Clay County Grill-Off Tomorrow!

After weeks of preparing, ready or not -- it's Grill-Off time! The pantry and spice cabinet are stocked; supplies prepped; tables and tents reserved. Judges are confirmed ... and hungry. And the contestants -- teams from The Blue Herron, Danny's, Tailgaters, and Twin Valley's Cooking in the Valley -- are ready to cook.

How does this all work tomorrow? After introductions, we will introduce the four mystery ingredients that the chefs must include in their dishes. The participants then have until 9:20 a.m. to shop the market and select what market offerings they want to include, in addition to the mystery ingredients. They will also have access to a fully stocked pantry -- thanks to Ray's Applemarket -- and spice rack -- thanks to Clay Gourmet. (Those spices are currently sitting in my house, and my goodness do they smell great!)

At 9:30, the clock starts. The teams have one hour to prepare a meal for the judges. At 10:30, time is up. And the meals are served. From the four dishes, the lucky judges will get to select the 2011 Grill-Off Champion.

Just as the contestants are probably getting their stuff in order for tomorrow, so are our market vendors. As with most Friday nights, our vendors are probably picking a few more vegetables, packing up what can be packed the night before, laying out the rest to be loaded in the morning.

And what's going to be at market tomorrow? Tomatoes, potatoes, onions, beets, squash, green beans, swiss chard, sweet corn, okra, breads, baked goods, buffalo, flavored vinegars, eggs, milk, cheeses, and jams and jellies. We might even have some bell peppers, leeks, carrots, cabbage, kohlrabi, and a few other vegetables that are just coming into season. Oh, and we can't forget the crafts that come, too.

Congratulations, Mayberry's!

Congratulations to Rick Nye, owner of the soon-to-reopen Mayberry's in Washington, for winning the 2010 Clay Center Grill-Off! Thank you to Danny's, Tailgaters, and Ashlee Baker for participating and making the judges job so very difficult.  The food smelled DELICIOUS!

Thank you to our judges, too: Vern Swanson, Sharolyn Fleming-Jackson, Grace Oetinger, and Karra James.

And while we are listing our thanks:

• Thanks Phil Kasper and KCLY for covering the event
• Thanks Twin Valley for videoing it and posting it on Video On Demand
• Thanks Ray's Applemarket for the pantry items
• Thanks Clay Gourmet for the spices
• Thanks Wall's True Value for the water
• Thanks Common Ground for the kitchen space and tables
• Thanks Girtons for the grill and propane
• Thanks Pamida for the plates and other supplies
• Thanks Distinctive Images for the plaque
• Thanks Leaving Signs Behind for the banner
• Thanks Clay County National Bank for the citywide gift certificates
• Thanks Master Gardeners for all your help with setup and tear down
• Thanks to our 20 market vendors, and
• Thanks to our spectators and customers!

We hope you all enjoyed today as much as we did!

Grill-Off TOMORROW!!!!

Tomorrow is our first Clay Center Grill-Off!

Starring:

• Tailgaters
• Danny's Grill and Catering,
• Mayberry's

Featuring:

• Four mystery ingredients. No, I'm not going to be so foolish as to post them here!

Come join in the fun, root for your favorite chef, pick up some produce, and enter to win door prizes! We hope to see you there!

Two days to Grill-Off

Two more days! So much to do!

We are excited to have KCLY at our Grill-Off this Saturday. They will be doing a sort of play-by-play of the event and helping us get the word out about the specialty crops and other offerings at our Farmers Market.

While a bulk of our funding has come from Farm Bureau, we have been blessed to receive support from many businesses in the community:

• Ray's Apple Market has donated the basic pantry ingredients for the chefs
• Clay Gourmet has donated all the spices for the pantry
• Wall's True Value has donated reverse-osmosis water for the chefs to use
• Common Ground is giving us access to their kitchen, as well as tables
• Leaving Signs Behind is printing our signage
• Distinctive Images is creating our awards
• Chamber of Commerce is the source of the Clay Bucks and is helping promote the event
• Twin Valley is planning to film the event and put it on their video-on-demand
• Clay Center Dispatch is also helping get the word out

You can't do a community event without community support. Clay Center, thankfully, is loaded with community support. Thank you all!

Three Days to Grill-Off

Just three more days until the first Clay Center Grill-Off. We are very grateful to Kansas Farm Bureau and Clay County Farm Bureau. They not only are supporting this event financially, but also have given time and effort to make it happen. Thanks to the USDA Specialty Crop Grant Program through a sub-grant from the Kansas Department of Agriculture, we have been able to promote specialty crops in Kansas. So, thank you, Farm Bureau!

What are specialty crops? Honey, vegetables, nuts, fruits... that sort of thing, the very foods that make up our Farmers Market. This Saturday, we expect to have sweet corn (first of the season!), onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, squash, beets, bell peppers, eggs, buffalo, baked goods, jams, jellies, and much more.



Saturday, July 10
8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Westside of Courthouse Square
Clay Center, Kansas

Four Days to Grill-Off

Four days to the first ever Clay Center Grill-Off!

So, you know which team you want to cheer on. (Is it Danny's, Mayberry's, Tailgaters, or The Blue Herron?) But why else should you come down Saturday morning? Well, here are five great reasons:

1. Pick up a bag of fresh, locally grown produce
2. Sample the flavorful foods available at our Farmers Market
3. Sign up to win one of our many door prizes
4. Learn more about the nutritional aspect of the featured foods
5. Get new ideas on how to create your own culinary masterpiece
   

Five Days to Grill-Off

Five days until the 2010 Clay Center Grill-Off! We are excited to have four fabulous chefs competing in the first year of this event:

• Danny's
• The Blue Herron
• Mayberry's
• Tailgater's

These restauranteers will not know which Farmers Market products are on the menu until Saturday morning. Mark your calendar and come on down to cheer on your favorite chef.

Saturday, July 10
8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Westside of Courthouse Square
Clay Center, Kansas

This project is supported in part by the USDA Specialty Crop Grant Program through a sub-grant from the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Funding assistance is also provided by the Kansas Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture and Clay County Farm Bureau Association.