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On November 10, the holiday feasting season officially began (in my mind) with the Fourth Annual Casserole Party, which was created by Emily Farris, friend of Spooning and author of the brand-new cookbook Casserole Crazy. First place went to the creators of Caulifornication, a creamy cauliflower concoction; those lucky cooks got a turquoise Le Creuset pot, which is officially the most beautiful piece of cookware I've ever laid eyes on. Anyway, all that Pyrex and communal feasting made me realize that it's time to get the folks together to eat and be merry. In that spirit, Spooning will be launching a new theme, Gather 'Round, which will open with a terrific piece by Karen Dill about her first memories of Thanksgiving, celebrated with her rural mountain relatives. Moonshine and home-cured ham? Yes, please!

It's an exciting time to be an American. Chocolate is our new favorite flavor, and that can only mean great things for our future. This delectable chocolate White House was featured on the adorable blog-of-the-moment Yes We Cake. (I've actually been marveling for a while about the quantity of baked goods Obama has been inspiring—I don't recall Kerry kupcakes or Clinton clafoutis!) Then there's Comedy Central's Chocolate News (hosted by In Living Color's brilliant David Allen Grier—It only took him til he was 53 to get his own show!). And here in NYC, today is the kick-off of the annual Willy Wonkaesque fantasy that is the Chocolate Show, featuring, among other things, cocoa couture. (This chocolate Wonder Woman get-up takes the, uh, cake.)

This political season has brought some pretty great tees. (I also kind of want this one, just because...wow.) But, really, the shirt in this photo (sent by a reader in Portland, OR, where it appeared in one of their alt weeklies) says it all. Spooning '08!

There was a little story last week in the New York Times about Added Value, one of my favorite food nonprofits in the city. It's a too-short piece for the subject matter (neighborhood-level agriculture, teaching the yoot the value of veggies, and of entrepreneurship). And I'm 99.9% sure it's the Red Hook-based Sixpoint brewery that's donating grain for mulch (not "Six Forks" brewery--what could "six forks" even mean?). But, it's a good shout-out nonetheless. I encourage everyone to check out Added Value's website and be inspired to take a jackhammer to some pavement in your hood.

Not to beat a dying horse here (and with all due credit to Stephen Colbert), but it's kind of interesting how often food has come up as a featured topic during this finanical meltdown. (Grilled-cheese puns galore, for instance.) There was the turnip tale from the UK, and now it's widespread news that Campbell's soup was the only stock that went up during Monday's historic sell-off. As Colbert noted, it's not really that surprising that investors see a future in 89-cent dinners. The reported spike in sales of cheap "comfort foods" also comes as no surprise—damn it all, I need to drown my sorrows in instant buttery spuds! Lean times call for fatty foods.

According to an article in the London Telegraph, sales of turnips have gone up 75% in the UK over the past year. It marks an interesting side-effect of the current economic calamity—the resurgence of a "credit crunch vegetable," as per one turnip farmer. Turnips haven't been popular in the UK since WWII when the kingdom OD'd on the hearty root, one of very few foodstuffs available. Meanwhile, over at the Guardian, a Scottish writer bemoans these as rooty impostors—not true neeps (as the Scots call them), but rather some insipid white radishy things. You can't mash those up with tatties and make a true clapshot! Anyway, let's see how else our economic collapse effects our diets—Americans should probably start developing a tooth for neeps.

So Monday is the official start of Autumn—it's getting down to the 50s at night here in NYC, and I'm starting to enjoy hot food again. It will also mark the launch of a new theme-series on Spooning: Fun With Fermentation. Tis the season for cider, beer, pickles...kombucha. Ushering in the season of fermented goodies, last Sunday was the 8th annual New York Pickle Day, presented by the Pickle Wing of the NYC Food Museum. As the weather cools, yeasty treats will be celebrated at festivals all over from now 'til the next equinox: cider, beer, sake, kimchi, and of course bread. If you are a fermentation fan, send in your stories!

First, I want to spread the word to all New Yorkers that the Edible magazine family has a new title: a two-week-old magazine called Manhattan. Many of you enjoy Edible Brooklyn (I know I do!), and now we can read about the food culture of what we Brooklynites think of mostly as "the skyline." I was fortunate enough to help the Edible folks out at a couple of farmers' markets last week, and was struck by the loads and loads of tomatoes everywhere. These later-harvest fruits look to be enormous and very, very ripe. I started to fantasize about canning tomatoes, making and freezing sauce, drying them on the roof...One good place to start is with Kate Dwyer's inspiring tomato story, and Susie Troccolo's easy Pasta d'Estate. I may not get around to creating a tomato-product factory in my kitchen, so I'm going to binge on fresh ones 'til they run out.

Did anyone else feel a little perplexed when, during the DNC on Thursday, they introduced all those generals onstage and one was named Fig Newton? I wasn't judging (with a name like mine, I'm in no position), I mean Ima Hogg was one of the 20th century's most celebrated art patrons. But, I did feel compelled to look up General Newton, and though his real name is Lloyd, he goes by Fig. Glad to know a four star general isn't too tough to name himself after a cookie. OK, now I have to go eat a box of fig newtons. Damn you General Fig Newton!

I haven't posted in a while—I was in L.A., where as usual I enjoyed many tasty meals. Highlights included sweet corn tamales and coffee for breakfast at the Pacific Palisades farmers market, a dessert of fresh figs off my dad's tree with Greek yogurt and honey (never fails!), and lamb chops with a 2000 Robert Sinskey cabernet franc that my mom has been saving for over four years for "a special occasion." The occasion? Wednesday! It was perhaps the most delicious wine I've ever had, or at least that I remember having. Also, enjoyed a plum galette at the new Santa Monica outpost of Rockenwagner's bakery, which sells a few beautiful Scandanavianish housewares, too. And, of course, a most fabulous breakfast on the deck at Pat's Topanga Grill—signature omelet of spinach, mushroom, and swiss cheese—with the sunshine and the bikers going by. Basically, I never left the Westside. But I ate and ate, and it was good.