Weatherford College is rushing to ready citizens of Weatherford, which went wet two short years ago, for an onslaught of thirsty Super Bowl-goers. The school’s work force and continuing education department is partnering with Wild Mushroom Restaurant to train new bartenders. While graduates of the weeklong course aren’t guaranteed employment,…

The Girl Scouts’ cookie sales season starts this week. And while there aren’t any new cookies on the roster this year, the scouts are celebrating the 35th anniversary of Samoas — a caramel-coconut concoction that debuted in a year the organization might otherwise wish to forget. Girl Scouts have been…

Dallas’ dining scene is back in the national spotlight today, with Eater publishing its Dallas “heat map,” described as “a chronicle of the city’s restaurants of the moment.” Two-thirds of the restaurants were chosen by, um, me, in response to an e-mail soliciting names of the town’s most-discussed eateries. “Not…

Customers at Dallas area Subway restaurants will soon be able to ask their sandwich artists to hold the gluten. According to a release published on Celiac.com, billed as the “first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease,” Subway plans to test a gluten-free roll and gluten-free brownie in…

The U.S. Postal Service is giving letter writers a chance to express their inner culinarians. For occasions when a president or petunia won’t do, the USPS is releasing a stamp depicting a fork, knife and spoon. It’s one of a dozen stamps on a pane honoring “pioneers of American industrial…

Chick-Fil-A, which has more outlets in Texas than any other state, has come under attack for allegedly partnering with an organization Advocate.com calls “Pennsylvania’s largest antigay, anti-marriage equality group.” According to an Advocate report, Chick-Fil-A is sponsoring two Pennsylvania Family Institute events advertised as workshops to help “couples apply what…

Rooting for Ohio State isn’t an easy thing for a native Michigander to do. But we Midwesterners believe conference loyalty trumps internecine rivalries (I’m told SEC fans take a different approach), so last night I cheered for the Buckeyes in the Sugar Bowl — a task made exponentially easier by…

“Fifteen years ago, people were saying ‘What the heck’s a pixie tangerine?'” says Robert Schueller, spokesman for Melissa’s Produce, a specialty citrus distributor. According to Schueller, most tangerine fans now know the answer to that question — and he anticipates a newer tangerine variety now available at Central Market may…

Salon senior writer Frances Lam has sworn off cheap chicken. In a New Year’s Day post on the Salon food blog, Lam shared his resolution for 2011: “I will only buy chicken that is well raised, so that I will support the people doing that work. I will ask where…

Matt McCallister, who helped inaugurate the extraordinarily popular Fuego concept at Stephan Pyles before tendering his resignation there, has announced a series of three limited-seating dinners. McCallister is planning to depart Dallas for a series of culinary apprenticeships at three of the nation’s leading restaurants, but will first offer tasting…

A maverick and an outlander took second and third places in Terlingua’s 20th annual Black-Eyed Pea Off this weekend. About three dozen cooks entered the benefit contest, which got its start as a showdown between Desert Deli Diner owner Pam Ware and Tommy Hancock, owner of Lubbock’s legendary Cotton Club…

Food writer Josh Ozersky – who this year covered the locavore movement, coined the word lardcore and found himself at the center of a journalistic ethics firestorm – yesterday told Eater the biggest dining surprise of 2010 was “how great the food was in Dallas,” a city he previously believed…

The burger industry publication, Burger Business, has named Twisted Root Burger Co. as one of 11 “burger chains to watch in 2011,” a designation the Dallas-based chain’s owner doesn’t dispute. Reached by phone this morning, Jason Boso said he was out late last night celebrating the hiring of his friend…

While a new culinary nutrition textbook is geared toward chefs working in professional kitchens, a co-author says the book’s advice would be equally appropriate for amateurs charting new diet plans for 2011. “Moderation and variety is the key,” says Cathy Powers, a former Culinary Institute of America associate dean and…

Another Texas vodka has reached the Dallas market, although an owner of Rebecca Creek Distillery says his spirits company won’t confine itself to vodka for long. “These are the first two products,” Brian Lowrance says of Enchanted Rock vodka and a single malt barley whiskey set for release next year…

The locals here either have a thing for rice and beans – or an underdeveloped habit of using Allmenus.com to order food for delivery. The website recently released its city-by-city tally of the foods ordered most frequently in 2010. According to its calculations, eaters in Seattle tend to dine in…

Tonight marks the second time the Detroit Red Wings have come to town since acquiring center Mike Modano, so the Free Press’ beat writer last night seized the opportunity to check out the restaurant Modano left behind. Helene St. James veered from sports reporting to food criticism on her blog…

Texas could be on the cutting edge of the rarified swine trend.The New York Times this morning devoted 50 column inches to the little-known Mangalitsa, positing the zaftig Hungarian breed might be the “next It Hog in the great American pig-out.” (The story in the Dining section wasn’t the first…

The only thing worse than coming back from vacation is beating the rest of the world back to work — especially if you’re a reporter waiting for return phone calls. It’s been a quiet day in the office. But all that time spent in silence hasn’t gone to waste: Today…