Got local?

The National Restaurant Association predicts "sustainability" and "local sourcing" of food will be top trends for 2010. What is a locavore? Someone who champions food grown on small, family-owned, environmentally responsible farms, usually within 100 miles of them.

FRUGAL ARTS

Sure, in a tough economy old-school canning and preserving have taken on New Age cachet. But there's no need to stop at spaghetti sauce made from your garden tomatoes. Urban homesteaders are constantly adding to their list of do-it-yourself endeavors. Need help? Pick up any number of how-to books for tips on making artisanal cheese, wine or sausage, digging a root cellar — even butchering chickens you've raised in your own back yard.

BRAVO FOR BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Odd ingredient darling of 2009? Those Thumbelina-size cabbages kids love to hate are turning up everywhere. Thumb through the latest issue of Everyday Food and try the recipe for sprouts with pistachios.

FARMSTEAD CHEESES

Artisanal cheese made with milk from cows raised on the farm where it is produced has been gaining momentum across the country.

FOOD-CENTRIC APPS

So you're at a restaurant, you've ordered a thick, juicy steak and you're not sure what wine goes with it. Try the Nat Decants Drink Matcher, a $2.99 application that you can download to your iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry Bold or BlackBerry Curve.

There are, of course, apps out there to help you pair wine, count calories, find recipes, make restaurant reservations or figure the tip. Apple figures there are more than 85,000 apps in all. www.PCMag.com recently chose its Top 10 food-centric apps. Go to www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346549,00.asp to check it out.

R.I.P., GOURMET

The shockwaves continue to reverberate. Cond Nast pulled the plug on the country's 70-year-old food magazine. Save those November 2009 issues. They're sure to be a collector's item one day — assuming the pages aren't wet with tears.