• Ludo Lefebvre is cooking a $33 three-course porchetta dinner at Gram & Papa’s this Monday, December 19th. [Eater]
• Now that beer-laced candy is turning into a thing, bonbons are not just for the ladies anymore. [WSJ]
• A new book titled EATING MUD CRABS IN KANDAHAR: Stories of Food During Wartime by the World’s Leading Correspondents, looks at the importance and occasional horrors of eating in a warzone. [Newsday]
• How can a barbecue-chicken sandwich stay fresh for two years? Frighteningly, the Army has the answers. [NPR]
• See the winning food-based creations from the Style Invitational edible-art contest, whose contestants depicted the year’s events — Bin Laden’s death, the GOP primary race — in food. [WP]
• Jer-Ne veteran George Coombs Peterson, Jr. has been named the new chef at The Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. [PR Web]
• Well, this is no fun: Students at schools in Westford, Massachusetts, have been told not to bring holiday cookies, candies, or anything delicious to school parties — they can share popcorn and raisins instead. Wah-wah. [CBS Boston]
• The same as many Americans, jolly, fat Santa Claus became obese thanks to his association with Coca-Cola. [Eatocracy]