Dig in with your knife and fork - early October serves up a full plate of Columbus food news! 1. Local Foods Week starts Friday with a happy hour at restaurants around the city benefiting Local Matters. Festivities continue October 1 - 8 with events as diverse as an urban farming forum at the Wex to local drink tasting at House Wine to the culminating Harvest Dinner and Ball and Market to Market ride. Head over to the Eat Local Ohio site to find the activities that match your calendar and budget.

2. Local radio station WCBE turned 55 on Monday. Happy Birthday 90.5! A documentary about their history will be screened on Monday October 10 from 5:30-8:30 at Shadowbox. Notable for promoting local music and events, WCBE is also host to Foodcast, a radio show about all things edible in Columbus. Tune in at 2:01 on Saturdays or listen to archives and read notes on the Foodcast website.

3. Carole at ChopSizzlePop is seeking interview questions for her newest blog feature, "Ask the Chef". The first "chef" (who claims he is just a home cook) is Cleveland native Michael Ruhlman. I submitted my question; head over to the ChopSizzlePop page to ask yours.

4. Columbus Underground celebrates their 10th anniversary of being the go-to source for independent online news this October. Walker and company have scheduled a slew of celebratory events including new flavor launches from Sugardaddy's and Vienna Ice Cafe listed on the 10th anniversary messageboard thread. Huge kudos to the CU team for featuring the best of Columbus every day!

5. Franklin Park's Hungry Planet exhibition and events continue in October with a Live-fire demo October 2, food truck court on October 9 and Wednesday 'Food for Thought' lecture series.

6. The latest art exhibition at Brother's Drake is Yummy! an explosion of food and art. The opening reception is this Saturday, October 1 from 7-11 pm featuring nosh from local and independent folks and a raffle benefiting Mid Ohio Food Bank. The exhibit will continue through October 23.

7. Celebrate Local, a pop-up holiday shop featuring Ohio produced foods and gifts, opens Saturday. The non-profit store will be located in the former Harry and David store at Easton. Tomorrow, I'll post a preview of the Celebrate Local.

I must apologize in advance for light posting over the next week. I am teaching four classes in the next seven days and will celebrate my own birthday on the 9th. You can see me in person at the Family Pasta and Sauce class this Sunday or the Applicious Culinary class on Thursday October 6. Contact me to register for either.