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Even though I'm way too old to trick-or-treat and don't have any little goblins at home, Halloween always fills me with a sense of excitement.

My memories always take me back to Colorado, when I was just a little kid and had to wear a big, bulky coat over my Halloween costume. On trick-or-treat night, Mom always fixed the quickest, easiest meal she could so that we'd be able to get dressed up and out the door on time. That usually meant chili dogs and tater tots, so I still crave a junky dinner every Halloween. Hey, it was a special occasion and Mom was more interested in getting our make-up on right than preparing a four-course meal.

Next up, of course, was the candy. I'm sure we all remember dumping out our haul at the end of the night and evaluating the ratio of good candy to bad candy. Chocolate candy bars were always my favorite -- especially Twix or Snickers. Hard candy was boring. And that crappy bubble gum that's like chewing rubber bands was even worse.

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This morning, I found the 2009 Zagat guide to the best restaurants in America in my mailbox. With a thread of hope, I flipped to the table of contents to find.... not a single restaurant within 100 miles of Roanoke.

Why? Well, a person could ponder several possible reasons. Maybe we really don't have any restaurants here that are worthy of the Zagat guide. Maybe nobody around here thinks to participate in Zagat surveys. Maybe those Zagat people are snooty and they limit their attention to big cities and tourist locations.

I visited the Zagat Web site with no idea which one of those possibilities was true. When I went to the site, I saw this message about Roanoke: "We're sorry, we do not currently cover restaurants in this area. We plan to expand our coverage in the future, so please check back. In the meantime, please use ZAGAT.com and ZAGAT.mobi when you're looking for places to eat, drink, play, and stay in other locations."

I have no doubt that Zagat is a great resource for anyone planning a trip to a big city. Personally, I've used Chow.com in the past, but I'll check out Zagat next time I'm heading someplace more metropolitan. Any resource like that can save you a sub-par experience in an unfamiliar city.

If you do want to check out the closest Zagat-rated restaurant, you'll have to drive to either Charlotte, N.C. or Washington, D.C. Here's what they recommended in those locations:

Charlotte: Barrington's (American), McNich House (continental), McIntosh's (seafood/steak), Noble's (Southern), Capital Grille (steak), Carpe Diem (American), Fig Tree (continental), Toscana (Italian), Luce (Italian) and Upstream (seafood).

In D.C.: Makato (Japanese), Inn at Little Washington (American), Komi (American/Mediterranean), L'Auberge Provencale (French), CityZen (American), Marcel's (Belgian/French), Citronelle (French), Eve (American), Obelisk (Italian), L'Auberge/Francoise (French), Ray's The Steaks (steak), Prime Rib (steak), Le Paradou (French), Palena (American), Kinkead's (seafood), Rasika (Indian), Sushi Taro (Japanese), Tosca (Italian), 2941 Restaurant (American) and Thai Square (Thai).

Has anyone tried any of those restaurants? If so, what did you think? Do they deserve to be in the guide?

Today's Front Burner column in Extra (below) is all about the new craft beers being brewed at Awful Arthur's at Towers Mall. Have any of you tried the beer yet? If so, what did YOU think?

The New Hometown Brews

By Lindsey Nair

About two years ago, Patrick Kennerly of the Star City Brewers Guild said it would take someone "with know-how and business savvy and experience" to open a successful microbrewery in Roanoke.

Our city hasn't had a brewery since the Blue Muse and the Lone Star Cantina & Brewery in downtown Roanoke both failed in quick succession during the early '90s.

Now, someone with a heap of business savvy, if not the brew pub experience, is concocting that long-awaited product: a brew that Roanokers can call our own. Todd Lancaster, 45, owner of four Awful Arthur's restaurants in Roanoke, Salem and Blacksburg, has opened a brewery at his Towers Mall location and is already serving five craft beers made on site.

"It's sort of been sitting in my box of things to do all these years," Lancaster said, "and Sean was the nudge. Everybody has to have a nudge."

"Sean" is the new brewmaster -- Lancaster's buddy, Sean Osborne, 28, of Troutville. A former insurance auditor, Osborne has been brewing at home for about three years. Now he has his dream job.

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It was a big pile of names that went into the hat this time around, thanks to everyone who contributed a money-saving grocery tip within the last few days.

Not only will I have a great number of ideas to share with readers in this Sunday's newspaper (don't worry, no names will be used), but we have TWO cookbook winners.

Blog readers Angela and Seth have been chosen to pick a cookbook out of a list of titles I will provide them with. Seth, Angela, please send me an e-mail at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com to acknowledge your win and get the list of books.

Congrats!

We didn't plan for this past weekend to be a full-on autumnal extravaganza, but it was.

It started Saturday night, not long after the rain cleared out and the crisp fall temperatures set in. My friend, Beth, who just moved here with her family from Detroit, threw a housewarming party that she called a "Soup-a-palooza."

We had white chicken chili, red beef chili, chicken tortilla soup and a heavenly, rich butternut squash soup. Some folks brought beer bread or crusty bread, others brought desserts. We washed it all down with ice cold Yuengling before heading out to the fire pit to roast marshmallows.

