www.roanoke.com

Mark your calendars now for these upcoming food-related happenings:

* Tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. - Fall Open House at Foggy Ridge Hard Cider in Dugspur. This will involve free cider tastings (this stuff is soooooo good) and wood-fired pizzas for sale by Dogtown Pizza. Also, apple expert Tom Burford will be there identifying apples, so if you have an apple tree and would like to know what kind of apples they are, bring a few along to show to Tom. He is a most fascinating character. If the weather is nice, I can promise you this will be a gorgeous drive. For more info, go to foggyridgecider.com.

* Oct. 17, 3 to 6 p.m. - Fresh Flavors cooking demonstration at Fresh Market in Roanoke. Learn to prepare seared chicken thighs with warm Malbec plum glaze. For more info, call 344-5490.

* Oct. 6, 13 and 20, 6 p.m. - Brewmaster dinners at Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg. A seven-course dinner, each course paired with one of the Bull & Bones craft beers. I've seen the menu and it looks really frickin' awesome. Includes a tour of the brewing facilities. Hosted by the brewmaster himself, Jim Strickland. Costs $50 per person or $90 per couple. Seating is limited; advance reservations are recommended. All of this is leading up to the Oct. 24 Blacksburg Brew-Do, the town's first craft brew festival. More details on that to come!

*  Nov. 7 - Children's Miracle Network "Miracles for Children Ball" at Hotel Roanoke. Includes an "Iron Chef"-style cooking competition. I'll pass along more details as they come to me.

* Also on Nov. 7 - Teach a Friend to Brew Day will take place at the Blue Ridge Hydroponics & Home Brewing Co. at Lamplighter Mall on Williamson Road in Roanoke. The Star City Brewers Guild is teaming up with Blue Ridge Hydroponics for the event. It will include food, beer tastings and instruction on how to make your own beer at home. For more information, call Blue Ridge Hydroponics at (540) 265-2483.