Our N&O meetup this evening in the outdoor courtyard at Sitti is on. The forecast indicates a 30 percent chance of precipitation and scattered storms. We're optimistic, but be prepared. What better way is there to deter the rain than to bring an umbrella?

So many things to do this weekend beyond the 24-hour celebration of the new N.C.  Museum of Natural Sciences. If the weather cooperates, here are a few ideas:

• This Saturday is the annual Cuegrass festival outside The Pit restaurant in downtown Raleigh. It's from noon-6 p.m. It costs $5. For details, go to http://cuegrass.com
• Chatham County's Briar Chapel is hosting an Earth Day celebration from 3-5 p.m. Sunday with children's activities and a food truck rodeo. The food trucks will include Chirba Chirba Dumpling, Baguettaboutit, Will & Pop's and The Parlour. (There's also a 5K in the morning if you feel so inclined. It benefits the Abundance Foundation. For more information, go HERE.)
• SEEDS' annual pie social and skills share auction also is Sunday afternoon. Read my earlier post HERE.
• The next Triangle Foodie Tweetup is April 25 at Fearrington Village. The cost is $5 for Chef Colin Bedford's take on hot dogs, sliders and more. (They do seem to outdo themselves every time they host these events.) It's cash bar. Tickets are available HERE.

And I also wanted to mention these special dinners at Triangle restaurants:

Beasley's Chicken + Honey is doing soft shell crab dinners on Monday: You get  soft shell crabs, family-style sides and three glasses of spring wine for $35. They are doing seatings at 6 and 8 p.m. To make a reservation, call (919) 322-0127.

Chapel Hill's Jujube restaurant has two wine dinners:

• 7 p.m. April 26, a five-course dinner featuring Argentine wines costs $45 per person.
• 7 p.m. May 8, a five-course dinner with Austrian wine pairings costs $50 per person.

To see the full menus, go HERE. To make a reservation, call (919) 960-0555.
 

Are you a foodie on Twitter and live in the Triangle area? Join hosts Fork and Barrel (@forkandbarrel), me (@andreaweigl) and Johanna Kramer, editor of the blog Durham Foodie (@durhamfoodie) for the Fall Triangle Foodie Tweetup!

This is a great opportunity to meet your favorite food, beer and wine bloggers and fellow triangle area foodies. Tickets are $8 (plus eventbrite and paypal fees).

• Homemade potato chips with gorgonzola dip
• Assorted bruschetta: Roasted beets with goat cheese and pinenuts.  Spinach with roasted garlic, mushrooms and shaved parmesan
• Mini house burgers with gorgonzola and  fontina cheeses, fresh arugula and a bacon - balsamic - onion jam
• Roasted squash and wild mushroom chili with a goat cheese creme fraiche  

About Fork and Barrel

Their menu will be focuses on fresh, local ingredients.  Some menu items will be spicy, some will be classy, and some will be fun.  But all items will be done to the high standards Chris and Danny and you expect.

Fork and Barrel

6675-105 Falls of the Neuse Rd
Raleigh, NC 27615

The next Triangle Foodie Tweetup will be 6-8 p.m. June 14th at Jujube in Chapel Hill. The theme is Asian tapas and cocktails. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Wednesday, June 1.

Go HERE to purchase tickets. They cost $11.75.

It's an oyster roast/fried chicken feast from 6-8 p.m. April 6 at The Roost in Fearrington.

Go HERE to buy tickets. They cost $5 each. The first 50 tickets went in less than an hour.

UPDATE: This event has sold out. I think that was a record: 5 hours.

Our 2011 kick-off Triangle Foodie Tweet up is being hosted by Four Square Restaurant in Durham. The event will be from 4-6 p.m.Sunday, Feb. 20. 

Like our last event, Four Square is normally closed on Sundays but is opening for us.They will be serving appetizers (sample menu below) and there will be a cash bar.

The concept for the tweet up will be a "Nose to Tail" extravaganza, showcasing a whole pig from Brinkley Farms. You pay $8.17 (which includes the Eventbrite and PayPal fees). Go HERE to buy tickets.

Justin Rakes, Chef de Cuisine at Four Square has designed an exciting menu. Here is a sample: (though subject to change).

• Crispy Ears with gribiche sauce
• Pig Head Terrine with horseradish
• Confit Shoulder Rillette
• Loin Porchetta
• Lardo and Olive Crostini
• Pork Butt braised in coconut milk and banana leaf with Thai garnishes
• Trotters stuffed with house Italian sausage
• Roasted Tail (Since there is only one, we may raffle it off for charity!)
• Crispy Belly with mustard and pickles

You do not have to be on Twitter to come to the event.

But if you are on Twitter, feel free to follow the discussion using this hashtag: #trifoodietweetup. Or follow the hostesses: Andrea Weigl, @andreaweigl, the food writer for The News & Observer, and Johanna Kramer, @durhamfoodie, whose blog can be found at http://johannakramer.com/, and the folks at Four Square, @foursquareNC

Again, go HERE to buy tickets.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight to Durham's Six Plates Wine Bar for the Triangle Foodie Tweetup. I was worried the cold dreary weather would keep folks at home but I was wrong. And thanks again to the Snob Free Wine folks who joined the tweetup regulars.

I'd love to hear any feedback from anyone who has attended any of this year's tweetups. I'd like to know what you liked, what you didn't like and suggestions on how to make the events better. Please send your thoughts to andrea.weigl@newsobserver.com.

See everybody (who could get tickets) for Sunday's Triangle Foodie Tweetup at Durham's Six Plates Wine Bar. We're considering it our holiday party for Triangle foodies.

If you ever wanted to meet our columnists, Fred Thompson and Debbie Moose, they will be there. Chapel Hill cookbook author Nancie McDermott also will be there.

For more details, go to http://trifoodietweetupholidayparty.eventbrite.com/

I promise we will have another tweetup in January. Follow me on Twitter, @andreaweigl, to find out the next location and be among the first to be able to get tickets.
 

I can't believe how quickly tickets to the Triangle Foodie Tweetup sold out. Eighty tickets gone in five days! Wow!

Stay turned for the next tweetup, likely in January. A very nice restaurant in Durham has offered to host it. I'm already excited about it and I'm sure you will be too.

Durham's Six Plates Wine Bar is hosting the next Triangle Foodie Tweetup from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12. We're considering it our holiday party for Triangle foodies.

To order tickets, go to http://trifoodietweetupholidayparty.eventbrite.com/

(This link now works. Sorry for any confusion.)

The restaurant is normally closed on Sundays. But they are opening for us. You pay $6.63 (which includes the Eventbrite and Paypal fees) to taste a sampling of dishes, including Truffled Sirloin Cups, BBQ Confit Chicken Tostada, Smoked Salmon Red Pepper Blintz, Tuna Tartare in Cucumber Cups, Fig Jam Crostini with Spiced Walnuts, Blue Cheese and Chives, and for dessert, Chocolate and Strawberry Mousse Cups.

They will offer a  cash bar. Then if you'd like to order dinner, the kitchen will be open for business. Nothing on the menu costs more than $10 so it's very reasonable. And owner Matthew Beason says they will offer a $5 lamby joes and flatbread special for everyone.

You do not have to be on Twitter to come to the event.

But if you are on Twitter, feel free to follow the discussion using this hashtag: #trifoodietweetup. Or follow the hostesses: Andrea Weigl, @andreaweigl, the food writer for The News & Observer, and Johanna Kramer, @durhamfoodie, whose blog can be found at http://johannakramer.com/, @sixplates

Click READ MORE to learn more about Six Plates owner Matthew Beason.