Breakfast Sausage in Washington State. From Flickr user ramparts54s Flickr.

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously-- Midnight Sausage: Minneapolis, MN

I never thought I'd see the day when I had something in common with President Bush, but here it is. Apparently we both love asparagus. Who knew?

On the German leg of his European tour last week, President Bush commented on how great the German asparagus was, saying how much he enjoys the vegetable. According to McClatchy online, the President now has a chance to sample ten pounds of Washington State asparagus, sent to the White House by two Washington State lawmakers.

Senator Patty Murray and representative Doc Hastings are naturally proud of the asparagus from their state, as Washington provides about 40% of the asparagus produced in the US. It's one of my very favorite vegetables. I'm not sure if President Bush feels as strongly about asparagus as I do, but at least he has some taste. How do you feel about asparagus?

In two different articles, two sets of schools -- one set of schools in the Twin Cities, MN, and 100 schools in Washington state -- will not be serving beef that originates from California.

The USDA is investigating the Hallmark slaughterhouse in California, the subject in videos released by The Humane Society of the United States after a six-week undercover investigation. In the video, workers at the meat processing plant repeatedly kicked cows and rammed them with the blades of a forklift. The cows were also said to be sick, which is a major health concern. Sicks cows could be carrying Mad Cow disease or e Coli.

Soon, New York City might not be the only place in the country with a ban on trans-fats in restaurants. The Washington State Board of Health and Public Health commended the NY Board of Health and said that the ban "is a step in the right direction and is boosting awareness of the ingredient's link to heart disease and stroke." They will spend the next several months conducting their own studies to see whether or not to follow suit and ban the use of trans fats in the state.

The biggest issue holding them back from making the decision at this point is whether or not a change could drive small companies out of business. The National Restaurant Association has raised concerns in the past over whether the demand for trans-fat free oils will meet the growing demand, saying that the deadlines imposed by the NY Board of Health could cause restaurant owners, especially small ones, to pay a premium for the oils just to meet them, while larger restaurants will have the clout to work out more equitable deals with suppliers.

Many Seattle restaurants and smaller chains have already shifted to trans-fat free products, or are in the process of doing so. They say that it is an important issue to their customer base and they want to make them happy. The fact that these changes are already taking place could encourage the Board of Health to move forward with the issue.

A couple of guys up in Seattle had an argument about what the best local burger was. Unable to come to a consensus, they devoted an entire week to scouring the area and sampling burgers. Since 2003, when they started, they have expanded their search area to all of Washington State and added four more friends to their tasting panel. It may not be scientific - not that tasting a burger can really ever be completely objective - but it is thorough. The Seattle PI has a day-by-day account of this year's tasting tour. They started off with the 10-lb. Tsunami Burger at the Corral Drive-In and ate at one classic burger joint on each subsequent day. This year's winner was the Chuck Wagon Drive-In in Mount Vernon, WA. But even though we now know the winner, as with most food related endeavors, getting there is half the fun, so take a minute to peruse the whole story, especially if you're in the Pacific Northwest.

If a ninth-grade class gets its way, the Washington state apple may soon have another denizen of the produce aisle join it as a state symbol: the Walla Walla sweet onion. Kirkland Junior High School teacher Toni Miller's class managed to get the state House to vote 95-1 in favor of making the Walla Walla the state vegetable. Next, it goes to the Senate.

Miller sowed the seed for the "onion bill" three years ago as a way to infuse some pungency into what's usually a bland civics lesson. Miller's students were glad to see that they could play a role in government, but not all of them line up behind the onion. "I thought it should be the coffee bean," one girl quipped. For more see The Seattle Times.

[photo: The Seattle Times]

Today was the first day that three new Viticultural areas, or wine regions, in Washington (Wahluke Slope), Texas (Texoma) and California, can be noted on wine labels. NPR has a nice piece on how this happened in Ramona Valley, near San Diego, Calif. In order to be designated as its own appellation, a region must prove that it has unique topography and climate; that there is some history of the area being called, in this case, "Ramona Valley"; and that wine grapes can, and are, being grown there.

Ramona Valley is distinct thanks to its position about 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and about 20 miles from the desert. It cools off quickly during the evening, but the days provide long hours of warmth and good ripening time. Grapes that do well in Ramona Valley, says a winemaker, include Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc.