Our pick for top dish of The Year That Was. The burger was everywhere in 2008, and I do mean everywhere, made by anybody and everybody, by both anonymous nobodies and celebrity somebodies. Bobby Flay did it. So did Thomas Keller, and Daniel Boulud and Eric Ripert, and Tom Colicchio. And Rachael Ray announced plans to do it. What was the most popular event at fancy-pants food and wine festivals in Miami and New York? The Burger Bash, of course. The burger was featured on Top Chef and Iron Chef and Conan and on Letterman and Leno. Jon Stewart loves them and so does Brian Williams. I'm sure Dr. House is devouring burgers when he's not popping pills. Even our... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. When winter draws near, I start thinking about sausage. (Actually, I think about sausage year-round.) About the best, juiciest, meatiest, just-smoky-enough sausage I know is the sausage the Bracewell family makes and serves at their phenomenal Texas barbecue joint the Southside Market. The Bracewells are a generously spirited bunch, so they've given us ten pound packages of their incomparable sausage to give away as part of the Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway. Win and you can have your very own Texas barbecue sausage holiday party. Doesn't that... More

The Year That Was: Where serious eaters were eating out—or should have been—in 2008. National Stories Regional Hot Dog Styles:To celebrate July 4th weekend, we brought you Serious Eats' definitive guide to America's regional hot dog styles. Where to Find Duck Fat Fries: Chefs across the country were skipping peanut or cottonseed oil to embrace rendered duck fat for fries. America's Heroes, Grinders, Subs, and More: Hoagies, heroes, subs, wedges, po'boys, grinders, and the list goes on. We compiled a list of America's best hold and cold sandwiches. iPhone Waiters Line-Waiter's Guide: Apple's iPhone 3G came out July 11. We imagined there would be some iPhone camping expeditions at Apple Stores across the country, with people lining up to get... More

"'What are your favorite kitchen tools?' My teeth." —HeartofGlass, in summing up the Talk topics mentioned in TYTW: Nagging Questions... More

We've been going a bit nuts with with our Year That Was roundups here on Serious Eats. Thank you for indulging us (or not). To make it easy for you to browse all these wraps, we've gathered them all here for you. Enjoy! (Or not!) More

The title says it all. Here's a video of Todd Lamb looking at a succession of pictures of fish sandwiches over one minute, saying, "Fish," after each one. He doesn't get very far though; he only reaches 25 pictures due to the awkward picture flipping technique. Anyone else should be able to beat his record, but then why would you bother? For the glory and fame. Watch the video after the jump.... More

Sadly, I noticed this too late to put it on a Christmas list, but it’s not too early to start next year’s list. Not my daughter’s list. Mine. It’s a plush doner kebab sandwich. “The fuzzy cloth pita opens up to reveal all the fixings necessary for a traditional gyro, including lamb meat, tomato slices, onion rings, lettuce, and pepperoncini. Don’t like onions in your kebab? Take ‘em out!” If there’s one thing I hate on my sandwich, it’s polyester onions. Like all toys, this one comes with a warning: “This gyro has such a delicious appearance that they should be kept away from small children, lest they mistake the play food for the real thing.” I think this is... More

Continuing The Year That Was with our pick for Ingredient of the Year. I know it seems like a cliche and passé at this point, but I have to call a spade a spade, or perhaps I should say I have to call a pig a pig (but maybe not, more about that later). Bacon is most assuredly the ingredient of the year. Every important, influential, and innovative chef, from David Chang to Grant Achatz to Thomas Keller, made substantial use of bacon in 2008. It was used in appetizers, main courses, and desserts: bacon cookies, peanut butter and bacon "Elvis"cupcakes, and brittle, anyone? It even showed up in cocktails (bacon martini, anyone?). It's used unadorned and as a mix-in,... More

When you're not using your computer, warm up your monitor with this awesome pretzel and candy corn fireplace screensaver by stop-motion film maker Pes. You can also buy a DVD so you can play it on your TV. This would have been more appropriate for Christmas, but with the snow that's hitting parts of the U.S., let it heat up your spirits now. Related In Videos: 'Western Spaghetti' by Pes (Stop-Motion Animation)... More

I was wondering when someone would express this sentiment. From the Serious Eats inbox ... Why the fuck did I read your site all year when it turns out I can just tune in this week and get an entire year's worth of shit in my RSS feeder? Enough with the damn reviews clogging things up. I can't find the new material for all this review shit. Stop it. Stop it now!—Holli on vacation with a damn Google reader clogged with stuff I've already seen... More

Continuing The Year That Was with miscellaneous questions we asked in 2008. Looking back on it, it seemed that Ed originally had cornered the market on this type of blog post. But then something happened and Ed's style rubbed off on the rest us. Hmm, now how did that happen? Food Preferences Is vanilla ice cream with black specks better than vanilla ice cream without? What do you call cola drinks? Are you skeptical of molecular gastronomy? What's your favorite Halloween candy? What's the trick-or-treating age limit? Who likes sweet potato fries? Do you have a local grocery store that you've sworn undying loyalty to? Dining Etiquette Is it rude to eat on mass transit? Who should pay at a... More

Continuing The Year That Was are our favorite photography stories from 2008. Photograph by Graciepoo on Flickr After renown New York City chef David Chang banned photography at his restaurant Momofuku Ko, we asked other chefs and restaurateurs what they thought about customer photography in their upscale restaurants. That set off some insightful reader debate whether foodie photographers should be allowed to shoot their dishes. The banning of photography extended beyond restaurants—the famous Tsukiji market in Tokyo banned camera-toting tourists from visiting during the early morning market. But don't feel deterred from whipping out your camera at a meal, as we learned that taking photos of food may help you lose weight. We also learned that food porn is similar... More

The Year That Was, as measured by Ed's waistline. Ed started his diet on January 10. He flirted briefly with 100-calorie snack packs, was rebuked for it, and then renounced them. Still questionable: Ed's ideal diet breakfast--Diet Coke, potato chips, and a banana. Then again, he did discover his inner bok choy, which makes a weird kind of sense, I suppose. And for a series of posts that you'd think would have been fairly innocuous, it managed to incite mild controversy when The-Feedbag's Josh Ozersky attacks Ed and then posts a retraction. My main beef with Ed's diet posts is that they have inspired my girlfriend to get on my case about starting my own serious diet. But let's focus... More

Haminal is an adorable canned ham animal that combines the goodness of guinea pig, hamster, and ham in the form of a pink, rectangular canned ham plush toy. Visit the Hanimal store or Rocketfist to get your own can of joy. It even comes with its own pineapple ring! Not sure how to get the sushi version though. [via Plastic and Plush] Related Plush Teacups The Inner Workings of a Plush Meat Master Plush Toast Keychain... More

Continuing The Year That Was with a remembrance of some wonderful people who left us in 2008. Sadly, we said goodbye to some wonderful folks in 2008: Jean-Claude Vrinat, Herb Peterson, Robert Mondavi, Frederic J. Baur, George Carlin, Sherry Cermak, Bernie Mac, Isaac Hayes, Don LaFontaine, David Foster Wallace, Robert Steinberg, Paul Newman, Carmen Rocha, Lou Dorfsman, Briana Brownlow.... More

Continuing The Year That Was, with food-based pixelated distractions. Super Mario Bros. Cupcakes. Photograph from hello naomi on Flickr OMG. How many food video games came out this year? Major League Eating was announced in early March, teased us in April, still hadn't come out in May (when we sent Ben Brown to a press event in San Francisco and Gordon Mark to one in New York), and finally came out via WiiWare on July 14. MLE was perhaps the most inspired of this bunch of games, which also included Iron Chef America, Cake Mania, and Hell's Kitchen (which Gordon Mark, who sort of became our de facto in-house food-gamer, reviewed here—and a whole host of others we've probably overlooked.... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away an edible chocolate holiday box—18 chocolate pieces tucked inside a box made of chocolate—in addition to a can of triple chocolate almonds and two jars of the company's own marmalade (one blood orange and one Meyer lemon), courtesy of the generous folks at San Francisco–based Charles Chocolates. Even if you don't win, you can still buy this box and anything else from Charles Chocolates' online store for 15 percent off by using the coupon code SERIOUS, good from now until December 24.... More

I thought we could get through all the thematic Year That Was posts yesterday, but we actually have MORE today. So here, for your daily video fix, another trend that had us food-lovers all agog in 2008—stop-motion food videos. Stop-motion films are nothing new, but looking back in our video archives, we were surprised at just how many food-related herky-jerky shorts we blogged in 2008. So, what does food do when you're not eating it? The magic of stop-motion animation showed us that chocolates hearts fall in love, chocolate bunnies fall in love, slabs of meat fall in love, cupcakes dance, and Cadbury Creme Eggs commit suicide. And sometimes the food did nothing so grand as get eaten by something... More

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not what you would call “enamored” with Yelp. All too often I’ve looked up reviews for a joint, only to find that the rating it was communally granted was completely skewed by strange people. The kind of strange people who strangely decide to rate a pho place based on the bubble tea it serves. Seriously. Pho To Chau in Mountain View, California, is one such maligned joint. Perhaps I’m being too harsh on the strange people, and perhaps I have lower than average expectations of an eatery’s ambiance and service standards. But there aren’t many places to eat in Silicon Valley that aren’t spendy, so when I chance upon it, and... More

"Haha! I told you so!" my mother called as she trotted to the kitchen to retrieve her small glass vial and eye dropper, dripping triumph as she went. Oh, to be home for the holidays. "I've been using stevia for years!" We had just seen the television ad for Truvia, the new natural no-calorie sweetener made from this herb, which is also known as sweetleaf. Have any of you seen it? Unable to allow my mother to be right—God forbid—I decided to do some research. Turns out, the stuff sounds pretty amazing.... More

I blog by day and wait tables in a New York City restaurant by night. I'm excited to bring you Served, dispatches from the front of the house. Enjoy! T., my friend from school, asked me if she should work on New Year's Eve. “I don’t know,” I said, really not knowing. “Do you think you’ll make good money?” Our friend Andrew, who graduated last year, now runs the front of the house at a newish East Village spot. It’s the kind of restaurant that makes great boozy drinks and often employs a DJ, so it seems like a natural New Year party setting. He recruited T. to play hostess and/or coat check girl for the night. “I don’t know... More

There are so many things I've eaten or read about that I didn't get around to blabbing about on Serious Eats this year. Hey—I only have four eyes and two hands! So forthwith, posthaste, and ex post facto, here's a tasty tidbit that has been languishing in draft for much of 2008. The scene: Late 1970s, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. My family's Buick Riviera sits in my aunt's driveway, engine ticking as it cools from a 20-hour drive from Kansas City. My cousin Dan whips down the driveway on his Green Machine to greet us. We grab the last of the Pepsis from the travel cooler, dump the water and what's left of the ice from it, and head inside. The Kuban... More

More in The Year That Was. Video game characters bento box from Anna The Red Food that looked like other stuff turned out to be a theme of 2008 on Serious Eats and on other blogs. Plain loaves and rolls were apparently boring. Baked goods with more interesting shapes, like piggies, bunnies, lobsters, and mummies ruled the day. Similarly, people transformed plain cupcakes into popcorn, poodles, nursery rhymes, and corn on the cob. Bento boxes were everywhere, getting facelifts as popular album covers, video game characters, and Sanrio characters.... More

December 31 is your last chance to donate to this year's Menu for Hope 5. Each US$10 donation will buy you one virtual raffle ticket toward an amazing food-themed prize of your choice. Most of the prizes have been donated by food bloggers, and proceeds go to the UN World Food Program's school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. Donate now!... More

This probably should have been in the Media entry, but whatevs. The Year That Was continues. Top: Wallace and Gromit as bakers in "A Matter of Loaf or Death." Above, clockwise from left: Amy Adams, Julie Powell, Meryl Streep, Julia Child. Nominated for five Oscars, Ratatouille wins Best Animated Feature category. A movie based on the Julie/Julia blog-book is announced, with noted foodie, author (Heartburn), and director (Sleepless in Seattle) Nora Ephron at the helm. Our own Ed Levine gets a part as an extra and has dinner with Ephron after his scene wraps. Martha Stewart claims the movie is about her! Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to be made into a movie. New Wallace & Gromit movie, A... More

OK, I promised you at the end of the previous Year That Was post that I'd do something a bit more fun. Does this qualify? Outer space alone is vast, mysterious, and profound. But once humans start putting things in space, the concept goes from sublime to ridiculous at light speed. I mean, monkeys? Pigs? Food? Yes, food. In 2008, space got spicy with kimchi. A new ringed object was spotted when bagels went up on a Space Shuttle mission. We found out that outer space smells like steak. And the Japanese made space beer. And, oh yeah, this weird space food sticks video made the rounds on all the blogs. Yes, food brings space absurdity to a new level.... More

Kobayashi just couldn't take the cake. On Friday, he came up six ounces short of the competitive fruitcake-eating record, at four pounds and eight ounces. He cited the density as a hindrance. Watch video footage from Fox News here.... More

It's an old trope that the only people who care about media news are members of the media themselves. And while we are a "blog," we do indeed consider ourselves part of this illustrious and infamous industry. So please indulge our navel-gazing here in this installment of The Year That Was. In the interest of getting this particular retrospective over with in one shot, I'm going to lump many different media fields together. Newspapers and Magazines ©iStockphoto.com/ideabug It was not a good year for newspapers in general, with several dailies reducing frequency and coverage, going web-only, and even filing for bankruptcy. It's no suprise then that newspaper food sections were also downsized accordingly (and Serious Eats readers were a mixed... More

I'm not a fan of caffeinated foods—coffee and sodas in particular—but after reading the product reviews on Caffeine Examiner I almost want to try some of these sleepy-destroying drinks and candies out of sick curiosity. In particular, I'm drawn to the many offensive qualities of Go Fast Energy Gum: I can not go to enough superlatives to describe the fun horror of these pieces, and would almost recommend to anyone around to purchase some so they can experience this for themselves. It makes your jaws ache, your teeth squeak—and your tongue turn bright yellow. This is like accidentally putting something rotten in your mouth, your brain will try to expel this from your body as fast as possible—but if you... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today's Seriously Delicious Holiday Food Giveaway is a New York Nostalgia package from Russ & Daughters. I've known Russ & Daughters' Mark Federman and his family ever since I came to New York 32 years ago. When I knew very few people here I used to come to Russ & Daughters to kibitz and just feel like I belonged somewhere. It's a place I still visit for shelter from any storm—and for the company and the Russ family's incredible food. They know smoked fish like very... More

