If you enjoy wheat beers, you're most likely familiar with the Widmer Brothers. Its American brew is an incredibly well-known Hefeweizen. I got my hands on a six pack of Widmer's latest creation, Drifter Pale Ale ($8.99). Typically, pale ales are made with Cascade hops, but Drifter uses a different variety called Summit. These hops provide an intense citrus flavor; seriously, it tastes like there's orange juice in the beer! A touch of caramel malt balances out the tartness of the citrus.

Although I normally prefer light beer, this refreshingly smooth brew is crisp and clean with only a slight bitterness — making it highly drinkable. If you enjoy sipping new, innovative brews, definitely give Drifter Pale Ale a try.

I paired mine with the Schlow burger, but it would be welcome with pizza or fried seafood. Have you tasted Drifter or any of the Widmer Brothers' other beers?

If you've seen my Sunday Slow Cooker series, you probably know by now that I consider the electric slow cooker indispensable for convenient, low-maintenance cooking. Naturally, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of Slow and Easy: Fast-Fix Recipes For Your Electric Slow Cooker ($15.61), by the Los Angeles Daily News food editor, Natalie Haughton.
Haughton has penned five other cookbooks, including The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever, so she's clearly spent a lot of time with her Crock-Pot. To find out what I thought of the book, read more

Crab season is a big deal in San Francisco, and if you've ever tackled a whole crab to extract the sweet, succulent meat, then you understand what the fuss is about. Since we're right in the middle of Dungeness Crab Week, I'm celebrating with a New England-style crab roll filled to the brim with fresh Pacific crabmeat.You could put crabmeat on pretty much anything and I'd eat it (I'm still drooling over this salad). I devoured the sandwich version at a New England-style seafood joint in SF called Woodhouse Fish Company.

The rainy-day-appropriate restaurant uses the split-top rolls popular in New England then fills them with Dungeness crabmeat that's West Coast all the way. But these are easy to make at home: The key is finding the freshest, most delicious crabmeat possible. To get the recipe, read more

• Even pizza delivery chains are proclaiming this year to be the worst they've ever seen. — Wall Street Journal
• The rib-sticking recipe for this Latvian cabbage pie has traveled around the world. — Boston Globe
• Harold McGee answers the question: How much water do you need when cooking pasta? — New York Times
• Chef Jeremy Fox of Ubuntu in Napa, CA, is paving the way for vegetarian cuisine. — Washington Post
• In a taste test of canned tomatoes, find out which variety came out on top (not San Marzano!). — San Francisco Chronicle
• Learn the secrets to making sensationally crunchy vegetable chips at home. — Chicago Tribune
• Now that slow cookers have gotten a makeover, they've become instrumental in a new movement. — Los Angeles Times

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A lassi is a traditional Indian milk shake made with yogurt instead of milk. While many variations are savory, for my Indian-inspired dinner party, I'll be whipping up a mango lassi. There's no sugar, but honey provides a subtle sweetness to the creamy drink, while lime juice adds a refreshing tartness. For those guests who have an extreme sweet tooth, consider purchasing a couple flavored chocolate bars. Vosges Naga Exotic Candy Bar is inspired by the tribes of Northeast India. The bar is a mixture of deep milk chocolate, sweet Indian curry, and coconut. It makes a deliciously easy finish to the rich meal. To check out the mango lassi recipe, read more

To celebrate National Pancake Day yesterday, IHOP was serving up flapjacks for free. The only breakfast our nation cared about, it seemed, was the short stack. But across the pond in Glasgow, Scotland, a couple of chefs were more concerned about the tallest stack of pancakes. In fact, two chefs, Sean McGinlay and Natalie King of Glasgow's Hilton Grosvenor hotel, claim to have broken the record for the steepest stack of pancakes in the world.

The tower of 672 flapjacks measured in at 29.5 inches high, tottering over the standing world record of 29.1 inches, set by a Slovenian team last August. Guinness will still need to confirm the record. In order to prepare for the challenge, the chefs mixed over 17 pints of milk, 100 eggs, 11 pounds of flour, and 6.6 pounds of butter. The key to their success? The perfect stacking technique. Said hotel general manager Stuart Nelson:

Sean McGinlay and the kitchen team have spent a great deal of time this week perfecting their pancake recipes and stacking techniques . . . It was a bit shaky towards the end, but somehow we managed to pull it off.

Judging from the height of the pancake stack, it looks like defeating this new record will be a tall order. Wouldn't you love to help clean up after the event?

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