9.23.2015

7th Annual Garlic Festival: Chefs to the Field

This August
our family went to 
the Garlic Festival in Terra Nova, Richmond.
We weren't sure what to expect
and arrived sometime in the afternoon.
The garlic festival was held 
on the Sharing Farm Society's property.
Check out their site here for 
more information on what it is they do.
It is amazing work. 
The garlic festival is their big fundraiser of the year. 


A bean teepee! 

Spencer and I were quite surprised
how much there was to do!
There were many activities for kids,
including face painting, a petting zoo,
shows and demonstrations.
We didn't get a chance to see
all there was because we showed up 
towards the end of the day.
Next year we will be sure to go earlier
to participate in all the activities.



For the adults
there was a market,
other demonstrations 
and tours of the farm. 
The event I was most excited for,
and really why I wanted to go,
was the Chefs to the Field competition. 
There were 8 participating restaurants:

Each of the participants
made a mad dash to the field
to harvest their produce.
There was a table set out with pantry ingredients.
There were two secret ingredients,
a scrumptious Oceanwise crab that had been caught
that morning and...
you guessed it - garlic. 


It was exciting to see them 
gathering, preparing and thinking about their approach.
Each team had to prepare 2 dishes in the allotted time;
one of them being a vegetarian dish. 
Claire enjoyed walking around
watching them work hard and quickly,
to prepare their dishes. 





The emcee warned the observers
to give the chefs room to work, 
or they would bite.
At one point, I took a step forward
to snap a closer picture.
With wide eyes Claire pulled me back
exclaiming, "Mommy, he'll bite you!"
The event was a bit long to watch in entirety
with little kids,
so I don't know who won.


Make sure to put this event on your 
calendar as a must do for the family
next summer!


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