The Atlantic: The March issue includes a one-page, 700-word appreciation of flaming cocktails in which author Wayne Curtis describes everything from Jerry Thomas’s classic 19th century stunner, the Blue Blazer, to a citrus-y mélange from London’s Purl bar involving a tethered helium balloon (the tether functions as a fuse that, once lit, causes the balloon to explode). But not all torches in a glass are created equal. Says Curtis: “Though impressive, such extreme pyrotechnics tend to detract from the ways in which, done right, flame and heat can transform a drink beguilingly.” —James Ross Gardner

Slate: Those best-by dates on your canned French sardines and Dinty Moore beef stew? Consider them “just-getting-good” dates. A reprint from Lucky Peach, this piece considers the effects of aging on canned foods, including the deeper caramels and crunchy crystals that improve three-year-old canned Cougar Gold Cheese, Pullman’s finest. Required reading for every gourmand here in earthquake-preparedness-kit country. —Kathryn Robinson

New York Times: Attention, carnivorous Cougs: Sure, you have a WSU sweatshirt and all, but the university is now selling its own frozen packaged Wagyu beef, culled from its own herd of cattle. It's a happy-fuzzy confluence of eating local, funding higher education, and pennant-waving school spirit. —Allecia Vermillion

Wall Street Journal: I mean, who hasn't taken a slug of pickle brine from the jar in the fridge? Wait, you guys don't do that? Uh, then I was totally kidding. The WSJ tells us what Montana regulars already knew—that picklebacks are good times—and even breaks down the science and history behind chasing your whiskey with a slug of salty pickle brine. —AV

Ask Men: Plenty of people will drool over a 25-year-old bottle of Scotch. But what about a gin pushing 50? Robert Haynes-Peterson explains the movement happening around antique alcohols and offers some advice for anyone reaching into the dustiest parts of grandpa’s liquor cabinet. —Dameon Matule 

Serious Eats: Impressed by Seattle's burgeoning food truck "pod" scene? Pfft. By Texas standards, we're amateurs. Austin alone has more than 1,000 food trucks (not a typo), and Serious Eats rounds up the best 10, just in time for South By Southwest. —Erica C. Barnett