Farmers' market. Photo: NatalieMaynor, Flickr

• Just what sort of a price difference will there be at the farmers' market versus a grocery store?
• Chilean Carménère is a red vino ripe for matching with grilled foods.
• We taste-test different yogurt styles.
• Pickled eggs can offer a new realm of flavor, whether beet-tinged, golden, or hot and spicy.
• Pietopia contest asks: "What flavor of pie describes your life, and why?"
• The Oregonian investigates whether grilling the Argentine way will result in the perfect steak.
• Indian simmer sauce can give meatballs a totally new kick.
• Stone fruit pits can proffer tasty almond-like flavor to dishes, but be cautious to avoid cyanide issues!
• Recipes: Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam With Ginger and Cardamom, Fresh Fruit Custard Tart, Garlicky Grilled Chicken and Cabbage With White Barbecue Sauce, Pasta Neapolitan
  

• Want to cook without making a mess? Try whipping up a virtual meal with the help of these video games.
• Make your meat budget go further with meatballs. Try Lamb Kofta with Tomato-Yogurt Curry, Veal Meatballs With Marinara-Gorgonzola Sauce, Toro Bravo Meatballs, Lamb Meatballs With Mint and White Bean Ragout or The Country Cat's Stuffed Lamb Meatballs.
  
• More helpful tips from the FoodDay staff that they learned in 2008.
• FoodDay is looking for your lunch tips, from the items you crave to the ways in which you transport it to and fro. They'll be featuring the best ideas, so get creative.
• Most cucumbers available this time of year are tough and seedy, so it's the perfect time to check out English cucumbers (if you aren't already a fan!).
• Want to learn how to squirrel away the fruits of your gardening, u-pick and foraging? Preserve (Portland's food preservation school) is offering a nine-class series on Householding.
• Want to eat virtuously but have your food still taste good? Try multi-grain pastas.
• Transform a box of roasted red pepper and tomato soup into a pleasing meal with the help of a rotisserie chicken.
• Fit for Dinner helps readers stick to their New Year's resolutions by offering healthy and filling recipes. This week, try their Winter Vegetable Stew With Maple-Glazed Tofu.

• Mmmm...Rosemary Bread Crumbs.
• Boston might be the next city to ban trans fats.
• This caption says "You are watching Meatballs," but it's not the Bill Murray movie, it's a video on how to make them.
• Airline food might be worse than ever, but airport food has gotten much better.
• The secret to a great steak is...
• The price of beer is about to rise.
• This week's recipes: Herb-Roasted Potatoes and Carrots, Fennel, Apple, and Arugula Salad, and Chicken Scaloppine with Lemon, Capers, and Tomatoes.

• It's winter. Eat some stew.
• A look at five different Boston area bakeries.
• The Plonk of the Month? New wave Spanish reds.
• We've been talking a lot about hot chocolate/cocoa this week, now the Globe taste tests a bunch.
• Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali are raving about a new book about Marco Pierre White.
• Speaking of books, how many cookbooks do you own?
• This week's recipes: Double-Vanilla Sour Cream Pound Cake; Maani Gyros; and Italian-American Meatballs.

The artist made 48 meatballs and fried them with the fat and served them to guests - a combination of friends and patrons of the arts - along with a serving of agnolotti pasta at a dinner at the Animal Gallery in Santiago. If any of the guests had second thoughts about digging into their plates, Evaristti reassured them by saying "You are not a cannibal if you eat art."

The remaining meatballs, since not all of them were served at the dinner, were canned in groups of 10 and will be sold for $4,000 per can.

A man in Auckland, New Zealand almost died from consuming a plate of poisoned meatballls. The dish had been made by a kitchen hand who thought he was adding flavouring to the meat.

The 47-year-old South Auckland man ate the microwaved meatballs for an evening meal but an hour later he vomited and lost consciousness. His family discovered him unconscious and he was taken by ambulance to hospital.

He had turned blue and was severely short of oxygen. Doctors diagnosed a potentially fatal condition in which the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity was reduced by nitrites affecting the haemoglobin in the red blood cells. He made a full recovery and was discharged after three days. Meanwhile, his daughter found the leftover meatballs in the fridge and they were sent for scientific analysis which revealed a level of the preservative sodium nitrite which was 344 times the permitted level for cured meats under the Australia-New Zealand Food Standards Code. The meatballs had 43,000mg/kg; the maximum permitted is 125mg/kg.

Caroline Rubenstein, lovely girl... knows her custard, emailed me earlier this week with details of her winning entry to the Quaker Maid Meats and West Bend Housewares Meatball Mania Recipe Contest. Bit of a mouthful as is her winning entry!

Great Balls of Fire won over the other entrants due to its creative combination of meatballs and hot ingredients including chili powder and adobo sauce. Also in the mix are the beefy Mama Lucia Sausage Meatballs, butter, garlic and tomatos. You can see the full details on the winners announcment page as well as the 2nd (Meatball Pitas) and 3rd (Meatball Stuffed Mushrooms) placed winners.

Congratulations to Caroline from us all at Slashfood... not sure what she actually won mind...