I knew it was only a matter of time before my dad and stepmother, both recent transplants to Charlotte from the Gulf, would drag me out to my first crawfish boil. I could already anticipate the scene - shells flying in the humid outdoor air, sweaty red plastic cups, rolls of paper towel littered about and people with savory debris all over their clothes and faces.

This month, e2 emeril's eatery is hosting all-you-can-eat crawfish boils every Friday for $5 a person. For those of you unaware of what a crawfish boil is, imagine the Southern version of a clam bake - a ton of people get together and boil a combination of heavily seasoned crawfish and other vittles, drink lots of cold beer, gab and enjoy gorging themselves in the Southern outdoors. It's a staple of Gulf and bayou culture.

• Funds to Farms

Funds to Farms, a grant program to fund local food programs that began last January in Durham, will hold its first event in Charlotte this Sunday.

Funds to Farms is the brainchild of Slow Money, a nonprofit that focuses on alternative financing for local food and agriculture projects. Organizations that focus on local food (like farms, restaurants and meal delivery services) are encouraged to apply for the grant to fund their "big idea." Judges then narrow down the eligible farms, ranking each "big idea" on the impact to the business (farm, restaurant, etc.), as well as their commitment to sustainability and sustainable agriculture.

"For $20, you get a great dinner, support these awesome farmers, and learn about all the innovative things they are doing in farming," says Amy Campbell of Slow Money. "We started this event series in conjunction with the Carolina Farm Steward Association, and it went so well that we started getting calls from people all over the state to know how they can get involved."

Three farms were selected to present their ideas at the May 12 event, which will be held at Triple C Brewing Company and catered by Roots Farm Food. These farms are:
- Birdsong Farms
- Cold Water Creek Farms
- Bountiful Harvest Farm

You can read more about the farms and their proposals here.

• Funds to Farms
• A farmer presents at the Durham Funds to Farm event held last January.

The farms' proposals are voted on by the event attendees and ranked first through third place. First place will receive the largest winnings. However, the winnings will be determined the night of the event based on the amount of money raised through ticket sales and donations. The first place winner of the Funds to Farm held in Durham last January took home $1,000 in winnings to purchase a a Komo small grain mill, seed cleaner, and seed sorting screens.

What: Funds to Farms Dinner
When: Sunday, May 12, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Where: Triple C Brewing Company, 2900 Griffith St.
Cost: $20 for the public, $15 for farmers (limited amount)

*Editor's Note: This event was originally slated for April 27 but has been rescheduled to May 18.

The folks at JJ's Red Hots (located at 1514 East Blvd.) know what makes a good hotdog. During March and April, though, they let a few beer connoisseurs come up with their own creative takes on the classic dog. These creations have alternated being featured on JJ's menu for the past few weeks. On May 18, from 4 p.m.-8 p.m., JJ's customers will choose the best dog at their SpringFest 2013.

The top three selling hot dogs from the past two months will compete against two surprise hotdogs created by JJ's. Customers can purchase tickets to judge the hotdogs and will be granted as many samples as they like to make their choice for best dog.

So far, the three dogs in the lead are:

* The Chips On Your Shoulder Dog, created by Jason Glunt from Salud Beer Shop, featuring pulled pork, slaw, crumbled chips.

• Michael Newton Photography
• The Chips On Your Shoulder Dog

* The Put That in Your Pipe Dog, created by Daniel Hartis from Charlotte Beer , featuring smoked cheddar, bacon, chipotle ketchup and red onion.

• Michael Newton Photography
• The Put That in Your Pipe Dog

• Kelly Davis

Both experienced and aspiring home brewers as well as beer aficionados will gather at NoDa Brewing Company (2229 N. Davidson St.) on Saturday, April 27 for its inaugural Top of the Hop Pro-Am Competition.

(Sure, it's another NoDa Brewing event, but what can we say? They're doing good stuff over there.)

Happening from noon to 10 p.m., Top of the Hop is a home brewers competition. The Best in Show winning beer will be recreated with NoDa Brewing's brewery system and entered into the Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition.

Other awards will be given to:
- King or Queen of Wort
- Steward's Choice
- Most Creative Recipe
- Most Creative Name
- Most Creative Ingredient

Members of Carolina Brewmasters, the Cabarrus Homebrewers Society (Cabrew), and the Iredell Brewers United (IBU) will act as judges and hosts for the event.

This is a great educational opportunity for both aspiring and seasoned homebrewers because of the wealth of homebrewing knowledge that will be shared during the event. Entrance into the competition is currently closed with over 90 brews entered, but the public is welcome to attend.

For more information, call 704-451-1394 or email Todd@NoDaBrewing.com.