STATESBORO — People who take their eating seriously are invited to bring a healthy appetite to a food and cooking extravaganza that will benefit the Georgia Southern Museum.
The third annual Feed the Mosasaur Festival will be held on Feb. 23 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Building on the campus of Georgia Southern University.
Taking its name from the mosasaur — the 78-million-year-old fossil skeleton that dominates the Museum’s Hall of Natural History — the festival will offer visitors an opportunity to sample food from more than 20 of the region’s most popular restaurants.
In addition, the festival will include an amateur baking contest for adults and children, a signature dish competition for professional food service providers, a series of specialized cooking classes, a bake sale and activities for kids.
“As usual, this event will have something to offer people of all ages who enjoy eating or cooking,” said Kelly Tharp, the chair of the Feed the Mosasaur committee. “If you like to eat, you can taste some of the most delicious dishes in southeast Georgia, and if you like to cook, you can show off your skills and share your most treasured recipes in the amateur bake-off.”
Admission for the Feed the Mosasaur Festival is $9 per person for adults and $7.50 per person for senior citizens, students and children. Kids under the age of 3 will be admitted for free.
All proceeds from the festival will be used to support the Georgia Southern Museum’s many educational exhibits and programs.
The Cooking with Class Institutes are classes that will share a popular cooking topic or teach participants how to prepare a specific dish. This year’s schedule includes adult classes devoted to coffee tasting, fast hors d’oeuvres, luncheon tea and soups. There are also children’s classes for candy-making and liquid nitrogen ice cream.
The fee for each class ranges from $10 to $20 per person.
Because of space limitations, advance registration is strongly encouraged, but there may be a few openings on the day of the festival.
The Best Bites Bake-Off is a cooking contest open to amateur chefs of all ages. There will be adult categories for bread, cakes, cookies and bars, and pies. Youngsters can test their culinary skills in the children’s dessert competition, which will have separate divisions for ages 4-9 and 10-14.
For more information on the Feed the Mosasaur Festival or to register for any of the cooking classes, visit http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/museum/ftm or call (912) 681-5993.
