When Slashfood saw these cute 8-ounce cans of limited-edition Halloween flavors, we had to try them. Every year Seattle's Jones Soda puts out four flavors suitable for trick-or-treaters -- and this year, they're tempting us with Buried Pomegranate, Spooookiwi, Candy Corn and Lemon Drop Dead.

We cracked open each so you don't have to. See how they stack up after the jump.

Über Tavern in Seattle. Photo: uberbier.com.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars nationwide.

Even at the best beer bars, boredom can occasionally set in. Sometimes the draft list just doesn't feature brews that fit the day's mood. Or maybe a keg of your favorite suds just got kicked.

Well, world-class beer bars, like Seattle's Über Tavern, are always looking to remedy such afflictions. Smack dab on the front of their website, patrons can check out what's recently been added as well as an extensive selection of "kegs in the cellar" featuring what's about to come. "We update every time there needs to be a change," said manager Charlie Wedbee. "It works out to about four times a week."

Über's been doing this "forever," says Wedbee (in real time, about three years). They seem to have their act together, so don't worry about trekking all the way to this tavern just to find a slew of unfamiliar taps. It'd be swell if similar craft concoction-proffering pubs could offer this sort of full disclosure about what brews to expect upon arrival.

Which of your favorite watering holes are web-savvy with their draft lists? Let us know in the comments! After the jump, Über's Monday draft list.

'A Homemade Life - Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table'
Recipes by Molly Wizenberg
Simon & Schuster -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

Molly Wizenberg, the woman behind award-winning blog Orangette, has become a literary heroine of the food blogosphere, with a writing voice suffused with a clear-eyed intelligence about -- and tender affection for -- food. Her fans adore her simple and complicated recipes alike, since they come with a side of her lush but earthbound prose: "Lately, I've been thinking a lot about cake. This is not an unusual condition for me, but it happens particularly often when I'm feeling frazzled or tired or harried, right around the same time that I start listening to the easy listening station on the car radio and feeling genuinely soothed by it."

Since Molly (whose old-timey photos we also admire) just announced a break from blogging to help her husband start his new restaurant, those seeking a fix could do worse than her new book, 'A Homemade Life.' A memoir shot through with recipes, it tells how she fell in love via her blog (with a New Yorker, and she lives in Seattle, but we won't go there), chronicles the food-loving life of her late father, and has all the hallmarks of a bang-up cooking memoir.

See what we tested, whether you should buy it, and Molly's incredible French toast recipe after the jump.

It's Monday morning, and we're right there with you. While propping your eyes open waiting for the coffee to kick in, do sneak a look at Orangette. It's the literary equivalent of falling asleep curled around a novel or sipping hot milk to stave off insomnia. Strangely comforting and nostalgia-inducing at once, it leaves one poised between appetites, unsure whether to roast a rack of lamb for dinner or ride a two-seater bicycle through the French Quarter taking snapshots while drinking gin lemonade.

That's how disorienting Orangette's (aka Molly Wizenberg) prose is. If you find her beautiful polaroids, winding tales and dreamy recipes (like this adapted dish of asparagus with pecorino and pooled walnut crema) insufficient, you might pop out and buy her new book. Now back to work.

[Via Orangette]

This photo makes us want to skip on down to Johnny Rocket's, pop the Shirelles on the stereo and sip milkshakes two-straws-to-a-glass -- all before 10am.

But of course what looks to be a simple burger and mac combo platter with a sweet side of Moxie is actually a duck-pork patty slathered with seven-pickle relish accompanied by a gorgonzola and cheddar mac 'n cheese. We're pretty sure that's not what the Fonz was noshing on back in the day. Gotta love that fresh strawberry shake served up in a laboratory glass, too. Click over to the snapshot to learn what those lunchboxes have printed on 'em, part of the cutesy theme at Seattle's Lunchbox Laboratory.

If you're not in our Flickr pool yet it's time to jump in, start tagging photos "slashfood" and show off your skills already. And tell us if this pic makes you get a burger for lunch.

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

When is a beer store more than a beer store? When you can drink in it, of course!

Many people from the Seattle area sing the praises of Redmond's Malt & Vine because of their exceptional craft beer (and wine) selection. But what really sets this beer store apart is that they have their tavern license, meaning those 10 taps you see aren't just for growlers: You can grab yourself a glass of beer while you do your shopping.

Don't feel like browsing? Malt & Vine has table seating as well. And nothing is really off limits here. Patrons can hang around and drink anything in stock for a small corkage/crackage fee. Even bring your own food for a private beer and food pairing. Here's a store that really carries through on the "make yourself at home" credo.

Malt & Vine also holds regular beer tastings every Friday night, as well as other beer-centric events when the fancy strikes them. (A full schedule of events is available on their Web site.) The owners and staff have a reputation for being both knowledge and friendly, so you know these events will be worthy of your time and your questions will be ready to be answered.

Let's take a look at what Malt & Vine currently feels is worth serving to their beloved beer drinkers (after the jump). ...

Imagine that on your lunch break you purchase gourmet food from the window of a 1962 Airstream trailer. In Seattle, the chefs from Skillet are making this possible. Skillet goes to different street corners every day concocting meals depending on what's available locally and seasonally. They've become famous for their Kobe-style burger served on brioche with bacon jam, blue cheese and arugula. Besides tasting delicious, the food is also reasonably priced, between $6 and $10.

