Cookin' The Books at The Seattle Edible Book Festival

Last year's winner of Best in Show, Goodnight Moon Pie.

Once again it's that time of year to cook the books and put your humor and creative cooking skills to the test at the 5th annual Seattle Edible Book Festival. So if you've got a favorite book or literary pun up your sleeve that you're just dying to pay homage to in jello or sculpt in marzipan--fellow book nerd, we love you. And this is your time to bring it.

If you're yet to have heard about the Edible Book Festival, the premise is simple: create and bring a piece of edible art that is related to books. It can be a pun on a title, refer to a famous scene or character, look like a book, or just have something to do with books in general. The only requirement is that it must be edible.

Overall, the festival is a great opportunity to get together and celebrate books, food, and some good ol' fashioned nerdy fun. And you don't just have to be a book lover to play along--this event is perfect for chefs, artists, kids, foodies, and even your average punsters.

Last year we had the chance to volunteer at the festival and we were amazed by the creativity and wit that went in to all of the pieces. For a general idea, past years have included entries such as: S'more and Peace, Alice in Wonderbread, The Bun Also Rises, Curd Vonnegut, Her Pie Was Watching God, and so, so, so much more. We even saw one entry titled For Whom the Taco Bell Tolls, which only included some Taco Bell food. Seriously. As long as it's edible and pertains, you're in.

Once everyone has gotten a chance to peruse all of the delicious literary goodness, awards will be given in the following categories: Most Pun-derful, judged by librarian Susan Hildreth; Most Drop-Dead Gorgeous, judged by Seattlest's very own Jay Friedman (woo hoo!); Most Delectably Appetizing, judged by foodie Cynthia Lair; Most Structurally Book-like judged by Seattle Times' Mary Ann Gwinn; and the festival's highest honor of Best in Show, judged by the audience and Edible MC Nancy Guppy.

Last year's winner of Most Appetizing, The Bellevue Farmer's Market Cookbook.

The Seattle Edible Book Festival takes place at Wallingford's Good Shepherd Center at noon on April 10th. Admission is free for those entering and $10 for those just viewing (and eating) the entries. To enter your own edible art piece you MUST register before April 8th. All books are welcome, including children's classics, poetry, nonfiction, biographies, or anything else you could possibly find on your bookshelf.

And, it's for a good cause! The festival supports the Seattle Center for Book Arts, a nonprofit that promotes education in hand book binding and related art forms.

So get to cooking, folks! Pull out your favorite apron and put on that thinking cap in honor of your all-time favorite literary moments. And after the awards are finished, it's time to eat all of those beautiful, edible words and we promise there will be plenty of treats to go around.

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