another meme you'll tire of by sunday.

You're welcome!

Selleck Waterfall Sandwich

at fast food restaurants, even the drinks are crappy. literally.

eat local week, jan. 25-31.

Menus have been posted for this delicious event kicking off on Monday, so that gives you the whole weekend to plot your trail through Orlando's foodie favorites.

Big ups to Slow Food Orlando, which organized this weeklong festival of local eats. Everything served on these special prix-fixe menus will be grown/produced within 200 miles of Orlando city center, so they'll still be bursting with flavors and nutrients, rather than leached out in a long journey from Chile or wherever (not to mention the carbon-footprint savings; hello, good karma).

Participating restaurants include likely suspects like Nonna, Luma, Ravenous Pig and Primo; new entrants like Highland Manor, Eden Bar and Mi Tomatina; and comfortable hangs like Stardust, Seven Sisters, Infusion and Austins, but the list is WAAY longer than that (full list after the jump, below).

Most of the restaurants have posted their menus here, as I said above. Killer, huh? Click! Eat!
read the full post here.

no. 6 out of 100.

That's where one of our favorite local restaurants, the Ravenous Pig, finds its grouper sandwich on Saveur magazine's 2010 "Saveur 100" list. Not too shabby — they came in ahead of clarified butter, and everyone knows there's nothing better than butter.

citrus pickers unlikely to share in state emergency funds.

Last week's cold snap sent Gov. Charlie Crist scurrying to declare a state of emergency and provide assistance to citrus, tomato and fern growers. Over at The Atlantic's Food Channel, Barry Estabrook explores the likelihood that any of that help will go to the pickers, who are existing in "dilapidated trailers" and working without winter clothing.

Growers will charge higher prices for their surviving crops, but they'll have state assistance and insurance to ensure their survival, whereas this "natural disaster" may just be yet another excuse not to improve wages and conditions for the pickers. (photo by Scott Robertson)

taco bell founder makes a run for that great border in the sky.

Glen Bell, the Taco Titan, has died of Parkinson's disease at age 86. According to this Los Angeles Times obit, he'd been selling food in one form or another since the age of 5.

No word on whether there will be a 21-condiment-gun salute.

bread lines.

One side benefit to this year's relatively cold weather: Conditions are finally favorable for my first attempt at bread baking. I've been wanting to try Jim Lahey's no-knead bread recipe ever since Mark Bittman wrote about it in the New York Times, but have been stopped by this line in the recipe:

bitter(s) end.

Bartenders and fastidious drunkies everywhere are bracing for some uncivilized moments as a worldwide shortage of Angostura Bitters hits. Bitters, an aromatic blend of herbs and spices, are an ingredient in various cocktails, including Manhattans and the champagne cocktail. The Angostura brand, manufactured in Trinidad, went out of production in June due to financial issues, but fear not; production is back on track.

In the meantime, why not try a different brand? Peychaud's, probably the next-most-recognized brand, is readily available on Amazon.com, or try Regan's Orange Bitters, available at Kegworks. Or try a small-batch craft bitters, like Bitter Truth, Fee Brothers or Bittermens.

mcnuggetini, anyone?

“It tastes just like a White Russian, but with meat.”

Tomorrow, the New York Times profiles Alie & Georgia, a pair of ditzy dames who post YouTube videos of themselves mixing "revolting cocktails" (true quote. Think reporter Douglas Quenqua is an Al Jourgenson fan?) like the McNuggetini and the Bloody Bacon & Cheese.

It could be coincidence or they could be sheer geniuses: Their videos are the perfect shakeup of Mad Men nostalgi-o-mania and the current obsession with all things über-meaty.

There are too many hilarious quotes to pick just one: In addition to the above, there's, “It’s Anthony Bourdain meets Martha Stewart on crack,” also, “McNuggetini is a game, and we are going to win,” also also, “It’s disgusting.” Yesh. After the jump, the girls demonstrate their Ham Daiquiri. Eww.
read the full post here.

last-minute food gifts.

Foodzie posts a list of delicious last-minute gifts, many of which can be ordered as late as Wednesday, Dec. 23. Shop over the weekend and you're golden.

Noms include shortbread samplers, chocolate-covered toffee (pictured), Ethiopian coffee, alfalfa honey, chewy dulce de leche alfajores and even the æbleskiver set we blogged about back in November. Prices are even fairly reasonable — lots of stuff in the $25 range.

are you a man 'mit geschmack'?

For German-speaking fans of Meatpaper, now there's … BEEF!

The Food Section (via Magtastic Blogsplosion) reports that magazine editor Katie Krause calls BEEF! "like Esquire, but with meat instead of suits."

“The magazine tries hard to distinguish itself from 'female' cooking magazines (and male cooks from female ones) by focusing on technical details, chemical compositions, and the idea that men have more of an eye for details and quality than women."

That's you geschmacked, ladies!