Stuffing Oneself in Strasburg

On Saturday I ate a very small breakfast and then at noon drove over to Strasburg where I had a ticket for their 3rd Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Festival. 10 restaurants in the town were doling out samples of their home made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, which all ticket holders would gobble down and at the end cast their vote for best soup, best sandwich and overall winner. The event had sold out quite quickly so I was looking forward to my lunch.
The main street was a hive of activity when I arrived but parking was plentiful so I didn't have to park too far away from the base tent where I picked up a map of participating restaurants and a huge lurid badge, which went straight into my pocket, before I realized it had to be worn since the grub would only be handed out to those wearing them and a sticker would be stuck on it as I visited each restaurant.

I trotted along quickly to Box Office Brewery first since the nearest vendors had long queues and I was starving. Thankfully when I entered the brewery I was able to grab my nosh promptly but the pig in me was overwhelmed with huge disappointment when I saw the size of the samples. They were pretty tiny. But then common sense finally kicked in when I realized I'd only paid a tenner for the ticket and there were another 9 samples of tasty titbits to savor. I just hope my face didn't betray my initial emotions to the friendly staff who were handing out the scrumptious morsels. Unfortunately I didn't really taste the cheese sandwich much as it disappeared so fast, I was ravenous, but I was aware that the bread did stick to my teeth. Yes, I had managed to chew a couple of times before swallowing. I am not a fan of cheap sticky bread so that left no favorable impression on me but the soup was very tasty. A little chunky with lovely herby overtones and not too creamy. That was definitely memorable. The photo above was from Old Dominion Doggery, my next stop. Because of my piggish behavior at Box Office, taking a photo had not even crossed my mind until the photo subjects had been demolished, but here I remembered and grabbed a snap. The soup was nice and basily but too creamy for me. The sandwich scored because it had bacon in it.

There was a long queue outside Sibling Rivalry Brewery but I took my turn in the line since after having stuffed a few samples, I was ready to relax and sample their beers, this being a brewery which I hadn't yet visited. As the line moved inside the building I requested a flight to included their raspberry sour, a juicy IPA and their stout. I supped these until the food was ready. The sour was superb. but not so the food. The sandwich was simply a piece of pancake with paper thin slices of smoked Gouda or other cheeses inside, you had to pick one. The soup was herby and chunky but not outstanding.

The Shrimp Shack van was parked up and doling out free fodder so I joined that line too. This mural reflected our expressions: hurry up and give us the food, we're done with all this standing in line. But I got a nice little chunk of fried catfish and a dollop of tartar sauce so all was well. A nice change. And then it was back to the cheese and soup tastings.

Fox's pizza was as expected, basically a tiny slice of cheese pizza and what seemed to me to be grocery store soup with some canned chopped tomatoes thrown in. Alforno's Italian Cuisine were next door handing out free pizza even though they weren't in the contest, and their pie was pretty damn good. El Jalepenos was a pretty little restaurant, all the furniture hand painted.Their sandwich was just flatbread with a tiny piece of cheese, but their soup was great, lots of flavor without being too spicy. Historical Homemaker Bakery handed out sample sarnies a little bigger than their opponents and as to be expected the bread was amazing. Not much flavor in the cheese and unfortunately my soup was cold. Which I wasn't too bothered about as it was too creamy for me.

I was feeling quite full up by now but still had 3 contenders on my list. Sexy Mexi was a little food truck parked up by the Town Run Creek. As I walked along the path I squealed in delight, the creek was packed with clumps of watercress. I climbed down and picked a large handful. I noticed the two staff on the food truck were eying me suspiciously, so I walked up and told them to each try a piece of the watercress. They hesitated then obliged, and I commented that it could be a worthy addition to their ingredient list, and it was free! That didn't make an impressive impact on them but then neither did their sandwich and soup on me. A few leaves of watercress though, did perk up the tiny scrap of flatbread and cheese.
The last two vendors were the best. Of all the others I'd sampled so far, not one had really jumped out so much that I wanted to pull off my badge sticker and stand in line again for another sample. Much of the cheese had been bland, with little imagination used in adding accompaniments, like homemade relish or even a tiny piece of vegetable. Nearly all had been dough and cheese, period, with none of the soups making a huge impression either.
But 0-60 Energy Cafe bowled me over with their sandwich. It was bigger than the others, which was welcomed, with bacon plus BBQ flavored chips, adding texture and loads of flavor to the sandwich. In England, we often add crisps, (chips), to sandwiches, so this was a surprise bonus. Their soup was a little too creamy for me but was obviously homemade. Strasburg Farmers Market also made a more unique sandwich, with homemade yeast roll and Havarti cheese and a slice of apple inside. Their soup was divine, chunky tomatoes with Italian seasoning, extra basil and oregano, and just a little evaporated milk. I could have drained a pint of that, it was delicious.

So 0-60 got my Sandwich vote with the Farmers Market getting my Soup vote, and the market also got my overall vote. The organizers estimated that about 20,000 ounces of soup and thousands of samples of grilled cheese sandwiches were served throughout the day long event. At the end, Box Office Brewery won the Best Combo and Best in Class, which amazed me, 0-60 Energy Cafe won the Sandwich Class while Old Dominion Doggery won the Soup Class. I waddled back to my car feeling 'fat and happy', a description promised by the event organizers on their lead up to the day, and drove home for a nap with the cats.

I stopped briefly to take a couple of photos of the Shenandoah as I drove over it. It's still looking beautiful despite many of the leaves having been blown off with recent tremendous winds. At home, I plonked my watercress into a bowl of water to revive it. I'd be making a proper cheese sandwich on Sunday, with mature Dorset coast cheddar, Dave's Whole Grains Killer Bread, Heinz Salad Cream and a huge handful of watercress. Beat that, Strasburg!