Yet more evidence that the internets work hard so you don't have to: Slashfood taste-tests the Jones Soda holiday pack. Let us all pause and salute this fearless blogger.

In food news of a more personal nature, today was the day of partially successful cooking projects: we tried to convert the Weber into an Alton Brown style smoker (w/ hot plate, pie pan, and wood chips). Sarah has some pics. What we ended up with was not so much barbecue as a medium rare brisket with excellent smoke flavor. While that was ongoing, I whipped up a sweet potato pie. Much closer to success but still not quite there. Crust good and filling flavor good but filling texture wasn't quite right. Well, I just followed the recipe on the can of sweet potatoes so I'll have to experiment a bit and see what I can figure out.