On Sunday, the hubby and I drove up to mom's house in Clifton Forge to drop off my useless old desktop computer (she plans to rebuild it). On our way down U.S. 220 through Botetourt County, we realized it was probably peak leaf-looking weekend. The humidity was nonexistent and the colors of the sky and the trees were as vibrant as if a child had colored them.

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We interrupt this blog to make a very important announcement: Duke's Mayonnaise needs a jingle.

Okay, maybe that's not as important as, say, world peace or crime rates or trimming the fat out of your grocery budget. But this is Duke's Mayonnaise, people! The staple of the South!

If you submit the winning jingle, you win $500 cash and a year's supply of Duke's. You also get your jingle printed on a jar of Duke's Mayo.

I tried to come up with the lyrics for my own Duke's jingle right off the top of my head: "Get out the Duke's! Get out the cukes! Turn it into a salad that'll make you....." Oh, that didn't go so well. I guess some of you might be a little better at this than I am.

Here are all the details:

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I'm so thrilled with the array of great ideas that came pouring in after yesterday's blog post that I'm going to shamelessly entice you guys to keep those tips coming.

I've got a teetering stack of brand new cookbooks beside my desk right now. Some of them have GOT to go. So at the end of the day on Monday, I'm going to put the name of everyone who contributed a tip or a recipe on yesterday's blog in a hat and draw two names.

If you write more than one comment, your name will go in once. After I pick out the two winners, I will email them a list of the books I've got for giveaway and let them pick which one they like best. The first name out of the hat gets first dibs.

Nobody is disqualified, even if they've won a book before. So keep up that brainstorming!

Do you find that you are limiting yourself to one lunch out per week? Packing more bologna sandwiches? Choosing a bag of frozen broccoli over a head of fresh?

If so, you're probably not in the minority. Even as the food writer (and someone who is supposed to be on top of all the new food trends and restaurant openings), I find myself trimming a bit off the old food budget these days. The economy is in the garbage disposal and Christmas is coming. How in the world are we to be learned foodies, much less put money away for savings?

This may seem like a very obvious topic, but I think it's worthy of discussion. In an effort to scrabble together a list of tips that I could share with the general readership of The Roanoke Times, I wonder: What is your best money-saving tip as you tighten your belt on food spending? And do you have a recipe that feeds a lot but costs a little?

Personally, I continue to check the Manager's Specials in the meat department at my Kroger store. I've found all sorts of excellent deals there, and I just try to cook or freeze the meat right away. I have also gone to more frozen vegetables, particularly spinach. I always keep a bag of frozen spinach in my freezer. It is such a versatile veggie that it can be incorporated into all kinds of dishes, from casseroles to pasta to pizza.

Coupons are also a big help. If you aren't the type of person who clips coupons or looks at a sales ad, now might be the time to do it. In addition to the coupons that come out in the Sunday paper, you can get personalized coupons in the mail from Kroger or visit the coupon kiosk at Ukrop's when you enter the store.

Other ideas: a Diner's Club card, a designated day every week when you get to go out to lunch, a designated day each month when you get to have a nice dinner out, more cooking at home in general, requesting gourmet food items as Christmas gifts. What else?

I wasn't a food writer when the last presidential election came around, so I'm not sure if it's normal or not to receive multiple e-mails about Election Day cocktails. Part of me wonders if more folks are preparing to drown their sorrows in booze this time around than in years past.

Whatever the reason, I've got several interesting recipes to share for anyone who's having a little Election Night get-together and wants to have fun with the cocktail menu. You'll find something here for the Obama fan, the McCain backer and the undecided.

The recipes came from liquor reps, so they specify that you use Hpnotiq brand vodka or 10 Cane rum and I've left them that way. Hpnotiq is a blue-colored vodka infused with fruit juices, so if you go with a regular vodka you won't get the color you need without adding some blue curacao or something. 10 Cane is a light caramel-colored rum, so I suppose if you can only afford Bowman's, nobody is looking but you.

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What a coincidence. I went to an Austrian restaurant with my sister in Spartanburg, S.C. this weekend and noshed on knackwurst, Wiener Schnitzel and pork loin with cabbage and mashed potatoes. Then I returned to this question from one of my Facebook friends:
"I am looking for a place to get some good German food here in the area. Spaetzle and Wiener Schnitzel mainly. Any ideas? I am originally from Clarksville Tenn., which is located near an Army base and there were many German restaurants. I think it was because many of the soldiers had been stationed in Germany at one point in time. I miss it. Thanks for any ideas you may have."

Basically, I have one idea. There's a German restaurant in Staunton called Edelweiss that's been there for years. Every time we drive past that sign on I-81, I'm tempted to stop and check it out. But I've never done it because we're always almost home on a long trip and don't want to stop. I'm sure someone who reads this blog has tried it before. According to their online menu, they've got sauerbraten, Wiener Schnitzel and all kinds of other schnitzels. Oddly, though, their Wiener Schnitzel is made with pork, not veal. Is that really Wiener Schnitzel? I think it's supposed to be veal to be authentic, but I could be wrong.

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