Hot off the grill:

1. Interview with Spoon Fed Author Kim Severson (SF WEEKLY)
2. Finding Poetry in Beef (FOOD ARTS)
3. Leona’s Tip Policy May Be Illegal (NY TIMES)
4. Wal-Mart To Donate $2B In Aid To Food Banks (NPR)
5. Marathon queen Takahashi opens veggie farm (REUTERS)
6. Everyone’s nuts for the versatile pine nut (THE NATIONAL)
7. Grant Achatz Announces New Restaurant With Video Trailer (LUXIST)
8. Rick Bayless To Guest Chef White House’s Mexico State Dinner (HUFFINGTON POST)
9. Coke Zero Addict – VIDEO (MSN)
10. Pairing a DVD and a Drink Takes Care (NY TIMES)

1. One’s chocolate is ready: Cadbury dispatches Queen’s own superior brand (GUARDIAN)
2. Police find pot plants at fortune cookie factory (MERCURY NEWS)
3. Mountain Dew Christmas Tree – VIDEO (EAT ME DAILY)
4. Kwanzaa is a feast for the taste buds (CONTRA COSTA TIMES)
5. Renowned Chef Eric Ripert of New York’s Le Bernardin Restaurant Shares His Favorite Holiday Fare – VIDEO (CBS)
6. The Best Dining and Drinking Trends of the Decade (VILLAGE VOICE)
7. Food banks take the lead in soliciting healthier eats (LA TIMES)
8. Bad restaurant review was ‘entirely defensible’ (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD)
9. Cookie club kneads women’s lives together (FREEP.COM)
10. JJ and James win BBC Two’s The Restaurant (BEECAREFUL)
11. Airport restaurants lacking in food safety, study finds (FOX)
12. Feeding frenzy: David Chang’s popularity grows apace (BOSTON POST)

The daily specials:

1. Don’t boil a lobster; give it a zap instead
2. Wine Spectator announces number one wine of 2009
3. Consumer Reports says some celebrity chef’s kitchen knives, like those from Paula and Martha, don’t make the cut
4. MaggieMoo’s announces new flavors: Winter Wonderland Cake, Caramel Pumpkin Pie Cupcake, Butter Pecan Pie Cupcake & Ho-Ho-Ho cupcakes
5. Kim Kardashian promoting healthy eating through Carl’s Jr. Premium Salads
6. A Master’s Touch: Sushi & the Secrets of its Chefs
7. Chef Rocco DiSpirito writing cookbook with a little help from his Twitter & Facebook fans
8. Walter Scheib, Former White House Chef: No Such Thing As ‘Presidential Food Taster’ (VIDEO)
9. Emeril gets his own show on Satellite Radio
10. Food banks burdened by high demand in sour economy