Continuing The Year That Was with some of the more downer news of the year. Food Shortages: Worldwide hops, butter in Japan, pork in Turkey, snails and oysters in France, water in European olive oil producing countries, bananas in Japan. Even Stephen Colbert and John Stewart weighed in on the global food crisis. The eight world leaders meeting for the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, scarfed a six-course lunch and then an eight-course dinner before discussing the world food shortage situation. Rising Food Prices: Paul Krugman told us that rising energy prices was just one of the many factors contributing to rising food costs. The rising cost of popcorn made movie tickets more expensive. Cereal boxes shrank but prices did... More

Kate really loves butter. From Cheeseslave. Anne Marie's daughter Kate loves butter. Really, really loves butter. Like "eat it straight out of the wrapper" loves butter. Kate completely puts my love of butter to shame. Related How to Make Butter Butter Sculptures Gallery Unbelieveable! This Is Not Butter!... More

Continuing The Year That Was are our favorite food-science stories from 2008. Things Scientists Made Test Tube Meat! Wired covered a three-day meeting of the In Vitro Meat Consortium in Ås, Norway, detailing the possibility of test tube meat. Cheaper to produce and more environmentally friendly, in vitro meat production may arrive in grocery stores within 5 to 10 years. In response, PETA announced a $1 million prize to the "first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012." An "electic tongue"! Spanish scientists developed a portable "electric tongue" that can identify wine characteristics. Sunscreen for fruits and veggies! Sunscreen isn't just for sentient beings anymore; now... More

I was at Einstein Bros. Bagels yesterday to get my "usual"—the sandwich I've been ordering there since I was 18 and was finally allowed to leave my high school campus during free periods. (The usual, if you are curious, is a sesame bagel with hummus that is spreadable rather than dippable, lettuce, cucumber, and roasted red pepper.) In the bagel case, I saw red-and-white candy cane bagels, and I found them, frankly, to be kitschy cool. Yes, it's now a little late, but they would have been the perfect Christmakkuh accessory. They can be torn like challah, shmeared with plain cream cheese, and hung on a tree, although probably not in that order. Available for the next few days,... More

Continuing The Year That Was, our year-end retrospective of food news. Wow, were there ever a ton of Starbucks items this year, starting with the news that McDonald's was entering the coffee business, challenging Starbucks in a big way. The rest of the year, we watched as the Seattle-based coffee chain attempted to answer that challenge and many more. Starbucks, whose stock declined over much of the year, brought back founder Howard Schultz as CEO, eliminated jobs, got rid of its breakfast sandwiches but then brought them back, started grinding beans fresh in-house, bought the Clover Equipment company, released a new milder brew but then brought back its old bitter "burnt-tasting" blend, redesigned its cups and then scrapped the redesign,... More

Last Friday we started our year-end review with the Top 10 most-viewed posts across Serious Eats land. Today, we're taking a look back at the food trends of 2008. We were originally going to do this in one post, but with all the stuff we've published this year, we would have worn out your scroll finger. So we've broken up this retrospective into more-digestible bits. Your tasting menu of 2008 begins this morning, fittingly enough, with bacon. ©iStockphoto.com/Juanmonino Bacon was all over the place on Serious Eats in 2008. That's not a huge change from 2007. And, for those of you who accuse us of being too baconcentric, let me just point out that our first bacon post of the... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away a package of two prime, dry-aged ("longer than four weeks") porterhouse steaks, thanks to the generous folks at Peter Luger. These steaks are not small. Each weighs more than two pounds. The steaks come with two bottles of Peter Luger steak sauce and a bag of chocolate coins. —Ed Levine To win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your favorite cut of steak? PS: If you just can't wait for this contest to be over and want to order steaks... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Our second-annual Serious Eats Holiday Giveaway series continues today with a chance to win the new, just-for-Serious-Eats Zingerman's Praise The Lard Gift Box. I think it is the quite simply the best pork product group ever assembled in one gift box. Before I get into that, there are two important points I need to tell you: Discount: You can buy this gift box or anything at Zingerman's for 10 percent off. Use the promo code SERIOUSLY when you call or check out. Good now until December... More

From left: Photograph from aliciagriffin on Flickr; Photograph from Travlr on Flickr For years, only Bill Cosby made "the list" of who eats free at Ben's Chili Bowl, the District's greasy spoon institution on U Street. A few days before the election, the management printed out a new copy of the A-list, this time with the Obamas included. The first family-elect have yet to cash in on their gratis hot dog dripping with beans, but surely if you camp out during inauguration week long enough, you might spot them. Cosby's patronage dates back to the 1960s, when he used to take his future wife to Ben's on dates. In 1985, he held a press conference at the diner to... More

OK. Now we've come to the Top 10 Talk topics of the year. This one was a little funny, because when I ran the numbers, I found that most of the highest-ranked posts were from the beginning of the year. That's because they've had all that extra time to accumulate pageviews. So what I've done is highlight the Top 10 overall and then the No. 1 post of each month, which gives you a better idea of what was popular in a given time period. —Adam 1. Breakfast for a Crowd: Any Ideas? "I need some ideas for breakfast that will feed 10 people. I would like to prepare something relatively simple that incorporates at least one fruit/vegetable to make... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Holiday season is ham season, so it's only right that we give away some seriously delicious hams as part of our holiday giveaway extravaganza. The nice folks at D'Artagnan, who supplied us with those wonderful organic turkeys for our Thanksgiving giveaway, have provided us with some whole boneless heritage applewood-smoked hams this time around. This is a serious 7- to 8-pound ham that will look great on your holiday table. —Ed Levine To win, just leave a comment on this post answering this question: What's on... More

"Of course, I wanted to be all down with the people, so I asked for 'an ess-pess-cee-ahl burrito.'" The second burrito of my trip to San Francisco: A "baby burrito" with carnitas, black beans, cheese, and hot salsa. "Baby," which is about half the size of a standard, because I had already eaten lunch and still had to eat dinner. Essential SF Burrito Resource Burritoeater.com was a helpful resource on this trip. Though it ended up serving only as a wishlist, since I only got to visit one taqueria while in SF, Burritoeater at least assured me that the one I habitually visited was solid, with an "Overall Mustache Rating" of 8.13. I've been in San Francisco since last Saturday,... More

"What might have saved me is the box of Harry & David pears." The holidays are tough enough for any serious eater on a diet, but this year I am particularly challenged by the fact that Thanksgiving (per usual), Christmas Day, and New Year's Day (not usual), all fall on Thursday, right before my weekly date with Thinner, my scale. It's enough to make any dieting serious eater feel persecuted. The combination of Thursdays and the array of foods sent to my wife this year from her gracious and grateful clients are not making me feel very sanguine about my moment of reckoning on the scale. In fact, there were moments this week that I almost just gave in and... More

We're going to do some navel-gazing with a look back at the Top 10 posts across the Serious Eats family of sites. Seems fitting to begin with the main Serious Eats site. More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. When winter draws near, I start thinking about sausage. (Actually, I think about sausage year-round.) About the best, juiciest, meatiest, just-smoky-enough sausage I know is the sausage the Bracewell family makes and serves at their phenomenal Texas barbecue joint the Southside Market. The Bracewells are a generously spirited bunch, so they've given us ten pound packages of their incomparable sausage to give away as part of the Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway. Win and you can have your very own Texas barbecue sausage holiday party. Doesn't that... More

What do you do on Christmas if you're Jewish? Chinese food and a movie. Brandon Walker sings about this perennial pairing, after the jump.... More

We wanted to take a moment to offer you the warmest season's greetings. Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or simply the winter solstice, we hope your holiday season is filled with plenty of love and deliciousness. Happy holidays, serious eaters. More

"It’s something special. I go out of my way to make that." In his new book A Year in Chocolate, Jacques Torres claims that the "bûche de Noël, a classic dessert of the French Christmas season, is quickly becoming an American tradition." Torres has a history nearly as illustrious as the chocolate that is his medium. When asked to describe chocolate, he waxes didactic: it was traded as currency, used as an aphrodisiac, exalted as a food of the gods, and served as a royal exclusive. In his more than a decade as pastry chef at Le Cirque, Jacques created aphrodisiac desserts for royalty, that certainly traded for a lot of currency. In 2000, Jacques opened his own chocolate factory... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away an edible chocolate holiday box—18 chocolate pieces tucked inside a box made of chocolate—in addition to a can of triple chocolate almonds and two jars of the company's own marmalade (one blood orange and one Meyer lemon), courtesy of the generous folks at San Francisco–based Charles Chocolates. Even if you don't win, you can still buy this box and anything else from Charles Chocolates' online store. —Ed Levine For a chance to win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your... More

The Scrooge in me says that something just doesn't add up here. How could they possibly time all these microwaves to play "Jingle Bells," accounting for the different cook times and for the time it would take to press all the "Cook" or "Start" buttons? But then my inner Jacob Marley warns me to just go with it and believe—to enjoy the show. And that's more fun. The video, after the jump. Happy seasonings!... More

Japan's Ebi-Filet-O, a shrimp burger. Photograph from Tavallai on Flickr Traveling Americans who worry that McDonalds' reputation precedes them: fear not! The truth is, McDonald's gets a warmer reception overseas than back home, partly because global outposts of the Golden Arches go out of their way to accommodate local tastes. At the branch near the Spanish Steps in Rome, you can order a glass of wine with your Big Mac--or skip the burger altogether and opt for pasta, cooked to order. Wikipedia has a mammoth list of McDonald's attempts to go native, the most compelling of which we have listed here. 1. In Malaysia, Bubur Ayam McD is congee (rice porridge with the consistency of thin oatmeal) with sliced... More

When I saw Jane Spice's blog post about a goat cheese spread with mint and cumin seeds my brain did a double take. "Wait," I thought, "This is not the processed, wine-saturated cheese dip that graces my parent's Christmas table." No, this dip is made with fresh mint and cumin, which helps counter the bite of the tangy goat cheese. As much as I kind of love cheese log and beef stick, this dish has me salivating. And the best part, all you have to do is throw some crackers and maybe a handful of cut vegetables and you've got a quick and easy appetizer.... More

Jewish guilt may be something that many of us have to live with throughout the year, but for the next eight blissful days of Hanukkah, Jewish gelt becomes more prevalent. Gelt, which means money or coins in Hebrew, is the currency of the dreidel, a spinning top with four sides that dictate the stakes of the gambling game. Perhaps it is impolite to play with your food. It is also a bad idea to eat fried food for eight days straight. Hanukkah gets us off the hook on both counts—a week and a day of positive dining abandon, and a festival of not being quite so light the week after next. Wikipedia informs us that during the 20th century,... More

Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food Picnic Insulated Lunch Bag You know the first thing I order when I arrive in the UK, but what is the last thing I eat before I leave? Even though I love plane food, I think if it were British Airways's fish pie, I would be too depressed for words. Plane Food, the Restaurant in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Instead, since the culinarily inspired Terminal 5 opened at Heathrow this year, my last bite out of Britain is Gordan Ramsay's Plane Food. If you have time to kill, by all means, take a seat and order à la carte. The restaurant serves such refined fare as Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Parfait with Sauternes Jelly... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today's Seriously Delicious Holiday Food Giveaway is a New York Nostalgia package from Russ & Daughters. I've known Russ & Daughters' Mark Federman and his family ever since I came to New York 32 years ago. When I knew very few people here I used to come to Russ & Daughters to kibitz and just feel like I belonged somewhere. It's a place I still visit for shelter from any storm—and for the company and the Russ family's incredible food. They know smoked fish like very... More

Yesterday, it was a classic Coke Christmas commercial. Today, it's the old '80s Budweiser Clydesdales commercial—the one where they throw some sleighbells on the beer-schlepping beasts and trot them out through the snow. Relive the snowy, idealized past, after the jump. Happy seasonings!... More

I blog by day and wait tables in a New York City restaurant by night. I'm excited to bring you Served, dispatches from the front of the house. Enjoy! D. was the effervescent wine director at an awesome restaurant nearby, and a regular at my place. A year ago, D. sat at the table by the cheese case, waiting for his girlfriend. He had just finished work and was bursting with energy. I, on the other hand, was fading fast. I poured him a glass of aglianico and we chatted. “Do you have Christmas Eve plans?” he inquired. I didn’t. Five minutes later, that had changed. Feast of the Seven Fishes The Feast of the Seven Fishes, also known as... More

A Candy Cane-Trimmed Tree. Photo by PugnoM. I saw The Nutcracker last night, and seeing tutu-clad sugarplums, shimmying Arabian coffee, and pirouetting marzipan reminded that somehow everything at Christmas is so delectable—so edible. When I wish for a white Christmas, I hope for a snow shower of sugar to cover my table, more than a blanket of frozen water to shroud my house. So, in the spirit of making this year an edible Christmas and of living in my own candyland, I want every ornament on my tree to be fit for consumption. I am going to hang gingerbread men (not fatally), with their wry, white smiles and buttoned-up demeanors. A few branches to the left I'll place a... More

Vegetarianism, baconed! Add a giant strip of crispy bacon to any webpage with bacolicio.us. Just add the URL after "http://bacolicio.us/"—for instance, http://bacolicio.us/http://www.seriouseats.com or http://bacolicio.us/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism. It's magic! [via The Presurfer] Related Cheese-Filled Bacon Roll, Too Much of a Good Thing? Bacon Snow or Bacon Blow? Serious Eats Gift Guide: For Bacon Lovers... 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: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on tonight. It's not the one from 1971 with Gene Wilder but the new adaption of Roald Dahl's story with Johnny Depp. Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC Also this week, on Man v. Food Adam goes to Chicago and visits Al's Beef, Gino's East, and Lucky's Sandwich Company. Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET, Travel Channel Monday (December 22) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: A... More

Photograph from Sarah Serendipity on Flickr If cookies were to congregate on a wooden surface for something really important in the cookie world, this might be the result. They seem to be paying homage to the center oatmeal lace one, which is clearly a deity in the cookie community. Though not all are pictured, this was part of one woman's 40-ish dozen retro cookies baking project, inspired by a recent Gourmet spread. You can make the same volume with 10 pounds of flour, five pounds of butter, a lot of sugar, and some swearing. Related 5 Tricks to Baking Perfect Sugar Cookies Gourmet Shares Best Cookie Recipes from 1941 to 2008 Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Sparkler Cookies Serious Cookies: Cocoa... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away a package of two prime, dry-aged ("longer than four weeks") porterhouse steaks, thanks to the generous folks at Peter Luger. These steaks are not small. Each weighs more than two pounds. The steaks come with two bottles of Peter Luger steak sauce and a bag of chocolate coins. —Ed Levine To win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your favorite cut of steak? PS: If you just can't wait for this contest to be over and want to order steaks... More

