To much of the country, charismatic Food Network star and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse has become, well, just another household name. But in Bethlehem, Pa., tucked in the foothills of the state's Pocono Mountains, Emeril has become a culinary heartthrob whose embrace has sent the locals into a frenzy.

For the residents of this overhauled steel town already gaga over the coming of its first casino, the addition of Emeril's Chophouse side-by-side with the slots is a coup. After all, the Yankee (he hails from Fall River, Mass.) bypassed New York City (where he has a second home) and Boston (an hour from his birthplace) for "Christmas City" to house his first northeast eatery.

The Bam! man was on hand Tuesday for a media luncheon, and is currently in Bethlehem overseeing a test run of his 230-seat restaurant for its sold-out Friday opening. Located inside an old steel mill building, the restaurant is fittingly outfitted with cast-iron steel flourishes and a menu combining Emeril's bayou style with the no nonsense meat and potato sensibilities of the region: "We are very sensitive to the market no matter where we are," he told us.

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

Last week, in honor of Super Bowl XLIII, we took "What's On Tap" to Tampa Bay. Well, to the winner goes the spoils, so this week we find ourselves in much colder terrain as we travel up north to Steelers' territory to visit Fat Head's Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of this year's NFL World Champions.

Much of the battle in running a top-flight beer bar is dedication: Dedication to knowing your stuff, picking your products, finding the right distributor to make it happen. Some establishments, however, take things to the next level. In the past, I've praised beer bars for keeping a current draft list online. Well, Fat Head's does you one better, publishing a full-on PDF of their latest and greatest, including city of origin, tasting notes, ABV and price! According to a quick call to bar, they reprint and repost their draft list every time they switch out a keg and with the most recent update coming on February 3rd (that's yesterday), I have no reason to doubt they keep things fresh.

Way #2 to score dedication points, the bar boasts not one, but two beers brewed specifically for Fat Head's. Oregon's renowned Rogue Brewery whips up a Fat Head's Ale and Van Steenberge sends Head Trip (a Tripel) all the way from Belgium. I'm pretty sure not many other Pittsburgh bars can say that!

Still, in the end, it all comes down to what you're offering up on tap. After the jump, we'll take a look at Fat Head's hearty draft beer selection, and spread some news about why Cleveland area residents have something to look forward to...

After a decision earlier this month by Pennsylvania lawmakers to remove all mention of hormone-treated cows on milk containers, Governor Ed Rendell vehemently disagreed and reversed the issue, allowing the references to stay. The decision was initially enacted because State Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said the labels might cause consumers to think the treated milk was somehow inferior to non-treated milk, therefore slowing sales.

Why the sudden change? Rendell, along with the Consumers Union, dairy farms, and even Ben and Jerry's representatives thought that consumers deserved the right to know how their drinks were being produced. However, dairies that do choose to label their milk as "hormone-free" also have to list a disclaimer that their milk is no safer than milk that does contain hormones. This is because, despite rumors that hormones cause girls to hit puberty earlier or cause certain types of cancer, no research has proven either of these statements.

However, this hasn't stopped Canada from banning use of the hormone, which is used because it supposedly boosts milk production by 10%. Canada's reasoning? They say it causes mastitis, or udder infection, and reduces the number of pregnancies.

What do you think? Do you want to know whether or not your milk comes from hormone-treated cows? And how much does this fact - whether or not the cows were treated - affect what kind of milk you buy?

In 2002, the state legislature of Pennsylvania passed a resolution, declaring that the second Saturday in January was to be known as "Invite your neighbor to dinner day." That just happens to be this upcoming Saturday. And no, I am not kidding. Their intention was to foster goodwill among people who live within close proximity of one another and to encourage people to reach out to the neighbors that they might not know well. They chose the second Saturday in January because they couldn't find any major holidays that would conflict with it and thought that it might also be a way for people to beat the post-holiday blues.

As a big proponent of communal eating, I love this idea and so thought I'd pass the word around. It's a great idea, even if you don't happen to live in the Keystone State (as I do). There's also a website that offers tips on ways to make dinner with a neighbor doable for you as well as a little history about how this movement got started. Even if you can't do it this Saturday, why not make a plan to get together with some neighbors for a meal. Keep it easy on yourself and make it potluck (this pasta bake makes a great potluck dish, if you need a little inspiration). Just have a meal with a neighbor and make your community a little closer.

The recipe you see above is from a packet of xeroxed recipe cards I picked up at thrift store sometime in the last few years. The cards were bound together with an aging rubber band and cost $.35. They were compiled as a fund raiser for the Friends of the Lancaster County* Library and are all hand written by the women who contributed them. Some are difficult to read and others are dishes of a bygone era. But some, like this veggie soup recipe are simple and appealing. I'm already hungry for baked veggie and it's not nearly dinnertime yet.

*Pennsylvania

I just wrote about Texas microbreweries proposing to be able to sell retail. Now Pennsylvanian markets wants to be able to sell beer at the cafes in supermarkets, but two senators are trying to kill the whole idea. Now I have to say that the alcohol laws in PA seem a bit strange to me. I never actually understood them in my visits to the state and sometimes had a difficult time figuring out where I could buy a case of beer.

