More

Not bacon! Happy World Vegetarian Day! The holiday was founded in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society and kicks off October as Vegetarian Awareness Month. If you're vegetarian, check out some of these select vegetarian (and vegan) recipes on Serious Eats. If you're not vegetarian, try to lay off the bacon for one day—it's not so bad. Though many people have gone through vegetarianism flings, who out there feels like a real, true vegetarian? Recipes after the jump.... More

I found these ridiculous wart-covered pumpkins at the quintessential country food market, Delicious Orchards, in Colts Neck, New Jersey. They don't necessarily scream "take me home and cook me." (Who knows what limbs you might grow afterward.) But they make for great front porch Halloween decor.... More

In the new promo for the season five of Top Chef, judge Padma Lakshmi slowly gnaws on her pretzel near the New York subway map. She also throws around a pair of whisks, again, as if she has a dirty little secret. The ad, after the jump.... More

Photograph from ammichaels on Flickr I was delighted this morning when I opened the New York Times and found an article entitled Momma, I’ll Have Some of Whatever You’re Having. (I was also jealous, because I didn’t write it.) Jessica had begun making meals for Gracie, our 7-month-old daughter, following the recommended pattern for carefully introducing individual puréed foods.That all changed when she called me at work one day to tell me that she’d taken the food mill to the next level: since Gracie had tried all the basic ingredients from what we’d eaten the night before—my pasta Bolognese with mint—she had milled some up and watched with delight as Gracie happily finished every bite. I had the same... More

November 12th is the big day. Seventeen new cheftestants—from all over the world and with exotic-sounding names like Fabio and Hosea—will compete on New York turf. Padma, Tom, and Gail will all be back, but in Ted Allen's place comes British journalist and author Toby Young. The show sounds like a party. Expect cameos from: Martha Stewart, the Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Natasha Richardson. After the jump, check out the list of cheftestants.... More

There's nothing like starting your day with some azodicarbonalicious bread baked with high-fructose love syrup! That is, according to this commercial for the Prairie Morning Bread Company. ...Wait, what? That's just what the Prairie Morning Bread Company and their disturbingly cheery bakers want you to believe. Thankfully, the Prairie Morning Bread Company doesn't actually exist—this commercial was made by Rudi's Organic to mock other companies who don't have much to tout about their bread besides that it's made with love. Even if the Corn Refiners Association wants to promote high-fructose corn syrup, it's unlikely to become a positive marketing point. Watch the video after the jump.... More

Steve Dublanica's popular blog Waiter Rant has already become a best-selling book; next up, it may become a hit TV show. Dublanica announced that Waiter Rant been optioned for development as a television series.... More

Yesterday, Starbucks launched a new "breakfast sandwich" called the "piadini," inspired by the Italian flatbread-like "piandina" usually filled with meat and/or cheese and eaten at lunch or snack time. Starbucks' piadina introduction was basically screaming for a comparison, and once we got real Italians involved, the taste test results weren't pretty. Initial reaction from Giancarlo Quadalti and Maurizio DeRosa: skepticism. A call up to chef Giancarlo Quadalti of New York's Teodora, Celeste, Bianca, and Fiore—he is from Ravenna, Italy, the home of the piadina—inspired a serious chuckle on the other line. He was equal parts intrigued and frightened. Starbucks is really attempting what sweet, hunched-over Italian women make at streetside kiosks? When we brought him and his good friend,... More