It is that time of year again when the stirrings of the season change brings our minds to daydreaming about cool autumn days, cozy nights and nourishing food. It also brings our farm fresh sweet potatoes from their hiding places under the ground to our annual sweet potato cooking contest!
However, this year we are breaking tradition! I am bringing the farm to the city! We will be holding this years 7th Annual Sweet Potato Cooking Contest along side our Fall Open House at The Homegrown Families Health and Education Center! We will have outdoor tents, live music with R&B band Westsound 2000, bouncy houses for the kids, lots of amazing food and beautiful prizes! You know the schpeel ~ invite your friends, enter a dish to win, come to taste, judge and dance into the harvest season with good friends, family and live music!
All this amazing fun with friends while simultaneously supporting an amazing non-profit in our community. This year we are supporting the Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement. ABIPA improves health conditions for African Americans by providing education, health services and advocacy from a unique understanding of the African American experience and a demonstrated ability to increase collaboration, connection, awareness and trust across diverse segments of the community.
Contest Information and Rules:
~Sweet Potatoes must be one of the main ingredients in your dish
~There are both sweet and savory categories
~There is no fee to enter your dish for judging, but there is a five dollar per person tasting/judging/voting fee
~You must bring your own serving utensils and buffet warmer if your dish needs to be warm
~There will be limited electrical hook-up for crock-pot dishes
~All entries will remain anonymous and will be voted on by attendees
~Judging/eating begins promptly at 5:00. Any dishes brought after 5:15 will likely not have enough votes to win.
~There are fantastic prizes including organic sweet potatoes grown on our farm! There are first place prizes in both the sweet and savory categories as well as an overall most unusual/original dish
You do not have to enter to participate! We need lots of tasters too! If you are coming to solely judge, we ask you to bring a potluck dish to compliment all of the sweet potatoes!
Please bring your own libations, chairs, blankets etc. Bring anyone you like and children are most definitely welcome! We love dogs, but it is a little too much at this event to have them. Please leave your sweet pups at home!
This event also doubles as our Fall Open House. If you were not able to come in the Spring to meet all of our practioners and see our amazing space, the Health and Education Center will be open!
Thanks for your support and we look forward to celebrating the season with you!