With the long, not-terribly-cold Washington winter stretching out before us, and the holidays solidly past, we at Cork & Knife have decided to tone up. Yes, we have joined a gym, in the hopes of getting the old blood moving around the bod, but we are talking about tightening up our editorial product as well. What will this mean for you? First off, you might get just one lean, mean Hot Plates every week. One good, protein-rich digest instead of three that contain carbs and sugar, if we may speak in fad-diet terms.

It will also mean the site will cover the Washington, D.C. food scene a bit more intensely, while still leaving room in your bellies for platefuls of national news of cooking and eating as well. You'll see more feature articles -- inside looks at restaurants, profiles of under-the-radar food people, in-depth looks at trendy food items -- and you'll walk away with more good ideas.

Today, we'll dish out an experimental roundup that will take the best from all the weekly food sections -- first, what to buy and try at home; next, places to go; and lastly, news from the world of wine and spirits.

Blood oranges -- they've been around a while now, but the thrill never really wears off for Hot Plates. As the Dallas News points out, these "blushing beauties" are in season right now, along with all its citrus produce brethren. We don't know about making a salad with them, as is suggested in the article (we are not big citrus-in-the-salad fans), but we would happily slice up a bunch of them for the world's simplest dessert.

Another fresh fruit bomb comes from Florence Fabricant's Food Stuff roundup: "exquisite scarlet plum-size strawberries" sound delicious as we hit the deep freeze of winter (and that whipped cream is just sitting sadly in our refrigerator, waiting for a respectable mate). The strawberries at our local stores have been a wreck. Well, we will look into where to get them in D.C., but in New York you can find these Japanese Amaou strawberries only at Butterfield Market in the east 70s of Manhattan. Obviously, not everyone will want to rush out and get some Amaous, since two twenty-spots won't even cover the cost of a dozen of them.

If you love Korean food but don't think it's something you would make for your family dinner, think again: This fun L.A. Times article will convince you to give bibimbap a try in your own kitchen -- especially if this is your go-to dish when eating Korean. It is basically "a mound of warm rice in an oversize bowl topped with ... vegetables, grilled beef, and then an egg fried sunny-side up." It's got some kick to it thanks to hot red pepper sauce, and it is truly a "crunchy-savory-delicious affair." The article includes a handful of recipes, all with ingredients easily found in an Asian grocery store.

There is an excellent "Tool Department" feature in The Washington Post: It's a test of six different electric deep-fryers newly on the market. How exciting to be able to cut and make our own fries, or zucchini sticks. "I was tempted to fry Twinkies, but common sense prevailed," the writer says. Have a look at the different models and decide if you have room for one of these gizmos; at these prices, most of us could afford one.

And you know, this Boston Globe piece on spaghetti and meatballs won't likely get any pulses racing, but it is a good read for two reasons: it's really about people as much as it's about this comfort dish, and it includes recipes for meatballs the way they really ought to be cooked (if you're going to cook them). Also, we didn't know that in Italy, the dish doesn't exist; there's a pasta course, but the meatballs are served separately during the meat course, according to the family quoted in the piece.

Even if you are in love with your kitchen at the moment, during this cozy winter season, take a moment to consider the idea that perhaps your roast chicken is just OK; maybe others can do it better. Frank "Elegant Diss" Bruni writes about the amazingly delicious roast chicken at a place called Barbuto in Manhattan, and apparently this is the only consistently great item on the menu. But he seems to quietly love the place, and he interviews chef-owner Jonathan Waxman about the chicken. Where are the birds from? How do you cook them? It sounds laughably easy, but maybe it is really all about the heat. It is one of his more interesting reviews, because you'll read it, and the praise is sort of vague and faint, yet it makes you feel like you must go there. Lucky Barbuto!

The Washington Post "Good to Go" feature focuses this week on Chix, a "new eco-friendly take-out in the U Street corridor." Why is it eco-friendly? Half of the ingredients are organic, they say. It specializes in chicken, as you can guess, and if it really does put "most other rotisserie chicken to shame," then we are going to have to stop by. One of the kinds of chicken you can get is marinated for a day in coffee and coconut milk!

Still with us? We would like to point out a couple of things in the realm of beverages before we sign off. First, The WaPo has a great article about one of Hot Plates' favorite topics ever: glassware. But it's more specific -- it's about the supersizing, pardon the annoyingly cliched expression, of glassware -- barware in particular. "We are facing an epidemic of cocktails served in inappropriately large glasses," according to Post writer Jason Wilson. Even more shocking is the idea that "cocktails are growing ... often simply to justify a double-digit price tag." This piece is sure to stir things up (eek ... sorry).

Eric Asimov goes hops happy with a Beers of the Times column this week in place of his usual wine-centric discussion. And it's pretty rad, dudes. It's about extreme beers. "Whether using an inordinate amount of traditional ingredients like malt or hops, or adding flavorings undreamed of by Old World brewers, American brewers have created a signature style that beer enthusiasts seem both to love and hate." Have you noticed beers in stores with names like Monstrous? One guy quoted compares "the hoppiest beer" to "the saltiest dish" and says this kind of thinking is "idiotic." Is the extreme-beer trend about the American love for supersizing, once again? "Hummers rule the road and 16 percent alcohol pinot noirs rule the wine ratings," after all, in our country.

To round things out and make a trio of stories about stuff that is "big," we give you the L.A. Times piece on whether or not California wines are "over the top." Big, grape-y taste, huge alcohol content -- some people want it and some don't. What's interesting here is a big-time winemaker goes on the record admitting "he's made a mistake by making wines that receive critical acclaim" -- wines he himself does not even enjoy drinking. Some people want "fireworks" in their glass; others feel knocked down or overpowered by such wines.

We'll end off today with a lighthearted item about something we heard about through the grapevine but then read about in Wednesday's paper: The Swirl. No, it's not a wine-tasting technique; it's a ridiculous cocktail with a cult following in the D.C. area available at Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe. We've been to the Bethesda location of this Temple of Swirls, but there is news now that a new branch has opened in Ballston. Hot Plates has been regaled with stories from several friends who've said and done nutty things when fueled by this mysterious swirly drink that The Washington Post says has "been a year-round hit for more than two decades." It may not be your cup of cheer, but the mix of margarita and sangria seems to do something to people. Sometimes, you know, what you don't think you'll like is actually just what you need.