NC State Fair 2010

It's time for the North Carolina State Fair! Between the State Fair and the Renaissance Fair, fall is one of the best times of the year. Once the weather breaks and the sweltering heat stops, it's time to eat to your heart's content, hit the rides until you feel sick, win some prizes, then start all over again. The newest feature at the website is that you can search for any of the rides/games/food that you want. That way you can build a map of all the places you want to go on your visit. If you are iPhone-inclined, they also have an app for that. Here are my favorite food finds from this year's fair:


We started the day light with an ear of roasted corn. The ears are roasted en masse until the husk is charred. They are served up plain or dipped in melted butter. Then you have your choice of various toppings, including but not limited to salt, pepper, lemon-pepper, poultry seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and mayonnaise. The corn tastes great and it may be one of the healthiest items you find at the fair, certainly the only one that came directly off a plant.


Chocolate-covered bacon was a big hit at last year's fair and it is back and as good as ever. The bacon itself is crisp and salty-sweet. It is dipped in a thick layer of good chocolate, then topped with sprinkles or other decorations. It is a little expensive for a single piece of bacon, but you won't be complaining once you bite through the chocolate shell. Just be sure to get your bacon from Steph's Strawberries as some of the other versions fall short on Steph's level of quality.


GGB of Raleigh has their first stand at the fair, selling the world's largest gummies. They are famous for their 5lb gummy bears and now offer a variety of other treats including a 3lb gummy worm that is about 2 feet long, gummy shot glasses, gummy tongues, and smaller 1lb gummy bears on sticks that come in about 10 flavors. Unfortunately, my stomach did not let me try these intriguing confections, but if you can find some friends to share, this would be a great novelty.


One of the most intriguing new offerings at this year's fair are Koolaid pickles. Before you gag at the thought, hear me out. The vendors take a jar of Mt. Olive bread'n'butter pickles, dump out the brine, and put in some red Koolaid. The outside of the pickles is a bright red color, but the interior of the pickle is that same odd shade of green. I've never been a fan of bread'n'butter pickles, but this version was actually quite tasty. The Koolaid sweetened the pickles up just a tad and made their flavor more interesting. If you're feeling adventurous (which you should be at the fair), buy a set of these pickles and see what you think. If all else fails, you can just throw them at one of the game stalls and see if you win a prize.


State Fairs from Texas to North Carolina are known for bringing the best and worst in fried foods. The Lone Star State takes the cake (or Twinkie) when it comes to fried food. Vendors compete for the best new fried food, inventing such odd offerings as fried Coca Cola, fried beer, and even fried butter. Many of these new ideas get to the NC State Fair, and the popular ones like fried Oreos become permanent parts of the menu.


Can a funnel cake be gourmet? Yes, yes it can. Funnel cakes have long been part of fairs. A batter is streamed into fry oil and allowed to cook until a puffed nest forms. Some vendors top them with a thick layer of powdered sugar. But the newest addition to this lineage is the gourmet funnel cake, coming in 6 flavors like apple and chocolate obsession (pictured above), which is a chocolate funnel cake topped with chocolate syrup, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, and whipped cream. It is truly decadent and very difficult to stop eating. One drawback of most funnel cakes is that after a few bites you're pretty much tired of the taste of fried batter, but these gourmet cakes keep you wanting more even after you've cleaned your paper plate.


The newest of the things-you-thought-they-would-never-fry category are the fried Chips Ahoy and the fried Honeybun. The Chips Ahoy, much like the fried Oreo, becomes much softer in the fryer, but it brings a lot less flavor than that chocolate cookie. All you end up with is a piece of fried batter surrounding some chocolate chips. The Honeybun, on the other hand, was marvelous. There is a lot of fried batter to get through with it, so it is best to split this behemoth. The Honeybun is heated in the frying process, making it taste absolutely delicious and wonderfully moist.


The last new item that is definitely worth mentioning was by far my favorite food at this year's fair. It is the *brace yourself* Krispie Kreme Bacon Cheeseburger. If it sounds gross, wait for it. Burger + bacon + random unnecessary toppings + cheese + 2 Krispie Kreme donuts = pure bliss. If you've ever had a McGriddle from McDonald's, this monster is very similar. It is mostly sweet with a bit of savory in the middle from the burger and cheese. The bacon unites it all (because let's face it, bacon is magical and can bring people together). Like many foods at the fair, I split this with a group of people, but this was the only food I was sad that I could only eat my share and not the entire thing. This burger was transcendentally wonderful and if you can't get to the fair to have one this year, you should make it at home.

The fair, overall, was a monumental success. Not only am I still an ace at the water-shooting games, but I went home feeling fully satisfied that I had eaten the best of this year's fair. If you live in the area and have time between now and Sunday, go to the fairgrounds. It does not matter if there are throngs of people. All that matters is that you have the chance to enjoy this unique slice of the American lifestyle.

