Two teenage culinary arts students from the College of Southern Idaho donned crisp white uniforms on Saturday and cooked their way into the stomachs of thousands of people during Harvest Festival at the Expo Center.

The culinary students, Jacob Stone, 19, and Trevor Dixon, 18, always wanted to be chefs and said they hope the event rakes in a lot of money for their CSI academic program.

With arts and crafts for sale from 182 vendors, Harvest Festival lasts through today.

It drew 3,000 people Friday and even more on Saturday, said Dianne Jolovich, CSI Hospitality Management Program instructor.

CSI students from Delta Epsilon Chi arranged the 29th annual Harvest Festival to raise money for traveling to competitions and other activities.

Jolovich said students are hoping to raise $22,000.

And there's no shortage of artful knickknacks for sale at the mud-floored CSI Expo Center.

From an array of jewelry to knives, quilts and soap - most booths had people gawking, touching and talking.

And when they cleared the rows of wreaths, baby clothes, jam and personalized glass blocks, they found food that Stone and Dixon helped whip up.

Stone, originally from Preston, is in his second year at CSI and said he prepared breakfast sandwiches early Saturday morning. They were popular with the early rush of visitors, he said.

Three hundred people came before 10 a.m. on Saturday, said Jolovich.

"I like everything," he said about cooking, "mostly eating," he added. "I like the opportunity to experiment with different spices and herbs."

Students Stone and Dixon both said they want to travel internationally to hone their culinary skills.

Dixon, a first-year student originally from Idaho Falls, said he helped prepare cookies and brownies for sale at the festival.

That's his forte. Dixon said deserts and pastries are his favorite concoction. "It relaxes me," he said about cooking, "especially when I'm stressed."

CSI Hospitality Manage-ment Program graduates can use their two-year degrees to get jobs in industries such as culinary arts, housekeeping, bookkeeping, human resources, accounting, restaurants, sales and marketing. CSI works with Walt Disney World and Cactus Petes Resort Casino for student internships, according to the college Web site.

Andrea Jackson can be reached at 208-735-3380 or ajackson@magicvalley.com.

Harvest Festival Check out Harvest Festival today from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the CSI Expo Center, $1 admission.