• Sure, Obama might indulge in the occasional Spam musubi while on vacation, but according to his favorite caterer, he “does like Italian food” (though not sweets or too much meat). [Caucus/NYT]

• While some of the 100 recipes in Nintendo’s “Personal Trainer” taste pretty good, you might notice the game’s Japanese origins in dishes like American chili con carne with sliced hot dogs. [Epi-Log/Epicurious]

• Bored of eggnog? Try “coquito, a Latin take on eggnog with serious coconut flavor, rum and hints of cinnamon and vanilla.” [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Related: Holiday Punches from New York's Top Cocktail Pros

• Artichoke Pizza has a new lamp that looks like a woman’s leg wearing fishnets, but the owners say they don’t recognize it as the exact lamp the old man wins in A Christmas Story. They’ve never seen the film. [Lost City]

• Not surprisingly, a whole slew of diet books come out in winter to prey on New Year’s resolution types, but there are a few new ones out that don’t seem to be written by quacks. [NYT]

• A paean to the New York porterhouse at Peter Luger. [NYT]