Oh, Take Me to The FAIR
All across this great land of ours, it’s county and state fair time. Don’t you love this time of year? I have lots of great fair-time memories because our family has always been enthusiastic fair goers.
Most children love fairs for the carnival rides, but not me. I joined my mother, Aunt Annie, and Aunt Toots in submitting our handiwork to the home economics division in hopes of walking away with blue ribbons. Those Home-Ec displays were what caused my heart to skip a beat (well, along with the food vendors—bring on those Pronto Pups!). Honestly, heck with the Ferris wheel!
Speaking of Pronto Pups, we all know fair food has always been a bit out of the ordinary, but in the last 5 or 6 years, fairs have been stepping up their foodie game. With everything from deep fried butter to Kool-Aid pickles, sometimes there are too many options to choose from.
With this said, and if you’re planning a county or state fair visit this season, then you’ll appreciate Shea McCollum’s (from Pepperdine University) research that will help you navigate which fair foods are worth the visit. She found these to be the 15 best fair foods from state to state (counting down from 15 to America’s #1 favorite):
Holy cow, I can feel my arteries clogging, just reading the list. But isn’t it all enticing? That’s what state and county fairs are all about. They were meant and still are meant to be a wonderful break from the normal, often tedious and humdrum routines of the past year.
But back to what really drew the gals in our family to the fair. We LOVED the baking competitions. So much so that it’s no surprise that one of Aunt Annie’s favorite cookbooks was Blue Ribbon Recipes: County Fair Winners. The introduction says, “…Fairs have been a part of the American scene almost since the beginning of this country. Farmers gathered there to talk over the year’s successes and failures. Their wives compared cooking and swapped recipes…Now for the first time, the cream of Blue Ribbon recipes throughout the country has been assembled in one volume, and they represent far more than the combination of a few simple ingredients. They are a part of our American heritage.”
And of course, it’s no surprise that most of the food entries were created around the fruits and vegetables of the season—fair time coincides with harvest time after all. It was also understood that chances for a blue ribbon were far greater if in-season ingredients were featured in a recipe—Aunt Annie knew this and capitalized on it. She especially enjoyed sweets and delighted in working fresh fruits into cookies, bars, and cakes.
Here is a recipe that won her not a blue ribbon, but the sweepstakes ribbon for best cake in the Spokane County Fair sometime in the early 1950’s. Meanwhile, I know it sounds corny, but “Take me to the fair!” (And bring on that Pronto Pup!)
3/4 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour milk
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup pitted, fresh sweet cherries ?(Bing are preferrable)
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
Most children love fairs for the carnival rides, but not me. I joined my mother, Aunt Annie, and Aunt Toots in submitting our handiwork to the home economics division in hopes of walking away with blue ribbons. Those Home-Ec displays were what caused my heart to skip a beat (well, along with the food vendors—bring on those Pronto Pups!). Honestly, heck with the Ferris wheel!
Speaking of Pronto Pups, we all know fair food has always been a bit out of the ordinary, but in the last 5 or 6 years, fairs have been stepping up their foodie game. With everything from deep fried butter to Kool-Aid pickles, sometimes there are too many options to choose from.
With this said, and if you’re planning a county or state fair visit this season, then you’ll appreciate Shea McCollum’s (from Pepperdine University) research that will help you navigate which fair foods are worth the visit. She found these to be the 15 best fair foods from state to state (counting down from 15 to America’s #1 favorite):
- Red Velvet Funnel Cake
- Cookies in a Cone
- Navajo Tacos
- Cheesecake on a Stick
- Terriyaki Chicken Pineapple Boat
- Cookie Fries
- Fried Cheese Curds
- Deep Fried Turkey Leg
- Corn in a Cup
- Deep Fried PB&J
- Cannoli Dessert Nachos
- Pizza Cone
- Deep Fried Snickers
- Fried Chicken in a Waffle Cone
- And the #1 all-time favorite…DEEP FRIED OREOS!
Holy cow, I can feel my arteries clogging, just reading the list. But isn’t it all enticing? That’s what state and county fairs are all about. They were meant and still are meant to be a wonderful break from the normal, often tedious and humdrum routines of the past year.
But back to what really drew the gals in our family to the fair. We LOVED the baking competitions. So much so that it’s no surprise that one of Aunt Annie’s favorite cookbooks was Blue Ribbon Recipes: County Fair Winners. The introduction says, “…Fairs have been a part of the American scene almost since the beginning of this country. Farmers gathered there to talk over the year’s successes and failures. Their wives compared cooking and swapped recipes…Now for the first time, the cream of Blue Ribbon recipes throughout the country has been assembled in one volume, and they represent far more than the combination of a few simple ingredients. They are a part of our American heritage.”
And of course, it’s no surprise that most of the food entries were created around the fruits and vegetables of the season—fair time coincides with harvest time after all. It was also understood that chances for a blue ribbon were far greater if in-season ingredients were featured in a recipe—Aunt Annie knew this and capitalized on it. She especially enjoyed sweets and delighted in working fresh fruits into cookies, bars, and cakes.
Here is a recipe that won her not a blue ribbon, but the sweepstakes ribbon for best cake in the Spokane County Fair sometime in the early 1950’s. Meanwhile, I know it sounds corny, but “Take me to the fair!” (And bring on that Pronto Pup!)
Fresh Cherry Cake
Ingredients:
3/4 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour milk
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup pitted, fresh sweet cherries ?(Bing are preferrable)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9x13 cake pan. Cream butter; add sugar and cream until smooth. Add eggs; beat well. Add soda to sour milk; add to creamed mixture and beat well. Add spices and flour; mix well. Gently fold in cherries. Bake 35 minutes or until lightly browned and toothpick inserted into cake center comes out clean. Frost with favorite cherry-flavored butter cream frosting. Garnish with stemmed fresh cherries, if desired.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Sources:
www.familyfarmgrown.com
www.pinterest.com
www.teenvogue.com
www.wistatefair.com
www.rubylane.com
www.thespruceeats.com
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
