An outdoor festival in October when Austin's temperatures are at their finest – sounds good. A festival at which dozens of the area's food and wine purveyors provide a wide range of samples – a food-lover's dream. A festival that costs $100 a pop to attend – wait, what? But given the breadth and quality of culinary establishments present, it may well be worth it to attend La Dolce Vita, the Austin Museum of Art's annual food and wine festival.

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Several weeks ago, Austin saw its first Cupcake Smackdown. This past week, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau held the 6th Annual Cocktail Throwdown. First, bars were invited to submit their version of the “official drink of Austin” (made with Austin's own Titos Handmade Vodka). Then these were pared down to just the top five. And finally, on September 24th, we got to try out those top runners and vote for the one we felt best represented our fair city.

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Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. These seven simple words are the first paragraph of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. By elaborating on those words, he aims to “help us reclaim our health and happiness as eaters.”

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Nestled in the heart of the central-Texas Hill Country, about two-hours’ drive west of Austin, lies a small and unassuming winery that produces a most surprising libation. It could almost be mistaken for a light chardonnay, except the aroma is oddly vegetal and causes a slight sting in the nose. Billed for use in cooking and marinating, or for simply adventurous drinking, the wine is sampled by guests with equal parts curiosity and trepidation. The first wave of flavor is bright and fruity, but it quickly gives way to an escalating spicy heat. Incredibly, the essence of Texas's favorite chili pepper is perfectly captured in this tiny glass of jalapeno wine.

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It was very early when we arrived - between 4 and 4:30 on the morning of May 2nd. The poorly lit parking lot was difficult to navigate, and smoke and sleep deprivation hung heavy in the air. We had just arrived at the early stages of the 5th annual Texas Culinary Academy barbecue cook-off.

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Since my departure from engineering almost a year ago, I've thought through several alternate career paths. For a split second, I even considered the notion of being a professional food critic. The odds of this ever being a realistic career path for me are slim to none, particularly given that I'm too much a fan of food to enjoy writing about something I didn't like. For a highly entertaining vicarious look into the life of a food critic, though, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl cannot be beaten.

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The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice (P.S.), by Trevor Corson is one of the most well-researched food books I've read. The author clearly knows his subject well and delivers ridiculous amount of information in such a natural progression that I couldn't help but tear though the book in large doses, scarfing down difficult-to-come-by knowledge like book-starved lunatic.

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When you decide, as an appreciator of food and food-writing, that you're going to read MFK Fisher, it can be very difficult to know where to start. She has a rather large body of worked scattered throughout various memoirs, anthologies, and publications. Fisher is infinitely quotable and (I'm sorry to say) until I had read this book, her quotes and a few articles about her were my only exposure. To help fill the void, I picked up what is considered by some to be her best book – The Gastronomical Me.

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It was recently suggested by my spouse that I should let everyone know why I haven't been posting lately. Also, I've recently noticed that I'm woefully behind on my emails. Ordinarily, I'm a fairly considerate person. This time, I just didn't handle things properly. For that, I apologize.

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Food and science go hand in hand. Chemistry and physics help explain what happens when heat (or cold, or acid, etc.) is applied to food. Biology helps describe the ingredients we consume. Nutritional science helps us understand how to meet the body's needs. Yet so many folks, when they hear something that sounds vaguely scientific or technical, immediately tune it out assuming they won't be able to understand it. For those people (as well as us devout food-nerds) I present What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke.

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