Eating Humble Pie: A cough-syrup-in-the-gravy scandal? Furor over a switch from soft Wigan pies to a crustier kind from another British town? Just another year in the annual world meat-pie-eating contest in England. (The winner ate an entire pie in 35.86 seconds. Probably much bigger than the ones in this picture.)

Will There Be a Domino's Classic? The pizza chain is changing its recipe for sauce and dough, and will change up its cheeses so that it can keep up with changing American tastes. The new pizzas will be in all stores by Dec. 27.

Face Time: Food Network's top "foodgasm" shots of the year. 'Nuff said.

Bark If You Love Beer: A dog collar that opens beer bottles. C'mere, boy!

Want Wi-Fi With That Big Mac? McDonald's plans to offer free Wi-Fi at 11,000 locations as part of its bid to turn into a place to hang out.

Feels Like a Brown-Bag Day, Kids: In its continuing probe of school cafeterias, USA Today reports that 26,500 of them haven't had their required health inspections. It's never a good sign when "norovirus" replaces tater tots as the side of the day.

Sounds Fishy: If you're someone who takes fish-oil supplements, consider where it comes from ... and how a single company has control over 90 percent of a vital, but little-known fish called the menhaden, according to this New York Times opinion piece.

Drinking and Dying in the Line of Duty: A Chinese police officer drinks himself to death at a government function. What does the Chinese government do? It declares him a martyr who died in the line of duty.

Guess what's been brewing on the International Space Station for five months? While orbiting the earth at 17,000 miles per hour, scientists grew barley from seeds. Sapporo then brewed the galactic barley, transforming it into 1,500 Space Barley beers. Does the $20 bottling taste out of this world? BBC News reports that drinkers would never guess the origin of this specious beer. No word yet on when we can expect our first celestial sparkling wine.

Kellogg's Yanks Health Claims: The cereal company's getting rid of the immunity claims on its boxes of Rice Crispies and Cocoa Krispies because of the heightened concern people have about swine flu.

Meet the White House Food Guru: Sam Kass isn't just another University of Chicago history major-turned-food dude, he's also hugely influential on the Obamas' take on food and health.

Do You Know How to Eat Sushi? No? Then consider taking sushi lessons from this guy. (Or just save yourself $105 and remember to dip the fish, not the rice, and not put wasabi in your soy sauce.)

So the Yankees Won the World Series: No. 27 for the Bombers. What did you eat or drink to celebrate? Or what did you throw at the TV in your fury? Just curious.

Buzzworthy trend? More and more states are making it legal for beers to contain more alcohol, up to as much as 16 percent.

Alabama raised the maximum amount in beer from 6 percent to 13.9 percent this year; West Virginia from 6 percent to 12 percent.

Last year, Vermont said it was OK for brewers to create beer with 16 percent alcohol content by volume, and Montana raised the max to 14 percent. (The average beer contains 4.65 percent alcohol, an average wine 11.45 percent.)

North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ohio all passed similar changes to the law from 2002 to 2007. Iowa and Mississippi are eyeing the possibility of joining the pack.

Questions you might be asking yourself in October if you pay attention to the beer selection at your local market: What is pumpkin ale? When did it become so darn popular? And do they really make beer out of squash?

History
America is the land of DIYers and our founding fathers were no exception. George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are all said to have brewed beer from pumpkins. They had to: Barley and other ingredients used to make liquor in the Old World were scarce in America. So settlers used whatever they could get their hands on, including parsnips, molasses, squash, corn, and apples. (This also explains why applejack brandy was so popular back in the old days.) But truth be told, the craze for pumpkin beers didn’t really take off until the late 20th century, when craft brewers started playing with the genre.

Guinness:
Yesterday, September 24, was the 250th anniversary of Guinness. As the Irish Times reports, Arthur Guinness invested £100 in a 9,000-year lease on a rundown brewery in Dublin's St James's Gate. The rest, as they say, is history. The stuff's now served in 150 countries. It's also in 19 Epicurious recipes.

Johnnie Walker Black Label:
September 29 marks the 100th anniversary of the blended Scotch whisky that was said to be Frank Sinatra's drink of choice. A new limited-edition bottle should be making the rounds at specialty liquor shops now; ask for the "Johnnie Walker Black Label Centenary Pack." What to pair with it? Snooth has some Epicurious recipe suggestions.

Bloody Mary:
October 5 is the 75th anniversary of the cocktail, if you believe that the "Red Snapper," created at the King Cole Bar in New York, is the original incarnation. To honor the drink, chefs and restaurants including Charlie Palmer, The Palm, 21 Club, Adour Alain Ducasse, WD-50, Dovetail, The Spotted Pig, and others will be developing their own Bloody Mary recipes, which can be tasted throughout October at the King Cole Bar. Proceeds from the drink sales go to City Meals on Wheels, a charity that delivers meals to the homebound elderly in New York City. 

This Saturday marks the start of Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival. The main event takes place in Munich, Germany, but celebrations take place around the world in countries as varied as Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and the United States.

To learn the story behind this annual event (including why it starts in September) and for a list of some of the best stateside celebrations, read our Oktoberfest feature, Welcome to the Wies'n.

Beer may be the focus, but German food, especially sausages, is an important part of any good Oktoberfest. Don't know the difference between knockwurst and bratwurst? We spoke to sausage-maker Bruce Aidells who gave us an overview of the major German sausages, suggestions for what to serve them with, and his favorite online sources.

Hosting your own Oktoberfest or looking to prepare some authentic German dishes (think Beer-Braised Sausages, German Potato Salad, Spaetzle, and Sauerkraut)? Check out our Oktoberfest recipes and menus.

Bunches of beets were stacked high at the farmers' market this morning, and I bought some, since I know they are nutritious. Indeed, just this week the BBC reported that beet juice increases stamina.

However, I admit I'm totally beet-ignorant. I found a slew of recipes on Epi, of course, but then I stumbled on The Local Beet's advice on brewing beer from beets. Intriguing!

Have you tasted beet beer? Can you make beer from other vegetables?

1. What should the new name of the Epi-Log food quiz be? ("Contemporary Comestibles Quiz" has that nice alliteration thing going on, but "comestibles" isn't a great word for SEO.)

_______________

2. What did loudmouthed food personality Gordon Ramsay compare an Australian television interviewer to at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show, earning a rebuke from the Australian prime minister?
a. a New Zealander
b. Rachael Ray
c. a pig
d. Adolf Hitler

More food quiz after the jump.

Do people drink more beer when it's warm outside? I know I do. Indeed, we are entering prime beer season. The buzzwords have started to bombard us: grilling, pizza, summer, picnics, graduation, outdoor, baseball, burgers. I equate beer with all of these. (Not that I don't equate beer with winter, football, and indoor, too.)

Two new books approach beer from very different angles. One tackles the subject from a primer perspective: the history, the science, the tasting rituals. The other leans on culinary coordination and features beer-friendly recipes. Yes, both feature beer drinks, too (see our beer cocktails in the drinking section).