"New York Times" news and stories

Every cook has 'em. And there's a story behind every single one -- the burns, the cuts, even (deep breath) the missing digits. Over at the New York Times, writer-illustrators Leanne Shapton and Ben Schott ask the likes of chef Johnny Iuzzini, of Jean Georges (arm shut in oven door) and Andrew Carmellini (close encounter with a red-hot counter) about their battle wounds, and then they drew them. Head over to the Times to view the damage.

News of the Securities and Exchange Commission's take down of Travis L. Wright has set the financial media abuzz, but it's not so much the alleged crime itself that has them chattering. After all, the $145 million that the Utah-based money manager allegedly bilked clients out of is small potatoes compared to the likes of, say, Bernie Madoff.

Instead, what has the chroniclers of capitalism chortling is what Wright was actually investing the money in. Not commercial real estate, as he told clients, but in the Candwich.

Read more about the Candwich after the jump.

A disturbing and powerful report on contaminated meat has garnered Michael Moss and members of the New York Times staff a Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting.

Smith told the story of 23 year old Stephanie Smith, who nearly died after eating a hamburger riddled with E. coli that was manufactured by Cargill Inc. The former dancer is now paralyzed from the waist down and will need a kidney transplant sometime in the future.

• By omitting the beef drippings from traditional Yorkshire pudding, Mark Bittman makes pillowy popovers.
• The Green Fairy takes a bite out of the Empire State: Cheryl Lins is the first distiller of absinthe in New York.
• The Southern Italian salami, 'nduja, has been dubbed "the spreadable Italian love child of pepperoni and French rillettes," and the "Lady Gaga of pork products."
• Restaurants are using different fonts, type sizes, colors and page placements to up-sell diners on their menu choices.

• Mark Bittman's advice for Thanksgiving: "Just chill."
• Since 1999, residents of Jamestown, R.I., have held a Thanksgiving leftovers potluck deemed the "Save the Best for Last" dinner the Saturday after Turkey Day.
• Taking a clue from the Butterball Turkey talk-line, Sam Sifton will be answering reader questions until 3 p.m. Thursday.
• How to carve that bird. No hacking allowed.
• Urban food lovers learn how to hunt, butcher and cook their own meat to reduce the food miles between producer and consumer.
• President Obama hosted the first state dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, with a vegetarian menu prepared by Chef Marcus Samuelsson.