If you lived through the '70s and '80s, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" is burned into your gray matter. Here's a Christmas version, from 1984, after the jump. Happy seasonings!... More

The bad news, Thomas Keller, is that Achewood's description of prime rib cooked sous-vide borders on libel: "the anaerobic bacteria in that bag must by now have a soccer team". In this zany comic, the customer (a, uh, talking dog) declines the dish, citing the risk of motor neurone disease. The good news is that, to be appearing in web comics at all, sous-vide cooking must be gaining recognition. As for fandom, just give it time. [via The Gurgling Cod] Related A Comic About Eating at Alinea Cooking from Thomas Keller's 'Under Pressure'... More

There is a strict rule in the Oxford University library prohibiting visitors or guests, but I did manage to sneak in one friend to keep me company on those long, dark, and grueling dissertation nights: Percy. He was a little porky, with round pink cheeks, and an indelibly sunny personality to counteract the gray drizzle outside the library's windows and the absolute recurrent boredom of literary research. The fact that he was a gummy fruit-flavored candy did not in any way diminish my love for him. Percy Pigs are the Marks and Spencer cult answer to the Haribo gummy bear: adorable, yummy, and positively addictive. Just look at that face! It was love at first sight; until I bit... More

Spoil your young foodie (or your inner child) with some of these kid oriented gifts. More

The Canoli War: On the streets of Boston Carey Jones polices the Modern Pastry Shop and Mike's Pastry to determine who indeed is the canoli king. British Burger Not That Bad, Sometimes: Nick Solares can't make up his mind about the UK burger chain, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and he shares his trials in the search for a good patty. Peace in a Piece: Through thick and thin crust, Piece Brewery & Pizzeria in Chicago keeps their celebrity status going by continually dishing out quality pies. Arepa Who?: Take a stay-cation at El Cocotero, a little hole in the wall in Chelsea serving up authentic Venezuelan cuisine. A Pocket of Argentina: Empanadas everywhere and not a drop to spare. Check... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Our second-annual Serious Eats Holiday Giveaway series continues today with a chance to win the new, just-for-Serious-Eats Zingerman's Praise The Lard Gift Box. I think it is the quite simply the best pork product group ever assembled in one gift box. Before I get into that, there are two important points I need to tell you: Discount: You can buy this gift box or anything at Zingerman's for 10 percent off. Use the promo code SERIOUSLY when you call or check out. Good now until December... More

Sure, add more hops and make extreme beer Dogfish Head brewery. But, can you beat space beer. Yeah, I didn't think so. The Japanese constantly amaze me with their cute, weird, or just plain awesome inventions. Though this time, it wasn't just the Japanese. The 100 percent barley beer, called "Space Barley," was grown in a Russian laboratory on an International Space Station. The resulting beer was a collaboration of the Russian Academy of Science, Okayama University in Japan and Sapporo Breweries. Japan Times reported: The beer will not be sold to the public, but the knowledge gained will be used for space science projects and educational programs for children, Sapporo said. Barley can be cultivated in outer space... More

Some of the discussion that's piqued our interest in Talk this week... "To Keep You Warm" Gift Idea "Two things came to mind that I have received as gifts in the past that I really enjoyed. I loved a tin of Godiva Hot Chocolate mix given to me by a friend and another was a small basket with some homemade buckwheat pancake mix and a good bottle of maple syrup. Both were things that I would not have purchased for myself." —vickiee Expired Chocolate: Lost Cause? "Just taste it and if it still tastes good it is fine. It isn't going to spoil in a food poisoning type of way- it just may lose its' flavor or taste off and... More

More Then a Biscuit: Shuna Fish Lydon's shortbread cookies may look like bread, but their buttery-sweetness bakes into memory. Light but Feisty: Chickpeas make one of the best bases for a lot of dishes and Kristen Swensson explores this idea with this couscous with chickpeas, tomatoes and edamame recipe taken from Cooking Light. An Egg-centric Meal: Meat Lite bloggers Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond dish up a warm and hearty eggs any style shaksouka. Indian Side Dish: Blake Royer breaks up the meat-centric holiday flare with golden potatoes with spinach, which he adapted from The Best-Ever Curry Cookbook. Mystery Sauce: Pork chop with a modern soubise—don't worry if you have no idea what a "soubise" is, Nick Kindelsperger... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Holiday season is ham season, so it's only right that we give away some seriously delicious hams as part of our holiday giveaway extravaganza. The nice folks at D'Artagnan, who supplied us with those wonderful organic turkeys for our Thanksgiving giveaway, have provided us with some whole boneless heritage applewood-smoked hams this time around. This is a serious 7- to 8-pound ham that will look great on your holiday table. —Ed Levine To win, just leave a comment on this post answering this question: What's on... More

I just had a déjà vu. In second grade, the girl next to me at the lunch table started laughing. She laughed so hard that cherry-red Jell-O came shooting out of her nose. I thought I was going to barf What spurred this nostalgic trip down memory lane? None other than the two bad boys of condiments: Ketchup Charlie and Mustard Marvin. Charlie shoots ketchup out of his nose, like either a sweet, syrupy nose bleed, or like a little girl’s lunch Jell-O, depending on your point of view and personal history. Mustard Marvin hurls yellow mustard from his wide open mouth—spewing out what I tried to keep down. You see how the condiment twins brought me full circle. Just... More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. Rocco DiSpirito: Misunderstood Chef of the People or Megalomaniacal Celebrity? "What DiSpirito really loves to do is bring attention to himself Paris Hilton–style and try to cash in on it." 2. Chewing the Fat: Batali and Bourdain on Fatherhood "Over a glass of wine and some tasty nibbles Mario and Tony discuss everything from the pleasures of fatherhood to what they would eat for their last supper. They truly enjoy each other's company, and their conversation turns out to be revealing, intimate, and surprisingly moving." 3. When Do You Serious Eats? "Recently, I noticed that there are a couple of... 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 Bobby Flay challenges Lou Malnati Pizzeria to a deep dish pizza throwdown in Chicago on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Sunday, 10:30 p.m. ET Food Network Saturday (December 13) Giada at Home (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Recipe Sharing." Giada and her aunt swap favorite and family recipes. 1 p.m. ET, Food Network Barefoot Contessa (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Cooking for a Crowd." Ina cooks... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. When winter draws near, I start thinking about sausage. (Actually, I think about sausage year-round.) About the best, juiciest, meatiest, just-smoky-enough sausage I know is the sausage the Bracewell family makes and serves at their phenomenal Texas barbecue joint the Southside Market. The Bracewells are a generously spirited bunch, so they've given us ten pound packages of their incomparable sausage to give away as part of the Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway. Win and you can have your very own Texas barbecue sausage holiday party. Doesn't that... More

The Serious Eaters have spent a lot of time finding the best foodie gifts out there for our Gift Guides. But what do we really want for the holidays? Find out what made our personal wish lists after the jump. Ed Levine: Sausage from Southside Market in Texas. It's the best smoked sausage ever. So juicy, it's guaranteed to stain your shirt. We're giving a whole mess of it away on Serious Eats over the holidays. Too bad I'm not eligible to win. from $30.99 at southsidemarket.com Adam Kuban: Oh, I don't know. I don't really need anything. Maybe a decent chef’s knife (or a sharpening for my current knife) or a nice All-Clad sauté pan to replace my who-knows-how-many-years-old... More

Is it time to teach your pet a new trick? How about training your dog to hold really, really still and ignore its carnal desire to eat everything in sight as you stack hundreds of dog treats on its face and body? In this Japanese game show, food is continuously stacked before two dogs and a chimpanzee to see how long they can go before attacking their mountains of food. Torturous, but adorable! Watch the video after the jump.... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, the best in bubbles. Photograph from Gaetan Lee on Flickr I can't seem to get my fill of bubbles this time of year. The holidays seem a bit more special with some sparkle in them. Just in time for pre-dinner sipping, post-shopping relaxing, holiday brunch mixing—and of course toasting the New Year—I've got my buying guide for the very best, affordable bubbles in the market. None of these sparklers should be hard to find, and they will add a festive note to whatever you're doing, even if it's just wrapping gifts. NV Soligo Prosecco Brut (find this wine for $11-$18) Really well made with... More

'Tis the season of peace and love, and the best way to spread love is with a kiss. Due to all those winter germs teeming in the air, maybe the best way to kiss is through Hershey's. In fact, if Mr. Hershey were still alive, he would be the first one I'd shove under the mistletoe. Why? Because he invented the Candy Cane Kiss, my new love. After we reviewed the Pumpkin Spice Kiss around Halloween, even I, a pumpkin devotee, found the "white chocolate" kiss a touch cloying. I could see myself getting over Pumpkin Spice pretty quickly. Since Candy Cane Kiss is also "white chocolate," I had my doubts. But he proved himself; The peppermint cuts the... More

"As Albert King sang in one of my favorite blues lyrics, 'Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die'." The holiday party food gauntlet is a rough one. How many mini-sliders can one serious eater resist? How many slices of good, really good pizza go uneaten? How many pieces of slow-cooked beef cooked in lard can a man turn down? The answer after the jump, complete with a bite by bite breakdown of the past week.... More

Photographs from FoodProof Is there such a thing as too much bacon combined with too much cheese? Look at this Bacon and Cheese Roll—a log of woven bacon strips rolled around cheese—and decide for yourself. (My answer: "Yup.") [via Holy Taco] Related Serious Eats Gift Guide: For Bacon Lovers Druids Eat Baconhenge Monuments for Breakfast All Aboard the Meat Ship, Matey Bacon Mat Reloaded: BLT... More

As I look at the Chef programming language, a language that makes programs look like recipes, the terrifying memories of my computer science class come flooding back—but now with an added dose of hunger. The sample programs for Hello World Souffle and Fibonacci Numbers with Caramel Sauce do read like recipes—not that you'd want a souffle with 101 eggs—and somehow print non-recipe data after being run. If you want to decipher these recipes, read all about the code at DM's Esoteric Programming Languages. And once you figure it out, explain it to me. [via kottke and Ben Fry]... More

Photograph from jasonlam on Flickr Holiday potlucks bring together foods of all colors, nations, and flavors. When else would this slice-and-bake snowman cookie get to sit on a pile of pasta, near a salad and what appears to be a black bean patty? Jason Lam of Me So Hungry has the right potluck strategy—just pile it all on good.... More

Photograph from mary pcb on Flickr Want to explore Seattle while being super caffeinated? Seattle By Foot offers walking tours specific to the city's coffee culture, as the Seattle Times reports this week. Vicki Schuman, a former airline business analyst, leads the 1.6 mile tour, which includes pit stops for a peppermint mocha from Seattle's Best Coffee, Panamanian and Colombian roasts from Seattle Coffee Works, Ephemere hot chocolate from Dilettante Mocha Café, and a demitasse of Clover machine-brewed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe at Trabant Coffee & Chai. While brewing, baristas at the cafes will explain the bean's history and filtration techniques. According to the Seattle by Foot's FAQ page, the amount of coffee you drink is at your discretion and restroom... More

Photograph of Ad Hoc's fried chicken from niallkennedy on Flickr Thirsty Reader reviews the fried chicken from fine dining restaurants Ad Hoc in Yountville and SPQR in San Francisco. Conclusion: SPQR slightly surpasses Ad Hoc for its super crispy skin. Related San Francisco Chronicle's Michael Bauer: Five Great Bay Area Dining Experiences Thomas Keller's fried chicken?... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away an edible chocolate holiday box—18 chocolate pieces tucked inside a box made of chocolate—in addition to a can of triple chocolate almonds and two jars of the company's own marmalade (one blood orange and one Meyer lemon), courtesy of the generous folks at San Francisco–based Charles Chocolates. Even if you don't win, you can still buy this box and anything else from Charles Chocolates' online store for 15 percent off by using the coupon code SERIOUS, good from now until December 24.... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week, the Kitchn explores clever, inexpensive food gifts in their Un-Gift Guide 2008 series, including these Oreo truffles. Decadent-looking, but they secretly only require three ingredients: Oreos, cream cheese, and chocolate chips. They'll never know... Also on the Kitchn, granola bar recipes, how to eat acorns, leaving cookies for Santa, and oven mitts in lieu of Christmas stockings.... More

Our favorite expletive-laced food blog Grocery Eats reviews last week's menu at San Francisco's Mission Street Food, a restaurant that is only open for dinner on Thursdays and features a different guest chef each week. The chef that night, Ryan Farr, featured a fairly pig-laden menu, including the dessert, Reconstructed Pecan Pie, Bourbon Cream, and Lines of Bacon "Snow." How was it? Anyways Bacon Snow is the fucking truth, I will ride for that shit til the death. I know Brains was talking about bacon being the new all overprint but dude this shit brought me back. Bacon still has a long way to go. I don’t know how they make it but I think it’s powdered sugar infused... More

For the last few years, folks have debated whether Chicago has matched or eclipsed great North American food towns like New York, San Francisco, or Montreal. While the debate rages on, one factor against our pre-eminence as a serious food town was our lack of fringe specialty food shops. Everyone knows the real top food cities reach a point of saturation where all the mainstream good restaurant ideas are taken and have been replicated a hundred fold and tweaked with zany minor iterations. Thus, the only way to be successful is to pursue culinary improbability, that brand of foodie entrepreneurship that spawns BLT cupcakes, deep fried mayonnaise, Kobe beef and foie gras-topped hamburgers, and Krispy Kreme milkshakes. While it’s true... More

Aw, it's a town populated by pickles singing pickle-themed songs, walking their pickle dogs, throwing snowballs, and ice skating without a care in the world. What could possibly go wrong in such a wholesome, picture-perfect—HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, WHAT IS THAT GIANT HAND DOING? Run, little pickles, run! Watch the video after the jump.... More

