Some Illinois food blogs I don't have on the list:

Champaign Taste Cooking and eating in East-Central Illinois. Champaign IL

Chicago Foodies Chicago Restaurants, Home Cuisine, & the Food Scene.

The Food Chain The Chicago Reader's new Food Blog.

Little Spatula Naperville, Illinois

FarmGate University of Illinois extension's farmer blog

The Outdated Kitchen Chicago IL

It's really mostly charcoal grilled, with a few chunks of hickory thrown in, but it sounds better that way. Rubbed with rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper and put in the Weber Bullet (without the water pan) for 2 and a half hours (it was a 2.5 pound piece of leg). The Weber keeps the fire a foot and a half or so away from the meat, so it slow roasts with some good smoking. I don't follow the rules exactly, but it still turns out juicy medium rare, with a good crisp skin and a little smoke ring.

In the background is a lump of this Cheesy Bread Pudding. I cut the recipe in half, and it still turned out really good.

A note on Prof Wiviott's Master the WSM Smoker in 5 Easy Courses: As I alluded above I didn't follow the rules, but this wasn't smoking, it was semi-hot grilling. I use natural chunk charcoal and chunks of hickory to build a fire that gets the Weber heated up to a little over 300 - 325F. I wouldn't cheat on his rules if I was smoking something. His main rules are using a pure, clean fire, no briquettes, no leftover coals, no fluid. However I did cheat when starting this and most fires - I'll use a few briquettes and what's left in the grill to start it. I'll admit to having some lighter fluid, but usually can find a few twigs in the yard (oak and grape vine twigs, not anything funky) and I was a boy scout so I can start a fire without it. One piece of advice I have learned the hard way - wood chunks can be mildewy, and the bark should be trimmed off, or you'll get horrible smoke. I used to think you could burn off the mildew, but that doesn't work unless you let it burn all the way down. My last bag was pretty bad so I sniff each piece carefully before throwing it on the fire.

Two food related news stories the Tribune couldn't resist giving headline puns to.

Dispute taps Bell's out of the Illinois market "Experts said state beer-distribution laws were intended to protect small distributors from massive, bullying beermakers after Prohibition. But with the rise of microbrews like Bell's, and the growth of distributorships into billion-dollar businesses, many argue the law has become antiquated."

Lawsuit over sausage cuts family links at plant, stores "Families have business spats, of course. They just usually don't end up in federal court, where "Exhibit A" in the filings consist of page after page of culinary descriptions, from "Old Style Polish Sausage" to "Smoked Pork Tails.""

If you're worried about the availability of good local beer and sausage in Chicago, just head over to Goose Island and get yourself a Dunkelweissenbock and a Paulina Brat. I've mentioned the Paulina Brat before, but it's been years since I've been able to get to Goose Island during the right season, before the Dunkel taps are drunk dry. The Dunkel has more citrusy sourness than I remember, but still has the dark, sweet banana-vanilla complexity.

I was preparing a list of blogs to update my food blog list when I realized how many California (mostly LA) blogs I needed to add. Look at 'em all! And I'm sure there's tons more.

Colleen Cuisine Los Angeles. Who let's us know November 11th, is National Pocky Day!

The Epicurious Wanderer Orange County Restaurant Reviews - Food, Life, and Fun in Orange County

LA Food Crazy Los Angeles.

Potatomato Los Angeles.

Rameniac! worldwide noodling! Along with Rameniac's B-sides, or the non-ramen chronicles. Los Angeles.

The Survival Gourmet A Los Angeles caterer's blog about what's for dinner tonight.

Triplecreme
Eating through the westside with the photos to prove it. Los Angeles

Tuna Toast Los Angeles

What did you eat? California

Some food blogs with excellent photography that you may or may not have heard of (I hadn't).

Gattina New Jersey

Oishii Eats Yummy LA.

Running with Tweezers

Coconut Chutney

Mikey Hates Everything Los Angeles. With a recent trip to Europe.

Spicyana, Oregon, US

In more local beer news, Evanston's Bill's Blues Bar has Two Brothers' Heavy Handed IPA on tap. This is an IPA that is hopped with 'wet hops' or hops that haven't been dried, which gives it a serious hop punch.

Bill's also has Kwak on tap, served in the traditional 'yard'.

Why do I always find out about these things too late?

The 4th Annual Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer is sold out. "Showcasing beers that have been aged in or on wood" I need to put these sorts of things on a calendar so I don't miss them next year. Along with anything the Chicago Beer Society is doing too.

But if I can't try barrel-aged beer at the festival, perhaps I can pick up some Goose Island Imperial Brown Goose when they release a limited quantity Nov. 15th. "an innovative blend of Christmas Ales from Goose Island's 2004 and 2005 vintages - ales that have been aged in bourbon barrels."

In other local beer news Prairie Moon has a marvelous Maredsous on tap for a limited time.