It’s time once again for all commercial pecan growers and home pecan tree enthusiasts with a few pecan trees to gear up for the 37th Annual Austin County Pecan Show and Bake Show. Everyone with an interest growing pecans or eating pecans is encouraged to participate.
The pecan show and bake show will take place on Friday, November 17th, at the Courthouse and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office in Bellville. Entries for the pecan show will be received between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. A total of 50 pecans should be submitted per contestant in the pecan show. The pecan show is great way to for pecan producers to determine the quality of their pecans as a representative sample is cracked, weighed and evaluated for quality. Pecans will be judged on the basis of kernel weight, fill, absence of blemishes and color. Top placing entries will be taken to the regional pecan show, which is held in December in Brenham.
Any Austin County resident (youth or adult) may enter the pecan bake show. Only one dish may be entered per class. The entry classes are Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Candy, Breads, and Miscellaneous (snacks, appetizers, etc.) All entries must contain at least 3/4 cup of pecans, and should be wrapped in transparent plastic and placed on disposable plates or containers. Grand champion and reserve champion entries in each class will be recognized with ribbons. Entries in the bake show must be accompanied with one copy of the recipe with the following information listed on it (exhibitor’s name, address and phone number). All proceeds from each food item sold will go to the Horticulture Committee. If you do not wish to donate your item to be sold after judging, please indicate that on the entry form. If you chose to donate your entry and it was not sold, you will receive a phone call for pickup. All items are to be picked up between 1:00-4:00 pm at the Austin County Extension Office. All items left after 4:00 pm will be considered as donated. Entry paperwork must be completed and submitted by Wednesday, November 15th at 5 pm. Items to be submitted by entry deadline are: entry form and recipe for each item entered. You will find the complete list of Pecan Show rules and the entry form at http://austin.agrilife.org.
Winners in the pecan show and bake show will receive prizes compliments of the Texas Pecan Producers Association and the Horticulture Committee of Austin County. For more information about the Austin County Pecan, contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at (979) 865-2072, or visit our website at http://ausitn.agrilife.org.
