www.roanoke.com

UPDATE: This event has been cancelled because not enough people bought tickets. Bummer.

On Tuesday, I will take part in a great event at Foodies in Roanoke County called "Chopping for Charity." All proceeds from the event will support the Roanoke Valley Komen Foundation for the cure for breast cancer.

In an Iron Chef-style battle of skills, chefs Josh Smith of Local Roots Cafe and Brian Murtaugh of the Roanoke Country Club will square off in the kitchen at Foodies using a secret ingredient to be announced that night. I'm a "celebrity judge," and the event emcee will be Chef Steve Alls from Kroger. Ticket holders will get to watch the excitement and enjoy hors d'oevres.

The event costs $40 per person, and tickets can be obtained by contacting Foodies at (540) 776-3693 or www.cookingmadefun.com by Monday, October 12. If your life has been touched by breast cancer in some way or if you just enjoy watching talented chefs practice their art, come on out. The first person who registers online and enters "Fridge Magnet" into the promotional code area will win a cookbook of their choice. Once I find out who that person is, I'll let them know what I've got in my goodie bag (I have a lot).

I knew that would get your attention. Ha!

But it wasn't just a ploy! There really will be free beer samples at Wine Gourmet's Oktoberfest celebration this Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. Beer guru Aaron Layman tells me they will be providing samples of more than a dozen different beers. So, if you enjoy experiencing different brews and learning all about them, this would be a great way to start out the evening after a long week.

Click here for a funny video created by the Wine Gourmet folks about their Oktoberfest beer festival:

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.

Macado's wrap tastes better than it looks in this pic.

My best friend growing up, Samantha, used to order the exact same thing at almost any restaurant we visited together: a club sandwich. Of course, some restaurants didn't have a club sandwich on the menu, but you could bet money that if they did, Sam was going to order it. My editor and friend Kathy is the same way about french fries and Caesar salads. I'm pretty sure she has tried the Caesar salad and french fries at every restaurant in and around Roanoke. Those are just her go-to orders.

Over time, I have come to realize that everyone has a go-to order. My husband's is an Italian sub. It starts as a personal preference and often morphs into a quest to find the VERY BEST club sandwich, Caesar salad or Italian sub in town. I'm pretty sure that Kathy could tell me, were she not in Oregon right now, where she goes to get her favorite Caesar salad. I believe hub's favorite Italian is actually a version of the Italian at Brambleton Deli called the B.D. Special.

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www.roanokegreekfestival.com

Looking for plans this weekend? Why not do something food-related? I've got two possibilities to share with you this morning: the Al Pollard Memorial Clubhouse Bash & Chef Showdown and the annual Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke.

Al Pollard was an extremely successful Roanoke restaurateur who died in 2006. He created Corned Beef & Company, which some credit with spurring revitalization in downtown Roanoke. He was also an owner of Frankie Rowland's steakhouse and 419 West. Now, a memorial foundation in his name raises money for scholarships for culinary students at Virginia Western Community College. Friday's gala at the Roanoke Country Club will raise money for the same cause, while providing lots of entertainment, hors d'oevres and two drinks per ticket. Click "read more" for additional details about this food-heavy extravaganza.

The Roanoke Greek Festival keeps getting bigger and better every year. If you've never been, I can say with absolute certainty that you are missing out on something good. Not only do the folks at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church crank out a groaning table full of authentic food, they also offer up lots of entertainment in the form of shopping, music and dancing. I would say it is a tight race between the Greek Festival and the Lebanese Festival (early summer) for best ethnic food events in Roanoke. But why choose? Go to both.

This year at the Greek festival, they are selling raffle tickets for two round-trip tickets to Athens, Greece or $1,500 cash. Admission to this event is free and they'll even have a drive-through set up if you want to pick up your souvlaki, moussaka and baklava and enjoy it in front of the television while Virginia Tech plays Nebraska.

Heading to either of these events? Send me some photos (jpeg please) at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com and I may post them on the blog next week!

More details on both of these events:

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We are just days away from what is probably the biggest and most involved local food event to ever take place in the Roanoke Valley -- the Local Food Expo at Greenfield Education & Training Center in Daleville.

The expo takes place from 2-8 p.m. this Friday. It's a huge, collaborative effort between the Virginia Cooperative Extension offices in Roanoke, Botetourt, Craig and Alleghany counties that seeks to bring together as many local food producers and educators as possible for an afternoon of good food and fun.

What can you expect at the expo? For starters, lots and lots of farmers will be there either selling or sampling their wares. This is different from the typical farmer's market because many vendors there do not offer samples. I think it has something to do with health department regulations. There will also be a Thai cooking demonstration, educational booths, gardening classes, live music and a chef's challenge. For the challenge, three local chefs will have to create a dish using "mystery boxes" filled with surprise ingredients.

It costs just $2 to get in; tickets are available at the door or at your local extension office. Look for more information about the expo in this Thursday's edition of Inside Out. I'll be there -- if you see me, please say hello!

Are you "amused?" There's one bad hint.

