Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival

May 25th and 26th let the good times roll and enjoy such delicacies as Cajun and German-Texan feasts at the annual Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival.

The tunes of zydeco and jazz will reverberate in Fredericksburg, TX at the fun-filled event.

Hours are Friday; 6 p.m. to midnight and Saturday 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. General admission is $6 and children 12 and under are $1.00. Two-day passes are $10.00. You can order tickets online at paypal.com.

Red bean and rice, gumbo, boudin, and other treats will be on hand. But for those who don't care for these types of foods, there will be corndogs, German tacos, sausage, and hamburgers.

The event is held at Marktplatz downtown and the phone number is 830-997-8515.

Crawfish have only been around since 1775, which few people know, according to research. They are closely related to the lobster and are also called crayfish or crawdad.

Fredericksburg hosts over 150 events during the year and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state for Texans. The Texas wildflowers are blooming at this time of year.

June 9-10 the Blanco Lavender Festival will be held also in Fredericksburg. For information, call 830-833-5101.

"Night in Old Fredericksburg" will be held the third weekend in July, the 14th and 15th featuring oompah-pah music coming from Marktplatz.

In other food news, certain choices form a menu to make the most of tea.

"In 1998, the W Hotel in New York announced that it had a tea sommelier, quite possibly the first in the nation," said Dallas Cooking School Instructor and writer Tina Wasserman. "It turns out that the world of teas extends well beyond the familiar bag of Lipton's and, based on their flavor profiles, teas can complement food in surprising ways."

Wasserman said closer to home in Texas, York Street Restaurant doesn't have a tea sommelier but does pair tea with certain menus.

An example: You can have delicate Pai Mu Tan with your Pear Salad with Jicama and Snow Peas.
Other foods that go well with tea include pasta with sun-dried tomato sauce with Grand Fancy Oolong, a Taiwanese tea; berry sorbet, and banana soufflé.