5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

When it comes to pastas, we're somewhat of a noodle narrow-minded country. It's the usual suspects over and over again: Spaghetti, macaroni, lasagna, rigatoni, linguine.

Craig Wallen of Spasso Restaurant believes it's high time we came out of our stuffed shells - and is here to expand your horizons by way of carbs. Lots and lots of carbs.

Five Obscure Pastas You Should Know - and Try: Craig Wallen
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There's only so much turkey a man can take.

iReporter, Grilling.com writer and Smoke in Da Eye competition BBQ chronicler and team member Clint Cantwell found himself having to gobble down waaayyyy too much of the bird. After roasting, deep-frying and smoking three different turkeys for Thanksgiving last year, he needed a bit of a palate cleanser. Naturally, he swung swine-ward.

Cantwell crafted a pig entirely out of pork as a Thanksgiving appetizer. "Pork E. Pigskin," as he was dubbed, had hot links for legs, a sausage body, ham ears, Vienna sausage nose, a pork rind tail and a bacon wrap.
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• From the masterminds that brought you the "laughing women eating salad" meme, we present "women struggling to drink water." - The Hairpin

• John Besh lays down the law when it comes to fishy offenses. - Food & Wine

• Dining out alone? There's an app for that. - Washington Post

• Dippin' Dots, the "ice cream of the future," may soon be the "ice cream of the past" as it files for bankruptcy protection. - Wall Street Journal

• Napoleon complex and your morning coffee: what the size of your coffee cup says about you. - The Atlantic

Around this time last year, we ran a series of polls on bad customer behavior, from inconsiderate grocery store patrons to folks practically making babies at their restaurant table.

Today's debate comes courtesy of a 30 weeks pregnant mom arrested last week in Honolulu after she ate a sandwich in a Safeway store and forgot to pay. Nicole Leszczynski, a former Air Force staff sergeant, was charged with fourth-degree theft, a petty misdemeanor, as was her husband Marcin. The charges were later dropped by the store, but per standard procedure when both parents are arrested with a child present, Honolulu police called Child Welfare Services, and their 2 year old daughter was taken into custody overnight.
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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.

Can you feel the sugar rush? - November 4 is National Candy Day!

Unless you're still reeling from an influx of sugar because of extensive trick-or-treating or candy shoveling, this has to be one of the best food holidays of the year. Plus, now is the absolute best time to wipe the grocery store shelves clean of any leftover (and heavily discounted) Halloween candy.

Candy has evolved over the years but we've been using that word since our days of speaking Middle English (care for some Chaucer, anyone?). The word was derived from Old French, meaning "cane sugar." The ever-inventive American spirit prevailed and we expanded from chomping on cane sugar to chocolate, caramels, candy bars, sours, licorice, tarts, taffy, lollipops, gumdrops and the list don't stop.
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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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