This word quiz was published the other day in the Kansas City Star. It's based on culinary terms that get tossed around on Top Chef. I had so much fun doing it that I pulled it off the wire to share with you guys. I'm going to be a trickster and wait to publish the answers tomorrow. I trust no one to cheat! And if you are serious about the quiz, you may not want to read comments on this post until you have done it. Some of them may give certain answers away.

25 FANCY FOOD WORDS USED ON 'TOP CHEF'

(Do You Know What They Mean?)

See how many of these food words you can correctly match with their definitions. See definitions below!

1. Ganache (GAHN-ahsh)

2. Ceviche (seh-VEE-chay)

3. Risotto (rih-SO-toh)

4. Carpaccio (kahr-PAH-chee-oh)

5. Hamachi (hah-MAH-chee)

6. Remoulade (ray-muh-LAHD)

7. Chiffonade (shihf-uh-NAHD)

8. Panna cotta (PAHN-nah KOH-tah)

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Today is Dairy Day on the old Fridge Magnet blog. I've got two udderly exciting food developments to pass along.

First, the Got Milk? campaign is coming to Roanoke next week, and they'll be hosting a fun day on the Roanoke City Market on Tuesday, June 30 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. That day, you'll be able to pose for your own milk moustache photo, watch behind-the-scenes footage from celebrity milk moustache ads, gather wellness information about milk, enter a contest to win a year's supply of milk and enjoy free smoothies. The Got Milk? folks will also be sampling milk from local dairies.

Next up, what's better than milk? Ice cream! And here's a little ice cream trivia for you guys: Did you know that Rocky Road ice cream was first introduced in 1929 during the Great Depression? Yep, Bill Dreyer and Joseph Edy of Dreyer's/Edy's Grand Ice Cream invented the beloved flavor to cheer people up during the depression. According to the Edy's company, ice cream was typically only made in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry back then. But Dreyer decided to add walnuts (they later switched to almonds) and used his wife's sewing scissors to snip marshmallows into bite-size pieces for the ice cream.

Eighty years later, the same ice cream company has introduced a temporary new flavor designed to brighten the mood during this latest recession. It's called Red, White and No More Blues, and it consists of vanilla ice cream with swirls of real strawberry and blueberry throughout. Sounds incredibly delicious to me, but then I've always preferred fruity ice cream flavors to chocolatey ones.

Red, White and No More Blues will be available  in 1.5 quart cartons in your grocer's freezer for $5.99. Hurry up and buy a carton before summer ends and ... well, I guess we are allowed to get the blues again.

It's time to polish up your favorite fruit salad or vegetable salad recipe for the chance to win $25 at the Vinton Farmers' Market on June 13. Okay, maybe that's not exactly a windfall, but just think of the fame you will achieve when your salad is judged to be the best at the market!

"Song and Salad at the Vinton Farmer's Market" runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. Market manager Mary Beth Layman said the rules are not strict and creativity is encouraged. Just bring enough salad to feed two judges and bring your recipe to share. "Song and Salad" is part of an effort by Layman to draw more crowds to the market. On the second Saturdays in July and September they will have art on the market, and on the second Saturday in August there will be a salsa contest (the food, not the dance).

Vendors interested in selling produce, crafts, plants, and artwork should contact Mary Beth Layman by calling 983-0613 or mblayman@vintonva.gov.  Visit www.vintonva.gov or Town of Vinton on Facebook.

In other news, check out this announcement about a great food event in the New River Valley, "Taste of the 'burgs." You are being directed to our new community blog for the New River Valley, so maybe you'll find even more to enjoy over there than this announcement.

Also in the NRV: the 5th Annual Food & Wine Benefit Auction for the YMCA. It takes place June 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. and features an evening of South American food, wines and a "foodie" auction. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. For more info, hit www.vtymca.org or call (540) 961-9622

Finally, don't forget to mark your calendars for the 11th Annual Lebanese Festival at St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church on Cove Road in Roanoke. It happens May 29, 30th and 31st. If you've never been, you have been missing a gastronomic treat. Lots of Lebanese favorites. For more details, check here.

Yesterday, I saved $19 on my grocery bill at Kroger. And it was all because of coupons.

Lots of people don't use coupons because they think it is a nuisance to clip them, or because it just isn't worth all of the extra time and planning in the end. But I have grown to be a big coupon user over the years, particularly with the recent plunge in the economy.

A few of my co-workers and I recently started up a little coupon exchange. On Sundays, we go through the coupons from the newspaper and clip out what we want. On Mondays, we bring the leftover coupons to work and tell each other which ones we were interested in. Then, we trade off. And it works out well because while some of them have children, I don't. And while I have cats, some co-workers don't. And, of course, everyone has their own preference for name brand food products.

Photo editor Natalee Waters delivered a small stack to me last week with the words, "that's nine dollars worth of savings!" Indeed, much of my savings at the store yesterday came from the exchange. Three dollars off some contact lens solution, three dollars off some disposable razors, a free tube of Crest, 45 cents off cheese, 25 cents off juice... it all adds up in the end!

If you are looking to save money on the grocery bill, consider a coupon exchange with coworkers, neighbors, church members or other members of your moms' club. If you find a better way to do it than we have, please pass that on. And if you have other great coupon tips, please share!