NC State Fair 2009

This is the last weekend of this year's North Carolina State Fair. I just have to say that I love fairs. There's something about the atmosphere of fun, overeating and slight nausea that appeals to me. The theme this year is "A Whole Lotta Happy," which pretty much summarizes the constant euphoria I feel as I wander my way around the fairgrounds.




The State Fair always has a unique combination of disparate elements: fried foods & BBQ, slightly rigged games, rides with an okay safety rating, and a celebration of agriculture (pictured above). Every year, farmers compete to have the largest produce imaginable. The first picture shows pumpkins ranging from 221 pounds to the blue-ribbon-winning 376 pounds. If those pumpkins were made into jack-o-lanterns, I'd be afraid that they'd eat little trick-or-treaters. In the watermelon picture, the melon on the right in the foreground was about normal size, if not a little large, and the one of the left was just monstrous. The Japanese may be making square and heart-shaped melons, but we're making them the size of Godzilla. These giant sizes also extend to other squash. It is difficult to have some perspective from these pictures, but the butternuts in the back are the size of a large baby. Also at the fair were prize-winning sweet potatoes, snow peas, and apples, as well as Oreo cows, mules, mini-donkeys, cows for milking, sheep, a sow with her piglets, ducklings, and chicks. For city folk like me and my friends, this was a nice foray into the agricultural world so we can see not only where food comes from, but also the amazing power of selective breeding and genetics.



As they said in Charlotte's Web the movie, "a fair is a veritable smorgasbord." And whenever I go I do glut like Templeton the rat. If push comes to shove, the fair can be described in two words: fried food. I wish I new how to combine two photos into one, but for now the above pictures show what one stand was selling in terms of the deep-frieds. One problem about going to the fair is you cannot eat everything you want, otherwise your stomach might burst. One tip is to bring friends with you with whom you can "share" or "pawn off" your food.


For starters, we had to get some protein in us. One of my staples at any fair is the foot-long corn dog. There's something beautiful about a hot dog on a stick surrounded by cornbread and dipped into ketchup and mustard. The smoked turkey legs, if you can handle them, are also a must at least once in your life. They exude a delicious smokey flavor that you almost don't mind shoving your face into a huge piece of meat. But don't fill up on any one food as there is an entire world of flavors yet to be sampled.



Sweet potato fries are absolutely wonderful no matter where you get them. Other fried sides that have become staples are French fries, funnel cakes with any number of toppings (from cinnamon apples to maple syrup to chocolate), and elephant ears. Many stands just say they have "fried dough," and nothing could be simpler or sweeter than the warmth of sugary dough with some powdered sugar slowly melting on it.


Fried candy is one of my favorite items at the fair. Every year they unveil a new, wonderful fried food. This year's newest feature is fried Ho-Hos (pictured above bottom). They were pretty good, if not a little difficult to eat, but my favorite fried snack cake will always be the Twinkie with it's plume of warm vanilla flavor. Also pictured above are fried Oreos, which become softer after being fried and nearly melt in your mouth. Lastly is fried PB&J, which is, in reality, a fried Uncrustable, but that does not mean it was not one of the greatest things since fried sliced bread. Then again, I am a sucker for peanut butter. They also had fried cheeseburgers and fried pecan pie, both of which sounded good but a little too much for us to handle at that point in the day.


Keep your eyes open at the fair because there is food and fun to be had that most people don't see. On our way through the fair, we came across a stand selling apple fritters in an ice cream cone. Intrigued we bought some and they were marvelous. They were fried apple strips that tasted of apple pie in one bite.




Chocolate also has it's time in the limelight at the fair. Chocolate-covered bananas are a little difficult to eat because they are frozen first, but it was pretty good. I think they can't let the bananas get too ripe for fear of falling apart, but it still tasted good. Cheesecake also works wonderfully when dipped in chocolate and shoved on a stick. It helps that the cheesecake was from Cheesecake Factory, but the chocolate added another layer of sumptuousness. One note is that not everything at the fair is good. One over-popularized item was pig lickers (chocolate-dipped bacon). I think this suffered from a lack of trying: pre-cooked bland bacon covered in a lackluster chocolate sauce. The two flavors never actually melded. I may have to try this one at home just to show that it can be done.



Lastly, the local 4H clubs have competitions in many categories including sewing, canning and baking. Pictured above are some of the awesome cakes that were showcased, including the winning box-of-chocolates cake. I wish I had known about this when I was a teenager.

The state fair was, simply put, awesome. Word to the wise, do all the rides you want before you chow down on fried foods and play games before you leave so you don't have to carry a giant moon/banana around the park (what can I say? I'm just good at the water shooting games). If you've never been to a state fair, you've not enjoyed America at its best with deep-fried, capitalist, fast-paced fun.

Lots of Updates - 10.26.08

I've been staying busy busy for the past couple of weeks, so I haven't gotten around to updating the blog. But now I've found some time, so here's what I've been up to.


