Beets, Glocks, and Pig Knuckles: This Week in Food Bloggery

Kari Sullivan/Flickr

Pickled beets are just the beginning.

​Five highlights from the blogs this week:

1. With even more enthusiasm (and considerably more planning) than last year, we've taken up the annual challenge of profiling 92 of the city's best dishes on the 92 weekdays leading up to the 2011 Best of San Francisco issue. So far, our favorites have ranged from chocolate bars and tacos to a little molecular gastronomy. More heavy-duty eating is ahead.

2. Restarting his "Market Report" column after the holidays, Sean Timberlake surveys the Web for projects to make with beets. I once had a beet-infused-vodka cocktail in Portland ― can't say I'd recommend the experience. The recipes Timberlake finds for pickles, chutneys, and jam all look much, much more appetizing.

3. John Birdsall talked to the organizers of the Brady Campaign, who are trying to ensure their restaurants feel safe and appealing by banning the open carrying of firearms. What happened to "no shirt, no Glock, no service"?

4. The pig knuckle at Schroeder's German Restaurant is perhaps the largest entree I've ever been served ― at least, one I've been expected to eat myself. That's dining in 1893 style. Side note: It's not too late today to hit the restaurant's monthly polka happy hour.

5. Taking over Brian Yaeger's blind tastings since Brian defected to Portland (feel free to track down that beet vodka martini, Brian), Alastair Bland and his tasting panel evaluated barleywines. The winning beer comes from one of my favorite breweries, North Coast Brewing.