Being a North Carolinian I couldn’t resist mentioning this. I always find it fascinating when cargo containers fall off ships, causing whatever they were transporting to either sink to the bottom of the ocean or float until it meets land. We saw it years ago with the rubber ducky tests which oceanographers used to track ocean currents, and we’ve all heard of everything from cars to Nike’s being washed overboard on the high seas. This time a cargo container carrying a shipment of Doritos brand chips fell off of a ship and cracked open, leading to hundreds of bags of Doritos to float freely through the Atlantic Ocean. The container, along with the Doritos washed up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with most of the Doritos packages still in-tact thanks to the airtight packaging. What followed was a minor small-time news storm, as scavengers descended upon the cheesy goodness, the media swarmed into to film those filling shopping bags full of chips while a handful of scrooges gave interviews complaining about the American way and stealing and season of giving, but everyone is taking and blah blah blah.

Read more: Doritos container spills, washes up on North Carolina beach

Ok, it’s not the *only* thing I want for Christmas (there’s also this, this and this on my list), but damn if this isn’t in my top-5! The Donut Robot 42 belongs to the very lucky Derrick (adw3345) who documented his wonderful robot sidekick on his LiveJournal, teaching us some amazing facts on his vintage robot, such as it’s ability to make 384 donuts per hour, automatically. That’s about 4 more than I need! Per hour.

Read more: Get to know the Donut Robot 42

According to a Massachusetts judge, a burrito is officially not a sandwich. Whew, I’m glad that’s been cleared up and the world can sleep a little easier at night. The case was brought by rivaling restaurant chains, when one chain who specialized in sandwiches and other bread-based food products, tried to use a lease agreement which stated no competing sandwich companies could move into the same mall. The problem, this was a Mexican restaurant, not a sandwich factory. The case went before the courts, where, on the testimony of many food and cultural experts, the judge heard that no reputable chef or culinary historian would ever label a burrito as a sandwich.

Read more: Judge rules burritos aren’t sandwiches

Hoax from the land down under? You decide. Australia’s Courier Mail are reporting that the U.S. has recently begun enforcing a ban on the import of Vegemite, the salty food paste made from yeast extract that Australians seem to love spread on their breakfast toast. With reports of Vegemite checks at border crossings, import shops and airports, Australians reportedly are beginning to feel the crunch. Vegemite, a brand now owned by food conglomerate Kraft Foods, is said to contain Folate, an ingredient which is only allowed in U.S. breads and cereals.

Read more: Vegemite banned in the U.S. | Vegemite @ Wikipedia

A crafty husband and wife team decided to start a project to create a minature fast-food burger meal, turning the ultimate art form of cooking, into a bite-size wonderland of greasy art. The project was inspired by a recent article in Martha Stewart Living, is completely edible and features the cutest little bite-size ingredients I’ve ever seen, all packed together on a polymer clay tray. This is perfect finger food for a Super Bowl party!

Read more: Bite-size buger, fries and a soda

Whew, we can all breath a major sigh of relief today knowing that on Capitol Hill, the cafeteria for the House of Representatives has gone back to calling fries French, rather than Freedom. In case anyone’s forgotten, 3 years ago, US citizens wasted their tax money on elected representives squabbling over changing the name of French Fries in their cafeteria to Freedom Fries as a way of striking back at France for not supporting the Iraq war. Well after many a sleepless nights by the French, those days are finally over, as Republican Reps now flip-flop away from Rep. Bob “Freedom Fries” Ney who was recently forced from the chairmanship in charge of House operations, has also called for the removal of US troops from Iraq. Naturally this is non-news now and should have been then, but seriously, freedom fries?

Read more: Fries French again on Capitol Hill

Snacksby is an interesting addition to the new breed of web applications. Basically a recipe site, with a twist, Snacksby asks that you enter in what you have in your pantry or cupboard and it returns to you a list of recipes containing those ingredients. For instance, if I had sharp cheddar (soy) cheese, multigrain bread, onions, pepper, dijon mustard, and butter (margarine), Snacksby informs me that I have all of the ingredients to cook a quick and easy “Grilled Cheese sandwich, Alton Brown style-ish” as well as a partial list of ingredients for over 9 more pages of recipes. Kudos Snacksby, you just made a lazy household’s cooking even easier!

Read more: [Snacksby]

We’re making an exception to our rules for the Veggie around the world series, by allowing a location that serves a small amount of meat (in the form of Salmon) be featured. We do this because we’re so inspired by the Moosewood story, ethics and business organization. Moosewood is a collectively owned and operated business, with nineteen members who share all of the responsibilities and participate in the various jobs necessary for the daily operation of the business. Running a flat and equal hierarchy since 1973, the employees of Moosewood have built-up a talented, dedicated and proud group of employees serving some of the finest gourmet natural foods on the east coast. House in renovated historic brick building, which used to be a school in downtown Ithaca, New York, Moosewood serves some of the finest high-eating a vegetarian or vegan can ask for. Their menu is clearly marked with what can be veganized and what can’t be and their staff are extremely knowledgeable about what goes into their foods, so even the most discerning vegan can quiz the staff. The staff of Moosewood have also authored over 10 internationally published cookbooks and are expanding their business to including consulting and instructional services to the developing gourmet vegetarian dining industry. Well done Moosewood and keep up the great work!

Ok, after some of those pizza bombs from a few posts down, it’s time again to get back on track. First, I love this place. I haven’t been there in over a year, but, I assume it’s still just as amazing, at least from what I hear from those luckily enough to have visited lately. Golden Era is a must for any veggie-friendly visitor to San Francisco, bringing an animal-friendly view to traditional Vietnamese dining, from rice dishes to clay pot to amazing soups and appetizers. Voted some of the best vegetarian meals in the Bay Area by, well, everyone really. All meals are prepared without meat, poultry, fish, egg, and MSG.

Pizza or football. It’s a tough choice. Well, no not really, it’s pizza. So for those who aren’t aware, the past few weeks has seen Germany hosting the 2006 football World Cup championships (soccer for those stateside). In anticipation for the games, and since pretty much every other product in Germany is football-branded right now, German pizza franchise “Call a Pizza” has prepared a 32-item menu of localized pizzas from every country involved in this years championship. Those of the veggie / vegan persuasion need not apply, but, I for one couldn’t resist looking at the variety, from the traditional ham, pineapple and cheese of Costa Rica, to Hollandaise sauce on the Saudi Arabian pizza.

[World Cup pizza (ingredients translated into English) | World Cup pizza menu] (Via The Coudal Partners)