• Seven soup recipes from seven new cookbooks help Denver residents stay warm this season.
• Seared scallops, salad and rib-eye are the way to go at the newly revamped Simms Steakhouse.
• The Colorado Beer Festival descends on Colorado Springs this Saturday, and offers more than 70 beers to sample, as well as a designated-driver program.
• The Wynkoop Brewery will hold its own Beers of the Year mini-festival on Saturday, also.
• Dublin-made cream liqueur Coole Swan, which gets its name from Yeats' poem "The Wild Swans of Coole," is finally for sale in Colorado, and one food writer -- who claims it's the finest cream liqueur he's ever tasted -- couldn't be happier.
• A "gastropub" opens in Cherry Creek, inspiring food critic Tucker Shaw to explore the etymology of the word.
• A knife-wielding blogger discovers the bounty of the duck.

Gazpacho. Photo: Emily Farris, Fifty Bucks a Week.

Each week, we round up the top food articles we've spied Web-wide. This week, a special edition of our own bloggers' primo pieces from elsewhere on the Web.

Pervaiz Shallwani boards a bus with a stripper pole alongside a bunch of bartenders to harvest rye in upstate New York ... for Gourmet ... really.

"Mad Men" fiend Eric Diesel reveals his recipe for perfectly "clean" martinis -- a 2-to-1 gin-to-vermouth concoction at his Urban Home blog.

Mike Pomranz on the phenomenon of a cat opening a jar of food at Comedy Central.

Bruce Watson reports at sister site DailyFinance that the United States may "run out of sugar" in the next year!

Cook and film buff Monika Bartyzel notes that Michael Moore might be done with the documentary style that made him famous, for Cinematical.

Gretchen Roberts, our savvy sommelier-in-training, offers freebie gourmet treats at her wine blog Vinobite.

CoffeeMeister Erin Meister makes peace with the five-second-rule over at her culinary blog, the Nervous Cook.

Joshua M. Bernstein visits Scores, a Manhattan strip club, to eat steak (again, really!) for the New York Press.

Emily Farris tries to toe the budget line with a basic, beautiful gazpacho at Fifty Bucks a Week.

Slice into that juicy steak only to see all the delicious juices come pouring out?

Want to tenderize that steak without beating it with a mallet?

We're liking the guy behind gorgeous cooking blog No Recipes these days. Because it's Friday and we know you're already plotting a decadent weekend, gaze -- or drool, whatevs-- upon this steak aux champignons, s'il vous plaît. That's "steak with mushrooms" to us Americans, with a dollop of buttery Yukon gold potatoes alongside. The sauce? Oh, you know, shallots, wild shimeji mushrooms and Cognac.

Cognac, folks. Steak and liquor on one plate. Happy Friday.

• Who actually came up with poutine -- the delicious combination of fries, cheese curds, and gravy? Marion Kane investigates.
• A divine bovine taste test -- how do different areas affect the taste of a steak?
• Josh Rubin reviews Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout.
• Recipes: Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Broccoli Rabe and Giada's Beef and Squash Stew

Need to defrost a steak and keep it moist? Run it under water!

Calling all carnivores!

When I tell you this is not just another steak recipe, you have to believe me. One sunny morning during the summer I was watching the Food Network and Tyler Florence was making his version of the ultimate steak. I was hooked the minute he covered the steaks with an egg white paste. A new and odd technique to me, I can't believe it took me months to actually try it. Not only was the entire piece perfectly medium rare, they were the most flavorful, juicy steaks I had ever tasted in my home. An absolute add-on must to your recipe collection.

I like to think that I can cook a pretty good steak. I mean,even though I work in a pastry kitchen and don't cook savory food as often, culinary school has got to be good for something. However, I realize that not everyone has that kind of advantage in the kitchen.

The Times Online is here for you. They have an article with five steps to cooking the perfect steak. It's pretty simple and straightforward. Along with the five steps are a cooking time guide and a photo slide-show of each of the steps.

If you're having trouble mastering steak, check it out. The article has great advice and some yummy pictures. Does anyone have more tips for cooking steaks?

Spoiler alert!

On last night's episode, we finally learned which four contestants will attend the show's finale in Puerto Rico. As a result, the episode really focused not on whose dishes were great or the best, but rather which contestant was not as good as the others. It was a bit like a game of musical chairs, where it didn't matter where you sat, as long as you weren't the last one standing.

Alright. That's it.

First we hear that the USDA has recalled 143 million pounds of beef, then that the recall extends as far back as two years. Now this news: a fourth herd of cattle in Minnesota has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to bad beef now. Though it is unlikely that humans can contract tuberculosis from beef because "any animal showing these signs is withheld from the food supply. In addition, adequate cooking destroys the bacteria. Further, the milk pasteurization process at processing plants destroys any potential bacteria," still, it makes me wonder if I should just swear off red meat for a while.

I'm just going to think about that while I finish the last few bites of my steak.

When it comes to the meat for your chili, you have a lot of options, and even options within options. Chili can be made with beef, poultry, or it can eschew meat altogether and go vegetarian. Turkey, chicken and vegetarian chilis are all fine, but I am a beef girl when it comes to chili.

A lot of people use ground beef for chili, which produces a very uniform, somewhat "fine" chili, but since ground beef cooks rather quickly, there is less of a reason to use a slow cooker. I prefer my chili a bit chunkier, so I buy a large piece of any of the less expensive, slightly tougher cuts of beef. Does that make me a cheapskate?!?! Maybe a little, but the reality is that the tougher cuts of beef are flavorful and hold up well during the slow cooking process that allows flavors to develop.

Preparing the Meat for Chili:
I bought a 2 lb rump roast, partly because I love the word "rump," but mostly because that's a good cut to use for chili. Rinse the meat, pat dry, and cut into ½" cubes. Dredge the cubes in about ½ c flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper and shake off as much of the excess flour as you can.

Heat 2-3 Tbsp canola oil over medium high heat and brown the coated beef on all sides. Set aside.

• 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.

I recently posted a list of the 88 worst fast food items. That list was based on the amount of trans fats in various fast foods. Now Men's Health has weighed in and picked the 20 Worst Foods in America, and this list is based not only on fats but also calories, sodium, and carbs.

Obviously, when you're talking fast food, a lot of it is going to be bad for you, but I guess it's good to have a list of specific foods and categories. For example, they name the McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (5 pieces) witih Ranch Dressing as the Worst Fast Food Chicken Meal. The Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie gets the Worst Drink nod. It's 900 calories, with 10 grams of fat and 166 grams of sugar.

What foods on the list do you regularly eat?

Men are better cooks than women.

Ha, just kidding! But I had to get your attention, right? Actually, men and women are equal in the kitchen, though they have their differences. I learned about the differences between men and women the first time I went to the beach (ba-doom bang - thank you everyone, I'm here all week!).

Esquire has a really nice section called Recipes For Men, where they feature a bunch of recipes from men, for men. Of course, don't worry ladies, we're probably making these for you tonight). Lots of meat and potatoes, sure, but spaghetti, lobster, and stews too.