Oh be still my heart and hold the horses! Can you believe there's more to March than St. Patrick's Day? It's true. National "Food-on-a-Stick" day is celebrated March 28, and I for one, am exhilarated at the thought!

This inspiring photo from the site, Tiny Trapeze (photo by Elton Lin), is a great example of what this special day represents. Roasted marshmallows and weenies may be the most common reference when we think food-on-a-stick, but wait, there's more - so much more.

We've been skewering food for a long time now (www.TheNibble.com calls anything skewered, "stickles"). This approach is especially helpful for barbequing and roasting. Skewered vegetables add wonderful flavor to what's being barbequed, and the skewering allows the veggies themselves to be nicely flavored on all sides as they roast.

With this flavor idea in mind, a clever innovator, Callisons Fine Foods, devised a cool way to add even more flavor to barbequing and roasting - impregnating birch skewers with natural extracts and oils, which in turn creates a delicious way to infuse food from the inside. They don't take the place of rubs or seasonings that are applied to the outside of your food, it's just that you don't necessarily have to use rubs. Callisons says these skewers allow you to layer flavors in a new way, and to enjoy some flavors that generally only come with calories attached - Thai coconut milk, for example - in a fat-free, calorie-free, salt-free version. In fact, thenibble.com calls them calorie-free flavor explosions.

I like the idea that even though I'm not that skilled at applying seasonings, with these skewers I might have a chance at turning out delightfully-seasoned food. The only drawback could be cost, though. They run from $8 to $10 dollars for a pack of 10 - kind of pricey for my budget, but I'll give it a thought.

Some flavors pack more punch than others - Indian Mango Curry and Mexican Fiesta are stronger than Citrus Rosemary, for instance. But all do their jobs no matter how you're using them - broiler, oven, steamer or hot coals. And there's no need to soak the skewers - just skewer the food 10 to 15 minutes before cooking so the flavors can infuse.

But wait a minute - couldn't we make our OWN flavored skewers? I dunno, never tried it, but it shouldn't be that hard. If we have strong enough flavors, wouldn't our inexpensive bamboo skewers absorb what they're being soaked in? Let's try this and report back!

Moving from barbequing and roasting, there's more. Along came someone that decided skewering is a nice presentation technique, too. This fruit idea is a nice enticement for people who need to eat more fruit but who are resistant.

And of course there's the ever popular corn dog - a skewered weenie dipped in corn batter and deep fried. I know people that go to county and state fairs just to experience this truly American delicacy.

Speaking of fairs, here's the list of foods-on-a-stick you'll typically find at most county and state fairs as of 2012. And as an added bonus, they're all deep fried! Note the newest additions (how'd we live so long without 'em?):

1. Chocolate-Covered Chocolate Chip Cannoli - NEW in 2012
2. Chocolate-Covered Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop - NEW in 2012
3. Fruit (with yogurt dipping sauce) - NEW in 2012
4. Double Bacon Corn Dog (a hot dog wrapped in bacon, deep fried, dipped in bacon bit enriched batter and deep fried again to golden perfection) - NEW in 2012
5. Bacon
6. Chocolate-Covered Frozen S'more
7. Fried Butter
8. Peanut Butter & Jelly
9. Chocolate-Covered Deep Fried Cheesecake
10. Griddle Stick (turkey sausage wrapped in a pancake)
11. Cake Pops
12. Fair Square
13. Chocolate-Covered Tiramisu
14. Chocolate-Covered Turtle Mousse Bar
15. Twinkie Log (frozen Twinkie dipped in white chocolate and rolled in cashews)
16. Octodog (hotdog in the shape of an octopus)
17. Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Bar
18. Chocolate-Covered Key Lime Dream Bar
19. Carmellows
20. Pickle
21. Pork Chop
22. Corn Dog
23. Cheese
24. Cajun Chicken
25. Sesame Chicken
26. Carmel Apple
27. German Sausage
28. Teriyaki Beef
29. Corn on the Cob
30. Cotton Candy
31. Veggie Corndog
32. Turkey Drumstick
33. Nutty Bar
34. Hot Bologna
35. Chicken
36. Monkey Tail (chocolate-covered banana)
37. Honey
38. Ice Cream Wonder Bar
39. Deep-Fried Snickers
40. Deep-Fried Milky Way
41. Deep-Fried Twinkie
42. Breakfast Lamb Sausage (brat)
43. Deep-Fried Ho-Ho
44. Deep-Fried Cupcake
45. Dutch Letter
46. Chocolate-Covered Cheesecake
47. Pineapple (Fresh pineapple dipped in funnel cake batter and deep fried)
48. Hot Lips (breaded chicken breast smothered with hot sauce, served with blue cheese dressing)
49. Cornbrat (bratwurst dipped in corndog batter)
50. Chocolate-Covered Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich
51. Rock Candy
52. Salad
53. Hard-Boiled Egg
54. Unicorn Lolipops
55. Rainbow Popsicle
56. Push-ups
57. Turkey Tenderloin

Well you can see I could go on and on with this topic. But I'll spare you. I'll conclude though, with a food-on-a-stick that I adore - one I found when eating at our local Pizza Factory - breadsticks-on-a-stick. They were curly and chewy and amazing.

I knew I had to try making my own at home; it was easy and the first try brought success. You can use your favorite pizza or roll dough, roll it out in a thin sheet (on a well-greased cutting board or counter), cut strips of dough about 1x6-inches, and twist them around well-buttered skewers. I used 1/4-inch dowel sticks, too (I wanted a larger hollow in the bread when the stick was removed).

Place the skewered dough across a 9x13-inch baking pan (as pictured) so that the sticks come out round on all sides. Before baking I brushed them with garlic butter, and right after they came out of the oven I brushed them with more garlic butter and sprinkled them with a smidge of sea salt and lots of Parmesan cheese. Oh my, were they good!

OK, consider yourself on alert - this incredible day is coming. May we all find our favorite food-on-a-stick, and I'm thinking this summer's family reunion picnic could take on a whole new look!

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Sources:
www.thenibble.com
www.iowastatefair.org
www.sweettreatsmore.com