I'll be the first to admit, British food isn't something I miss on a large-scale basis. Bloody black pudding, goopy bubble and squeak—not for me. I'd rather have a big slice of New York pizza. But, there are some English foods that I pine for, and the "Fish Finger" (that's fish sticks to we Americans) Happy Meal at McDonald's is one of the few. I'm always entranced by McDonald's foreign options. I've had Insalate Caprese in Rome and Dulce de Leche soft serve in Buenos Aires, but while in grad school in the U.K., the 2-quid, 500-calorie (including fries and a diet soda) Fish Finger Happy Meal became my library lunch of choice. Somehow, it just feels more wholesome to... More

Christmas is here, and 'tis the season of splurging—when it comes to both cash and calories. On a recent shopping trip to Williams-Sonoma I couldn't resist picking up a box of this Sugarplum Crumble Specialty Bread Mix, which promised to be "a festive bread studded and swirled with sweet plums and topped with crystallized ginger streusel." The price seemed at little steep at $14.00, but the friendly sales associate persuaded me, with much eye rolling and gesticulation, saying that it was "brand new and absolutely amazing." Since I had offered to bring dessert to an upcoming holiday party, I figured, why not? Bread, loaf cake—what's the difference?... More

The best chicken wings come from chickens who sweat fear. From cheetafight.com. Cheata Fight Image Library by artist Anthony P. Munoz is full of great, mostly hand-painted vintage signs from around the world. Some of our favorite food-related signs include ones involving panicking chickens, "Chainese Fost Foods" from India, and this painted menu featuring a stack of pancakes and unidentified black disks. [via Super Punch] Related Photo of the Day: A Rediscovered Sweets Shop Photo of the Day: 1957 Neon Dunkin' Donuts Sign Being Dismantled Photo of the Day: Jim Georgie's Donuts... More

Over a glass of wine and some tasty nibbles Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain discuss everything from the pleasures of fatherhood to what they would eat for their last supper. They truly enjoy each other's company, and their conversation turns out to be revealing, intimate, and surprisingly moving. More

Because we're feeling the holiday spirit, we'll try and keep our recap short this week in order to spare you the agony of what was probably the weakest episode yet this season. Let's get straight to the quickfire challenge. There's a holiday spread in the kitchen. Padma explains the challenge: create a delicious holiday meal that can be created using only one pot, and Martha Stewart is the guest chef. Martha's tip for the home cooks and one assumes chefs is a little advice from Albert Einstein—make it simple but not too simple. The chefs have 45 minutes, and immediately start stretching the definition of "one pot" meal, but no matter. None of the chefs appear to make any major... More

Elderflowers. Photograph by Smoobs on Flickr English gardens may be world-renowned, but what most people around the world don't know, is that the English eat them! Well, not exactly. They eat elderflowers, which always remind me, when I taste them, of eating a perfect, fluffy, and white English flowerbed. The Elderflower Pressé is common place in England: elderflower syrup mixed with soda, and comes deliciously prepackaged. That was the first English secret garden flavor I discovered. Then I came across an Elderflower Collins: pressed elderflowers, green, green mint, lemon juice, gin, and soda. It is to date the greatest cocktail I have ever tasted. But the thing that positively shocked me was a dessert that I found first at... More

We're excited to launch a new site feature today: favoriting. You can now add any blog post, recipe, talk topic, or Photograzing photo to your favorites by clicking "Favorite this!" Your favorites are saved to the "favorites" tab on your profile page so you can easily find them again. Think of it as your virtual Serious Eats recipe box. If you don't see "Favorite this!" next to an item you'd like to favorite, don't fret, it's coming! We'll be rolling this out across all the Serious Eats blogs over the course of the day. You'll need to be signed in to your Serious Eats account to save your favorites. If you don't have a Serious Eats account yet, go ahead... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today's Seriously Delicious Holiday Food Giveaway is a New York Nostalgia package from Russ & Daughters. I've known Russ & Daughters' Mark Federman and his family ever since I came to New York 32 years ago. When I knew very few people here I used to come to Russ & Daughters to kibitz and just feel like I belonged somewhere. It's a place I still visit for shelter from any storm—and for the company and the Russ family's incredible food. They know smoked fish like very... More

If your frozen waffles could talk, you'd hear a lot of screaming. So it's a good thing they live out their pain in silence! This video follows a pair of frozen waffles and their alternating moments of fleeting pain and pleasure as they go from freezer to plate. Watch the video after the jump.... More

"What DiSpirito really loves to do is bring attention to himself Paris Hilton–style and try to cash in on it." New York Times There is a silly profile of Rocco DiSpirito in today's New York Times that is notable for its lack of insight. Yes, DiSpirito was at one point a very talented young chef who, it must be said, never figured out how to run the kitchen of a successful restaurant. But his reality TV show debacle The Restaurant showed in horrifyingly minute detail how little interest Rocco had in either cooking for people, doing anything meaningful with his kitchen skills, or even running a successful business. Reality shows often don't offer up complete portraits of their stars. But... More

Eater held a contest to find the worst food porn on the web. The restaurant news and gossip blog has now declared a winner—if that's what you want to call it.... More

Skase Tea Cup Set I don't regularly drink coffee or tea, but I almost want to just so I have use for these cool mugs and cups. Of course, you can fill them with other drinks, although some only respond to hot liquids. WebUrbanist's list is full of good gift ideas for all kinds of drinkers, from the designer Skase Tea Cup Set to the utilitarian Alcatraz Inmate Cup. [via The Presurfer] Related Coffee Cup in an Old Lens The Ultimate Coffee Cup... More

This year for Halloween in England, I was a peacock. The fun of Halloween in the UK is not the trick-or-treating, but the candy flavors as exotic as my costume. Black currant Starburst and Turkish delight chocolate are a beginning, but they are not my favorite. Everyone talks about the English rose, but beautiful though she may be, I could take her or leave her. For me, it's all about the English violet—the Parma Violet. Parma Violets are something like our chalky fruity discs rolled up and given out as generic candies, but they are purple and reek of delicious, sweet, perfuming flowers. Luckily, they don't seem to have a "please take only one" Halloween candy rule in Oxford.... More

Marc of No Recipes marinates his char siu, or Cantonese-style barbecue pork, for 48 hours before roasting. A mix of hoisin, chili, oyster and dark soy sauces give the meat its gorgeous red color, and maltose (liquid barley sugar with a tar-like consistency) adds crazy, alluring sheen. Don't take your chances with the "overly sweet, grisly, artificially colored" char siu sometimes found in Chinatown. Buy yourself a slab of pork belly--one of the cheapest cuts there are--and follow Marc's recipe to make your own.... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Today we're giving away a package of two prime, dry-aged ("longer than four weeks") porterhouse steaks, thanks to the generous folks at Peter Luger. These steaks are not small. Each weighs more than two pounds. The steaks come with two bottles of Peter Luger steak sauce and a bag of chocolate coins. —Ed Levine To win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your favorite cut of steak? PS: If you just can't wait for this contest to be over and want to order steaks... More

Photograph from Kristin Shaw on Flickr Last week the Wall Street Journal reported on an interesting story that lies at the intersection of economics and cheese. According to the paper, the Italian government is planning a bailout for, of all things, the Parmigiano-Reggiano industry. The bottom line is that at current prices the cheese costs more to produce than it does to purchase; a cheesemaker cited in the article spends €8 to produce a kilogram of cheese that he then sells for €7.40.... More

Photograph from nycblondieandbrownie Earlier this month, Kellogg's saved Mother's Cookies from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by purchasing the company's trademarks and recipes. Now Archway Cookies, once part of the Mother's label, will also be saved, but by Lance, makers of cheese-and-peanut-butter sandwich cookies, among other snacks. Archway Cookies, based in Ashland, Ohio, is probably most famous for its soft-baked cookies. Growing up, I always had one in my lunch sack, courtesy of my mom, because she considered it acceptable junk food. But what always boggled my mind—how the moisture content eclipsed Famous Amos and other predictably crunchy packaged cookies. Did they somehow freeze time just after baking them? Preservatives probably played a role, but I'd err on the side of... More

I'm exhausted. But it's not so much from running up and down the stairs for more bottles of moscato or from being on my feet all night. It's from being on, all the time. Nice to everyone. I'm tired from having to be funny, witty, bubbly, and relentlessly, uncompromisingly hospitable all night. More

There are sprinklers that shoot out jets of water, and there are sprinklers that shoot out...sprinkles. Playin' In The Sprinkler is a new t-shirt from Threadless featuring a soft serve cone and a doughnut happily frolicking through a sprinkler of the decorative sort. Related Serious Eats Gift Guide: Food You Can Wear Serious Eats and Neighborhoodies Think Ups T-Shirt #1 Serious Eats Gift Guide: Apparel... 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: There aren't many new episodes of shows this week. But there are a quite a few guest appearances on the morning shows: Emeril, Ina Garten, Mark Bittman, Sandra Lee, and Sara Moulton. Wednesday-Friday, 7 a.m. ET... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Our second-annual Serious Eats Holiday Giveaway series continues today with a chance to win the new, just-for-Serious-Eats Zingerman's Praise The Lard Gift Box. I think it is the quite simply the best pork product group ever assembled in one gift box. Before I get into that, there are two important points I need to tell you: Discount: You can buy this gift box or anything at Zingerman's for 10 percent off. Use the promo code SERIOUSLY when you call or check out. Good now until December... More

Agave has a gentle, lilting sweetness. The Grocery Ninja leaves no aisle unexplored, no jar unopened, no produce untasted. Creep along with her below, and read all her mission reports here. Photograph from Kenn Wilson on Flickr In my all-girl middle school in Asia, the cool girls were either naturally blessed with willowy figures or were striving (and darn close) to attaining the "ideal" BMI of 17. During this "I will fit into a size zero or die trying" period in my life, I completely cut out all added sugar (and fat) from my diet. This, of course, didn't mean I lost my sweet tooth. I simply replaced all the natural sugars in my diet with artificial sweeteners. I promptly... More

I'm probably a sucker for continuing to watch Saturday Night Live after the election (it's returned to its usual lackluster self), but sometimes a skit or two does right. Like this SNL Digital Short. Guest host Hugh Laurie announces layoffs at a company meeting, but Fred Armisen only cares about scarfing up the cookies in the middle of the table. The skit was amusing enough watching Armisen crawl across the table and say crazy things ("I wish I could stop. Someone should put the security guards on cookie patrol"), but you'll explode with laughter about 20 seconds from the end. Video, after the jump.... More

Photograph from nicisme on Flickr Food blogger Nicisme of Cherrapeño teaches you how to make melted snowmen cupcakes with cranberry cake as the base and carefully shaped fondant and icing for the malformed snowman. Or if the "snowman" part is too much trouble, just make "melted snow cupcakes." [via Boing Boing] Related Photo of the Day: Jack and Jill Cupcake Thanksgiving, the Only Reason You'd Make Cupcakes Resembling Turkeys Photo of the Day: Thanksgiving on a Cupcake... More

Found in Mom's Basement is a site that archives vintage ads, some of which are food-related like those above, retrieved from flea markets, various corners of the Internet, and the actual basement of the blogger Paula Zargaj-Reynolds's mom. [via Coudal Partners] Related An Evolution of Pabst Advertising Risqué Orangina Ads Stir Controversy Luxe Ads for Everyday Food... More

Stop and Smell the Flours: Carey Jones takes on the bun wars between two delicious bakeries in Boston—Flour Bakery and Clear Flour Bread. The Polite Burger: If you want your patty mean and messy, take Nick Solares' advice and pass over London's Haché. Stick to the Sweets: City Bakery has mixed things up by adding a new happy hour to their menu. Ed Levine sampled all their new treats and decided they should maybe stay with what they do best—pastries and dessert. New York Bagels Rock Chicago: Michael Nagrant's search for the perfect bagel in Chicago might not be complete, but it has lead him to conclude New York Bagel and Bialy is darn close. Not so Famous Burger:... More

Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times ran a roundup of homemade food-based gift ideas on Wednesday that might be just the ticket for saving money while coming up with a thoughtful present: 1. Make a batch of grissini grissini (homemade breadsticks), flavored with rosemary or black pepper, wrapped in parchment paper and tied with a bow.2. Cut out cinnamon marshmallow stars with cookie cutters, then pack them, dusted with powdered sugar, into a tin.50. Use a new apron to wrap a loaf of cranberry-orange bread, a sachet of loose-leaf black tea laced with dried orange peel, a cinnamon stick, whole allspice and some star anise. Suggest a time to drop over for a spot of holiday tea. Are... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. Holiday season is ham season, so it's only right that we give away some seriously delicious hams as part of our holiday giveaway extravaganza. The nice folks at D'Artagnan, who supplied us with those wonderful organic turkeys for our Thanksgiving giveaway, have provided us with some whole boneless heritage applewood-smoked hams this time around. This is a serious 7- to 8-pound ham that will look great on your holiday table. —Ed Levine To win, just leave a comment on this post answering this question: What's on... More

Fennel is a sight for sore eyes during the potato-filled winter months. Crunchy like celery and and slightly sweet like licorice or anise, it'll brighten your plate right up. Fennel loses its flavor as it ages so be sure to eat it right away. It'll keep in your crisper for about four days. More

The latest comic from Buttersafe (my current favorite online comic that I'd want to marry if such a thing were possible) touches upon the hard hitting question, "What would you wish for if you already wished for the world to be made of peanut butter and chocolate?" Click through for one possibility..... More

Some of the discussion that's piqued our interest this week.... What to Do with Leftover Rice? "My family eats leftover rice like hot cereal. Warm with butter, cinnamon, sugar, and milk. I have also had pretty good luck freezing rice." —vickiee Adding Flavor to Plain Cheesecake "Chambourd is a nice addition if you don't mind purple cheesecake, or try adding canned crushed pineapple to the cheese batter (after draining)" —Meat guy Do You Enjoy Eating Game? "I'm just reading a book called the Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine, written by Stephen Rinella, about hunting for all the various birds, fish, and beasts needed to prepare a multicourse three-day-long feast using recipes by Escoffier, then butchering and preparing them into elaborate... More

Every day through January 1 we're giving away a crazy good food item on Serious Eats. Try your luck, and if you win, you'll be eating some seriously delicious food come the new year. When winter draws near, I start thinking about sausage. (Actually, I think about sausage year-round.) About the best, juiciest, meatiest, just-smoky-enough sausage I know is the sausage the Bracewell family makes and serves at their phenomenal Texas barbecue joint the Southside Market. The Bracewells are a generously spirited bunch, so they've given us ten pound packages of their incomparable sausage to give away as part of the Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway. Win and you can have your very own Texas barbecue sausage holiday party. Doesn't that... More

