After a long year's layoff forced by construction projects, the best balabosta in South Sound will square off on Sunday, March 30, in a heavyweight championship match designed to prove who can cook the best kugel, a Jewish noodle pudding.

It's all part of the 2008 Blintzapalooza, a festival of exquisitely tasty Jewish food and the best used book sale in South Sound. Delicacies on sale will include blintzes and toppings, lox and cream cheese bagels, and breakfast beverages. It all gets under way at 10 a.m. at Temple Beth Hatfiloh in downtown Olympia. (The book sale starts one-half hour earlier at 9:30 a.m.)

The Kugel Kookoff rules are simple: Bring kugel in a flat 8-inch (or so) baking dish to Temple Beth Hatfiloh at 8th and Washington by 11 a.m. to enter the contest. Kugels will compete in two categories: traditional (noodle) and savory (potato or other primary ingredients). Entries will be judged by a celebrity panel carefully screened for kugel knowledge. Winners and runners-up will be announced in each category.

The Blintzapalooza, celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2008 as an Olympia Jewish food festival, took 2007 off because the synagogue kitchen was undergoing construction during the past year. The annual sales are a charitable fundraising effort, aimed at supporting worthwhile charities in the community.

This year, Blintzapalooza will turn over proceeds from Jewish food, bargain books and noshing to three local charities:

• Primary funds from Blintzapalooza will go to the Olympia Farmers Market, which has established a fund for South Sound organic farmers who suffered losses in the December floods and windstorms. Many of the farmers found their organic products were damaged by the uncontrolled chemistry of the floodwaters.

• The Thurston County Food Bank's Backpack program puts together weekend food packages for youth whose families need nutritional support.

• Interfaith Works, the Thurston County ministerial alliance, is an annual beneficiary of the Blintzapalooza.

Volunteers are needed for many of the food sale jobs involved in the Blintzapalooza. They include general setup and cleanup, kitchen police, blintz tray dancers, cream cheese schmearers, lox stackers, blintz servers, topping ploppers and blintz runners - not to mention lugging and sorting at the book sale.

Located in Downtown Olympia on the corner of 8th and Washington