One of my pseudo-Scottish favorites, shepherd's pie is an easy casserole for entertaining friends or for a quiet evening at home. While boiling some potatoes for the top portion, cook ground beef in a pan, adding some onions, carrots and garlic. Once it's all cooked, stir in some flour to let it combine with the fat in the pan. Gradually stir in some tomatoes and beef stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Add Worcestershire sauce, sage, salt, and pepper, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes. While it's simmering, mash the potatoes with some butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Adjust the consistency with some milk.

Stir mushrooms into the meat and cook until tender. Turn the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish. You can either pipe the mashed potatoes with a star tip (fancy version) or you can delicately spread them over the top of the meat mixture (time and energy efficient version). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Let cool a bit, slice and serve.


I wanted to make a slightly different dessert, so I opted for this grape and mascarpone upside-down cheesecake. You puree some grape juice concentrate with some grapes, then simmer this in a saucepan with some whole grapes, sugar, raspberry vinegar, and cornstarch, cooking until it is thickened slightly. Pour this into the bottom of a springform pan (this will form the bottom of the cheesecake, which will be served as the top). With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and mascarpone cheese with some sugar and flour. Pour this mixture over the grape mixture and bake until the center is just set. Allow to cool completely, then refrigerate for 4 hours. When ready to serve, invert onto a serving dish and remove the springform pan. This dessert came out nicely balanced: not artificially grapey and not overtly sweet, which were my main concerns. The last thing anyone wants for dessert is a diabetogenic cheesecake that tastes like Dimetapp.


With winter at our doorstep here in North Carolina, I was in the mood for soup, so I wanted to re-make some mushroom rice chowder I prepared about 3 years ago. You start by cooking mushrooms, leeks, shallots, and garlic in a pan with butter until everything is tender. Add 4 cups of chicken stock, 1 cup of wild rice, marjoram, thyme, and pepper. Simmer, covered, for about an hour until the rice is cooked. Slowly stir in 1 cup of half-and-half, cream cheese or sour cream (depending on how creamy and fattening you want your soup). Heat soup through but do not boil. Serve in large bowls and savor the warmth and flavors at your leisure.

Since I'm such a fungi (fun guy haha), I continued the mushroominess and made these steaks with red wine and mushroom sauce. Salt and pepper the steaks, then cook them up in a saucepan to the desired doneness. When finished, transfer to a covered, oven-safe dish and place it in an oven set on warm. In the same pan, pour out most of the fat, and add 8 ounces of mushrooms and some shallots, and cook until tender. Add some beef broth and heat until boiling. Mix cornstarch into half a cup of red wine, then pour this mixture into the pan. Cook this mixture until the sauce is thickened and adjust the flavors with salt and pepper. Plate the steaks and spread the sauce on top. The version I made turned out rather bland, so additional spices and maybe a bit less cornstarch would help. It did look nice, though, with some chopped parsley on top.


For a nice treat for my lab, I made some zucchini bread. I have made so much banana bread over the past few years, I decided to try my hand at zucchini bread. I got the recipe from Food Network and tweaked it a bit. After mixing together 3.25 cups flour, 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp baking soda, 3 cups sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon (I also added to this 1 tsp of cardamom, a wonderfully warm and underused spice), I made the wet mixture: 1 cup vegetable oil, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup water, 1 tsp lemon juice, and 2 cups zucchini. To grate the zucchini, you can do it the hard way with a hand grater or, as I found out, you can do it the easy way with the proper attachment to a food processor. I grated 2 zucchini in 15 seconds. Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just mixed together. If you want, fold in 1 cup of chopped nuts (I used pecans). Bake this in 2 loaf pans (I only had 1 regular loaf pan and 3 mini loaf pans) for about 1 hour (or 45 minutes for mini-sized) until a tester comes out clean. I did have a difficult time getting the loaves out of the pans, but after that they were fine. I also used a light vanilla glaze on the large one before I brought it in for my lab to devour like piranha. It had a wonderful spiced flavor to it and the zucchini was more for consistency than for flavor.

In the past couple of weeks, I went to the NC Renaissance Fair as well as the State Fair. I meant to document the wonderful foods at both, but was so excited that I only remembered my camera when I was halfway through gorging. At the Renaissance Fair, we enjoyed a turkey leg, chocolate-covered strawberries, sausage on a stick, hot cider, strawberry shortcake, and fried mac-n-cheese. At the State Fair, we had a soft pretzel, another turkey leg, fried cheesecake, mint chocolate chip ice cream, a foot long corndog, and, the best of the best, fried oreos and Reese's peanut butter cups. The oreos were good, but the peanut butter cups were out of this world. Our original intent was to eat all of the other fried goodness (including, but not limited to, fried pickles, twinkies, Snickers, and Milky Ways), but we did not find the right booths until we were already stuffed. Luckily we carried around our many and varied stuffed animals, so that might come near the number of calories we consumed...at least if you fudge the numbers a bit.