I've cracked my share of unsavoury eggs before but none quite as nasty as the bloody one that revealed itself in my pan last night. Maybe I was asking for it by thinking fried eggs would make a suitable dinner, but I guess I expected more out of my premium President's Choice free-run variety procured earlier in the morning from the local No Frills.

This thing was seriously nasty. I'm up for early Christmas surprises but this wasn't what I had in mind.

A 23-year-old bodybuilder from Toronto broke the world record for the most latkes consumed in one sitting.

Pete Czerwinski ate 46 latkes (that's seven pounds' worth) in eight minutes to win the National Potato Latke Eating Championship held at Zan's Deli in Lake Grove, NY on Sunday, the first day of Hanukkah.

Second place went to a 380-pound Brooklyn college student who could only manage 29 latkes. The previous record of 31 latkes was set two years ago. Czerwinski, who bested 10 other competitive eaters, claims he never ate a latke before in his life prior to the contest.

How many do you think you could down in one sitting?

Photo by Roger Cullman.

Does Destiny Tea & Cafe have a cockroach problem? According to Ryerson student Joram Muzones it does. Apparently, Muzones and some friends were at the popular Markham hangout on Sunday when some chunks surfaced in her hot chocolate. According to Muzones:

So I get the hot chocolate, no problems there drink looks good, took a few sips, maybe a good one inch worth off the drink and I decided to put some sugar into the drink and I started stirring. As I stirred the drink I saw something in it and I thought it was chocolate chunks. When the thing finally surfaced what I saw was 2 BIG cockroaches, and a couple of legs floating around. *gags*

The Canadian government isn't the only organization doing a major unexpected reshuffle right now: the Burrito Boyz (formerly of three locations, two of which are downtown) also recently broke up.

This, as a friend of mine put it, is why rock bands spend millions of dollars a year on group therapy: you don't mess with success. Having topped blogTO's list of the best burritos in Toronto (and to die-hards like myself, the fondness remains as unquenchable as the craving for their food), the Boyz now face the unenviable task of competing with themselves.

I first discovered Lorette Luzajic while reading over a monthly newsletter from Gremolata, a local wine and food website. She had written an article on vegetarianism "I'm A Natural Born Killer" that caught my eye. Clicking through on her name revealed she's a self-proclaimed "resident spice girl" and pursues food writing in a refreshing way that challenges widely held dogmas.

Always seeking a fresh opinion on the Toronto food scene, I shot her a few questions to find out more of what she had to say. Our brief Q&A follows.

Yes, this is a rant. It's been over 3 months since it was announced that Dominion stores across the city will be switched over to the new "Metro" brand. I've been walking by this College & Crawford location this whole time and am astonished at what an eyesore their temporary sign is. I thought it was comical at first but not so much anymore.

Did they totally jump the gun by making the brand shift announcement but not being ready to actually show a change in their stores? The store flyer has already had announcements from the new ownership, welcoming customers to "see the changes" made already. Excuse me, but it looks about the same to me. Same stale feeling with mediocre product offerings and cellophane everything.