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I know that many of you are anxiously waiting to find out who won our Crabbiest Cook contest. And I'm getting to that, but first I want to announce that Virginia fared very well in American Farmland Trust's farmers market contest.

American Farmland Trust asked Americans to vote online for their favorite farmers market, and more than 30,000 votes poured in from around the country. The markets were separated into small (1-30 vendors), medium (31-55 vendors) and large (56 plus). The winner of the three categories were:

Small: Collingswood Farmers Market, Collingswood, NJ
Medium: Williamsburg Farmers Market, Williamsburg, VA
Large: Davis Farmers Market, Davis, CA

In addition to the Williamsburg market, several Virginia markets placed in the top 20, including the Roanoke Farmers Market, which placed in the "medium" category. Also honored were markets in Fairfax, Virginia Beach, Yorktown and Goochland. In the interest of full disclosure, I am pretty sure that not every farmers market in existence was on the list of markets for which you could vote. The Roanoke market was the only one that popped up when I looked to see which ones we could vote for in the Roanoke area. Maybe the smaller ones will make it on to the list by this time next year.

At any rate, I'm proud to live in one of the top-ranking states in that survey. Only California had more markets on the list, which just further supports my personal opinion that Southwest Virginia is one of the best local food regions in the country.

And now for the Crabbiest Cook....

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When it comes to restaurant news, we are usually focused on the present or the future. Who is taking over ownership of this restaurant? Why has that restaurant closed down? What's going to open in that vacant storefront downtown?

If you think about it, though, there's a good story in restaurants that don't make the news very often, if at all. Some of these are stalwarts; they've been open for decades and are still going strong. And if that's the case, they must be doing something right. Right?

I was reminded of this earlier today when Executive Editor Carole Tarrant forwarded an e-mail she had received over the weekend. This e-mail came from a visitor to Roanoke who tried Stephen's Restaurant on Franklin Road for the first time and was astounded by the high quality of the food and service. Our freelance restaurant reviewers generally focus on new restaurants, but it might be time to send some of them around to the old stand-by places to see how much they have changed, if any, over the years.

With the writer's permission, I'm going to share the e-mail about Stephen's below the jump. I'd like to ask all of you for help coming up with a list of restaurants that you'd like to see revisited and re-reviewed. So send on those ideas!

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Last night, I made the barbecue-braised chuck roast from the Fine Cooking article I wrote about Friday. It was supposed to be bourbon-mustard beef, but somehow I managed to be out of bourbon and didn't notice until it came time to make the dish. Alas, I had to use extra chicken broth and a little bit of apple cider vinegar, but this recipe still has so many flavors (fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, Dijon mustard, dry mustard, garlic, onion) that it was quite delicious.

The purpose of the article, I believe, was to show home cooks how to make what are essentially heavy, winter dishes in the summertime without heating up the kitchen. But my cheap self decided I didn't want to braise the beef on the gas grill for three hours, thus depleting my tank of fuel. So I seared it on the grill, braised it in the oven at 300 degrees and then glazed it back on the grill. It worked, but my kitchen was pretty uncomfortable all afternoon.

The beef was almost fork-tender, and the mustardy onions were a great topping. We had this with grilled slices of red potato and sweet potato, along with some Brussels sprouts roasted with olive oil and kosher salt.

To see the recipe, look below the jump. What was your best dish this weekend?

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I recently spoke to a group of stay-at-home moms about cooking, and it was clear to me that they were most interested in fast, easy recipes that are both nutritious and delicious. We all know how difficult it can be to get those kinds of meals on the table with jobs, chores, kids and other obligations.

Not long ago, I got an e-mail about a new Web site just for moms called Mamapedia. Mamapedia is geared toward mothers of all ages and descriptions, and the content is primarily driven by those readers. Wondering how old your daughter should be before she's allowed to shave her legs? What to do about a toddler son who wets the bed? Questions like these are asked and answered on Mamapedia.

For our purposes, though, the cooking section is the most interesting. Here's an example of some of the moms' comments I saw on there recently:

I'm verrrrry tired of cooking and planning meals nothing sounds good anymore. Do you ladies have any recipes that are quick and tasty...?

My newborn decides to stay awake from 5-8 and my 3-year-old has his cranky, freak out time right as I'm trying to start dinner almost every night!

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Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

I'm back to writing about fried chicken because, really, who can think enough about fried chicken? Last night, I tried out Paula Deen's fried chicken recipe to great success. You can see that the end product was quite golden and crispy. The inside was cooked through but was still juicy. I expected this chicken to be spicier because of the half bottle of hot sauce that I added to the egg mixture, but it wasn't. I guess the brief swim through the egg before hitting the flour wasn't enough to impart much of the hot sauce flavor.

The only complaint I have about my fried chicken was that it was a tad bit greasy. I know anything fried is a tad bit greasy, but I can't help but wonder whether hotter oil in my cast iron Dutch oven would have made a difference. I don't fry foods very often, but I've always heard that if your oil is hot enough without reaching the smoking point, the food fries without a lot of grease soaking into the food.

