Sonic Drive-Ins locations are kicking off the summer season a little early with a special on a summer-time favorite.

Corn dogs will be 50 cents each all day long on Thursday, May 23.

Find your closest Sonic at SonicDriveIn.com.

Durham’s SEEDS garden will host a homemade cheese workshop from 2-5 p.m. Saturday.

Cheese maker Laurel Shulman will offer a broad introduction to cheese, discussing its chemistry, culture and history. Then Shulman will teach how to make mozzarella and farmer’s cheese, using fresh herbs from the educational community garden to spice up the cheeses. Students are asked to bring a container to transport the cheeses.

The class costs $45 per person. To register, go to goo.gl/NEM3w.

SEEDS is at 706 Gilbert St. and the garden’s new entrance is located on Elizabeth St. across from Carlton St. The class will be in the outdoor classroom, which is in the far right of the gardens. Info: seedsnc.org.

You know the drill. Leave a comment below this post to be entered to win a copy of "The Grilling Book" from Bon Appetit and a pair of grilling gloves from Trudeau.

You have until noon, Friday, May 31st to enter. I'll pick a winner at random.

Good luck!

Syracuse

Coach: Jim Boeheim (38th season, 920-313 at Syracuse and overall)

2012-13 record: 30-10 (11-7 Big East, fifth)

Postseason: NCAA tournament, 4-1 (beat Montana, Cal, Indiana, Marquette; lost to Michigan)

Projected starting lineup: PG Tyler Ennis, F Michael Gbinije, F C.J. Fair, F Rakeem Christmas, F Jerami Grant

Plus

• Jim Boeheim keeps getting better with age. Few coaches understand how to recruit for their needs better than Boeheim, who has a specific idea of how he wants the game to be played and then he goes out and plugs the corresponding pieces into his 2-3 zone.

There are a lot of sad stories coming from Moore, Oklahoma, after the devastating tornado. So many that it can be overwhelming. For that reason, I’m going to focus on a positive aspect of human nature, and the humans in question are meteorologists and storm chasers.

Pencil this one in on your freebie calendar:

Krispy Kreme shops will be giving away free doughnuts when you stop in on Friday, June 7, which is National Doughnut Day.

Choose your favorite doughnut. No purchase is necessary.

No coupon is required.

At least one Wake County school employee will be joining interim Superintendent Stephen Gainey when he starts work in Randolph County.

According to today's article in The Courier-Tribune, the Randolph County school system has named Catherine Berry the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Since 2010, Berry has been principal of Creech Road Elementary School in Garner, where she had to reapply to keep the job as part of the Renaissance Schools program.

The article says Gainey, who will take over as superintendent of Randolph County schools on July 1, supported the selection.

As has happened when Tony Tata left as superintendent, some people went to work for him at the state Department of Transportation.

The Canes have announced they will hold Hurricanes Summerfest from July 16-20 at PNC Arena, incorporating the annual Prospects Development Camp.

There also will be an inaugural ‘Canes Elite Players Camp, where participants will receive instruction directly from Canes coach Kirk Muller and his staff of Rod Brind’Amour, Dave Lewis, John MacLean and Greg Stefan.

The team’s Prospects Development Camp will see most or all of the Hurricanes’ 2013 draft class, other previously-drafted players and select invitees descend on Raleigh for a week of training. The camp’s on-ice sessions will be open to the public, and the week will wrap up with a game and skills competition on Saturday at noon.

MasterChef (8pm, Fox) - Season 4 begins with amateur cooks representing 26 states (including ours!) arriving in Los Angeles for a chance to impress judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Eliot, who rate signature dishes based on flavor, creativity and presentation. Tune in to see Shaun Jay, a local magician who works at Casa San Carlo restaurant in Raleigh. Or head down to the restaurant and watch along with him!

The Middle (8pm, ABC) - In the fourth season finale, Axl gets ready to graduate but dodges Frankie's questions about a party, creating friction between them. Also, Sue takes her driving test for the sixth time.

Modern Family (9pm, ABC) - In the Season 4 finale, the Pritchett clan join Phil in Florida after his mother passes away, but his grief takes a backseat to his surprise at her dying wish. Meanwhile Mitchell helps Gloria deal with a legal problem, and Cameron warms up to a group of elderly women in Frank's retirement community.

Criminal Minds (9pm, CBS) - The eighth season closes out with two new episodes in which The Replicator returns and targets a member of the BAU and Hotch's estranged brother is caught in the middle of the investigation into a string of drug overdoses.

Law & Order: SVU (9pm, NBC) - In the 14th season finale, a man exposes himself in a park and is arrested, but it turns out to be more than a routine arrest. The mysterious criminal hides his true identity and outwits the detectives, eventually putting Benson's life in jeopardy.

Nashville (10pm, NBC) - In the Season 1 finale, Rayna performs at the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley, but the night may not end well as Deacon confronts her about a buried secret. Meanwhile, Juliette finds a revealing letter from her mom, and Gunnar tries to win back Scarlett.

Chicago Fire (10pm, NBC) - Season 1 concludes with the squad facing a dangerous, unstable situation at Cook County Jail. Also, Hermann's wife goes into labor, while Dawson and Mills deal with major decisions.

Triangle grocery stores have lots of good deals this week:

*At Harris Teeter, pick of free McCormick taco seasoning, along with good deals on Heluva Good Dip (17 cents), Vlasic Pickles (24 cents), Lipton Tea (44 cents), French's Yellow Mustard (50 cents), Ball Park Franks (82 cents), and Arnold Pocket Thins (94 cents). Also be sure to check out the many BOGO offers. Many are good deals but don't be fooled by others.

*At Lowes Foods, look for nice deals on Sanderson Farms chicken breasts, Edy's fruit bars, Tribe Hummus, Alexia rolls, Weber barbecue sauce , along with Arm & Hammer laundry detergent and Scott toilet paper.
There's also a new instant-savings Kraft promotion that makes it possible to snag Kraft Mac & Cheese and Kraft barbecue sauce for just 50 cents each and Philadelphia cream cheese for 75 cents.

*At Food Lion, there are good deals on Ragu pasta sauce, Knorr sides, Lipton Tea, Mueller's pasta, Weight Watchers entrees, and Banana Boat sunscreen, along with sweet corn and limes.

*And at Aldi, strawberries, onions and watermelon are all good deals.

Keep reading for a long list of this week's top deals at Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, Food Lion and Aldi -- with and without coupons.