Pigs

It was a tense moment at the petting zoo last week: while crossing a pond, a baby goat's foot became stuck underwater, and the poor horned one could only flail his legs and bleat for help. Fortunately, he need not fear for long because a good samaritan swooped in for the save, dislodging the goat's foot and guiding him to shore. Who was this lifeguarding hero? Check out this video for the answer!

• Trend backlash: dining concepts that never did take off. — Eater NY
• The FDA's finally tracking antibiotics in meat. — The Atlantic
• Blue Ribbon Sushi's Bromberg brothers take on Vegas. — Fork in the Road
• The fight over the Chairman Bao name continues. — The Feast
• What Jamie Oliver doesn't understand about American eating behavior. — Esquire
• Get to know pig breeds that could be the next pork wave. — NY Mag
• What to drink with that holiday prime rib roast. — Serious Eats
• Food fantasies are the secret to weight loss. — Slashfood

These fuzzy lil' piggies are so sweet, but did you know the name Kunekune means fat and round in Maori. Forget those fighting words, I think they are all-around winners in cuteness. Happy Sunday!

Look closely: this piggie has a little pal riding, well, piggyback. It's so cute to watch, but this monkey jockey certainly has quite the grip to stay up top. Check it out below!

Last night I headed over to the Fairmont Hotel for the San Francisco stop of the traveling pig competition, Cochon 555. The 10-city tour features five chefs, five pigs, and five winemakers with one chef's pork creations taking home a prize. The 10 winning chefs will compete at the upcoming Food & Wine Classic to see who is named the Grand Cochon. With his delectable crispy fried pig trotters and slow-cooked pork ragu on housemade pasta, Perbacco's Stefan Terje was the clear winner of the night.

To take a look at the other competitors and their dishes, check out all my photos from the event after the break.

It's a pig party! Now we've seen cute little oinkers here, before but the latest pet craze over in the UK are micropigs, bred down from a mixture of the miniature potbellied pig, Tamworth, Kune Kune, and Gloucester Old Spot varieties. Fanciers say they can be easily litter-box trained, grow equivalent to a medium-sized dog (45-60 pounds), and are fine for allergy sufferers since they have hair not fur. There are a couple catches: they must be sold in pairs — double trouble? — and, at this time, only overseas.

Do you think micropigs will eventually make it big, or should I say small, Stateside? Just don't go making any swine flu jokes around the lil ones.