What would life be without homegrown tomatoes? The next two weekends will be ripe with tomato events. This Sat., June 15, the Travis County Farmer's Market, 6701 Burnet Rd., will host their Seventh Annual Tomato Festival. Tomatoes will be judged according to size, color, uniformity and taste; prizes will be awarded, and there'll be plenty available to buy. The market opens at 8am and judging begins at 10am. Entry fee is $5 for members of the Market and $15 for interested home gardeners. Call 454-1002 for info. The following weekend, Kerbey Lane Cafe South will host their second annual Tomato Fest at 2700 S. Lamar on Sun., June 23, 8am-1pm. There will be tomato tastings, judgings, a small Farmer's Market, talks by tomato experts, live music, prizes, t-shirts, and a live radio broadcast of the popular KLBJ-AM program Gardening Naturally... Interested in writing a cookbook, reviewing restaurants, or have a secret desire to become your generation's M.F.K. Fisher? If so, the UT English Dept. has the class for you. This fall, UT will offer English 379C-Writing About Food, Tue. and Thu. evenings from 7:30-9:30pm. The course will be taught in the Central Market Cooking School at 4001 N. Lamar. According to instructor Assoc. Professor Kate Frost, the course will teach food writing from a variety of perspectives, including recipes and cookbooks, reviews, profiles of professionals, food history, and food and travel. Classes will emphasize techniques of prewriting, drafting and revision. Guest speakers and at least one field trip is planned. For a course catalog and registration info, contact the UT Extension office at 471-2900; class size is limited to 25 students.... Hot peppers and cold beer are a natural for Texas in the summer and such was the inspiration for a very artsy beer. Waterloo Brewing Co. and Capital City Playhouse have created a special new brew, Alegrias, available during the month of June to celebrate the premier performance of Pilar Serrano's Flamenco Dance Show running at the theatre through July 6... Bon Fresh Food Market (3801 Bee Caves) will host wine tastings every Fri. night in June from 5-8pm, featuring Australian wines on the 14th, wines of the Pacific Northwest the 21st, and wines of Tuscany on the 28th... The Herb Bar, 200 W. Mary, hosts a book signing by local author Lucinda Hutson this Sat., June 15, 11am-12:30pm. Hutson is the author of two books: The Herb Garden Cookbook (Gulf Press, $16.95, paper), about herb gardening in the Southwest, and Tequila, Cooking with the Spirit of Mexico (TenSpeed Press, $16.95, paper), the definitive work on history, lore and making of tequila. Sample dishes from both works will be available for tasting... Chronicle writer Patrick Earvolino, whose cookbook Lowfat Mexican Cooking was reviewed in our food section last week, will also be signing books this Saturday, from 2-4pm at Barnes & Noble on 183... The newest issue of FoodArts magazine features the recap of a barbecue debate that took place among some nationally known Southern chefs and food writers. Jeffrey's chef David Garrido salutes The Salt Lick, Dallas' Stephan Pyles plugs Sonny Bryan's and GQ's John Mariani extols the brisket from Kreuz Market in Lockhart. n