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.

Those crazy kids at Chick-fil-A are at it again! They just love to give away free food. This time, they're celebrating the second annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day).

All you have to do to earn a free chicken sandwich is show up at either Roanoke Chick-fil-A location wearing any sports-related apparel. The promotion runs from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Any apparel will work so long as it has a sports logo on it -- t-shirts, hats, jerseys, etc.

Also check out the virtual stadium wave at www.ChickenWave.com.

www.muttscomics.com

Crabby is probably my favorite character on the Mutts comic strip. I laugh out loud just about every time he is featured on the strip. What does that tell you about me? Well, let's not go there.

I chose to mention Crabby today because I have a wonderful prize package from the folks at Old Bay seasoning that I want to give away to a lucky reader before summer is over. The prize pack includes an Old Bay beach towel, a can of Old Bay seasoning, a packet of Old Bay Seafood Steamers, an Old Bay bottle opener/key chain and a temporary tattoo, all stuffed inside a very nifty Old Bay beach bag. The bag has a shoulder strap, as well as a mesh bottom to keep sand from getting trapped inside.

To enter to win this package, I'd like to know what makes you the crabbiest in the kitchen? Is it poor kitchen tools? Not enough cabinet or counter space? Too many cooks poking around in your soup? Leave a comment with your crabby story no later than 5 p.m. Friday. I'll pick the entry that I think Crabby would pick if he were a judge. The winner will be announced on Monday.

Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

On Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., fifteen percent of sales at both Chick-Fil-A restaurants in Roanoke will go to the Roanoke Valley Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society fundraiser.

So if you're looking for a quick dinner idea on Thursday, you could eat chicken and waffle fries and not feel quite so guilty about the fat content, or not making a homemade dinner for your family, or whatever else you would tend to feel guilty about.

Zaxby's on Ordway Drive and on Main Street in Salem will be giving away free Nibblers, or snack-sized chicken finger sandwiches, on Monday.

The offer is good from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Roanoke location and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Salem location.

Get your nibble on.