It's been a while since we have broached the subject of food tattoos. What better way to immortalize (well, for a time) your favorite dish, grandma's pie, or just a spicy idea? The bacon and egg tats above are from Dan, who plans on decorating his whole arm in a breakfast theme. My bud Marleah got salt and pepper shakers on her hand and is waiting to get a slew of itsy bitsy fruits and veggies tattooed somewhere on her body. "I have a fruit and veggie collection," she wrote to me. "I really love them, shapes colors tastes!" Mmmm, just don't get caught licking your arm. I guess an image of a cupcake is undeniably classier than getting... More

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items on Serious Eats this week were ... 1. Snapshots from the UK: The English Foodstuff Lexicon Venturing into an English gastropub is dangerous business unless you are armed with the appropriate dictionary. Herewith, a preliminary lexicon to introduce you to the terms and traditions of English cuisine. 2. Serious Cookies: Cocoa Snowflakes, from Gina DePalma "When Ed asked me to contribute some holiday cookie recipes for serious eaters, I instantly thought of something I haven’t so much as glanced at for at least a dozen years—my mother’s time worn recipe box that sits on her kitchen shelf. The irony is that the ignored recipe box exists entirely because... More

I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I believe snacking on apples makes me hungrier. Reaching for an apple, I'm usually just peckish. Then I crunch, crunch, crunch and BAM. I finish, but in an altered, ravenous state. Something in that fruit stimulates the hypothalamic receptors, and my stomach starts doing hunger somersaults, growling up a storm. It's annoying, and makes me mad at apples, yet I continue to eat them. Fellow Serious Eater Michele backs me up: "Even when I eat a full meal, then have an apple for dessert, I'm hungry again after. It gives me a gnawing feeling in the belly, like it's empty again." Does this make any sense to anyone else?... 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: Bobby Flay challenges pastry chef François Payard to a Bûche de Noël throwdown on Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Sunday, 10:30 p.m. ET Food Network Saturday (December 13) Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "The Secret to Piccolini." Small plates of appetizers. 10:30 a.m. ET, Food Network Giada at Home (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Breakfast for Dinner." Giada prepares a relaxed... More

Today we're giving away an edible chocolate holiday box—18 chocolate pieces tucked inside a box made of chocolate—in addition to a can of triple chocolate almonds and two jars of the company's own marmalade (one blood orange and one Meyer lemon) courtesy of the generous folks at San Francisco-based Charles Chocolates. Even if you don't win, you can still buy this box and anything else from Charles Chocolates' online store for 15% off by using the coupon code SERIOUS, good from now until December 24. For a chance to win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your favorite chocolate dessert? You have until 3 p.m. ET tomorrow (Saturday, December 13) to enter. One winner will be chosen at... More

As winter, with its gray skies, whipping winds, and white Christmases rolls in, all I want at the end of the day (or in the morning when I first wake up, or right now, in the office) is a magically warming and charming and energizing cup of hot chocolate. But it seems like the only way to make one without much effort is to rip open a paper packet of powder. Even Starbucks starts with syrup. But I don't want hot cocoa. I don't want hot chocolate milk. I want hot C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E. Dynamic duo Williams-Sonoma and Bialetti (of espresso pot fame) have co-released the Hot Chocolate Pot. Plug it in, pour in some milk, and add fresh chopped chocolate—or... More

Wikimedia Commons Serious Eats reader Barrett (thanks, Barrett!) points us to a great story we overlooked in the Wall Street Journal Magazine about bullfrog farmer Ken Holyoak near Brunswick, Georgia: The finest cuts are off the hind legs of a mature bullfrog. Frogs, unlike other animals and fish, remain tender no matter the size and age. "With these frogs, the meat is white and almost translucent," says [Craig] Hopson, [a Manhattan chef who buys his frog legs from Holyoak]. His take is to debone a leg, stuff the cavity with foie gras, bacon, and more frog meat, and then tempura-batter and fry. The story covers frog-eating history and types of frogs, and includes a couple recipes.... More

Home Bean: Warm up with Nick Kindelsperger's adaptation of hickory house baked beans. Fire These Sweet Potatoes: Joshua Bousel ember-roasted sweet potatoes and coated them with a sweet maple cinnamon butter. Filled Up: Deviate from the rich meats and sugar laced holiday goodies and try Barbara Hanson's stuffed pasta shells with spinach. Simple Soup: On a budget? Blake Royer perfected a cheap and easy version of potato leek soup. Cookies Galore: Tis the season to bake a million and one cookies. Test out the all-purpose cutout cookies, linzer cutout cookies or the simple sugar cookies. Seven and Half Hours Later: Tam Ngo went the extra mile and completed two of Thomas Keller's elaborate recipes from his latest book. Find... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, Super Tuscans, the superhero of wines. Photograph from bohman on Flickr It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a Super Tuscan. What's a Super Tuscan? Some people love their big, bold flavors. Some people hate them, and find them too modern and fruity. But what are they? And how can you recognize this wine superhero when you see it? The history of Super Tuscans goes back to the 1970s, when Italy's notoriously strict wine regulations made it impossible for winemakers in Tuscany to make wines that deviated from the following recipe: no more than 70% Sangiovese and at least 10% juice from local white... More

Do you know someone who loves food so much he or she just wants to emblazon it all over his or her body? Here are nine non-messy ways to do just that. From food-themed t-shirts to jewelry, there's a wearable food for every budget. More

Thinner, my scale, has let me down this week. After allowing me to revel in my four-pound loss in the week following Thanksgiving, Thinner has displayed no love for his owner. That would be me. Every day this past week I have gotten on the scale secure in the knowledge that I have not gone off the weight loss reservation, not binged or even eaten an ice cream cone, and every day Thinner has delivered me bad news. Every day I tell myself it's a long race; that I have done amazingly well this year; that I have hit a plateau; but still, when I get on the scale and I've gained weight, I die just a little.... More

It's pretty easy to sneak into a coffee shop, yank some internet, do what you need to do and skedaddle. No muffin? No $4 latte? Why when you can pretend to be invisible! Since that's not cool for the cafe, Holland's largest chain of coffee shops called CoffeeCompany is using WiFi names to insert menu hints like: "HaveYouTriedTheCarrotCake?" and "Mmm...YummyMuffinsOnly1,99." [via SwissMiss]... More

The Smoking Gun has unearthed a copy of an infamous 1982 Van Halen world tour rider. As the site explains, it's like the Holy Grail of tour riders, in that the brown M&M ban had heretofore been hearsay. Now there's proof. Along with the M&M stipulation: Herring in sour creamFour cases Schlitz malt liquor beer (16 ounce cans)A total of eight bottles of wine and liquorOne (1) case Country Time lemonadeM&M's (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES) According to the Smoking Gun, "the group has said the M&M provision was included to make sure that promoters had actually read its lengthy rider. If brown M&M's were in the backstage candy bowl, Van Halen surmised that more important aspects of a performance—lighting,... More

Those of you who listen to the radio will recognize the line: "Ribena, I know what you're drinking" from the "American Boy" duet between Kanye West and Estelle. Kanye, the American boy, seduces Estelle, the English girl, by buying her a Ribena. As a girl who has been separated from the sweet, condensed black currant "squash" by the Atlantic Ocean, that pick-up line just might work on me. Kanye may know what Ribena is, but I would venture that most Americans don't. It's a condensed black currant (the Concord grape of England) juice meant to be diluted with water that is shoved under kid's noses when they are young so that they will grow into sweet, black-currant adoring adults.... More

Photograph from abbietabbie on Flickr It's hard to believe that Christine Hamilton, abbietabbie on Flickr, only makes cakes as a hobby considering how beautiful her cake designs are. Her intricately detailed Jack and Jill cupcake as part of her nursery rhymes series is particularly eye-catching. [via Boing Boing] Related Photo of the Day: Thanksgiving on a Cupcake iPhone-Themed Cupcakes Win Cupcake Decorating Championship Photo of the Day: Robot Cupcakes... More

Anna The Red's most excellent bento of Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Yoshi, Kirby, Pikachu, and Mr. Game & Watch. A typical bento box might already be the cutest way to eat lunch, but what if it contained food shaped to look like your favorite cartoon or video game characters? Blogger Anna The Red decided it was more fun to eat this way and created a slew of meals themed from Super Mario Brothers to My Neighbor Totoro to Wall-E. One of our favorite posts is her instructions on how to make Yoshi out of lettuce, potato salad, cheese, blueberries, and carrots. What tasty character would you want to see when opening your bento box? Related Cute Cuddle-Worthy Bento Boxes... More

Michael Ruhlman procured a humanely raised, humanely slaughtered Berkshire pig from a nearby farm and spent the weekend breaking it down and making sausage. It's enough to share among three families, affordable ($1.65/pound), and a lot of work. But the actual work of breaking it all down, storing it properly, labeling it, using everything—roasting the bones for stock, curing the bellies and one of the two hams, all the shoulder and trim for sausage and pate, let me tell you, it’s exhausting work and no good on the back. My young cousin Ryan, 6’5” and an athletic 225 pounds easy, put his back out and was forced to suffer through another Browns loss horizontally and sans sausage the day... More

This week, The Kitchn debates the merits of the lima bean. Are you pro? Alexander of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day never was—he thought they were as gross as kissing scenes on TV. Also on The Kitchn, how to make peppermint patties from scratch, the science behind nonstick cooking sprays, plastic lids for mason jars, and a review of Trader Joe's wild rice.... More

Never underestimate the power of faux island-style decor and a super bright neon sign to signal potential serious eats. While such festive restaurant accoutrement usually is the Shakespearian case of protesting too much, in the case of Papa’s Cache Sabroso, a tiny restaurant that rocks the red neon and thatched roof patio, it’s actually a beacon for smokin’ hot Puerto Rican goodies. Though, because there’s a joint serving crispy tostones and pigeon peas and rice on every corner of this part of Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, I wasn’t expecting much. Throw in the fact that my first visit was on Halloween night and the skanky funk of a recently smoked fatty blunt hung in the air while a gaggle of... More

Today's Seriously Delicious Holiday Food Giveaway is a New York Nostalgia package from Russ & Daughters. I've known Russ & Daughters' Mark Federman and his family ever since I came to New York 32 years ago. When I knew very few people here I used to just come to Russ & Daughters to kibitz and just feel like I belonged somewhere. It's a place I still visit for shelter from any storm. And for the company and the Russ family's incredible food. They know smoked fish like very few other people in this world. The package includes: one pound of Gaspé Atlantic smoked salmon, a half-pound of sliced smoked sable, one pint house-cured herring fillets in cream sauce with pickled... More

What's better than Chex Party Mix? Chez Party Mix made with bacon grease. Check out the recipe courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle's Michael Bauer. Sure to be a hit at your party, as long as you're not serving vegetarians.... More

You could just give a bottle of wine to a wine lover as a gift, but that's a little too expected. Here are some useful and fun, non-drinkable gift ideas for the wine lover in your life, each one costing $25 or less. More

Don't understand what social media is? What if someone explained it to you with ice cream? Ice cream! Common Craft makes videos featuring paper cutouts that aim to explain complex ideas in a simple way. In their video about social media, they take you to Scoopville, home of an ice cream factory and ice cream making-loving residents. With a bit of collaboration, the best ice cream flavors shine through. Watch the video after the jump.... More

Over the weekend, my good-humored boyfriend, Al, and I tackled two recipes from Thomas Keller's latest cookbook, Under Pressure, an ode to sous vide cooking. Here's how the book held up. More

When I made a list of interesting people I wanted to interview on camera for a series called Chewing the Fat, Alton Brown was at the top of the list. I have always found Alton to be interesting, provocative, smart, and funny, so we were thrilled when Alton agreed to do it. Who did we get to shoot, direct, and edit the Alton videos? None other than Hamburger America director and author George Motz. I'd never even heard of Luxembourg noodles until Alton Brown shared this story with us, but I sure do love the idea of noodles, crackers, and butter. The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is available at Amazon.com.... More

Much better episode this week. It started off with a bang: "Does the word lesbian mean anything to you?" That was Jamie talking about Stefan. And it went up from there. The quickfire challenge was righteous. Testing a chef's palate is totally legit. Stefan impressed me when he identified turmeric in the Thai green curry. But, and there's a big but here, nobody should get credit for identifying salt and pepper as ingredients in a dish. Would someone have gotten credit for air? Maybe, and that's scary. I was looking forward to the aspirants cooking for Gail's bridal shower. I know quite a few of those women, and they are not to be trifled with—they are in fact fierce. Daniel's... More

Yesterday I was sent on an AHT mission to try all the cheeseburgers at McDonald's, a task I was not particularly excited for since I don't like McDonald's burgers. But there is one thing I do like at McDonald's: the Filet-O-Fish sandwich. While I used to eat them regularly as a kid, up until yesterday I probably hadn't eaten one in nearly ten years. "What's in a Filet-O-Fish?" asked my co-worker Raphael. "You've never had one? It's a sandwich with a fried fish patty, cheese, and tartar sauce." "Cheese? There's cheese in it?" Raphael's face screwed up in disgust after I rattled off the sandwich's main components. He was not loving it. His lack of love was so intense... More

Photograph from Kent Wang Tired of traditional Christmas trees? Try a Brussel's sprouts Christmas tree this season: It looks pretty and has the potential to taste good. [via The Kitchn] Related Dinner Tonight: Dan Barber's Brussels Sprouts Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Essentials: Roasted Brussels Sprouts... More

Today was the rumored layoff date for 1,500 Yahoo employees. While packing up desk accessories, these recruitable folks probably weren't in the best of moods, but at least they'll have free tacos awaiting them outside the Sunnyvale, California offices. And more important, long-term at least, job applications. Video chat startup TokBox (which raised $10 million in August) will be feeding the laid-off today, in an attempt to also fill five jobs. The odds of getting a taco and a job aren't good, but the odds of getting a taco alone are.... More

Today we're giving away a package of two prime, dry-aged ("longer than four weeks") porterhouse steaks, thanks to the generous folks at Peter Luger. These steaks are not small. Each weighs more than two pounds. The steaks come with two bottles of Peter Luger steak sauce and a bag of chocolate coins. To win, just answer this in the comments below: What's your favorite cut of steak? PS: If you just can't wait for this contest to be over and want to order steaks right now from Peter Luger, you may do so at peterluger.com. You will make any serious carnivores on your list very happy. You have until 3 p.m. ET tomorrow (Thursday, December 11) to enter. One winner... More