According to an article from Forbes, Skillet sells about 200 lunches daily. Chef Danny Sizemore states that he opened up Skillet, with his partner Joshua Henderson, in order to fill a void in Seattle: high-end street food. The Forbes article points out that the concept is not entirely unique. In Minneapolis, there's Chef Shack that sells bison burgers topped with homemade condiments. And, in Marfa, Texas, Food Shark offers homemade hummus and falafel with crisp romaine lettuce from a truck.

To find out where Skillet's Airstream trailer is going to be and what they're going to serve visit their site.

With the Fourth Annual Seattle Cheese Festival taking place this weekend, the focus is, naturally, on cheese. Eighteen year old Kelsey Kozak takes cheese-making seriously. The Times offers up some accompanying recipes: Caprese Chopped Salad, Fondue with Beecher's Flagship Cheeses, and Five-Cheese Macaroni.

Nancy Leson lists places to get a true roasting chicken.

As people prepare for outdoor entertaining, wine expert Paul Gregutt makes Washington wine selections that can be mixed and matched. Also in wine, an answer to the question of whether the disappointment in $20-50 merlots is real.

This week, the Seattle Times devotes the entire food section to stretching your food dollars in anticipation of tight financial times:

• An excerpt from Nancy Leson's blog, All You Can Eat, with a bulleted list of tips
• Tips for savvy shopping at the grocery store
• How to figure out which is better: cooking from scratch or buying prepared
• Save with bargain wines

And one of the better ways to save when cooking at home is to use less expensive chicken over more expensive ingredients:

• Chicken Alfredo Boboli
• Cashew Chicken Salad with Broccoli
• Fusilli with Chicken and Pesto
• Chicken & Olive Salad Sandwiches
• Chicken & Mozzarella Quesadillas
• Italian Chicken Soup
• Cashew Chicken Salad with Broccoli
• Chicken & Mozzarella Quesadillas
• Chicken & Olive Salad Sandwiches
• Fusilli with Chicken and Pesto
• Italian Chicken Soup

Times restaurant critic Nancy Leson comes out of anonymity and announces a new blog to boot, All You Can Eat.

Yes, there are a lot of African-American chefs in Seattle. No, they don't all cook "soul food."

In the kitchen, make good use of Spring produce with recipes for: Marinated Salmon and Spinach Salad, Oven-Braised Cod with Leeks, Fennel and Peppers, Sautéed Artichokes with Crispy Garlic and Sage, Artichoke Bottoms, and Grilled Asparagus Salad.

Brian Carter blends a good bottle, and your petite Syrah questions are answered.

At the bar, shake up a Golden Orange Sake-Tini, Java Mojo and sip the Wine Pick Of The Week, a 2004 Torres Coronas Tempranillo, making sure to note How To ... Store wine better.

In the kitchen, the Seattle PI is quick cooking Quick Moussaka and seven different recipes, one for each day of the busy week, including Salmon with Lemon Olive Oil Sauce and Walnut-crusted Drumsticks. There's also a recipe for Catalan Fish Stew.

Ballerina Brunson doesn't give up good food for her art.

Looks like super mega ultra ginormous Starbucks isn't feeling so big and powerful these days.

They are testing the sales of $1 cups of coffee that also include free refills in some stores in Seattle. Though Starbucks just recently raised coffee prices across the board, it seems that this testing is a response to stiffer competition from lower-priced coffee at fast food chains. McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, and other companies sell their coffee for just over a dollar.

That's nice of Starbucks to price-match, but even if the $1 test passes and is expanded across the entire business, I doubt I would go into Starbucks. I actually prefer McDonald's coffee.

So, did you hear about the cooked shrimp that glowed in the dark? I realize that sounds like the set-up to a joke, but it's no joke. A Seattle man recently bought some cooked shrimp at his local Thriftway. He ate some of it and then left the rest sitting on his kitchen counter for a moment. When he came back he noticed that in the darkened kitchen the shrimp was glowing, "like a bright eerie light was shining on it."

The FDA has said that they have no plans of looking into the case of the glowing shrimp (sounds like a Nancy Drew mystery) as since no one got sick, it isn't a food safety issue. Apparently, this is not the first time that seafood has glowed in the dark. It is thought to be caused luminescent species of bacteria found in ocean waters that the shrimp picked up while they were alive.

[via Portland Food and Drink]
Photo link

Amazon.com, the Seattle-based juggernaut that revolutionized the way America buys everything from books and CDs to Le Creuset cookware is at it again. This time around it's set its sights on fresh foods.

Last week it announced that it will begin selling farm-fresh produce and meat online. True to form, one of the products on offer is a loss-leader: a 5-ounce steak for $1.99.

Lest you wake up tomorrow morning in Peoria thinking that this new service is available everywhere and log on to Amazon to order a dozen eggs, allow me to clarify. The new service, dubbed Amazonfresh, is a pilot program that, for now, is only available on Seattle's Mercer Island.

The hell?

Seattle is thinking about banning microwave popcorn. The Justice Center has had to be evacuated eight times in the past three years because of burnt popcorn in the microwave making the smoke alarms go off. That means over 400 employees have to be evacuated each time. It is also happening in the city's Municipal Tower.

This isn't a joke: read the memo. If the problem continues, they're going to ban it in downtown buildings.