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My lovely Thanksgiving vacation was unexpectedly extended by one day after I came down with the horrible crud that's been creeping around my office. As a result, I've been craving all things hot and spicy and sinus-clearing.

As it turns out, I probably should have just sent someone up to the Peaks of Otter Winery to buy me a bottle of their Chili Dawg wine. It just won third place in the beverage category of a national spicy food contest called the "Scovie Awards." This bizarre contest is named after Wilbur Scoville, who developed a rating scale to rank the level of spiciness in food, and established by Dave DeWitt, founder and co-publisher of Fiery-Foods & BBQ magazine and founder of the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show.

According to the Fiery-Foods Web site, about 800 different gourmet food products from 32 states are sampled and compared for the contest. Peaks of Otter's Chili Dawg wine, a combination of 97 percent apple juice and 3 percent hot pepper (tastes like pepper jelly, they say) wowed the judges in the beverage category, which was split into Bloody Marys and wine.

First place in wine went to Anderson Valley Vineyards' (Albequerque, NM) Red Chile Cabernet Sauvignon, while second place was taken by Pazdar Winery's (Scotchtown, NY) Forbidden Fruit. To read more about the Scovie Awards and see more winners, head to this Web site.

In other news, you could win a big, fat gift certificate for dinner and movies if you play along with Grandin Village businesses' holiday contest this Saturday.

They're all having an open house from noon to 5 p.m., and if you visit at least four participating businesses that day and have your entry ticket validated, you are entered to win anything from a $50 gift certificate all the way up to a $300 gift certificate plus four Grandin Theatre movie tickets.

Here's the rub: In order to get your entry ticket, you must dine this week at one of the following restaurants: Community Inn, Grace's Place, Happy Belly Deli (inside Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op), Isaac's, Local Roots Cafe, Norberto's, Pop's Ice Cream & Soda Bar, Rockfish Food & Wine, Spikes, Surf 'n' Turf or the village Grill.

There's your excuse to head out for lunch or dinner sometime this week! But be sure to request a ticket and hold onto it for Saturday's open house. In order to get those tickets validated, you can visit any of the following shops on Saturday: Black Dog Salvage, Craig & Company, Designs on Grandin, Harwood Paint & Hardware, Mediterranean Gourmet, New to Me, Plan 9 Music, 7-Eleven, Roanoke Ballet Theatre (attend 2 p.m. performance), Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op, Sam & Norah, Too Many Books, Vida Bela or Village Flowers.

Leave your validated ticket at the last business you visit! Good luck!

Photo courtesy of Peaks of Otter Winery