Your Fair Fare Lady

The Iowa State Fair is the San Diego Comic-Con of state fairs. It's crowded, hotels are sold out, parking is a nightmare, you have to walk and walk and walk to get anywhere, people are wearing all sorts of clothing that don't fit properly and sizes range from 0 to 5XL.

The one significant difference is the food. In San Diego you must venture outside the confines of the convention center for decent eats, at the Iowa State Fair, the food IS the main attraction for some. Screw the talent shows, skim the animals, avoid the midway rides and games but make a beeline for the bright and many food vendors, offering hundreds of options to fill your maw. Doubt it? Consider the numbers: 200 food vendors are scattered about, offering up an insane variety of food. Chinese, tenderloins (in 19 different vendors), gyros, dogs (regular, foot long, corn), BBQ (beef & pork), pickles, pizza, tacos, fruit, chicken, cheese, jerky and at least a thousand other things. Food served "on-a-stick" is well represented with more than 50 items including cheesecake, hot bologna, pork chops and even a hard-boiled egg.

And lest you think it's just about eating the food at the Iowa State Fair, think again. The fair boasts the largest food competition program in the nation with more than 244 divisions of competition that start 4 days before the official opening of the fair. And we're not talking about just some pies and cookies either, although they are well represented. Divisions include eggs, cereal, pot pies, soy, salads, honey, healthy foods, specific spices, crepes and lard. Yes, lard.

So food reigns supreme at the Iowa State Fair and for my first trip I was determined to fill my belly. I had visions of pork chops and giant rice krispie treats and funnel cakes as big as my face. The reality was overwhelming. I was bombarded by so much food that my brain shut down and I went for the most reliable and familiar of items, a hot dog. Granted, it was foot long and delicious.

Superfro also had a hot dog, but added "cheese-on-a-stick" to the menu. It's exactly what you think it is, deep fried hunk of breaded cheese served on a wooden stick.

Our companions, Jeff & Sarah shared the ribbon cut potatoes which are fried crispy and then covered in cheese sauce. Their adorable daughter Faye got a kid's turkey sandwich with applesauce which came with a free Frisbee.

After the salty food we were all in the mood for something sweet. Superfro found some tropical punch flavored shaved ice, Jeff got the chocolate covered tiramisu-on-a-stick and I picked the chocolate covered frozen s'more-on-a-stick. The s'more could have used about double the amount of marshmallow but I managed to choke it down. Both of the chocolate covered items were freshly dipped at the time of ordering which I think would be my employment of choice at the fair.

Next, it was time to see some animals. People come from all corners of the state to show off their livestock. Some of them are traditional, like pigs and cow and some are considered "exotic" 'round these parts, like the AWESOME alpacas!

 How cute is that David-Bowie-from-Labyrinth hairdo?

This baby minnature donkey was trying to entice it's mommy to play by licking her ears and face!

We also saw the 600 lb butter cow sculpture. It sort of seems like a waste of butter.

After all that it was time to eat more food. I tried the battered and fried pineapple-on-a-stick, which was dangerously delicious. Sweet and tart and incredibly juicy!

Sarah got a fried dill pickle. Sarah is pregnant so the pickle was sort of a no-brainer.

Then we all shared what I firmly believe are the best fried cheese curds in the nation. They are so good that when one of them fell on the ground Jeff quickly swiped it up and declared "I'LL EAT THAT!" When was the last time you ate something off the ground at a state fair because it was so good you could not bear to let it go to waste?

And to finish the day Sarah had a beautiful funnel cake! So yummy!

It was truly a delicious day! I could have tried so much more but I mustered up some self control and stuck with the things I was really hankering for. Oh! I was also pleasantly surprised a the food prices. Most items were in the $3.50 - $5.00 range with large glasses of soda running about $4.00. I've paid more for less so I can't complain.

I can't say that the fair will be an annual "must-do" for me, unless they have the fried pineapple-on-a-stick, I'll be dreaming about that thing for weeks.