Now under consideration by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board are liquor license applications which would allow supermarkets to serve and sell six-packs as long as the sales occur in sit-down, 30-seat cafes that are separated by a wall from the rest of the store. While this sounds good to me, it doesn't quite fit in with what a few of the state legislature think. A few want to tighten up the proposals, make sure the cafe and supermarket are two separate businesses, have separate cash registers and cashiers, insure that the cashiers who are at least 18 years old, and a few other items.

These sound fine to me, but other legislators seem scared of opening the door to supermarkets being able to sell beer by the case like beer distributors, and feel that brews should only be able to be purchased by the six-pack from a deli.

In this Post-Gazette article the governor's spokeswoman says it's quite unlikely Mr. Rendell would support a liquor code change forbidding beer sales in supermarkets, adding that the governor thinks beer sales at supermarket cafes is inevitable.

You have probably seen a Starbucks kiosk in a grocery store before. It seems that some are full service and some offer only part of the full menu, but all can provide shoppers with a coffee or Frappuccino. Granted, you can generally also get a muffin, but the idea of getting a drink while you do your shopping doesn't seem that foreign. Getting a Big Mac, on the other hand, does.

McDonald's and Petrucci's Market IGA, a supermarket in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, are pairing up and installing a full-service fast food franchise inside the grocery store. Petrucci's is described as a "perishable's driven" market, so they specialize in produce, meats and other non-packaged goods, though they do stock those as well. It is the only market within 15 minutes of the city and has an upscale-looking Tuscan theme to it - a look that does not seem as though it would fit well with a fast food restaurant.

The owner/operator of the in-store McDonald's franchise said, and the Petrucci's owner agreed, "The town of Burgettstown really needed the convenience and service that both Petrucci's Market IGA and McDonald's provide." The question is, did they need them in the same place?

As of next month, Rolling Rock will be produced in Newark, NJ, not Latrobe, PA, its home of over 60 years. Anheuser-Busch acquired the green-bottled lager back in May. Rolling Rock and Rock Green Light will be brewed from a new water source, but the AB brewmasters have managed to keep the taste the same, according to a press release. "We locate our breweries where we know we have an excellent source of fresh water. And, of course, Newark is no different," one brewmaster told the Associated Press. Ah, the sparkling waters of Newark. The bottle will also keep the 33, as well as its other painted lettering.

It looks like Trader Joe's is set to open a store in yet another Joe-less town. Though they have not released the address yet, Trader Joe's has confirmed that they are planning to enter the Pittsburg market. Local speculation and city officials say that the specialty grocer has plans to move into the Wheeler Paint Co. building on Penn Ave in the neighborhood of East Liberty. There are only five TJ's locations in Pennsylvania at the moment, so this should be good news to Pittsburg residents who are fans of the store.

Now that TJ's has store-opening almost down to a science, it's no surprise to hear that the store should be open by the end of the year.

It is likely that many pizza delivery people have second jobs. It is possible that some of those second jobs are in funeral homes. And the number of people who are delivery people with second jobs in funeral homes and who think it is acceptable to transport pizzas in the same car as a corpse is exactly one.

A Domino's delivery driver in Pennsylvania, who also happened to be driving with a suspended license, was pulled over for failing to have an inspection sticker on his bumper. The officer noticed that there was a stretcher in the back of the 1993 Buick, whereupon the driver explained his second job was transporting corpses. This does not violate any health ordinances in that county (though perhaps it should), despite the fact that the pizzas were sitting by the stretcher amidst "rubbish and wet clothing."

I don't live in Pennsylvania, but just in case, I'll stick with carry-out. Better yet, maybe I'll go with frozen or homemade.

Yesterday, students at York, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Elementary School doused their principal with hamburger toppings in an act of charity. A local supermarket chain offered to double the amount of money they normally donate to local schools whose principals did something "original and entertaining," according to the York Daily Record. Locust Grove principal Robert W. Shick (above) was one of five administrators chosen from hundreds of entrants. Shick sat on a hamburger bun as students covered him with all sorts of fixins, including lettuce, relish, ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise (shiver). "It felt very good between my toes," Shick told the YDR.

[Photo: AP/York Dispatch, Bill Kalina]

Happy Groundhog Day! Today, February 2nd, is the day that people gather to watch a large rodent predict the end of winter. Of course, the only official weather-predicting groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil, who has been predicting the weather annually from Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for 120 years. Though the average lifespan of a groundhog is only 6-8 years, Phil cheats death by sipping a secret "groundhog punch" every seven years.

It seems inadvisable to eat large rodents when FDA approved sources of meat are readily available, but recipes for groundhog stew and fried groundhog do exist. A better way to celebrate the critters is by making a batch of cookies. Punxsutawney Phil has a favorite recipe for ginger cookies and Hi Monkey's Rock Cakes are adorned with tiny paper groundhogs.