Tomato Tasting, BLT Challenge & Other Weekend Possibilities

Give summer a proper sendoff with a pair of tomato-focused events. The ninth annual tomato tasting is at Local Pig (2618 Guinotte Ave) from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Think of it as a tomato potluck — bring a tomato dish or ripe tomatoes from your garden — and then dive into the bounty of fruit. Later that day, Slow Food Kansas City hosts a BLT Challenge at Local Pig from 1 to 3 p.m. It’s $5 if you want to submit a BLT and $25 if you want to be a judge. The event is a benefit for SFKC and the therapy gardens attached to the Veterans Community Project.

St. Louis and Kansas City once again battle for supremacy with the I-70 Beeries — a nine-inning blind sampling of KC and St. Louis brews — at Howard’s Cafe, Grocery and Catering (1708 Oak St.) from 6 to 9 p.m. this Saturday. For details on this beer event and more this weekend, check out #TapList below.

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Brookside Wine & Spirits (600 E. 63rd St.) is hosting a free beer pairing event to highlight beer and jerky from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday. They’ll be showcasing brews from Cinder Block Brewery, Piney River, Bell’s and Ballast Point, all alongside Craft Beer Jerky: jerky made with beer.

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Vegans, javanauts and gluten-free folks, this one’s for you. Mud Pie Vegan Bakery & Coffeehouse has opened its second location (7319 W. 95th St., Overland Park, Kansas). Dive into kolaches, muffins, crumb cake, the Mostess (their take on the classic Hostess chocolate cupcake with a cream filling), and donuts. The original is at 1615 W. 39th St.

The Pitch’s second annual Steer & Beer Festival is from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Waldo Pavilion (7421 Broadway St.). It’s a celebration of burgers, with sliders for sale from Walsh’s Corner Cocktail and Dempsey’s, among others, beer tasting, as well as mini concretes from Foo’s.

The Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center (8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas) is showing “Grapes of Wrath” from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Before or after the movie based on the John Steinbeck novel, you can check out the 1950s All-Electric House, including a 1955 Chevy that’s inside the exhibit. It’s $10 for adults, $9 for seniors (60 years old and over), or $4 for museum members.

Go back in time at the Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site (26600 Park Road North, Lawson, Missouri). Tour the mill and house, as staff in period dress talk about life in rural Missouri more than 130 years ago. The site is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday through August 13.

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