Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 8 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Second Sons."

"Ambitious climbers never want to stay on the second highest rung." -- Cersei Lannister

There aren't any runner-ups in the game of thrones. You...

Taco Bell claims that its product developers came up with the idea for the Doritos Locos Taco -- probably the most successful new fast food item of the 21st century so far, with more than half a billion sold in the past 14 months -- at

Some teetotalers are fond of saying that alcohol is a poison. But on a business trip to Dallas, Panama City resident Justin Grogg discovered that you can accidentally ingest far worse poisons than alcohol while drinking beer. Like potassium hydroxide -- aka lye.

Grogg revealed the horrific chain of...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 7 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "The Bear And The Maiden Fair."

"What happens to things that don't bend?" -- Danaerys Targaryen

If you didn't know that this week's episode, "The Bear and the Maiden Fair,"...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 6 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "The Climb."

"Chaos isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them." -- Petyr Baelish

This week, 21st Century Distillery announced that its flagship Blue Ice Potato Vodka had become the first distilled spirit to be certified as "gluten-free" by the federal government.

Specifically, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau -- "TTB" for short -- approved a request by 21st Century...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 5 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Kissed By Fire."

"I always hated the politics." -- Ser Barristan Selmy

What happens when passion collides with politics? If the two forces come into conflict, which wins out? And...

Tripe, bone marrow and veal's tongue may have been unusual sights on upscale restaurant menus in 1993. But they aren't in 2013.

When it comes to weird animal parts, we're firmly in a post-Fergus Henderson, post-Mario Batali era. Nose-to-tail enthusiasts like April Bloomfield of The Spotted Pig, Chris Cosentino...

America doesn't give the margarita the respect it deserves.

Most margaritas served in the States are treacly, salty, gooey abominations: 24 ounce swamps of half-melted ice sweetened with corn syrup and tinted bright green with food coloring. As a result, most Americans think of margaritas as harbingers of hangovers, love...

Watch out, cucumber fans: your favorite raw vegetable has been tied to an outbreak of salmonella.

Marler Blog reported on Thursday that 73 people in 18 states have contracted salmonellosis after eating cucumbers imported from Mexico over the past several months. Twenty-eight of those who have fallen ill...

On Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced bills to the Senate and House of Representatives that would require food manufacturers to clearly label any product containing genetically engineered ingredients -- or risk having that product classified "misbranded" by the FDA.

Boxer and DeFazio have...

The Food and Drug Administration has officially broken the law by failing to release regulations needed to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the 2011 legislation meant to overhaul the nation's food safety system.

That was the key finding in the case of Center for Food Safety v. Hamburg,...

What energy-rich commodity is harvested from beneath the Earth's surface and subject to price fixing by a small group of powerful landowners?

If you guessed "oil," you're not wrong. But according to the plaintiffs in antitrust disputes currently underway in two U.S. District Courts, "potatoes" is a valid...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 4 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "And Now His Watch Is Ended."

"He would see this country burn so he could be king of the ashes," -- Varys

In this episode, as in most, everyone's being...

"The Way of All Flesh," the cover story of this month's Harper's magazine, may be named after a well-regarded 1903 novel by Samuel Butler, but it includes more gory details than a typical zombie movie.

Yet "The Way of All Flesh" isn't "Walking Dead" fan...

Chick fil-A salads are getting healthier. At least theoretically.

On April 29, the chicken chain will ditch the four salads currently on its menu in favor of three new ones, which it claims will be healthier than the ones they replace. Here's a publicity photo of the new Cobb Salad,...

So much of food writing is restaurant recommendations. Telling people where to eat is as much the central task of food writers as telling people what team won the game is the central task of sports writers. (Both types have other important roles to play as well, of course --...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 3 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Walk of Punishment."

"There's a beast in every man. And it stirs when you put a sword in his hand. But the Unsullied are not men." -- Jorah Mormont

The...

IRVINE, CALIF. -- Would you eat a "Mexagon"?

Probably not. The name, an unappetizing portmanteau of "Mexico" and "hexagon," might sound more appropriate for a high-school geometry class than for your lunch hour. Yet Stephanie Perdue, Taco Bell's marketing director, recalls it being floated as the name for one...

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 2 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Dark Wings, Dark Words."

"Everyone hates the cave people." -- Mance Rayder

This week, in the second episode of Season 3, "Dark Wings, Dark Words," we visited some characters who...