Lobsters for $9/lb Saturday at Lobsta Bakes and Culinary Smackdown Results

One of my favorite fishmongers, Lobsta Bakes of Maine, is running a special this Saturday: Lobsters for $9 a pound. They'll steam them for you, if you like, and even crack them upon request. Call 513-561-0444 to reserve yours. The pic above is one I got at Lobsta Bakes, in Newtown, for my very first entry in the Culinary Smackdown, Battle Lobster.

Owner Kevin Smith, a native Mainer who comes from a family of lobstermen, knows his stuff – and where to get the best fish and shellfish from all over. In addition to fresh seafood, you'll find prepared foods made in-house, like cioppino, lobster bisque, clam chowder, lobster quiche, roasted shrimp salad, and lobster rolls, available on a rotating basis. Lobsta Bakes also smokes some items in-house, like their sensational seafood sausages, which are also on the menu at Brown Dog Cafe, where local food blogger Jen from Our Good Food Life (October's Smackdown host) joined me for dinner during Restaurant Week.

If you stop by this weekend, be sure to add your name to Lobsta Bakes' email list. Or sign up via their website. They send out a weekly e-newsletter with current offerings and prices, and it's also the best way to find out about specials like this Saturday's lobsters or events like their open-to-the-public lobster bakes.

If you, like Jen, are looking for a fishmonger to call your own, I can't recommend Lobsta Bakes highly enough. The friendly and knowledgeable crew will make you feel welcome every time you stop in, and they'll bend over backward to accommodate special requests.

As judge and host, Jen has also posted her round-up and results of Battle Squash. Congrats to Boxer, with able assistance from Nephew, on her win for these Butternut Squash Cupcakes topped with cream cheese icing, candied apricot, and chopped walnuts!

And thanks to all of the participants, from Smackdown veterans like La Diva Cucina and Buzz Kill to our newest newcomer, Jeff from a Dork and His Pork. If you're interested in participating in the future, remember that all are welcome. The Smackdown is all in good fun, and in the interest of not stressing anyone out during the food-holiday heavy months of November and December, I think Boxer is going to wait to schedule the next Smackdown for January (with an as-yet-unrevealed ingredient/theme she promises will be very challenging). As resident cheerleader for the Smackdown, I'll update when I know more.

October Culinary Smackdown: Battle Squash

Apparently it was autumn of 2007 when I became obsessed with squash dishes. I know this because I found a motherlode of squash recipes in a subfolder titled Thanksgiving 2007. For this month's Culinary Smackdown, I had in mind to reprise one that ended up being my favorite of everything I cooked that holiday. But there was another I've never forgotten and always wanted to try: Fresh Butternut Squash Salad.

You may be reading this and shaking your head as I did when I first read the recipe. Eating a hard winter vegetable like butternut squash raw? Huh? My usual inclination is to go with roasting squash or turning it into soup.

Guess what happens when you don't cook the heck out of it? If yours is as fresh as the one I got at Hyde Park farmers market last week, it's fragrant and melon-y and very easy to peel into lovely curls for this salad, with prosciutto, parmesan, and nuts. Add a little olive oil and red wine vinegar, and you're good to go. I topped mine with some microgreens I was lucky enough to have on hand. But really, this is dead simple and truly delicious.

This month's host (and last month's winner) for the Culinary Smackdown, Jen of Our Good Food Life, is up with her host post. If you're playing this month, head on over to her place to share a link back to your entry in her comments section. I'm looking forward to a wealth of great ideas from all!

Thanks to Jen for taking on this month's hosting duties. And to all the participants, and onlookers, for supporting this friendly little monthly cooking/blogging competition. As the resident cheerleader for the Smackdown, I'm thinking it might be a good idea to put it on hiatus during the busy months of November and December, then resume in January. Leave a comment here to let me know what you think.

October Culinary Smackdown Announced + More October Food Events

Our September Smackdown winner, Jen from Our Good (Food) Life, has announced the October theme, Battle: Winter Squash! Details at Jen's place here. It would be great to welcome back previous participants who have been otherwise occupied with moving into new digs, crazy work demands, epic swims around Alcatraz, travels that make me jealous, or on blogging hiatus (you know who you are). It would be swell to welcome more newcomers to this friendly little virtual cook-off too - all are welcome! Deadline is October 31, and you can find the link to this month's details anytime by clicking the image on my sidebar (designed by my talented friend Chickory) below the thingie that says: "Where in the world is this month's Culinary Smackdown?"

Jen mentioned she was originally leaning toward pumpkin as this month's theme. If you're in the Cincinnati area and have a hankering to try out a pumpkin preparation, Marvin's Organic Gardens, in Lebanon, OH, is hosting its 2nd Annual Fall Harvest Family Festival Saturday, October 15, from noon to 5:00, complete with a pumpkin cook-off/bake-off in both sweet and savory categories. You can do the required pre-registration thing up until noon on the day of the festival.

ETA: 1st and 2nd place winners in each category (sweet and savory) will receive $100 and $50 gift certificates to Marvin’s. You can register either online or at the event. Full details on how to enter here on Marvin’s website, and more about the event on Marvin’s facebook page here.

Wherever you reside, Sunday, October 16, is Blog Action Day (BAD), an international opportunity for bloggers to make their voices heard. Since this year's BAD coincides with World Food Day, the theme is food. If you're a blogger and choose to participate, you can register your blog here. If you care about food and its local and global implications, you'll no doubt find lots of thought-provoking posts from around the blogosphere that day as a reader too.

As conflicted as I am about using the word "foodie" to describe myself, I believe there is an important flip side to my obsession. You can contribute canned foods to one of my favorite organizations, the Cincinnati Freestore Food Bank, at lunchtime this Friday on the Square, as a kick-off to the evening's events celebrating the 140th birthday of the Tyler Davidson Fountain.

And if you just want to have fun, how about the Cincinnati Chocolate Festival October 23 at Xavier's Cintas Center? Among others, three fine local female "celebrity" pastry chefs - Summer Genetti, Pam Sturkey, and Megan Ketover (who I continue to root for on Top Chef: Just Desserts - aired Wednesday nights at 10:00 Eastern on Bravo, ahem, not Food TV). Another of my local favorites, Chocolats Latour, will also be participating. Proceeds from the event go to a number of worthy organizations via Isaac M. Wise Temple's Sisterhood project.

ETA: There will also be an amateur chocolate cooking competition. Details and entry form here. Plus, tickets, which can be redeemed for chocolate tastings, raffle baskets, children's activities, chef demonstrations, etc., are available at Kroger at $5 for 10 (at the door, they’ll be 7 for $10). Items such as raffle baskets, most samples and activities such as demonstrations and Kids Zone will be 1 ticket. Wine and chocolate pairings will be 2 tickets and concession items will vary, according to the Festival’s facebook page. Wine and chocolate pairings? I’m in!

What's on your October agenda?