The Amateur Gourmet has a great Q&A with Michael Ruhlman on his new book, The Elements of Cooking.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley has a fantastic lead in his column today about the Georgia-Auburn series.

The James Beard Foundation has released its list of the 20 essential cookbooks.

The New York Times’ Grub Street blog wonders if white truffles have jumped the shark after today’s announcement that the restaurant at Times Square’s Westin Hotel will be offering a $1,000 white truffle bagel.

A nice article by SI.com’s Cory McCartney on IU being bowl eligible for the first time. It’s a nice article if you haven’t been reading these kinds of stories in the Indianapolis Star or other places who do a much more thorough job, as they should, of covering IU football.  McCartney’s article does, in my opinion, give a little too much credit to interim coach Bill Lynch for the job he’s done. Given their schedule, a schedule that doesn’t include Michigan or Ohio State, it would have been tough for them not to get to six wins this year. I don’t think he should be hired back at the program’s permanent leader but I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

I don’t like….

The Writers’ strike may bump the new season of Lost back to Fall 2008 or — February 2009! The LA Times has a great grid showing, by network, how many episodes popular TV shows had in the can before going dark this week.

Why are priests stalking Conan O’Brien?

If you get bored, I’d highly recommend Kevin Smith’s Smodcast that he does with longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier. Really funny, insightful stuff on a variety of topics, the least of which appear to be movies. Here’s the link if you’re interested.

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No, seriously…

Who knew an exclamation point could be so expensive.

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Will the NHL return to ESPN next season? And by next season, we mean 2008-2009.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are suing Ticketmaster, claiming the ticket broker of being a *gasp* monopoly?!?! I hate buying anything through Ticketmaster. I think if I had all of my “convenience charges” back, I could finance an Web 2.0 start-up.

You know you’re in trouble when Michael Irvin comes to your defense.

The Titans are shutting down Pacman Jones’ dreams of becoming the next Superfly Jimmy Snuka.

Freddy Adu signs with Portuguese football club Benfica. Wanna know why the MLS is never going to be a successful and respected soccer league? Because it can’t hold onto talent like Adu.

T.J. “Who’s your momma?” thinks NFL commish Roger Goodell is being “mean” to Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman.

Fanhouse’s Big Ten preview.

• Most underrated players
• Impact freshmen
• Players with big shoes to fill

A rare Navy football story.

Eric Wright and Joe Thomas have agreed to contracts with the Browns. Brady Quinn continues to act like a moron.

Wisconsin AD, and former football coach, Barry Alvarez is in favor of a Big Ten championship game if the league expands to 12 teams.

Chicago Tribune columnist says Big 10 commish has some ‘splaining to do.

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock calls out Priest Holmes.

LSU head coach Les Miles tries to downplay all of the stupid things he’s said this off-season.

Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge is in search of a go-to receiver. Erik, his name is Robert Meachem, he’s in New Orleans. Just thought I could help.

L.A. Times’ columnist T.J. Simers proves can make you an elitist jerk.

Mark Richt says his Georgia Bulldogs are not “too far away” from being a title contender. Check his office for a gas leak.

The AJC’s Tony Barnhart on the early Heisman race and the five things to expect in the SEC this year.

The AJC’s Jeff Schultz says Georgia is flying under the radar and could surprise some people this year.

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Well-rounded news…

The Consumerist is reporting that Best Buy has fired some Geek Squad personnel following newspaper articles about “agents” taking files from customer’s computer.

Select Best Buy stores open mini-Apple stores.

NBC wants the sometimes-funny Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan O’Brian as late night host.

Premiere’s 20 fresh faces of comedy.

A major investment group has called for the resignation of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey after it was discovered he was posting to a Yahoo! stock forum anonymously.

The Federal Trade Commission may block Whole Foods’ acquisition of rival Wild Oats. Seriously, consumers need two places where they can buy overpriced health food. Good lookin’ out, FTC.

The New York Times and NBC News will collaborate on their coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.

A first look at the Lost videogame. Warning: You should secure your brain before you watch this! I almost lost mine. No pun intended.

A teaser trailer for the Dark Knight. Oh man. I don’t usually get excited about trailers, especially one that is 45 seconds long. But I’m a dork and I like Batman so this made me excited. 

New Cold War Kids video for “Hospital Beds”.

Kathy Griffin on her date with Andrew W.K.

Kevin Smith to write and direct episode of Heroes spin-off.

Some Lost news from Comic-Con.