Archive for October 14, 2010

My First Fair Food

Donut burger insanity

Culinary adventures never cease to amaze me.

Although I consumed a good portion of food at the Mississippi State Fair, I had no part of the donut burger picture above. A friendly girl allowed me to take a photo of her freshly made meat patty, sandwiched between two whole Krispy Kreme donuts, complete with fixings and condiments.

As much as I appreciate trying new things, in my world ketchup and sweet pastries do not pair well.  Nor do pickles, cheese or onions for that matter.

In no way was I deprived in childhood, but we never made a big deal out of the state fair. The Missouri one is held in a town at least an hour away (we may have gone once or twice) and I don’t even know where the Kansas version is (a quick search says Hutchinson). My first roommate in college talked highly of a fair in Nebraska, where the hot item to get was a free yardstick. The must have item in MS is a free, warm biscuit.

Fried peach pie a la mode

Last year, the night before getting married, we headed to the fair with a large group of family and friends in town for our wedding and had a blast. We were there for wristband ride night and went directly after rehearsal dinner, so I didn’t get any fair food. (We also witnessed two puking incidents which killed any desire to eat.)

This past week, going to lunch at the fair has been a popular topic at work. Some friends and I made it there Tuesday, and took advantage of the free parking and admission from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. during the work week. I spent $17 in under an hour on a fried peach pie with ice cream, a brisket sandwich, a bag of taffy for Ben, and a cherry limeade.

My favorite item was the fried peach pie a la mode with sweet fruit filling, warm crispy crust, and cool ice cream. A woman was hand rolling crust and filling pies to order in a tiny trailer for goodness sakes. They offer apple or peach pies, with or without ice cream for $3 or $4. Please splurge a dollar and get it a la mode.

I wanted a chicken on a stick from Penn’s, but the line never ceased to be ten people deep! (Probably not a bad thing for my arteries.) Other food consumed in the group included roasted ears of corn, Saratoga chips (thin, fried potato chips), rib eye sandwiches, lemonade, a funnel cake, fries, fried apple pies, more taffy, and free biscuits all around.

The choices are overwhelming and plentiful, be prepared for foods on sticks, battered and fried. The weather is perfect and we left with full bellies. It was a great field trip, until getting into my friend’s car I spilled half of my cherry limeade on my crotch.

Yes. I just said, on my crotch.

Nevertheless…the fair runs through Sunday, October 17 which leaves plenty of time to go and get yourself a donut burger. It’s a once a year splurge to live a little. Just be careful getting into your car, if you have a drink in hand.

For more fair news, check out the Top 10 New Foods at the Arkansas State Fair, I didn’t see any of these at the Mississippi version.