When President Obama threw a Super Bowl party at the White House last month, it wasn't just any old beer that was served. It was White House Honey Ale, brewed right there in the White House by their trained chefs, using real honey from their honey bees. Special, but it wasn't just a one-time special occasion type of thing, it seems more homebrew is coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

According to Obama Foodorama, the Obamas are the first residents of the famous address to take up the art of homebrewing. And for good reason -- it's a bad idea. I'm typically the first to offer a big cheer for beer, but this just isn't right. Can you imagine the bar fights these bottles could bring? All we need is a bunch of drunks fueled with presidential brew.

Kanye, we're going to let you finish, but what do you think about your new food blog? You know, the Tumblr blog that features your lyrics morphing into food poetry? It's called No One Man Should Have All That Flour (after a line in the song "Power") and it's amazin'. How amazin'?

It's amazin'

Buns I'm glazin'

Ribs are braisin'

Yummy tastin'

Body by CleanseHappy New Year! Now, let's waste no time in feeling inferior to singer, actress, relate-able mom, and blogger -- Gwyneth Paltrow. If you've already received your GOOP newsletter, I apologize for the redundancy. But if you unsubscribed in a fit of "Who the hell is this woman???" fury, let me fill you in on Paltrow's diet she thinks you'll love too, especially if you made a New Year's resolution that involves weight loss. It's a cleanse, or a very strict elimination diet. Which is kind of cleanse-y.

I know many smart people who do the cleanse, but I still don't get it. It feels like a liquid diet where you lose a lot of weight, but the second you go back to eating normally again you gain it back. What good is a cleanse unless you live that way for the rest of your (very short, since you'll die) life? And why does Gwyneth think she needs to lose a few pounds????

Some other gems from GOOP about Dr. Junger's "Clean" program that GP loves:

Recently, a veteran LA Times restaurant critic, S. Irene Virbila, was dining at Beverly Hills' Red Medicine restaurant when a co-owner took her photograph, then kicked her out. The co-owner then put her photo on the restaurant's Tumblr site, without her permission, and banned her from the restaurant. The owner claimed it was because he did not like her reviews.

Instead of using the opportunity to showcase the strengths of their restaurant, Red Medicine ownership chose taking petty, unprofessional action against someone doing their job. This is just one more public misstep by restaurant management in handling critics, both professional and amateur alike. As social media evolves, and with it, the spread of public forums for critiquing restaurants and other services, some restaurants are choosing to evolve with it. Some are not, and I for one can't understand that. What are restaurants trying to hide?

You have more than likely been spending a lot of time in the kitchen over the last few weeks; baking, preparing special dinners, maybe even hosting a few parties. And you have probably just about had it. But dinner still has to get on the table, and who wants to spend even more on takeout after the spending frenzy of the last weeks?

Enter a good, fridge-clearing soup. This one is from The Kitchn's weekly email, but if you've made soup before you can figure out how to improvise. It uses broth, any odds and ends of vegetables you have lying around, and even a bit of meat could work here ... I'd also toss in some turmeric or cumin to spice it up. It's also pretty healthy ... a nice bonus after days of rich food. And all you have to do is lay hands on some bread and maybe a salad for a nice, light but satisfying meal.

When I got married, one of my favorite gifts came from an old family friend. It was a recipe card that my grandmother had passed along to them many years before. Ironically, my grandmother was noted for her questionable cooking, but since she'd died several years prior, I treasured the gift.

Say what you will, you can't do that with an app.

These days, cooks might have two or three recipes we use occasionally in each cookbook we own, a file of bookmarked recipes on our computers, and probably at least a couple cooking apps on our phones. More and more well-known chefs are issuing apps, and some good recipe sites are as well.

Publishers are increasingly wondering if there's enough room in the marketplace for books, websites, and apps ... or if cookbooks are becoming like CDs, something people still buy here and there but generally prefer a digital version versus a physical copy.

Sometimes I feel like I may be the last bread-eater standing. So many of my friends are going gluten-free, either out of serious allergies or general health reasons, that I hesitate now to take regular cookies to any holiday parties.

One thing I've learned from my GF friends is that you're better off avoiding the processed stuff. Big surprise, no? Even foods that look GF may end up having gluten in some odd form. Baking your own gluten-free treats is getting easier, too, thanks to growing numbers of GF bakers and bloggers out there sharing their expertise.

Here are a few tips to get you started this holiday season.

If you're lucky, you have a loved one who cooks for you, whether it's a friend, a parent or another family member. And if you're even luckier, that person handed down a recipe for something you loved eating, so that when you miss them all you have to do is head to the kitchen and make their dish to have a little bit of them with you.

That's the case for Nicole from the blog Pinch My Salt, who shared her late mother's recipe for potato-leek soup. Her mom was killed by a drunk driver while Nicole was in college, and the soup has become something that holds a lot of memories of her. It's a really touching story, and a great soup; exactly the kind of thing you want after a chilly fall day. It's also easy to make, converts easily to vegetarian, and freezes well.