This Smoked Haddock Chowder Recipe (with pancetta and vegetables) at Serious Eats has readers scrambling to find smoked haddock, which is common in England. Smoked whitefish will do, which is usually found near smoked salmon in markets.

The recipe is from the Spotted Pig restaurant in Greenwich Village, where a serving is on the menu at $15.

via Kottke

Meltable medium: Crayon Sculpture Artist Herb Williams at The Design Inspiration, sample at left.

Curl up by the fire: Update - The 2009 Weblog Awards are off

"Unfortunately the resources required to handle the load of voting (nearly 1,000,000 votes in 2008) could not be adequately provisioned. Even if the servers and bandwidth required appeared today it would be at least a few weeks before everything could be ready for voting..."

Here's an alt-list from Fimoculous of their current favorite blogs: 30 Best Blogs of 2009.

Most are probably not on your daily rotation already. New territory for a cold winter night.

Sad: Nil by mouth. Film critic Roger Ebert can neither eat, drink or speak after cancer and unsuccessful restoration surgeries.

Isn't it sad to be unable eat or drink? Not as sad as you might imagine. I save an enormous amount of time. I have control of my weight. Everything agrees with me. And so on.

What I miss is the society. Lunch and dinner are the two occasions when we most easily meet with friends and family. They're the first way we experience places far from home. Where we sit to regard the passing parade. How we learn indirectly of other cultures. When we feel good together. Meals are when we get a lot of our talking done -- probably most of our recreational talking. That's what I miss. Because I can't speak that's's another turn of the blade.