What Would You Bring To A Edible Book Contest?

It's definitely a good thing that book-lovers don't have to choose between books and food, but let me go one step further: What if you could combine the two things? Well, at the Edible Book Contest in Kerrytown, Michigan, you can! The contest is coming back to the town's annual BookFest after five years, and it looks to be both delicious and deliciously literary. So, if you are anywhere near the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market on September 13, I am officially ordering you to check it out on my behalf.

The event encourages people to bring book-themed food, which can be anything, so long as the entry is made from edible materials, is book-themed, and is family-friendly. So you could bring a cake shaped decorated like a book cover or recreate a distinctive dish from a novel or a book-themed cocktail — whatever you want. And I can already tell you I want to consume all of the entries. Preferably while reading a good book. Maybe even one of the books they're based on.

According to the event website, the event is open to anyone and people can bring up to three entries. The contest will be judged based on criteria such as creativity and taste, and since there are any number of culinary book nerds out there, I can only imagine it will be fabulous and inventive.

I mean, tell me you don't find this past entry funny:

And here are six other ideas that I would love to see, were I lucky enough to attend this brilliant event:

Green Eggs and Ham

A little food coloring and you have a distinctive yet instantly recognizable dish from Dr. Seuss's classic novel Green Eggs and Ham. Will the judges love it as much as the main character in the children's book does? Maybe.

Cake Library

Why pick just one book to put on a cake when you can put a whole library there. Like say...this one. Or this one. Or any number of other Pintrest creations I am nowhere near skilled enough to try out, but that other people might be.

Tequila Mockingbird Cocktails

This pun is on the cover of a book for a reason. It's great. And if you want to share a batch of tequila mockingbird cocktails or some other literary themed drink, I know I would love you forever (though sadly I'm not one of the judges).

Petunia Dursley's Pudding

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Petunia Dursley creates a pudding to end all puddings for her dinner party — until, of course Dobby smashes it in order to frame Harry and keep him from Hogwarts that year. But yours hopefully would meet a much better fate.

Recipes that Come from Books

Some novels have recipes in them, so if you wanted to, say, try out the Chile en Nogada from Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival, that might be perfect.

Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes

Will one make you larger? Will the other make you small? I mean, if you can manage it, that would be pretty cool, but I think the judges would appreciate the touch anyway.

So what literary edible creations would you like to make? The possibilities are endless, and fortunately you don't have to wait for a contest to try them out.

Image: Wikimedia Commons