Winner: You've just won a new hot tub!

Congratulations! You've just won a new hot tub! Everyone wants a hot tub right?

Well, there was that hot-tub that became a time machine. Sorry, but there is an equally not funny hot tub waiting for you. You've won a hot tub that is filled with a vat of high fructose corn syrup. This is a graphic that ran in the NYT. But still... the gross-out factor... wow.  

Are Groupons and their clones the next Value Meals?

There has been all of this talk of economic recovery. Supposedly its in it's second year. Yeah, well most of that hasn't found its way back into my pocket book. My guess is, that it hasn't really hit yours yet either.

One of the biggest fads to come out of the recession has been the frugal diner. The grouponista has emerged, victorious in their lust for delicious food in a budget that they can afford.

Only problem is, when people see a successful model they try to replicate it and get some of that success for themselves. There are now more web-discount programs out there I can't keep them all straight.

There is a great article in this weeks NYT Dining & Wine that talks about the impact of these sites on restaurants. Reading it, I was surprised that I didn't know about half of the ones they mentioned.

This Little Piggy

Decorate your desktop with some pig.

A long time ago, in a better time, a man smarter than I -- a ladies man, and Founding Father to boot -- Benjamin Franklin once famously stated that, "Beer is proof that God loves us."

Cheers, Mr. Franklin. I'll drink to that.
But, I have to say, while you were on to something, you were wrong. I offer my humble correction:
Pork is proof that God loves us.
Now, I'll EAT to that.

It's summer time and chances are you're wearing flip-flops. Here's an honest question for you. Can you name all the piggies on your foot?

One stayed home, one had roast beef. One used to go "wee-wee-wee" all the way home.
Well, it seems that this time, the little piggy is here to stay.

A post-Avant Garde superstar, emerging from the gastronomic embers of the molecular machines at El Bulli, WD-50 and Moto, the humble swine has shed the curse of being the "other white meat".

Bursting into the foreground quicker than a pop-star changes costumes, pig is suddenly the newest old thing restaurants and chefs have discovered.

It seems as if the molecular gastronomy wave has finally broke, and pig trotters, porchetta and even a bacon explosion are left swimming in the tidal pool.

The bacon explosion: fresh pork sausage wrapped

in a bacon weave. Can you say, heart attack?

While the rest of the world has been concerned with foams, engineered "caviar," and has been too busy toying with the idea of what food is existentially, the humble swine has stuck its snout back into the heart of chefs who want to celebrate what food is naturally.
There is nothing that a pig can't do well. For a simple reason: Pig is delicious.

It's nothing new. In fact, it has long been rumored that if Italians could catch the oink, they would find a way to cook that part of the pig, too. It is a recession after all.
Hell, you can even cook the skin and its about the tastiest thing you've ever eaten.

While nose to tail eating had been a necessity for most of human civilization, it has come back into vogue for the past 10 years.

Sure, it's been blasted for being high in cholesterol. Not to mention being high in fat and high in sodium. It's been lauded as a diet buster for years. But, there is truth to the statement that it makes everything taste better.

It does a body good: The bacon bra. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Photo courtesy of.