Last night I attended Jack Falstaff's first Farm to Table Grower's Dinner. The special menu features seasonal ingredients from local producers. The most exciting part of the meal (besides the delicious food) is that the farmers and wine makers dine with you.

I was lucky enough to speak with Audrey Sterling, the grande dame of Iron Horse vineyards. After fabulously describing the wines, she told me about how Iron Horse is served at the White House! Their varietals have been selected by the past five presidencies, dating back to Ronald Regan. It's a fun fact to tell guests when serving Iron Horse.

While I enjoyed all the wines they poured, my favorite was the 2006 Estate Pinot Noir ($40). It was subtly complex and incredibly smooth. Like the perfect little black dress, it's elegant, but stylish. It rolls through the mouth with fruity, earthy flavors and a rich aroma. The wine's made with a special precision-harvesting technique that closely examines each vines needs, resulting in a silky, wonderful wine. The wine was served with an intensely crispy, suckling pig porchetta, but I think it would be lovely with everything from comforting macaroni and cheese to braised beef.

A ghoulishly good dinner requires an equally devilish dessert. Your guests will be stunned when they see this graveyard cake. Complete with bleeding chocolate glaze and espresso shortbread headstones, it's practically a masterpiece!

There are quite a few steps involved, so get started a couple of days before the dinner. To simplify the procedure, consider substituting store-bought cookies for the headstones. For the recipe, read more

With double-meat sandwiches, it is important to tread carefully. So for this indulgent combination of marinated chicken and cured meat, I gathered exceptionally gourmet ingredients: Point Reyes blue cheese, capocolla (aka coppa) from Chris Cosentino's Boccalone deli, and organic chicken thighs. Since I was piling meat upon meat with creamy cheese, I made extra-small sandwiches using soft but firm dinner rolls.

Somewhere between salami and pancetta in terms of flavor, the capocolla adds a bacon-y bite, so the resulting cap-and-cheese-laden creation is reminiscent of a bacon cheeseburger without the beef. Using chicken thighs and a nutty, salty marinade adds to the heartiness, while the sautéed mushrooms and tomato help temper the richness. To get the recipe for this double-meat delicacy, read more

• Making pasta at home is the perfect cooking project for kids. — Los Angeles Times
• A New York judge awarded $4.6 million to 36 underpaid delivery workers. — New York Times
• How are new restaurant projects preparing for hard times ahead? — Boston Globe
• Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef offers a primer on cooking Vietnamese. — Washington Post
• The right tools and ingredients are the secret to making golden loaves at home. — Chicago Tribune
• Which store-bought turkey bacon brand tastes the best? — San Francisco Chronicle
• Ferment your own sauerkraut with this basic recipe.— The Oregonian
• In response to overfishing, several conservation groups have worked together to produce sustainable sushi guides. Get your pocket sushi selector today. — Associated Press

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A Warren, MI, pizzeria is exchanging free pizza in return for McCain campaign signs.

"Turn in your sign, get some free food," offers Diana Franzoni, owner of Salvatore's Pizzeria, the restaurant giving away the pizza. Still seething over the fact that McCain pulled out of the battleground state, she contends: "McCain gave up on Michigan, so you should give up on him."

Salvatore's, which has collected hundreds of signs in the past two weeks, has become the center of controversy. The pizza-sign exchange has led to many signs being stolen from supporters' front lawns. "You're putting a bounty on a McCain sign for a pizza," said one supporter whose sign was stolen. The McCain camp has admonished the offer as "wrong," saying that true McCain supporters would not be likely to give up their signs for free pizza.

Watch the video and let me know your take on it: Is the offer spirited and fun, or reminiscent of a nasty campaign?

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Wow your family midweek with this delicious chicken dinner. Flavorful chicken thighs are topped off with a scrumptious leek and pear pan-sauce. Currant jelly is the secret ingredient that gives the quick sauce a smooth texture and rich taste.

If you dislike chicken thighs, feel free to use chicken tenders or breasts, but note that the cooking time will differ. To check out this tasty recipe that highlights some of Fall's fabulous bounty, read more

When it comes to the World Series, it seems everyone is rooting for a different team, but there's one thing that all of America can get behind: free tacos.

Mexican fast food chain Taco Bell's "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" campaign is back again this year. The promotion, which the fast food chain first launched last year, gives out free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Tacos to all customers if and when a player from any team during any game captures the first stolen base of the 2008 World Series.

There's only one way to find out if this year's World Series will crown a new Taco Bell hero. Will you be tuning in and rooting for your free taco?

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Yesterday I had the lovely opportunity of speaking with cookbook author and burger queen Katie Lee Joel over the phone. She was calling from New York City to set the record straight about her Burger Bash win. According to her critics, the Logan County Burger, which won fair and square, is not a burger at all, but rather a popular sandwich known as a patty melt. To find out what the soft-spoken, charming chef had to say, read more