Grilled Cheese, BLTs & Other Weekend Possibilities

We’ve had peach season and heirloom tomato season (it’s still happening), but now it is time for you to get your fill of fried foods. The Johnson County Fair runs through Saturday in Gardner, Kansas. There’s a carnival, chainsaw art auction, goat milking demonstrations and all the fried dough you can handle.

The humble grilled cheese gets its own party this Saturday. The Kansas City Grilled Cheese Festival, presented by KC Crew and Touring Taps, is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkley Riverfront Park. Beyond grilled cheese — there will be samples for sale and an eating contest — Touring Taps will be serving beer and vodka cocktails.

Did you think grilled cheese would only be served in one place on Saturday in Kansas City? Think again. Cheesy Street — a food truck dedicated to the art of the grilled cheese — will be parked from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Torn Label (1708 Campbell St.). At 1 p.m., Torn Label will debut 31 Heroes, a wheat IPA brewed to honor the memory of fallen service members. The beer release is a benefit for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).

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Remember, it’s tomato season. Bring a few from your garden (or a side dish that is tomato friendly) and sample a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes at the 10th annual Kansas City Tomato Times Tomato Tasting from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Local Pig (2618 Guinotte Ave.). The event is free.

In conjunction with the tomato tasting, Slow Food Kansas City is hosting a BLT Challenge from 1 to 3 pm. Saturday at the Local Pig. You can judge ($25) the entries, enter the contest ($10) or snag four samples ($10). If you want to make it a tomato-themed weekend, there’s a Friday night heirloom tomato dinner at Jasper’s and a Bloody Mary brunch at Jarocho Sunday.

Go back in time, way back in time. The National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame is hosting Oz Comes to Kansas from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The festival takes you back to 1903 with Dorothy and the cast of “The Wizard of Oz,” showing you what farm life was like at the turn of the last century. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children between the ages of two and 12 years old.

Turkish food takes center stage at The Dialogue Institute’s Turkic Food Festival (4215 Shawnee Drive, Kansas City, Kansas) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Munch on Turkish pizza, gyros, coffee cake and baklava, while checking out paper and art crafts.

Oysterphiles, this is your call from the great Kansas ocean. Mass Street Fish House & Raw Bar (719 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, Kansas) celebrates National Oyster Day (it’s Sunday) all weekend long. On Saturday from 9 to 10 p.m., it’ll have a reverse happy hour with all-you-can-eat oysters ($35) and bar specials. On Sunday at 3 p.m., there’s an oyster eating contest. Participants, it’s capped at 20 people, will have 2 minutes to see just how many oysters they can eat.

The Kansas City Food Circle is throwing a Honey of a Bee Party from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. It’s a Mad Hatter-themed party at Messner Bee Farm (8301 Westridge Road, Raytown, Missouri) with Hugo Tea and samples of cookies, tarts and pie. Rachael and Erik Messner will be on hand to teach participants about beers. Tickets are $35 for KCFC members.

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