For those who love to cook or love to eat, downtown Nacogdoches is the place to be on Saturday, June 13.
This year’s Texas Blueberry Festival, presented by Brookshire Brothers, is sure to satisfy taste buds with all things blueberry, as well as the traditional summer foods. The Nacogdoches Kiwanis Club kicks off the festival at 8 a.m. with their annual Blueberry Pancake Breakfast. Come to the downtown square at Main and Fredonia streets and taste the pancakes made with the famous Kiwanis blueberry batter. Pancakes are $5 per plate and served until the batter runs out. New to this year’s Texas Blueberry Festival is Cookin’ Up the Blues, a series of food demonstrations in the Commercial Bank of Texas lobby at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. All feature local celebrity chefs and Cowboy Max guest appearances. “Celebrity chefs will demonstrate simple blueberry dishes, and finished products of each will be given as door prizes. A collection of the recipes will be handed out to audience members,” said Karen Tucker, blueberry chef and event organizer. “At 11 a.m., famed chef Camilla Saulsbury will prepare her Decadent Blueberry Pecan-Cluster Granola and Blueberry Smoothies with Vanilla and Cardamom.” Not satisfied with only watching the cook Visitors can participate by competing in one of the cooking contests, such as the Brookshire Brothers’ Blueberry Pie baking competition. Prior to the competition, contestants must complete a blueberry pie registration form available at Brookshire Brothers stores and at www.TexasBlueberryFestival.com. The completed forms and entries must be brought to the Brookshire Brothers booth in front of the visitors’ center on the square, 200 E. Main St., by 10 a.m. Entries are judged on taste and presentation, and winners will receive gift cards donated by Brookshire Brothers. “The past several years we have had from 25 to 65 blueberry pie entries,” said Gloria McDonald, Brookshire Brothers director of public relations. “We have had old, young, males and females enter pies. Some of the pies are so creative and beautiful, our judges don’t want to cut into it. Most of the participants are local, but we have had some from Shreveport, La., and even Frisco. Everyone always comes to our booth wanting blueberry pie, and last year we decided to sell blueberry pies, and it was a huge success. So we plan to sell them again this year.” The Blueberry Hill Soda and Sweet Shoppe in the Regions Bank lobby is the perfect temporary getaway from the East Texas heat. For the festival, Regions converts its lobby into an old-fashioned soda shop. Some of the treats found there are blueberry cobbler, ice cream, pastries, blueberry lemonade and Coke floats.
Once again, Hayter’s Mill Creek Farm will sell blueberries from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., or until they run out. According to farm general manager Henry Sunda, 20,000 pounds of fresh blueberries will be available at the festival &mdash twice the amount at the 2008 festival. The blueberries will only be sold in 5-pound boxes for $10 each.