Chowderfest 08!

This is the second time in countless years I made it to LBI’s Chowderfest.  Although I’ve been around since before its inception, the most recent years have found me at the VanMeters Harvey Cedar Chowder cook- off.  The VanMeter’s, friends of ours from Harvey Cedars, started and had annually hosted a chowder cook-off traditionally the eve before the official Chowder fest. This Harvey Cedar version was always fun with healthy competition between friends and family.  Eating great chowder and voting on the best family’s recipe.  So naturally after cooking and consuming large quantities of chowders and bisque one tends to be done with that particular food group for  while , opting out  of going to the official Chowderfest the next day.

Unfortunately, the Harvey Cedar chowder cook-off became so large, and for the VanMeters, too much work to do every year.  No Harvey Cedar Chowder cook-off this year L.  So this past weekend left me yearning for indulging in a vast amount of chowder.  What’s a girl to do?  With only one chowder head from my family, my youngest daughter Amie, in tow we headed off to Beach Haven.  My middle, teenage daughter and her friend tagged along but they don’t “do chowder”.  They just wanted to walk around and look.  I don’t think it was bargains they were looking for since collectively they only had sixteen dollars, but I digress, as usual.  Thirty minutes of driving around Beach Haven and after a switch to relieve my permitted-daughter from the wheel, I finally found a parking space!

Now I’ve been out of the Chowderfest scene for a while, so to my dismay, the line to purchase tickets was hundreds and hundreds of people long!  What a fool  I was, it was 1:30, prime chowder eating time, way too late, I should of came earlier to purchase a ticket.  Then I thought, what am I thinking?  I live here year round, at any time in the past couple of months I could have bought tickets!  Oh I was rusty, and realized it wasn’t going to happen this year.  Just as I told my youngest we were going to have to purchase chowder at a restaurant (we were not going home chowderless!) I received a text from my friend MaryAnne, “Where  r u?” “Just Leaving, no tickets, not waiting”. I replied.  She then told me to hold up.  Her friend Lisa had extra pre-purchased tickets!  Shut the front door! We were going to partake in the festival!    

Lisa not only had extra tickets, she was a true chowda head, a pro at Chowerfest! I believe she told me she hadn’t missed one in twenty years.  We all followed Lisa as she navigated thru the crowds of people up the sides and in between booths.  With Lisa at the helm it took us all of twenty minutes to taste all the reds and whites.  Phew! It was over in a moment.  I thought to myself, as I left I probably wouldn’t even be at the front of the line should I have chosen to wait. So thank you MaryAnne, and thank you Lisa.  A great time was had by all, well almost all.  I have to shout out to my oldest daughter Aaren who is attending college in Vermont and missed this year’s Chowderfest by a couple of days L. Sorry babe, see you on Wednesday. 

I was curious to find out how many people where at the chowderfest, so I called the chamber of commerce this morning to find out the official tally, but was told that the data had not yet been calculated.  I left before the winners were announce so I looked up the results.  2008 chowder winners: 

New England (white)-                                                    Manhattan Red

Grand prize:  California Grill & Pasta                         Grand prize:   Stefano’s Restaurant        

1^st runner up:  Country kettle chowder                  1^st runner up:  Bistro 14 Raw Bar

2^nd runner up:  Howards Restaurant                        2^nd  runner up:  Green house Café

3rd runner up:  Mud City                                           3rd runner up: Sweet Jenny’s