Rockin’ Around the Rhubarb Fest!

  Wow, I feel like I have been away from the blog world for weeks, but in reality it’s only been a couple of days! Looks like you all have been having great and fun-filled summer days which rocks! I went to Minneapolis, had a blast, got all my apartment furnishings, and walked the Mall of America for hours on end! Then came back, had to whip up batches up my rhubarb bars for the contest at the festival, went with the fam to the festival, enjoyed the day, and did some retail damage! ;-) Today I am going to do a run over of the Rhubarb Festival and then tomorrow will be my adventure at Mall of America and a brand-new recipe—so you’ll probably want to stay tuned! :-)

  So unfortunately, I did not win the contest, but it’s totally ok(read on for why)! The festival is held at a Lutheran church and involves some different church organizations to raise money for area shelters, relief efforts, churches, etc., so it’s not just a festival for fun, they make use out of it for the good which I think is wonderful! They have silent auctions on goods that local companies donated, bake sales(with rhubarb as the star of course!), and live music, games, contests etc.

   We started off the day inside—my mom couldn’t resist trying one of the many rhubarb treats! We were told they sell 900 rhubarb pies each year! She opted for a rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream. They even had rhubarb ice cream, but unfortunately the temps were in the 60’s, so needless to say I was not feeling a cold treat!

She said it was great—looks good huh?!

  Next up, we made our way to the silent auction. I found a big cupcake cookie jar with a mini one that went with it! I placed my bid, but then I found out if you pay the valued price you could take it right away—well the value price was two dollars higher than my bid, so of course I bought it! Score—perfect for my cupcake/ice cream themed apartment kitchen right?!

 

Then came 12:30, and the recipe contest was scheduled to start at 12:45, so we made our way outside to the tent that it was under. The 3 judges for the contest were one of the big news broadcasters, a meteorologist and a radio station host. So these “media celebrities” were quite a hit and I was super excited to meet them because I watch them every morning/night!

That’s them!

 

Here’s the cart that had the 4 top recipes, the plates, napkins, and utensils for the judges to use. It looked like some kind of secret service event going down!

 

The judges are testing out my Sweet Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Bars and giving there feedback. One said they like the balance of tart and tangy, another like the crust, and the 3rd judge said they love the addition of strawberries with the rhubarb.

 

The judges huddling and discussing their thoughts on all recipes.

 

 

The winner (on the left) won with a Rhubarb Breakfast Bake that had a crescent roll crust, cheese, eggs, rhubarb, etc. They picked it because it was the most unique! It looked incredible. And this is why I am glad I didn’t win—she got a china set, and sadly I am not a fan of china at all—so she was overly happy and I was glad!

The 2nd place winner was not able to attend—she entered some brown sugar Rhubarb Muffins and won a gift card to a local restaurant. And there’s me winning my adorable Chinese dining set complete with 4 serving bowls, chopsticks, and decorative butterflies—I am in love!

And last but not least, a shot with the celebs!