Fairbanks residents enjoyed a currant affair on Saturday as the University of Alaska Fairbanks Georgeson Botanical Garden hosted the third annual Far North Currant Festival.

For this year, UAF stepped up the number of activities, hosting a series of workshops leading up to Saturday’s event and bringing up Lily Hislop, a currant and elderberry breeder with the Savanna Institute.

Some of the main draws were cooking workshops by chef Flora Deacon of Wasilla, a currant taste test, and free samples of currant ice cream and sorbet.

Deacon, an Athabascan professional chef who grew up in Grayling, follows a simple rule.

“If it grows together, it goes together,” she said while showing a group how to make bison meatballs with a red currant dipping sauce. The sauce she prepared included a pomegra

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