"It's Awards Season. The Super Bowl is coming. And you know you have to catch up with Don Draper at a Mad Men Marathon before the new season starts. So get off the couch and into the spirit. Turn on the tube, throw a party, and invite some friends– because The Table Set wants you and your guests to tune in and turn up your TV party's volume."

It was my turn to write the show notes for this week's episode of The Table Set and that's how I chose to introduce it. I hope it adequately describes what a particularly fun episode this was for us to record. Because you have to agree when must-see TV shows roll around it's just way more fun to tune in with friends.

The Super Bowl is probably the biggest of all the televised events when it comes to food. People go all out with their Super Bowl spreads. In fact I read somewhere that The Super Bowl was the second largest "Food Holiday" in the U.S. Second only to (yep you guessed it) Thanksgiving.

But I'll be honest. I don't care for football. I don't care for most televised sporting events. Same goes for award shows. I have trouble relating what's happening on the screen to all the crazy stuff in my life. Still, that's never stopped me from attending some of these events IRL (in real life). In fact in the episode I talk a little bit about what it is like to actually attend the Academy Awards and even walk the red carpet. I'll let you in on a little secret, the show is hardly the best part of the evening.

I am pretty proud of today's Farro & Sun-Dried Tomato Fritters though I admit they don't really look like much. That's one of the problems facing food bloggers these days. If you want to reach a wide audience (and who doesn't) your food has to look extra special scrumptious, be super colorful, get wrapped in bacon, or at least have a peanut butter swirl. These foods may look pretty (especially when they are tied up in a bow), but they don't always ignite the imaginations of the more mature palates amongst us. It is kind of a Catch 22. Because the very sites (FoodGawker, TasteSpotting and more and more Pinterest) that have brought food bloggers together as a powerful community have also played a part in limiting what defines good food on the web. Leaving really delicious or super sophisticated food cast aside as un-loved and un-clicked.

That's why I feel so sad for these fritters. Sure they look like hard brown hockey pucks. But they're not, I promise you. Farro is delicious. It's got a nutty taste and a terrific texture. Farro contains a starch similar to that found in Arborio rice. It releases a creamy, binding liquid when cooked. But it retains its tender, distinct bite, much better than rice. Making it a perfect choice for fritters. But I have a feeling none of that matters. In fact I may as well have titled this recipe Ferret Fritters, at least I'd get the friends of ferrets society up in arms. Hmmm... just how big an audience are ferret lovers any way? GREG

Okay. I am basically a thin fellow. But it’s New Years and I realize I could stand to lose a few pounds. That’s because we are programed to be dis-satisfied with ourselves this time of year. Even we skinny folk aren't immune to this sort of thinking. Besides, I honestly could stand to lose a few pounds. So that means it’s time for New Year’s Resolutions, right?

Well, I only have one New Year’s Resolution this year and it’s this: No matter how fat I get I won’t drink lite beer.

And I am not talking brand here. I mean any lite beer– ever. It’s gonna be tough. Our society is set up for easy (read lazy) short cuts when it comes to diets. Just cut carbs! Don’t eat meat! Read this book! Buy that product! Now I realize there are perfectly legit reasons to cut carbs, forgo meat, read books and buy products. But doing any of these things solely to lose weight is pathetic. I know that's harsh... but too many people think there is some magic bullet that will make them skinny (read happy) without having to do any hard work.

It’s like the foods that are deemed “fat free”. They are just as evil as lite beer. I am far more afraid of chemically-altered processed foods than I am of any of the fats that God gave us. Because whenever I see “fat free” printed in big bold chemical ink on my food I have to wonder what they replaced the fat with, and how the hell they got it out. Oh, and particularly– where in God’s name did they put it? But that’s a digression. I’m here to rant about lite beer.

Another New Year and I am still pecking away at this keyboard. Why do I do it I ask myself sometimes. There are lots of reasons not to. But they are all sad reasons. Because really I do this because I love it. So let me go ahead and say it: Happy New Year.  And I mean it, despite looming economic woes, I do feel happy. I hope you do too.

There may be recession, but I know how to keep it from becoming depression!  You see, I have a secret weapon that helps me through these uncertain days. And I'll share it with you.  In tough economic times, hopelessness and depression can encroach on our energy and optimism. It's only natural to begin to feel overwhelmed, perhaps even lost and frightened. But there are simple (read cheap) pleasures in life, and these can be powerful tonics that need not scratch and claw their way through what's left of your 401k.

Food is one of these for me. I don't need white truffles to be happy. Okay, okay, I'm busted. White truffles do indeed make me deliriously happy, but right now I am talking about regular ole happy. Though I must thank Salty Seattle and her husband for treating me to a big ole white truffle recently. A highlight of 2011.

Still my point is you don't need truffles to have a lot to look forward to. Looking forward to better times is a great way to chase away the blues. This, for me, has always been another simple pleasure.

No. Hell no. That would break my heart. But it's New Years and we ask that silly question time after time. Year after year.

Because in truth I am happy to have your acquaintance and I hope to have it a long auld time. So I gotta keep busy. I gotta post cool stuff. And I gotta ring in the New Year with festive style.

I think a Champagne Cocktail has festive style. But it's a drink with some controversy attached. Its lineage can be traced back to 1862. It was once wildly popular as a sophisticated drink before dinner, and is the precursor to quite a few modern cocktails. However, it seems to have become a love it or leave it concoction. Opinions about its validity run strong. Especially among true believers of the grape and its almighty power.

So I leave it to you. Is a Champagne Cocktail a delightful way to mark an occasion, or is it a sickly sweet abomination that turns good Champagne into swill? Adding to the kerfuffle is the silly little fact that the Champagne Cocktail is sometimes referred to as  “Chorus Girl’s Milk”. Which doesn’t seem like a compliment either to the drink, or the girl.

But the point of the sugar cube is not so much to degrade the Champagne or to sweeten the drink, as it is to make the cocktail all the more festive. Because it makes even the bubbliest of bubblers just a bit bubblier, and that's downright festive. But this is Sippity Sup, so I have another little tip to make this tippler even more festive. I think I stole it from Martha Stewart. But you can claim it as your own.