– The 84th Annual Mallard Creek Barbecue is tomorrow

– However, Kathleen Purvis warns everyone to be careful at church barbecues (and similar events) in light of the recent salmonella outbreak in Shelby last month

– NC (specifically Lexington-style) and TX barbecue: maybe not so completely different? Daniel Vaughn of TMBBQ thinks so when it comes to outside brown and fatty brisket.

– Diva Q stopped by Charleston last week and helped with a fundraiser for a local charity (thanks to the reader Robert who submitted this story!)

– For August – National Sandwich Month – Zagat listed a sandwich for each state that best embodies “the spirit of each community and its local cuisine.” The good: they picked a chopped pork sandwich for NC. The bad: they photographed one at Bar-B-Q King in Charlotte. It’s as if they flew into Charlotte and found the first barbecue joint they could find (4 or so miles out Wilkinson Blvd from the airport) and just went with that.

– The winners of last week’s Q-City Championship, with Ranucci’s Big Butt BBQ winning the grand championship