Cheese—really good cheese—can be an expensive hobby, especially in these fiscally challenging times. This year's cheese gift guide is focused on ideas $25 and under, but will still impress the caseophiles in your life. (Prices don't include shipping unless otherwise noted.) More

Former dieting guru Susan Powter, (in)famous in the ‘90s for her “Stop the Insanity” catchphrase, is now blogging. Who knew? Here, a weird-ass video in which she extols the virtues of organic pears, complete with strange echo effects and almost pornographic eating.... More

"Though I grew up with Dunkin' Donuts as my weekend snack, these days I’m more likely to hanker for a bagel." Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of goyem, I will fear no lack of bagels, for thou foodie gods art with me. I figure if I repeat this mantra enough, it’ll eventually stick, but the truth is I’m pretty down on the lack of good Jewish eats in Chicago. Though we have a sizable metro population, only about 30 percent of the total Jewish population lives in the city proper. There wasn’t always a local diaspora. In the mid 1800s, a significant number of immigrant Jews lived in the central loop, Pilsen, and the famed... More

Photograph from Svadilfari on Flickr There is something so frustratingly natural about the Cadbury Creme Egg. Nothing, of course, about its flavoring, but about its cycle. Like all other naturally occurring things, it is born in spring and then grows into something less adorable. One can only suspect it ends up as a peanut butter pumpkin around October and makes its final appearance as a gold foil-wrapped hard block of Christmas-tree-shaped chocolate at the end of the year. Such is life, and aging is difficult even for chocolate. Just when I thought I'd have to wait until April for the 2009 generation of Cadbury Creme Eggs, I was snatching up some Cadbury chocolate at Boots when I discovered what... More

Sick of eating this fall vegetable? Make is spreadable. I stumbled across Rebecca Caro's blog, From Argentina With Love, while looking for info on empanadas. There I found this simple squash jam recipe she adapted from the Argentinian equivalent of Martha Stewart, Doña Maruca. I wonder if there are versions of good ol' Martha in other countries.... More

If you love toast, you probably already have the "toaster" part down. This isn't a guide to buying a toaster—these are accessories and tools that a toast lover might enjoy, especially if you wrap it in pretty paper and give it to him or her. Some items have to do with the edible slices of bread; others just look like them. More

Serious eater Cybercita forwarded this photo to me last night. At first I thought we had blogged about this lil' dog in a hot dog bun, but a quick search of the SE archives shows that, nope, we haven't. And that's sort of surprising, considering the panoply of weird-animal-food photos we've got on the site. So, in the interest of being completist—and because it's been a bit of a hot dog day today, here you go.... 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 week has Dear Food Network where throughout the week, various groups of Food Network stars share their holiday experiences and favorite holiday recipes. Tuesday-Friday, 9 p.m. ET, Food Network Also Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is a guest on The Today Show Thursday morning. Thursday, 7 a.m. ET, NBC Tuesday (December 9) Dear Food Network (warning, a video plays automatically on site): "Holiday Family Traditions." Giada DeLaurentiis, Michael Symon, Tyler... More

Photograph by Matt McGee If driving an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is on your list of "Things To Do Before I Die," this news is for you: Oscar Mayer is accepting resumés until January 31, 2009, for next year's team of Wienermobile drivers. What responsibilities come with being a Hotdogger? If you're chosen, you'll represent Oscar Mayer as a goodwill ambassador through appearances on radio and television stations; newspaper interviews; and visits to grocery stores and charity functions. You'll work with professionals in the fields of consumer promotion, marketing and sales; help organize promotions and even pitch TV, radio and print media. And, of course, you'll get to drive a vehicle shaped like an over-sized hot dog. (The interior is... More

There's probably someone in your life who isn't old enough to benefit from new knives or an espresso machine. Make sure the little ones have delicious dreams after bedtime stories with these food-inspired childrens' books. They range from the classic (Stone Soup, Strega Nona, and The Carrot Seed) to the more recent (A Little Pea, Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and The Donut Chef). More

"I have something like this for my iPod. It's called 'The Carpenter's Greatest Hits'—if I'm listening to it, I am surely too drunk to drive." —JudgeFudge, responding to the iBreath iPod breath analyzer... More

Editor's note: Our intern Kerry Saretsky came back from a visit to England, where she'll be moving next year, with a lorryload of English-food blog posts. But before we continue with her Snapshots from the UK series, we thought a little English food glossary was in order. —Ed. When I first moved to England, the dollar rang in at 2.1 to the pound, and every time I ordered at a restaurant, something entirely unrelated to what I had said to the waiter would emerge from the kitchen. Having purchased the equivalent 2.1 American meals, and eaten exactly none of it, I was both famished and frustrated. It seems that we, the English and the Americans, do not really speak the... More

How to know you’re too sauced to drive after your holiday party: use the iBreath, an attachment for your iPod or iPhone that measures your blood alcohol content. It also doubles as an iPod FM transmitter. [via Boing Boing]... More

With narration like, "Another machine then purées the meat batter into a fine emulsion and vacuums out any air" and "long rolls of cellulose tubing are loaded into the stuffing machine," this is a classic. Get this: 300,000 hot dogs in one hour. Warning: Do not watch this while eating lunch—especially if your lunch involves hot dogs.... More

Today we're kicking off our second annual Serious Eats Holiday Giveaway series. First up, a chance to win the new, just-for-Serious-Eats, Zingerman's Praise The Lard Gift Box. (It's one of five such boxes we'll be giving away over the next month.) I think it is the quite simply the best pork product group ever assembled in one gift box. Before I get into that, there are two important points I need to tell you: Discount: You can buy this gift box or anything at Zingerman's for 10% off. Use the promo code SERIOUSLY when you call or check out. Good now until December 31If you recount your fondest pork memory in the comments of this post, you'll be entered to... 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 was 17 and about to graduate from high school. My parents were moving to Hoboken, New Jersey. By default, I was going with them. During my first-ever trip to the place, I got off the train and walked across the street and into the first establishment I saw—there was a neon orange sign above the door and a shiny, modern, spacey feel. The Wolfgang Puck Express was right on the waterfront, the New York skyline majestic across the river in the sunshiny afternoon. I decided that a job in a restaurant would be perfect for my... More

"No, thank you. I got a thing about chickens." For breakfast this morning I boiled a couple eggs. And, don't you know it, every time I peel a hard-boiled egg, I think of this scene from Angel Heart. I'm usually a little faster than Robert DeNiro and can often manage to remove the shell in one piece, but his technique is solid—crack it all over; roll it around on the plate, applying moderate pressure to further crack the shell; then peel. The egg scene, after the jump. (NSFW due to mild language.)... More

1. Measure Carefully Any sugar cookie recipe is a delicate proportional balance of fat, sugar and flour, so be sure to measure your ingredients carefully in order to get the desired finished texture (crisp, chewy, delicate, melting, etc). 2. Mind Your Butter! A key step in making sugar cookies is the creaming of butter and sugar. If the butter is too soft, your cookies will be greasy, and if it is too cold, they'll seem like lead weights. It is important to start with evenly softened butter, and the only way to do this properly is to take it out of the refrigerator and, uh, wait. Always soften butter in a temperate environment until it yields gently to pressure;... More

The Pelican Beef, by John Grisham. Talk about eating your words. Neatorama called our attention to this year's Third Annual C-U Edible Book Festival at the Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where contestants entered edible masterpieces that punned on the titles of some paperback classics: Peter Pancakes with Berries, Tequila Mockingbird, The Pelican Beef, The Chard in the Scone, and Lard of the Rings, to name a tantalizing few. Contestants were judged in five categories: culinary, literary, artistic, best depiction of the "Meet a Hero at Your Library" theme, and people's choice. As food writers, we couldn’t help reporting on this marriage of the mouth: words and food. Here are photos of the entries. Think you... More

It was super cold in San Francisco this weekend—around 52 degrees—so I had to don a hat and scarf and coat in order to go to the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. Friends and I giggled as we realized how ridiculous it is that we consider the low-50s to be unbearably cold, but such is the life of a Californian. While a friend scoured the market for local gifts for faraway friends, I had a goal of buying some basics to get me through the week. I've been in a bit of a cooking slump lately, so while shopping I focused on the basics that would sustain me for the week but not overwhelm my energy level. Heirloom Organics had... More

Partaay. The D.C. Council approved legislation that will allow bars, nightclubs, and restaurants in the District to serve alcohol until 5 a.m.—three hours later than usual—and remain open for food around the clock. Offer's good from January 17 until January 20, the morning of Obama's swearing-in.... More

"Three: Don't go in hungry. The last thing you want to do is show up ravenous at Charlie Trotter's and dive headfirst into the bread plate. Have a protein-rich breakfast and a light lunch, and snack if you're hungry. The key to the tasting menu is pacing yourself, and that's hard to do if you're ready to gnaw off your own arm before you've even left the coat check." [MenuPages Chicago]... More

It's not just that stroopwafels, hailing all the way from the Netherlands, taste amazing. They are also functional. They’re meant to be placed atop a steaming mug of coffee or tea, with three truly noble effects. More

More Time magazine linkage for you today. Remember that inspiring story about a woman named Alissa Ruxin who opened a restaurant in Kigali, Rwanda, with a menu featuring African, Mexican, Indian, and Mediterranean dishes? And more important, one that employs waiters and cooks who were orphaned by genocide? Time magazine agrees that such international progress tastes good.... More

Designer Luis Luna made these nifty lamps out of everyday disposable utensils and cups. My favorite thing about them is their names: Gluttony and Hangover. [via Apartment Therapy] Related: A Lampshade Made Out of Bacon... More

More food trends. This time, from Time. Here, a look back at 2008 rather than a fast forward to 2009. 1. Recession Dining: Gourmet meals for 4 for around ten bucks. 2. Nanny State Food Regulations: New York City requires calorie counts on menus; LA legislates fast food joints out of certain nabes. 3. Salmonella Saintpaul: A look back at that nasty outbreak from earlier this year. Poor St. Paul gets saddled with the association. 4. The War on Bottled Water: Carbon miles and wasteful packaging, blah blah blah. 5. The Clover Coffee Maker: Coffee geeks wet their pants over it, then Starbucks buys it. Now it's not cool anymore.... More

Not super food-related, but pretty amazing. The title says it all. The fast action, after the jump.... More

Easy Bake Oven, KO! Last week Majesco released its third baking video game for the Nintendo Wii, Cake Mania: In the Mix! Whatever happened to little girls sitting around the kitchen table and making tiny, sugar filled cakes? True, this game leaves little mess, and it does sound like fun to be baker Jill Evans, creating cakes, balancing orders and people. Hmm, this game just might help little girls (and boys) develop some time management and organization skills, too. Related Cooking Mama Insults Your Mama and Other Food Videogame Trailers Slideshow of Food in Video Games Burgertime Video Game Online Again... More

uk.news.yahoo.com "[Khalil] Semhat, 56, said he had not done anything special to cultivate such a super-sized spud. 'I didn't use any chemicals at all,' he insisted, adding that he had to ask a friend to help him haul the huge tuber out of the ground." [Yahoo! News UK]... More

"A Michelin-level chef tries to make a comeback from major personal issues. He gathers his old friends together as his ‘dream team’ and ends up falling in love with the newest member of the group.” Whoa or no, folks? Whoa or no? [Slashfilm, via Eater LA]... More

Photograph from Dr. Hemmert on Flickr Although potatoes are harvested earlier in the year, they're easily stored by producers from up to six months and that's why you'll see so many of them at the farmers' market this time of year. At home, you'll want to make sure to store them in a cool, dark, dry place to prevent them from sprouting or spoiling. I'll happily eat potatoes any which way—french fried, scalloped, mashed, braised, hashed, stir-fried. Below are a variety of straight-forward potato preparations and recipes. I hope you'll use them as starting point for creating your own bit of potato deliciousness. Another pat of butter, a bit of bacon, some fresh rosemary, freshly ground pepper, are a... More

In between your hand-blown glass ornaments of stars and angels, hang a turducken ornament on your Christmas tree! Dana of She Walks Softly will make you one for $15. [via Neatorama] Related Weird Food Ornaments for Christmas Are Turduckens Really Good Eating? Tofucken, the Vegetarian Turducken, and Other Interesting Meat Marriages... More

For this weekend's book giveaway we've got one of my favorite food-related books released this year, The Devil's Food Dictionary by Barry Foy. Described by Foy as "a pioneering culinary reference work consisting entirely of lies," it's a wry take on food that is equal parts pure nonsense, good clean fun, and sharp send-up of foodie pretension. I've blogged about the pizza and burger items in this gem but have enjoyed many more entries since. Example: farmers market: An open-air, producer-run food outlet whose minimal infrastructure, absence of middlemen, and other cost-cutting measures make it possible for vendors to charge higher prices than in supermarkets. Or: cake: A leavened, baked confection whose discovery made icing possible. Early cakes had a... 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. The Weirdest Thing I've Ever Made "Zucchini peelings sauteed with olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, tomato paste, basil, and at the very last minute—angel hair pasta. Genius." —embolini9 Alternatives to $$$$ maple syrup "The fake crap or honey with LOADS or butter....Real butter!!" —pjracz10 What's with the tiny hamburgers? "They do seem to be the new thing, don't they? Personally, I don't like them. I would much rather eat a regular burger than its diminutive cousin. But you know, people really seem to like... More

Photograph by Robyn Lee The effort to nominate food policy figure Michael Pollan never got off the ground, but Pollan and his other American food thinker buds—88 in total including Alice Waters, Rick Bayless, Wendell Berry, Eric Schlosser, Dan Barber, and Marion Nestle—wrote Obama a letter, nominating some potential Secretaries of Agriculture: 1. Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture (website) 2. Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Nebraska (website) 3. Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota and lawyer (Wiki page) 4. Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Iowa, and president of the Stone... More

Photographer Peter Cunningham took this great photo of a man making hand pulled noodles in Shanghai. Look at those noodles fly! Related Translation of Lan Zhou's Chinese Menu Knife-Sliced Noodles and Boiled Dumplings at Super Taste in Chinatown Off the Beaten Path: Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing... More

Sizzle Me: Nick Kindelsperger takes this idea to new heights with his quick-fix fajitas, the perfect food to interact with friends and loved ones. Wrapped and Fried: Still have leftovers? Why not turn them into empanadas and then dunk the savory snack into all that gravy you have in the fridge. Each Chocolate Flake is Unique: Stick your tongue out and catch Gina DePalma's cocoa snowflake cookies, or you can just lick the bowl after you make them. Beyond the Cocktail Weenie: Need to add a flair to your holiday party? Why not try the pork sausage spiedini with bocconcini and cherry tomatoes from the book Simple Italian Snacks. Old School Drinking: Mmmm...mulled wine. It was good when we... More

