Fall is the time for football. And with football comes food like buffalo wings, sausages, pizza, and potato chips. And while most guys (and gals - yes, I know you're football fans too) go for cold beer with their football viewing, don't forget that you can also drink wine with these foods too.

The Boston Phoenix asked the owners and beverage managers of several Boston restaurants for their picks for the best wine to serve with football food. If you're serving spicy wings, Josh Childs at the Silvertone Bar & Grill suggests a California zinfandel from or a syrah from the Rhone region of France (or, for a contrast, a German riesling). For nachos, a sparkling white.

Bill Earle at Bouchee' says that if you're serving chili, he'd suggest a California zinfandel, for the rich fruit and the spice to go with the hotness in the chili. And for hearty sausages? Kate Smith at Butcher Shop suggests a pinot gris or a gewuztraminer or a riesling.

But wait: pizza is missing from this list! I'd say pizza is eaten more while watching football than sausages or wings. Suggestions, readers?

With football season starting up, you might want a few new ideas for snack foods because even though we all know that you're not supposed to be chowing down on munchies in front of the TV, it's probably going to happen when you have friends over and are watching your college football on ESPN. Wing It!: Delectable Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Bar Snack is a book devoted entirely to chicken wings - with an eye on snacking, of course. The recipes range from those you're probably familiar with already, like Classic Buffalo Wings, and ones that use some international flavors, such as Grilled Coconut Wings with Thai Peanut Dipping Sauce. Some of the recipes are battered in some way, while others are not, and a few make use of an alternative coating, like the Mexican-Style Tortilla Chicken Wings, which use tortilla chips to create a crispy coating. There are quite a few barbecued wings with delicious-sounding sauces, as well. Speaking of sauces, there are also a number of recipes for dips, so you won't have to be stuck with bottle bleu cheese or ranch on the side every time you serve the wings.

Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?

It's definitely heating up in Spokane, Washington, where Tom Bowers has put together a list of places that serve Buffalo hot wings. Over the last month, he sacrificed the health of his GI tract, trying 25 different kinds of wings at seven places. He has reviewed the restaurants and has rated them for their Flame Factor.

In case you need to know now, yes, he went to Hooters, and unfortuantely, they only rated a "1" on the Flame Factor. The other six places Tom reviewed are:  Heroes and Legends, The Screaming Yak, The Globe Bar and Grill, Wingers, Flamin' Joe's, and Northern Lights Brewing Company, this last one producing an "endorphin high [that] lasted for hours."

Given that Saveur's website is "stylishly useless," it's almost unfair to post all the wonderful things that are in the April 2006 issue of the magazine I just received. Consider it simply an express-view for you as you ponder whether to pick it up in the check-out line. (And I'll do my best over the next few weeks to post any adventures I have with the recipes).

• A look at the changing fare on college campuses, which are ditching the dining halls and favoring the carts and trucks that serve fast, cheap, and authentic ethnic food like falafel and veggie pakoras at UVM and kimchee and bulgogi accessible to a number of schools in Philadelphia. Of course, I know all about the In-N-Out truck on the UCLA and USC campuses once a year.
• Cookbooks under review are Jewish: The Jewish Kitchen by Clarissa Hyman and Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South by Marcie Cohen Ferris.
• In the cellar, the wine of the month is madiran, a "dark, spicy, tannic expression of the French southwest."
• In a different kind of cellar, Campbeltown is Scotland's "other" whisky region.
• San Francisco chef James Schenk (of Nuevo Latino restaurant Destino) makes alfajores, South American butter cookies filled with dulce de leche.
• Stop all the debate. The original recipe for Buffalo wings from the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York!
• The feature of the magazine is Tuscan trattorias, with recipes for: arista di maiale (roasted herb-stuffed porkloin), fagioli sgranati (white beans with sage), piselli freschi (fresh peas with Prosciutto), pappa al pomodoro (bread and tomato soup), insalata di trippa (cold tripe salad - I doubt I'll be trying this one, but who knows?), pappardelle all'anatra (broad noodles with duck sauce), and fritto misto di coniglio e verdure (fried rabbit and vegetables - imagine serving that to your kids on Easter!).
• We love hummus, and who knew Saveur could dedicate six whole pages to the simple chickpea puree?
• Le Veau d'Or in Manhattan is "a real French restaurant: the music is terrible but the food is great."
• And finally, a look at the endagered Danish tradition of the smorrebrod (different from Swedish smorgasbord).