Biscuits. Everybody has an opinion on them - particularly in the South where nary a country breakfast spread exists without a steaming batch fresh out of the oven.

They're also served hot with a side of controversy: lard versus butter, White Lily flour versus run-of-the-mill, twisting or not twisting the biscuit cutter. Generations of home cooks, like Lisa Fain, have sat around the table buttering up their own version and debating the right way to make them.

Fain - a Texas native-turned-New Yorker - writes the Homesick Texan food blog, and has now compiled those nostalgic recipes she grew up with into “The Homesick Texan Cookbook.”

She's not claiming her biscuits are the end-all be-all, but you can bet your cowboy boots they're pretty darn delicious.

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We're highlighting local and regional bloggers we think you ought to know about. We can’t be everywhere at once, so we look to these passionate eaters, cooks and writers to keep us tapped into every facet of the food world. Consider this a way to get to know a blog’s taste buds, because, well, you should.

Meet today's featured bloggers and blog:
Who: Trevor Kensey, of Sis. Boom. [blog!]
Where: Southern California
Twitter: @SisBoomTweet
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• You can chill your red wine and drink pink Champagne. (Wine) Rules are meant to be broken. - GQ

• Eat like a chef: A new app switches it up and lets the professionals offer their reviews. - Bon Appétit

• How do college football players construct a game-winning strategy? Apparently by way of crab legs and sushi. - Wall Street Journal

• Something's burning in the kitchen: Food service workers - along with construction workers and miners - are among the occupations that smoke the most. - Business Week

• The real underlying themes at popular chain restaurants. - Gawker

Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to get our grub on, we listen up.

When it comes to French fries, I’m pretty much a purist. I’m perfectly happy with the Thrice-Cooked Chips (translation: twice-fried fries) at New York City’s The Breslin. But for many, that’s way too simple. Let’s look at a few enterprising places that get creative with their fries.

Thrasher's French Fries, Ocean City, Maryland
Thrasher’s has been serving fries on the boardwalk since 1929. The fries come in cup sizes: 16 ounces, 32 ounces and 53 ounces, at which point you’re basically in supersize popcorn bucket territory. Thrasher’s doesn't offer ketchup – only apple cider vinegar.

"We have no catsup, because we don't want anything competing with the wonderful taste of the French fried potato," owner Buddy Jenkins has said.
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Along the museum-flanked National Mall in Washington, D.C., food choices are limited but one of the newer Smithsonian attractions has set out to offer its visitors a unique and healthy dining experience. Inside the National Museum of the American Indian there’s a café where patrons can experience a taste of native indigenous cuisine from the western hemisphere. Mitsitam Café serves up a fusion of traditional, natural ingredients in a new-world style.

Patrons can choose from an extensive food list, including salmon roasted on a cedar plank, snapping turtle soup, tree honey white rice, beef tongue tacos and buffalo chili on fry bread.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

"Here's to thee, old apple tree!" - September 30 is National Mulled Apple Cider Day!

A seasonal, cozy drink that will warm you from your head to your toes, mulled apple cider is the ultimate way to welcome the fall season. We dare you to let the smell of spiced cider tickle your nose and not get in the spirit.

Steeping cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, clove and other aromatic and flavorful spices give mulled apple cider its memorable and nostalgia-inducing flavor. This holiday beverage is based on traditional wassail, which evolved from a saying "waes hael" or "Be in good health" during the Middle Ages.
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Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.
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