"Most exciting food was the 'Gyoza Dog.' More like a steamed bun with gyoza-like filling (note the phallic exterior). It was right out side the 'Journey to the Center of the Universe' ride. The line for the Gyoza Dog was just as long as the line for the ride." [Umami Mart]... More

Street Meat: New York usually has everything, but it's London that offers up the Burger Van at the Borough Market. Animated Cuisine: Comic book artist Lucy Knisley shows us her review of Chicago's Alinea, all drawn out. A Beautiful Mistake: Not every burger is heaven to the palate as Damon Gambuto found out at The 101 Coffee Shop, a nice-looking Hollywood diner with no actual flavor. Oregon Dispatch: Our Allison Hemler can't help herself. She has a huge crush on Gabriel Rucker and his cooking at Le Pigeon in Portland, Oregon. Wallets Like Chicago Taquerias: Mike Nagrant (and the rest of the country) knows it's not the time to splurge at pricey steakhouses. He's getting his meat fix instead... More

This isn't the most chipper of video posts, but it's informative and useful. If you find yourself battling an oil fire on the stovetop, fear not. There are three easy steps to take. And whatever you do, don't throw water on top—that does not deprive the fire of oxygen. The video, after the jump.... More

Photograph from Food Librarian Not many other news breakthroughs would make me this happy. Kellogg's isn't letting Mother's Cookies fall by the wayside. Mother's Cookies—which has a huge West Coast fanbase due to its Oakland roots—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, but this week, Kellogg's announced it would acquire trademarks and recipes to the famous Circus Animal cookies, as well as the sandwich cookies and wire-cut cookies. Will the pink-frosted lions and elephants get along with the Keebler Elf and Snap, Crackle, and Pop trio? This sounds like the beginning of a wonderful new snack family. Mother's Cookies Goes Bankrupt; Hipster Shirt Memorializes the Animal Cookies Goodbye Mother's Cookies. No more pink & white animal cookies? [Talk]... More

If you're a Serious Eats regular, chances are you're also a bacon lover. We've created a holiday gift guide especially for you to share with your friends and family to ensure your Christmas morning is bacon-filled. You can thank us later. More

I could have moved the scale to China, but I still would have weighed 238. Though I have occasionally engaged in the not-so-fine art of scale moving during my serious diet before Thanksgiving, it was my post-Turkey Day weigh-in (the Friday after) that sent me into a veritable scale-moving frenzy. All to no avail of course. First, for those of you unfamiliar with the scale-moving weight loss technique, let me explain. Scale-moving starts when you weigh yourself with your scale in its usual place and you are desperately unhappy with the results. The Friday after Thanksgiving was a prime example. I hated the fact that I had gained two pounds last week. I didn't think I deserved such bad news.... More

This reminds me of the Sex and the City episode in which Charlotte talks about having a "tea bag problem." Heh. You know, her husband was leaving his soggy tea bags all over the apartment. On the coffee table, on the kitchen counter, etc. I suppose this would solve the problem. It's by Royal College of Art grad student Jonas Trampedach. I tried Googling the guy and his saucer to provide you purchase info, but it looks like Trampedach has no website. And I assume this was simply a project for a class or some such. Oh well, it's not like the side of a regular saucer is an inadequate repository. [via Yanko Design]... More

Photograph from food_in_mouth on Flickr Hot beverage poetry doesn't get enough respect. The above example inspired me to write my own 5-7-5 metrical ode to hot chocolate: once just a powder but hot liquids transform you, brown winter mustache Let's see what you've got, fellow haikuists. Related A Poem: Fast Food Smell 2005 Pizza Haiku Entries [Slice] Food Poems [Talk]... More

Photo courtesy of Michelle Kaufmann Green housing designer Michelle Kaufmann has created a green gingerbread house. Kaufmann shares her blueprints for the gingerSolaire, the cookie version of her mkSolaire Smart Home, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. While the chocolate solar panels wouldn't stand against the sun the way real ones should, the organic gingerbread walls look sturdy enough—that is, until the teeth come. If you are feeling up to the challenge to design your own confectionery house, enter Kaufmann's Green Guru contest. Related Modern Gingerbread House A Tiny Dynasty in Gingerbread and Icing Photo of the Day: My First Gingerbread House... More

I can't help but have a huge crush on Gabriel Rucker and his cooking. It started when my friend Jen and I entered the candlelit haven of Le Pigeon in Portland, Oregon. I knew I'd found my new favorite restaurant—the dining environment is friendly, romantic, and rustic, with only bar stools and communal tables. You can observe what your fellow diners are ordering and ask for suggestions without feeling intrusive. Though our hour and a half wait didn't yield a coveted up-close-and-personal bar stool to gaze at Gabe, his tattoos, and his burners, home base for the evening was a front corner table with a perfect view of the kitchen intensity. Since my budget couldn't afford both wine and... More

Each week we round up our favorite posts and recipes from our friends at The Kitchn. This week, the Kitchn reminds us that pink mystery meat like Ham Steak exists. Despite the hopeful daydreams of a pig breeding with a cow, it's really just a slice of ham from the roast. Also on the Kitchn, how to speed-cool a soup, braise cabbage like Ralphie's mom in A Christmas Story, properly bring your little one into the world (fruit punch involved), and conduct the windowpane test with bread dough.... More

From the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board comes Cheese Cupid, a site to help you pair wines, beers, and spirits with cheese. [via AdFreak] Related Sommelier To Go: Pairing Wine with Cheese Classic Wine and Cheese Combos... More

As a graduate of NYU's Food Studies program, one of the questions I hear the most is, "What jobs can you get after you graduate?" (The top question is probably, "So, is that like cooking school?" Answer: "No.") Food & Wine intern and NYU senior Kaitlyn Goalen seemed to have the same question, until she discovered the food career guide Food Jobs: 150 Great Jobs for Culinary Students, Career Changers and Food Lovers by Irena Chalmers. After speaking to Chalmers, the main advice she came away with was to "find a niche," hers including chewing-gum taster and professional egg peeler. Considering my success (with a dash of pure luck) of getting a job at Serious Eats right after I graduated... More

Who needs denture-friendly filet mignon, artery-clogging mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, and out-of-season asparagus stalks as big as your left arm? In these uncertain economic times, if you can’t afford to pony up for a big fat prime hunk of cow, it ain’t no big thing. After all, the way I see it, Taqueria El Asadero in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood is the poor man’s Smith and Wollensky. Amble in to this north side taqueria and you’ll find a sinewy man brewing fresh carnitas in a wobbly, ancient kettle filled with deep fryer fat. Next to him a wiry dude works the griddle, searing off marinated skirt steaks one at a time. They let the steaks rest for a few minutes,... More

Is the above photo too food porny for your delicate eyes? Probably not. Phil Lees of Australia-based food blog The Last Appetite talks about the Australian government's upcoming attempt to censor the Internet. Food blogs aren't illegal, but Lees points out that "the first websites to be banned as 'false positives', (where a site that the filter says is illegal, but is in fact, not) will be food websites." If you disapprove, Lees provides information for how you can protest the censorship, and you can sign a petition at GetUp!.... More

Peanut butter cookies are a big hit in my circle of friends during the holidays. Photograph by Allison Hemler. Just in time for this year's round of holiday parties, Gourmet dug around in their archives to find their favorite cookies from 1941 until now. All of the recipes are unchanged from their original publication, though many from the early years include slight changes or explanations. The holiday season is the perfect time to overindulge and test out as many of these as possible. It's time to break out the KitchenAid mixer! Though I'd probably eat every cookie listed (except those with alcohol—I'm a purist), these are my personal favorites: 1955: Biscotti Di Regina 1972: Dutch Caramel Cashew Cookies 1989:... More

Seaweed is high in umami. In fact, the term umami was coined by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908, as he was researching the flavor of the seaweed stock. Photograph from Robyn Lee on Flickr By now, any food-lover with his or her salt knows about umami, the "fifth flavor" (in addition to sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, and sourness). But I don't know if I've ever seen this bit of info about it. From the Guardian: Part of the reason why the palate responds so favourably towards glutamate could be our early exposure to it—breast milk has very high levels, 10 times higher than cow's milk. However, as with all good tastes, umami guides our appetites towards foods with optimum nutrition.... More

Beijing-based blogger and cooking instructor Diana Kuan, of Appetite for China, shares her recipe for Sichuan favorite laji jiding. Chicken pieces are shallow-fried for some serious crunch, before being stir-fried in a pungent sauce containing—yikes—eight to ten dried chilis and a handful of Sichuan peppercorns. Diana describes the crispy, spicy chicken dish as a "more sophisticated version of kung pao chicken"; my cohort Tam calls it "a lip-numbing form of popcorn chicken." Kung pao popcorn chicken—how can you go wrong? (KFC, take note.)... More

Gregory Ng is eating his way through the freezer aisle, one Hot Pocket and Mrs. Smith's crumb pie at a time. He chronicles his reviews on his vlog Freezer Burns, which even includes cameos from his adorable mother. [via URLesque]... More

"Thank you, Serious Eats community." ©iStockphoto.com/robynmac A few years ago I had a dream. About creating an online clubhouse for food, a place that serious eaters could come to share their food enthusiasms. A place serious eaters could come to find out what's going in the world of food and drink, find a recipe, look at a cool food video, get restaurant advice, and, best of all, chew the fat with like-minded folks. Two years ago today, on December 4, 2006, that dream, Serious Eats, became a reality. Now that we're 2, we're pretty precocious. We're doing a lot more than walking and talking. We've become home base for millions of passionate, discerning, and inclusive food lovers all over the... More

When I made a list of interesting people I wanted to interview on camera for a series called Chewing the Fat, Alton Brown was at the top of the list. I have always found Alton to be interesting, provocative, smart, and funny, so we were thrilled when Alton agreed to do it. Who did we get to shoot, direct, and edit the Alton videos? None other than Hamburger America director and author George Motz. This webisode finds Alton musing about what's it like when he's on the road shooting, talking, and eating with strangers. As he says, food connects all of us. Much food for thought, Alton. The Feasting on Asphalt DVDs are available at Foodnetwork.com and the book is... More

My roommate's reaction: "Wait, why is he famous again?" I couldn't really remember either. And Rocco really didn't prove why he should be. The guest judge should be someone who the contestants respect, hopefully to the point of speechlessness and awe. As Fabio pointed out, "He's not really even Italian." More

Photograph by Scott Mayerowitz ABC News reporter Scott Mayerowitz takes a look at, and tries, some of the megafood challenges across the country from restaurants that offer gargantuan dishes on the house—if you can finish them within the allotted time. There's the 50-pound burger challenge at the Clinton Station Diner in New Jersey, where the $159.95 burger is free if five people can finish it in under three hours. Less wallet damaging is the pancake challenge at Rick Jones' cafe in Seiad Valley, California, where failure to finish five gigantic inch-thick pancakes in less than two hours will cost you $12. The $29.99 Dare to be Great Sundae at The Parlour in Jackson, Michigan, consists of 21 scoops of ice... More

Despite the economic downturn, the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho, is reporting their busiest season ever with no decrease in sales at their gift shop [via VittlesVamp]... More

Photograph from manda_wong on Flickr Sometimes ice cream sandwiches stretch the truth a bit. Where's the white bread and mustard? OK, forget the mustard. But at least one Singaporean street vendor is taking the "sandwich" definition more seriously with this taro ice cream squished between multicolored bread. With crusts! Justice prevails.... More

Stocking stuffers in the $20 to $30 range. These are things all foodies want but would never buy for themselves. They are not novelty; they are niche—and nationally available. More

"The 'prematurely released' Zagat iPhone application comes off as 'cumbersome' and 'not intuitive.' The 'content itself is strong' but 'the UI needs polish.'" [Eat Me Daily]... More

A lot of things rock, but eating rocks doesn't always top that list. This spread was featured at the annual Eureka Gem Show at the Redwood Acres fairground in California. From the pork chops to the peas to the buttered baked potato, every part of this meal was made from rocks, gems, and minerals.... More

How bad is the job market for chefs these days? The New York Times' Kim Severson looks at the Hot Dog Indicator: A job listing for the California-based Let’s Be Frank hot dog carts was put on Craigslist and "within two hours they had seven resumes from people with serious culinary educations and cooking chops."... More

OK, I work as a bartender, so I can see how some in my field might feel the need to throw a beverage in an obnoxious guy's face or tell that high-maintenance drinker to take a hike. But, pour salt into a perfectly good cocktail? No way. Generation Awesome's video series, The Bartender Hates You, amusingly highlights annoying people and a bartender who likes to overreact. These videos had me laughing out loud, but I can't say I have ever done anything portrayed in them. I have definitely thought of it, though, especially the first video, where our hero throws ice at a customer after she complains there is just a little too much of it in her glass.... More

Here's a cool Chinese pottery-inspired mouse from Hong Kong-based design store Goods of Desire, in partnership with Microsoft. It reminds me of the bowls my grandparents used while I was growing up. [via Boing Boing]... More

"I went to the market to realize my soul" —The Clash Borough Market 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL; map); +44 (0) 20 7407 1002; http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/ Getting There: National Rail/London Underground to London Bridge station; 381, RV1 bus routes; parking located on the corner of Southwark Street and Southwark Bridge Road and on Snowsfields Hours of Operation: Wholesale Sun.-Fri., 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.; retail Thur., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fri., 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sat., 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Borough Market is said to be older than the City of London itself. According to the Borough Market Trustees, it has been operating for more than two millennia, predating the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD.... More

The winter holidays are about a lot of things. Not unimportant among these many meaningful sentiments are two predominant aspects of the holiday season: staying warm and getting drunk. Ursula of Jane Spice, Mulled Wine combines the garnet Christmas red of Burgundy wine with the tart spike of Thanksgiving's cranberry juice, dressed up with the spices of the season. It looks, and must smell, like December in a glass. Plus, it delivers the warm and drunk part with a single punch. Just be sure not to serve Santa—he may be old enough, but a reindeer DUI would seriously interfere with presents.... More

