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When the Features department staff here at the newspaper asked readers to send in pictures of their freakiest-looking vegetables, we knew we'd get some nosy tomatoes and lumpy squash.

Never, ever did we expect to get 50 different pictures of everything from Siamese twin summer squash to fence-climbing melons!

The best part, though, were the comments from the readers who submitted their photos. We realized that identifying what freaky veggies look like is a bit like playing the cloud game or taking a Rorschach test -- it is all in the eye of the beholder!

The above pictured tomato was sent in by Alison Elward of Blacksburg, who thought it looked like a Muppets character. To see the other 49 freaky veggies and make up your own mind about who or what they resemble, head to our freaky veggie Flickr page and click on "Detail" to see information about each vegetable.

I greatly admire the talented and ambitious home cooks who make pizza dough from scratch and create restaurant-quality pies in their own kitchens. Homemade pizza dough is something I've never attempted and it's on my list of experiences to have sooner rather than later.

Until then, there are several other options for semi-homemade pizza at home, and one of them is the canned, refrigerated dough such as Pillsbury. The folks over at Pillsbury have actually put out an entire cookbook full of pizza recipes for use with their dough. Of course, you could always use a store brand of refrigerated dough or adapt some of the recipes to go with a Boboli crust or your own homemade crust.

What's nice about this book is that it also provides alternative ideas for the dough, as well, such as breadsticks, calzones, appetizers and desserts. Since many of us have a whole three-day weekend to play in the kitchen (and might be tired of cookout season's last hurrah by the end of it) I thought I'd share a few of these recipes.

Have a GREAT and SAFE holiday weekend!!

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I know I say this every single time I do a Cookbook Giveaway, but this time I mean it more than ever: It was so hard to pick a winner this time.

I had entries from folks who had just quit smoking, were on fixed incomes and could not afford the book, wanted to lose weight for retirement, wanted to help their loved ones cook healthier meals for themselves and hoped the book would help them teach their children about a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to give the book to every single person who entered.

Fortunately, I was assisted just a little bit by a surprise phone call that I received this week. The public relations person for the Podleski sisters are sending me.... drum roll, please... an autographed copy of the book! So now I have TWO copies and I will give them out to my top TWO winners.

The winner of the autographed copy is Amanda, who said: I just started graduate school and am currently living at home with my 2 dogs while my husband is away doing military training. It's so hard to eat healthy when it's just myself! I've been married a little over 2 years and my husband is in the Army. He's been gone for a little over 3 months. Right now he is doing training for his position. He will be be home in October and deployed next year. This will be a great way to get myself in shape -not only for him but for myself. I've started going to the gym, but need help with the nutritional aspect. I have around 40 pounds to go!

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It's here! It's here!

After lunch at Wasabi today (more on that later), we wandered down the street to see if Chocolatepaper's second location had indeed opened today, and lo and behold, it had! Now those of us who live across town from Southwest County or work downtown have easy access to one of the coolest shops in Roanoke.

As I have mentioned before, Chocolatepaper is owned by some of the same folks who own Mongrel, a fun, kitschy gift and card shop in Careytown in Richmond. The downtown Roanoke version features a wide range of cards and three display cases filled with beautiful chocolates, which range from 33 cents up to about $3 apiece.

They also have a lot of Roanoke and Virginia-centric gifts, like solid chocolate Mill Mountain stars and Virginia state-shaped cookie cutters. It would be a great place to make a basket for someone who is new to the 'noke.

Image source: Chocolatepaperroanoke.com

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My sister is such a Chick-fil-A freak that she and her co-workers once dressed up as cows to win a free lunch at one of the restaurant locations in South Carolina.

It's no surprise, then, that she was the one who sent me an e-mail announcing an upcoming chance for all of us to score free chicken strips on Labor Day at a Chick-fil-A near us.

According to the company's promotional site, all you've got to do is visit a participating Chick-fil-A between 10:30 a.m. and closing time on Labor Day wearing any clothing or accessory that has a collegiate logo, or the logo of your favorite recreational football team, middle or high school football team, or professional football team.

If you do that, you're eligible for three of the restaurant's new chicken strips, which they are advertising as "bigger, tastier and dippier." I guess this promotion serves as advertisement for their new strips as well as a celebration that football season is upon us. I can handle that!

In other news, please make sure to post a comment about why you want to win "Eat, Shrink & Be Merry" by Janet & Greta Podleski. The Cookbook Giveaway ends at 5 p.m. today and I'll announce the winner tomorrow.

Stay dry. Eat a bowl of soup. Warm up.

According to recent news reports, Kabuki in Roanoke, which is undergoing extensive remodeling, will have a good-sized sushi bar when it reopens. It's also supposed to have a big koi pond, but that's beside the point. Although interesting...

At any rate, it's got me thinking about the state of sushi in Southwest Virginia.

Once upon a time, the only two places to find sushi in Roanoke were Sake House at Lakeside Plaza in Salem and Tokyo on Franklin Road or the city market building. For a while, I had a love affair with Sake House and it's little carpeted tea rooms. Not so much a fan of Tokyo, however. I think it was the atmosphere more than anything else.

Then, along came Metro! with its Asian-fusion thing and a whole menu of pretty good sushi. A bit more expensive, perhaps, than the competitors, but certainly not short on imagination. I'm thinking of the Angry Tuna roll here, and it's not making me angry at all. It's making me hungry.

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It's been a long time since I've seen such compelling and convincing entries in the Cookbook Giveaway contest.

Apparently, "Eat, Shrink and be Merry" by Janet & Greta Podleski has struck a chord with everyone from nursing mothers wanting to lose weight and stay healthy to military wives who are trying to stay in shape and maybe slim down for when hubby returns.

I'm guessing the big attraction is probably that the Podleski sisters manage to pass along healthful cooking practices with a big sense of humor. Who needs another dry, discouraging diet book?

Let's keep the entries coming until Wednesday. Since the book sounds so popular, I'm going to share another recipe, this time for a chicken salad with pecans and cranberries in a creamy orange dressing.

Keep those entries coming!!

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