Georgia Mountain EggFest 2016

Last week I attended the 6th Annual Georgia Mountain EggFest in Hiawassee, Georgia.

The EggFest was held at the famous Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds along the shores of stunning Lake Chatuge.

What is an EggFest?

It is a venue for people who enjoy cooking on a Big Green Egg or who want to start cooking on one.

EggHeads gather for the weekend to cook, eat, drink, exchange ideas, and catch-up with each other.

It is also one helluva of a good time!

The party started Friday night at the Meet and Greet:

Everyone either brought a dish to share or cooked something on one of the 6 Big Green Eggs available.

And if that wasn’t enough food, several generous eggheads turbo-cooked 20 pork butts and 2 whole packers prior to Friday night’s gathering.

Needless to say, no one left hungry!

And if that wasn’t enough fun and excitement for one night, how about a surprise visit from Chef Linkie Marais!

The next morning, 120 talented cooks fired up the Big Green Eggs:

And for the next 6 hours more than 2500 people poured through the gate eager to try the many creative dishes being served.

I hope you are hungry, because I’m going to take you up and down the treelined street of the Georgia Mountain EggFest for a virtual taste!

The EggFest started with the most important meal of the day: Breakfast!

Not long after breakfast, the cooks went crazy showing off the versatility of the Big Green Egg.

Interesting Sausage combinations like Alligator, Thai Curry, and Goat:

Chili:

Pimento Cheese Brisket Wontons:

Hot New Orleans Crawfish Dip:

Pizzas:

Stuffed Mushrooms:

Queso:

Chicken and Pineapple Bites:

Picanha:

And Lobster!

I adore pork and this year’s EggFest did not disappoint:

Including several bacon goodies!

ABTs finished with Raspberry Chipotle Pepper Sauce:

Jalapeño Shrimp Poppers:

Smoked Mashed Potatoes topped with Braswell’s Onion Jam and Bacon:

Pigs in a Comforter:

Bacon and Puff Pastry Twists:

And Meat Candy!

Of course an EggFest wouldn’t be complete without several flavors of chicken wings!

This year I put my camera down for part of the day and got in on the chicken wing action.

I made my Mango Spice Chicken Wings using Braswell’s Mellow Mango Chutney:

You can find that recipe HERE.

Huge thanks to Braswell’s Food Company and Team Eggybear for inviting me to cook with you this year!

Okay, it’s time to pick my camera back up:

Because I smell dessert!

Now I want to take a second to thank a few people who had their hands in making this year’s Georgia Mountain EggFest a huge success.

The team at Hiawassee Hardware for all of their hard work and for assembling the 100 demo BGEs that were sold to new EggHeads.

J. Barrett Carter for teaching the class, Big Green Egg 101.

Chef Linkie Marais for demonstrating a variety of cooking techniques:

The many vendors (I apologize for not grabbing photos of them all):

The 2500 tasters:

The 120 cooks who filled our bellies with creative and delicious Big Green Egged food:

And last, but certainly not least, the man who makes it all possible, John Hall.

He is the reason the Georgia Mountain EggFest is such an epic event year after year!

I mean, what other EggFest gives away 5 brand new MiniMax Big Green Eggs in the cook’s drawing?

John Hall, “thank you” just isn’t enough.

The time, energy, dedication, passion and love that you put into this EggFest is why the Georgia Mountain EggFest is considered the Favorite EggFest for so many.

EggHeads: the 7th Annual Georgia Mountain EggFest will be held on May 19-20, 2017 at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee, GA.

I’ll see you there!
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To see more photos from the EggFests I’ve attended, click HERE.

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