Mayor Gavin Newsom has declared today Yelp Day in San Francisco. This is the second year the community review site has been deemed worthy of a day of its own by the mayor; here's the text of last year's Yelp Day proclamation. [via Eater SF]... More

Multiple choice time! The image you see at right is: a) a pretzel b) a croissant c) breakfast d) a snack e) A, B, and D, but not C f) all of the above A tough one, isn’t it? The City Bakery in New York City is famous for many things, its fudge-thick hot chocolate and beloved chocolate chip cookies among them. But the only baked good to have its own website—really—is the pretzel croissant. A happy oven-fresh love child of Paris and New York, the pretzel croissant is just what it sounds like—croissant dough in pretzel form. Now, if you made a pretzel-to-croissant spectrum, this guy would fall about two-thirds of the way toward the latter end; its pretzel... More

"[A] joyless mass of dry cake polluted with the unpleasant bits of dried fruit that even your Nan wouldn't eat, dusted with a cloying layer of elderly icing sugar and wrapped in a box with a ribbon." That's how Guardian blogger Tim Hayward describes panettone, which he goes on to call "an elaborate Italian joke." The big, red, bell-shaped box is fast becoming the Christmas gift (and re-gift) of choice, and, like its predecessor, the fruitcake, is considered something of a burden to the recipient. Well, fruitcake has always had its defenders (how else has it continued to make the rounds?), so I'll be panettone's. Unlike fruitcake, panettone is a tender brioche that can be baked into bread pudding or... More

Photograph from Tim Psych on Flickr When pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene in Danville, California, started eating exclusively organic, he didn't do it for health reasons. Instead, it was a social experiment. He wanted to know the practicality of sticking to an organic diet in modern America. Could a person eat exclusively organic? Apparently, yes. Three years later, Greene is still going strong, eating 100-percent organic. His trials and tribulations—learning what's available where and when, weighing the price (and effort) disparities—were chronicled in a New York Times health column. Of course, his dramatic diet shift isn't for everyone, and I don't think Greene is trying to be preachy. He did this for himself, and anyone interested. One thing he noted:... More

Chan Yan Tak, one of whose dim sum dishes was once described as "like eating clouds," has become the first Chinese chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. Despite the celestial nature of his cooking, we're told that the executive chef of Hong Kong's Lung King Heen is a very modest man. With no formal culinary training, he started working in kitchens at the age of 13. Mr. Chan is in good company. Only one other restaurant in the Hong Kong-Macau Michelin Guide unveiled today was awarded the maximum three stars; it's run by a chef you may have heard of—Joël Robuchon. Take a peek at Lung King Heen's menu. Of particular note is the Children's Menu, which is split... More

Neatorama compiled its list of the 10 Weirdest Gourmet Foods out there. Making the cut are ortolan, canard à la rouennaise (duck in blood sauce), huitlacoche (corn fungus), durian, live baby octopus, de jaeger (snail caviar), bird nest soup, balut (duck fetus egg), kopi luwak ("poop coffee"), and, in first place, casu marzu (maggot cheese). Come on, serious eaters, 'fess up! Who among us has tasted this stuff What's it like?... More

Pie-rets combine two things that don't usually get paired: pies and berets. Thanks to Monster Crochet, you can now wear a fuzzy, inedible dessert on your head. The pumpkin pie-ret is appropriately garnished with "whipped creme," or a pointy white fuzz in the center of the hat. If you're a lattice crust person, go for the cranberry orange pie-ret (which could easily pass for cherry too). As far as the pecan pie-ret goes, the above model on the right makes a great case for it. All three were croched with an F hook. Sadly, no patterns were provided. Related Joy Kampia's Crocheted Hamburger Dress Crocheted Edibles Crochet Pizza Scarf... More

"This would be a great cheese to pick up for last-minute, run-to-the-supermarket-before-it-closes style of entertaining." Photograph by Jamie Forrest Président Cheese, makers of the ubiquitous wheels of "deli" brie, have released a new cheese they're calling the "Brie Log." They claim it has the same taste as their normal brie but comes in a convenient log shape with a 1-inch diameter, which means that its slices fit perfectly on crackers or bread rounds. A cool and interesting twist on an old classic, but how does it stack up? The folks from Président sent me a log last week, just before Thanksgiving. It arrived at my office frozen in a cooler pack and enclosed in a sealed wrapper. The whole thing... More

According to the New York Times, Copia, the food, wine, and art museum in Napa, California, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Julia Moskin is too polite to state the obvious, that Copia was clearly overly ambitious, to say the least, and never quite found its footing or place in the food world. Even 35 million dollars of Robert Mondavi's money wasn't enough to see it through. It's hard to imagine a reorganizational scheme that can work for Copia, particularly in these times. Everyone in the food world rooted from near and far for Copia to succeed, but to me it seemed doomed from the outset. I take no pleasure in saying that, believe me.... More

With only weeks left until the holidays, it's time to break out those rusty cookie cutters—Santa and his metal reindeer have been languishing in your kitchen drawer for far too long. Every snowflake- or stocking-shape cookie starts with a dry, rolled dough, almost like pie crust in texture and consistency. Once shaped and baked, a cutout cookie should be thin and crisp but not so delicate that it can't withstand decorating. Every day this week, we'll be posting a fail-proof recipe for a shapeable cookie, from classic shortbread and gingerbread to raspberry-sandwiched Linzer cookies. Even if you don't have the luxury of boundless counter space, you can still make these doughs work for you. Simply roll the dough into... More

Stocking stuffers in the $10 to $20 range. These are things all foodies want but would never buy for themselves. They are not novelty; they are niche—and nationally available. More

Wow! You serious eaters came up with some mighty tempting ideas when we asked what should go in the Zingerman's Serious Eats Senior Care Package. You made our decision difficult, but decide we did. Congratulations, BrooklynBrownie, you've won the Zingerman's gift certificate. Your senior package rocked the house, as everyone can see here: Zingerman's Serious Eats Senior Care Package Roadhouse Joe Coffee: "Necessary fuel for reading period and exams"Sourcream Coffeecake: "Quick and easy breakfast on the way to class"Chile Cheddar Bread: "A party in your pantry, perfect for sharing or saving for yourself"Mo's Bacon Bar: "Bacon and chocolate is a combination that's meant to be"Antique Gruyère: "A chunk of gruyere from Murray's changed my life as a sophomore at NYU;... More

Author of The Tummy Trilogy, and many other inspiring food musings, Calvin Trillin will appear on The Daily Show tonight.... More

The prognosticators are coming forth fast and furious with the Food Trends 2009™ listicles. Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky takes the piss out of them, stepping into character as "Gastrodamus," with predictions for the coming year: Chefs with diminishing revenue streams will seek to diversify their incomes by seducing wealthy widows 2009 will be the year of the spork, as restaurants seek to reduce costs by eliminating a piece of unnecessary silverware. In the highly competitive casual dining sector, buckets and troughs will become increasingly popularThe Farm-to-Table will be replaced by the Sysco-to-Table model, once everyone figures out that diners have no way of knowing where their string beans are coming from Heh. More, on The-Feedbag.... More

If you're like most people, you'll likely be eating nuts of some sort as part of holiday nut sampler, but do you know how they’re harvested? After the jump, a clip from Our Daily Bread, a documentary by Nikolaus Geyrhalter. Basically, a tractor with a giant arm shakes the crap out of the tree in question, after which a sort of industrial vacuum cleaner–shovel scoops them up and dumps them on a tarp.... More

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: This Friday the world's largest sugar cube castle made of over 1,200 pounds of sugar will be unveiled at The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco.... More

This week: what happens at restaurants during the down time. Folding napkins, cigarette breaks, and homemade renditions of Iron Chef. More

Photograph from greefus groinks on Flickr During tough economic times, restaurants search for quick fixes to make up for lost revenue. Some options: extending hours, skimping on portions, and adding breakfast service. As a fervent breakfast burrito lover, I was curious if Chipotle had considered the morning menu addition. Currently, the national chain doesn't open stores until 11 a.m., but maybe they could set the alarm clocks earlier and throw some eggs on the griddle? When asked, Chiptole's public relations director Chris Arnold, had this to say: That is certainly something people have suggested to us, and something we have thought about ourselves. But it isn't as simple as it might look. Doing breakfast impacts our labor model (which... 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 week delivers the premiere of Man V. Food, where host Adam Richman travels the country to find the "biggest and baddest" food challenges. There are two back-to-back episodes starting at 10 p.m. ET. Wednesday, 10 p.m. ET, Travel Channel We've discussed Paula Deen quite a bit over the past few months, so check out how she plans to ruin any plans for a diet with her "Fried Christmas."... More

From the Washington Post: "'Once I started paying attention, I couldn't find any acorns anywhere. Not from white oaks, red oaks or black oaks, and this was supposed to be their big year,' said Greg Zell, a naturalist at Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington. 'We're talking zero. Not a single acorn. It's really bizarre.'"... More

James Oliver Cury looks into his crystal ball: "'Value' is the new 'Sustainable,'" (seems solid) "Peruvian is the new Thai," (for real?) "Smoking is the new Frying" (as if!), "Regional Roasters are the new Starbucks." (I'll buy that one).... More

Back story, in case you missed this one. In August, The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet inexplicably cut to a shot of a cat eating spaghetti during a segment on binge drinking. The footage was featured on The Soup, and a new meme was born. The latest in the saga is a totally ridiculous song called "Spaghetti Cat, I Weep for You," complete with cheesy visuals. The video, after the jump.... More

You thought were being eco-friendly carrying your own reusable shopping tote, but what about the PAPER SHOPPING LIST, you environmental wastrel? This new tote does away with the piece of paper. £9.99, from Spreadshirt [via Swiss Miss] On second thought: Having said that, I've spotted a flaw. The bag comes with a pen, but how do you erase the first list?... More

The Guardian's Word of Mouth blog reports that Jamie Oliver is launching his own food rag. Jamie Magazine hits WHSmith newsstands and stores in the UK on Thursday. "Oliver takes many of the magazine's photographs himself, and copy is packaged in Jamie's trademark 'alright geezer' style, a 'no bullshit' here, a comparison of a flavour to an 'acid-house party rave' there—although there are also more worthy pages on the politics of tipping."... More

Neatorama reports that a "1.08 kilogram white truffle was sold at an auction Saturday for $200,000." The lucky purchaser? Casino mogul Stanley Ho, who also purchased last year’s record-holding truffle for $330,000.... More

What's geeky? Making an apple pie with an Apple logo. What's geekier? Cutting the latticed logo with a 45-watt carbon-dioxide laser. Good job, Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories! [via Neatorama] Related Hot Dog Bun Grilling Jig Photo of the Day: Death Star Melon How to Make Edible Googly Eyes for Cupcakes, Cookies, Etc.... More

The Grocery Ninja leaves no aisle unexplored, no jar unopened, no produce untasted. Creep along with her below, and read all her mission reports here. The first time I spotted king oyster mushrooms at the market, I was with Mom, and she told me they were "Chicken drumsticks that grow on trees." I was seven. Of course I believed her. I was a pudgy kid—inordinately fond of braised duck, sizzling, hot plate venison, and the extra crisp, golden bits on the belly pork my grandma stir-fried with preserved mustard greens. A well-meaning aunt tried to put me on a diet while my parents were out of town, and the outcome was that I developed an abject loathing for all things... More

Founded in 1912, the Girl Scouts are pushing their 100th anniversary. But with few camp sites offering internet access and iPhone reception, and first aid badges losing hipness, the organization is fighting to remain relevant. With membership falling, the Girl Scouts hired a management consulting team and came up with one solution: de-emphasize the cookies. Apparently they want to be associated with more 21st century girl power, which doesn't leave room for the sweet snacks. Wait. Shouldn't cookies be associated with every era? And hope? And happiness? Since when does cutting them fix anything? Not to mention the entrepreneurial skills involved in selling cookies. November is usually prime time for the pigtailed brigade to go door-to-door and sweet-talk you... More

Make magazine presents a reader-submitted video from Ted Goessling and Zachary Gens, who have created the Uber Tuber, a compressed-air-powered potato bazooka that they use to propel spuds at a grid of wires that slices them into fries. Behind the grid is a backstop that catches the potatoes and funnels them into a waiting fryer below. It's more Rube Goldbergian than it is practical, but it's fun stuff nonetheless.... More

Eat Me Daily has some nice words for and pix of Heston Blumenthal's Big Fat Duck Cookbook: "Referencing children's literature throughout, Blumenthal is clearly trying to develop some sort of mythology explaining both himself and his restaurant. The biblical journey through 'The Valley of Hell' to L'Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence, the Harry-Potteresque self-training, the dreamlike realization of each coveted Michelin star—these are events that actually happened, of course, but each plays on basic dramatic tropes in such a precise, premeditated way." The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, $157.50 from Amazon... More

There’s so much to love about Greek yogurt. It’s thick, it’s creamy, it’s flavorful, it’s protein-packed. I had long thought that yogurt could get no better. Until, that is, I discovered the Icelandic yogurt Skyr. Disclaimer up front: Skyr is not technically a yogurt. It’s a strained, skim-milk cheese. But it’s been marketed as yogurt, packaged in serving-size tubs, and sold in fruit flavors. And made with live cultures, it’s smooth and a little bit tangy, like any good yogurt should be. So Fage-lovers, take note. If you like the thickness of Greek yogurt, Skyr is thicker—a scoop in your spoon turned upside-down won't fall off. I love the flavor of Greek yogurt but find Skyr even tastier—a bit... More

Check out this great comic by Chicago-based artist Lucy Knisley illustrating her and her boyfriend's 13-course meal at Alinea in all its pupil-dilating glory. If her drawings of the courses weren't enough—from the lamb stew in a bottomless cup to the dehydrated caramel dust with salt—she says, "the meal was probably the best meal I've ever eaten in my life." Considering that she wrote a book about exploring and eating in Paris, French Milk, she seems to be a food lover. Related Grant Achatz' Alinea Cookbook 'The New Yorker' Profile on Grant Achatz Alinea's Most Exciting Food... More

The most affordable (but still desireable) stocking stuffers we could find. Things all foodies want but would never buy for themselves. They are not novelty; they are niche—and nationally available. More

mailonsunday.co.uk Yes, I would like some pancakes, Mr. Robot. The Japanese have done it again with the Motoman robot, a pancake-flipping wonder of circuits and electricity. This awesome machine recently debuted at a three-day exhibition of robots in Osaka. If you could have a robot, what would you want it to cook for you? [via Coldmud]... More