It was a souper good time!

Emcee for the event was Angela Bartlett, senior manager of community engagement and capacity building at the Knoxville-Knox County CAC Office on Aging. You couldn’t dream up a better shirt for this duty!

One of the tastiest and most laid-back fundraisers in Knoxville has to be CAC Beardsley Community Garden’s annual “Snow Day” soup competition. I’ve been going to it for years and, I swear, the soups keep getting better and better! This year was no exception.

Held at Hi-Wire Brewing in South Knoxville, it featured entrees from nine local eateries. A $25 entry fee got you an all-you-can-eat ticket. A cash bar provided libations. This year’s event was the most successful ever with the most attendees and biggest financial haul since I started attending in 2012. The event blew past its original $6,000 goal and raised more than $15,000.

All contest entries were either vegetarian or vegan and had to be made from locally sourced ingredients. Winners were determined by votes of attendees. And they were Kandilige Spicy Food’s vegetarian lite soup in the vegan category and Tako Taco’s “crab” rangoon bisque in the vegetarian contest. Congrats!

You can’t have a party without music and five local bands were on tap to provide fun tunes throughout the evening. Here’s NEZ.

One of the winners! “Crab” rangoon bisque from Tako Taco. It was one of my favorites, as well.

The other winner: vegetable lite soup from Kandilige Spicy Food, which specializes in Ghanaian cuisine.

Fun running into Khann Chov and her cute daughter. She is a former longtime farm manager and director of urban agriculture at the Community Action Committee (CAC). Now she’s executive director of Keep Knoxville Beautiful.

The folks from Yee-Haw Brewing Co. were serving delicious curried carrot coconut soup.

I told you the place was packed!

Landing House was ladling out coconut lemongrass hot and sour soup.

Municipal Judge John Rosson was there. He sits on the CAC Board of Directors.

The folks from Potchke’s Deli were serving borscht, naturally!

Bluegrass standout Evie Andrus was keeping her strength up for her later performance, which would close out the festivities.

Seoul Brothers and its sister eatery, Hong’s Kitchen, served Mexican street corn soup. I loved, loved it!

My friends Susan and David Long were there. Susan has had a long affiliation with the CAC Office on Aging.

They had wisely snagged seats in the less crowded outdoor area.

I also loved Redbud Kitchen’s smoky tomato bisque.

Yer Flowers was another band that performed.

The Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain cooked up “Valenthyme” roasted carrot and peas soup. It was interesting. But good!

Knoxville Symphony oboe player Ayca Yayman was there with her daughter.

OliBea’s offered “Scruffy Love” vegan soup.

The trophies were painted gourds! Cute!

Angela Bartlett again. I’m sure she would agree with me when I say, “Soup’s on! And so is the fun!”

 

 

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4 Responses to It was a souper good time!

  1. Lillian Mashburn, on February 24th, 2023 at 4:11 pm said:

    I would love to attend next year, but don’t hear about this event until it is over. Let me know next year!!!

  2. Will Skelton, on February 24th, 2023 at 4:29 pm said:

    I love that event but didn’t know about it. Just signed up as a subscriber to their Facebook page and will maybe see a post for the next one.

  3. Georgiana Vines, on February 26th, 2023 at 10:09 pm said:

    I missed an announcement, too. This has been a favorite from when it was in a smaller venue and not as well known.

  4. Cynthia Moxley, on February 28th, 2023 at 6:10 pm said:

    Hey, friends: I think I saw it on Facebook. Might want to follow them there.

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