How to tell if the oil is hot enough? Well, it called for an oil temperature of 350 degrees. Various sites suggested various methods of testing the oil if you don't own an oil thermometer, which I do not. One method was to flick a drop of water into the oil and see if it dances around and pops. Another is to toss a cube of bread into the oil and if it browns nicely in one minute, the oil is ready. A third is to toss in a pinch of flour. I used the first two methods.

Cook large pieces, like breasts, first.

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A rumor that has been floating around central and Southwest Virginia for more than a week may have some truth to it. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is reporting that the owners of the Ukrop's grocery store chain may be searching for buyers. Our business reporter, Jenny Boone, has been doggedly following this story for more than a week and has posted one blog entry over on her Storefront blog.

Stay tuned to Jenny's blog and mine, as well as the home page of Roanoke.com, for more updates.

All this week, Roanoke restaurants are participating in an Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield fundraising effort called LemonAid. This is pretty incredible, folks: through Sunday, if you purchase one of the gourmet, homemade lemonades at participating restaurants, 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Children's Miracle Network, which will turn around and hand it off to the cancer treatment program at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

That means it stays right here in the valley to help local children who are afflicted with this terrible disease. Don't expect the lemonades to be cheap: they will start at $5 per glass, but every cent will be given to Children's Miracle Network. So if you pay $7.50 for a glass, $7.50 will go to the charity. Just think of it as making a charitable donation to a good cause and getting something refreshing and delicious in return.

Erin Hildreth, CMN's Roanoke-based director of community services, said the restaurant owners' willingness to take part was overwhelming. "Each person, before we were even done telling them what we were doing, were nodding their heads, like 'Yes, we are on board,' " she said.

The ten participating downtown restaurants and their featured lemonade flavors are:

* Martin's Downtown Bar & Grill - Peach lemonade
* Awful Arthur's - Strawberry lemonade
* Table 50 - Strawberry-rhubarb lemonade
* 202 Market - Pineapple pomade (made with pomegranate)
* Blue 5 - Blueberry mint lemonade
* Cornerstone - Fresh fruit lemonade (similar to a sangria)
* Little Dipper - Lemonade smoothie
* Blues BBQ - Pomegranate lemonade
* Zac's - Mango lemonade
* Corned Beef & Co. - Cherry lemon-limeade

Also participating are the two Roanoke locations of Chik-fil-A, but they are only taking part this Friday, July 17. On that day, the proceeds of all lemonade sales at those restaurants will be handed over to the Children's Miracle Network and that money will also stay in the Roanoke area.

After the fundraiser has ended, I'm going to share all of the lemonade recipes on this blog so you guys can try them at home. I'm told that some are pretty labor intensive! If you go out and try one of these lemonades, let us know what you thought.

I made the Simply Recipes rhubarb crumble this weekend to rave reviews from everyone who actually likes rhubarb. Of course my mother and sister tried it and turned up their noses at it because they have never liked rhubarb. They don't know what's good.

The recipe worked perfectly as written. Give it a try if you're looking for an easy dessert.

If only every 'mater looked like this!

Today's Front Burner column focuses on some difficulties with growing tomatoes. Everyone is gung-ho about gardening this year, but the first couple of years of gardening can be quite frustrating, I've found. Like many, I'm working to perfect my tomatoes before I really move on to more plants.

I had discussions with several local agents for the Virginia Cooperative Extension and came up with what I think is a handy little guide to some early season tomato disorders. Take a look at the column and see what you think.

One additional tip that I've picked up since the column went to press: if you are planting tomatoes in pots, they had better be pretty big pots. I'm beginning to think that the reason two of my lemon boys aren't doing well is because they're rootbound, so I am thinking about attempting a late-stage transplant operation in the side yard.

Also, my dad, who is a VERY experienced gardener, read the column and had this to add:

Concerning tomato horn worms in your column, they can be devilishly hard to see, since they've adapted to look just like a tomato leaf.  The best way to find them is to look at night with a flashlight.  They show up well that way.  And if you find one with a bunch of little white things on it's back, leave it alone.  The white things are the eggs of a parasitic wasp which preys on horn worms.  The worm wont last long enough to do much damage, and it will host a whole army of wasps which will provide a fine natural defense.

What other advice would some of you long-time tomato gardeners give us amateurs?

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Virginia's famous tourism slogan, "Virginia is for Lovers," nine Virginia wineries will be selling special, limited edition wines that include the slogan on the label.

The only wineries in these parts that will offer the limited edition wines are Chateau Morrisette in Floyd County and Abingdon Vineyard & Winery. Chateau Morrisette's bottle will contain either The Black Dog or Angel Chardonnay. Abingdon's will include a dry Chardonnay and a blush blend of Chambourcin, White Cabernet Sauvignon, Vidal Blanc, and Traminette.

To purchase a bottle, you must visit the wineries' tasting rooms. To see all nine wineries and their labels, go here.