Did I mention that I’m freelancing for Q, the quarterly trade journal of the National Barbecue Assocation? Now you know. I had the pleasure of interviewing barbecue cookoff legend Chris Lilly for Q’s second issue. Barbecue fans might recognize him as the host and executive producer of All Star BBQ Showdown and BBQ Championship Series. Both of these competition BBQ shows aired on the Versus Network.

For copyright reasons, I can’t publish that interview on this blog, but I can share an upcoming appearance where New Yorkers can meet Mr. Lilly.

March 12, 2007 New York, NY Madison Square Park (23rd Street and Broadway) Kingsford Charcoal presents the “Spring Forward, Get Griling” event. Grilling and barbecuing demonstrations from 7am - 7pm by champion pitmaster Chris Lilly, barbecue expert Rick Rodgers, and grilling authority Aaron Sanchez. The public is invited to celebrate the earlier start of Daylight Savings Time and get a jump on the grilling season.

Bitter Irony Alert: Most Manhattan residents don’t have outdoor patios on their apartments, and therefore don’t own grills.

Southern California’s blessed with locally grown fruit throughout the year. Citrus is king during these cooler months. Even a mid-sized farmers market like the one at UC Irvine boasts many vendors selling different varieties of lemons (sweet Persian; extremely tart Lisbon; mild aromatic Meyers), oranges (pink and juicy Cara Cara; tart, sanguine blood oranges, several kinds of mandarins; the ever popular navel), and grapefruit scions.

Last weekend, I spied Cal Poly Pomona’s ag school selling a hybrid called a frua, an heirloom love child of a grapefruit and a mandarin orange. It’s the size and shape of the former, its skin color somewhere between the two. Its flesh tempers the tartness of a grapfruit with the juicy, not oversweet flavor of a mandarin.

Most interestingly, the frua’s thin skin is tender and edible, with a mild and pleasant bitterness that might make a terrific marmalade. I bought four of these mongrel fruit with that intent. If you happen to have Grandma Tildy’s killer marmalade recipe in your clutches, help a brother out and post it, willya?

The UC Irvine farmer’s market is held every Saturday morning in the shopping center parking lot at Campus and Bridge. While there’s a wide variety of vegetables and fruit for sale, right now, citrus rules the roost for flavor, variety, and low prices.

The internet’s like air, or water. Or sex: taken for granted until you don’t have any. Last night, an internet backbone connection went down at my webhost, taking my site down along with countless others for six hours.

Six hours without email or a working website seemed interminable to me. I may need to get outdoors more often.

Our fellow L.A. blog pal Dylan of Eat, Drink and Be Merry threw the rest of us bloggers into jealous hissy fits last October when he was invited to lunch with chef Anthony Bourdain. They taped a show about Thai boat noodles at Thai Town’s Sapp Coffee House. That episode of No Reservations airs on the Travel Channel this coming Monday February 5, 2007.

Set your Tivos. I’m very proud that one our own was chosen to represent L.A.’s love for great ethnic eats. Can’t wait to see your TV debut, Dylan!