Blueberry Time!

In my attempts to search out new and fun things to do in and around Anchorage, I stumbled on Alyeska Resort's annual Blueberry Festival! I didn't even know it existed until this year, but it was a great discovery. An added bonus was the fact that it had a blueberry creations cooking contest- which my honey encouraged me to enter. So glad I did; it made going there a lot of fun and was a welcome challenge (my first competition!) for me since I love to cook :)

After hours of brainstorming and a few trial runs at home, I

finally settled on this for my masterpiece- homemade popovers filled 

with a lemony cream cheese filling and topped with blueberry sauce :p

Whoa! I definitely have to practice my timing lol! I made the

filling the night before the competition, the popovers a few hours

before the deadline, and the sauce about an hour before the deadline!

Then Vince & I loaded up all the ingredients in my car and zoomed 

out to Alyeska where I put them all together and got them ready 

for the judges- just made the entry! The picture above is the

courtyard where the festival was taking place :)

A stage with live music

Some of the competition- I felt good knowing my idea was

an original; a lot of other people made pies...

The judges arrival! I was so amped- one was the food & beverage

director for the resort, and the other two judges were the bakers;

all great people to get feedback & advice from :)

...and it started! Here they are reviewing the first entry

...and here they are tasting mine; some of them licked

their utensils- sweet!

With around 15 other entries, the judging took time- I 

had to step back and try to relax haha!

The votes were finally tallied, and I wasn't the winner. However,

I got high praises from all the judges and got some good feedback.

Their only recommendation was that I incorporate blueberries into

the filling- note to self for next time!! I am really glad I did this!

With the competition over, Vince and I walked around, listened

to music, and checked out the other vendors. Only thing that

would have made the day better was some sunshine, but

it was a great day overall :)