Soup Crawl a hit with 15 participating soup vendors

Angela MacPhearson from Purpour named the winner

Winner of the soup crawl Angela MacPhearson shows her spoon trophy that she won after her chicken enchilada comfort soup received the most votes.

By Wendy Lamond

On Feb. 25, downtown St. Marys was full with folks who turned out for the same purpose – to sample soups and vote on their favourite.

This was the third year for Soup Crawl. In its first year, the event was hosted at Betty’s Bookshelf. A few different kinds of soup were available to try from recipes found in staff’s favourite cookbooks, and visitors voted on their preferred choice.

Since the event was a hit, Jan Scott of Betty’s Bookshelf reached out to the BIA and invited other businesses to join in for the following year. That year, seven businesses took part as the event grew. This year, Soup Crawl was even bigger with 15 businesses that signed up to open their doors and invite the public in to try soup and look around.

The evening was blanketed in a gentle snowfall, making it a fitting night to try some comfort food.

The free event that only asked attendees to bring their own spoons was a huge hit, and a few businesses had lineups out the door.

All participating locations had ballots available and soup crawlers could leave their votes at any of the businesses.

The proud winning location will receive a Soup Crawl spoon plaque to show off. All of the votes from the winning soup were entered into a draw for a set of handmade ceramic soup bowls by Zenfire Pottery & Mercantile.

The winner of this year’s soup crawl was Angela MacPhearson from Purpour Refillery & Boutique with her delicious Chicken Enchilada Soup. Scott of Betty’s Bookshelf was the winner of the handmade ceramic soup bowls.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended the event and cast their votes,” MacPhearson said. “Thank you to the BIA for organizing such a successful event. I did find the recipe on Pinterest and the enchilada sauce and taco seasoning recipes on the web.”

Below is the list of businesses that participated:

1.Quarry’s Edge | Creamy Squash (V option) | 12 Water St. N

2.The Flour Mill | Pasta e Fagioli (GF) | 6 Water St. S

3.Betty’s Bookshelf | Zuppa Toscana (GF) | 6 Water St. S Unit 2

4.Edye Farms | Cream of Mushroom (DF, GF, V) | 6 Water St. -2

5.The Wine Lab | Broccoli Cheddar | 16 Water St. S

6.Physio Nook | A Little Bit Leeky & Potato (GF, V option) | 18 Water St. S

7.Izzy’s Place | Cabbage Roll | 36 Water St. S

8.Purpour Refillery | Enchilada Comfort Soup (GF) | 21 Water St. S

9.Troyer’s Spices | Chilled Yogurt Fruit (GF, V) | 110 Queen St. E

10.Stratford Walking Tours | Spicy Buffalo Chicken | 110 Queen St. E

11.Meridian Credit Union | Pear and Squash (GF, V) | 134 Queen St. E

12.Dunny’s Source for Sports | Beef Taco | 154 Queen St. E

13.PerthStone Kitchen | Moroccan Chickpea (GF, DF, V option) | 159 Queen St. E

14.Lyric Flower Shop | Thai | 123 Queen St. E

15.Towne & Country Cheese Shoppe | Loaded Baked Potato (GF) | 117 Queen St. E

Chicken enchilada comfort soup

The following is Angela MacPhearson’s winning soup recipe from the 2026 St. Marys BIA Soup Crawl.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken

• 4 cups chicken broth (low sodium) GF

• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed

• 1 can (15 oz) corn, drained

• 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles

• 1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce (*homemade)

• 1 packet (or 2 tbsp) **Taco Seasoning (ingredients from Troyer’s)

• ¾ cup coconut milk

• 1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese (optional)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil (for sauteing)

• 1 small onion, diced (optional)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Method:

1.In a large pot, sauté onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.

2.Add broth, enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes and taco seasoning.

3.Stir in chicken, beans and corn. Simmer 10-15 minutes.

4.Add shredded cheese, if using, and stir until melted.

5.Stir in coconut milk and warm

6.Taste and season. Serve hot with toppings of choice.