Last night I was reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Dreamgirls on the cover and a really stupid "women aren't funny" article by Christopher Hitchens inside), and I suddenly got a really strong scent of pomegranates. I had no idea where it was coming from until I flipped through the magazine and saw an ad for a pomegranate drink, and it had one of those "lift and smell" flaps that you usually see in cologne ads. Now they're doing it with food and drink. Interesting. Anyway, the smell was overwhelming (in a good way), even when I finished reading the mag and threw it out. I smelled it all last night when I was in bed.

Pomegranates are all the rage now. They're amazingly good for you, they taste good, and there are lots of things you can do with them. The Boston Globe explores the phenomenon.

We dished out a Sarah G. vs. Sarah G. food war, pitting Pittsburgh's pierogis against oysters, pierogis against Seattle's raw and salty oysters, Seattle's Pan-Asian fusion cuisine against Pittsburgh's Polish (yes, again) pierogis, Polish sausage against smoked salmon.

We went further, chalking up ate (8) reasons why Pittsburgh is better than Seattle, or is it Seattle is better than Pittsburgh? Finally Sarah Gim rounded up her Pittsburgh talking points, probably assuming she'd sealed the deal.

Au contraire, my friend. I am here to say, uncontrovertibly, that Seattle's food rocks, from its seafood to its apples to its sweet, sweet Walla Walla sweets.

Now it's your turn. Lob in your volleys in the Seattle vs. Pittsburgh debate! After all the battling, which Sarah G. convinced you that her chosen city's cuisine rocks the NFL?

Seven new "superfoods" have been added to the original list of 14 by Dr. Steven Pratt, the founder of the superfoods movement. Superfoods are generally defined as foods that are incredibly nutrient dense, more so than any other foods. In his new book, Pratt describes the nutritional properties of these foods in detail, as well as naming similar foods, or "sidekicks", which have similar properties. Pratt's seven new superfoods are:

• Pomegranates
• Apples
• Kiwi
• Honey
• Cinnamon 
• Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Dark Chocolate

I wonder if there are any recipes that involve all the superfoods. These new ones seem as though they might be combined into some sort of dessert, but once you have added beans, blueberries, salmon and soy from the original 14, your dish will start to look very unusual, not to mention fairly unappetizing.