Iowa State Fair Food Guide

The Iowa State Fair is in one week and I can't wait!  I have enjoyed going to the Iowa State Fair since I was a kid, and really fell in love when I was in high school after I started working for the 4-H livestock department.  For many years I have literally lived at the fair for all ten days.  This year will be different though, with MP only being two months old and with everything going on with the house and hopefully the soon to be move, I will not be volunteering or working anywhere and we don't even have a date set yet to visit (but don't worry, we'll make it at least for one day).

One aspect of any fair that I think everyone loves is fair food!  Lets just say I've been around the block, or should I say up and down Grand and Rock Island Avenues, a time or two, and have tried many fair foods on the state fairgrounds.  Through my years of living at the State Fair I have came up with a must-eat fair food list that I'd like to share with all of you.  It was really easy to make it through my list when I was there for ten days but will be challenging (not to mention gut wrenching) to accomplish in one day...

• Pork Chop on a Stick (Iowa Pork Chop Shop)
• Chocolate Milk Shake (Dairy Barn)
• Turkey Tenderloin Sandwich (Iowa Turkey Grill)
• Mark & Gary Burger (Iowa Cattlemen's Beef Quarters) - and I'm looking forward to trying a new menu item of their's - Deep Fried Bull Fries - that's right people, you can get Rocky Mountain Oysters at this year's fair!
• Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwich Meal - includes baked beans and chips (Iowa Pork Tent)
• Lamb Burger (Iowa Sheep Industry trailer)
• Fried Pickle Dawg (Dawg House)
• Cheese Curds (Brad & Harry's) - and new this year they have a Cajun flavored cheese curd that I'll have to try
• Cookies in a Cup (Barksdale)
• Fried Vegetables - Cauliflower, Pickles, Jalapeno Poppers, etc. (Veggie-Table)
• Pork Tenderloin Sandwich (Xtreme Tenderloins)
• Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich (The Best Around)
• Gyro (Greek Garden)
• Strawberry Shortcake (Iowa Fruit and Veggie Stand)

Ok, wow, after looking over this list I realize that this is in no way possible in one or two days!  Can you tell I use to be at the fair for all ten days?!?  I realize now that I need to share a must eat one day list.  So, drumroll please...

• Pork Chop on a Stick (Main Meal)
• Fried Pickle Dawg (Snack)
• Chocolate Milk Shake (Dairy Barn)
• Deep Fried Bull Fries (New Food)

Did you know that at the 2012 Iowa State Fair the Iowa Pork Producer's
sold more than 60,000 Chops on a Stick!
Here is a photo of My Farmer (on the left) and two of our friends
working at the Chop Shop last year

What are you hungry for?  What is your favorite fair food?  Have fun at the fair - after all "Nothing Compares"!

Fair Time Favorites

Last week my family and I kept busy because our local Franklin County Fair was being held.  There was only one day last week that between My Farmer and I, we didn't have to be at the fair - We joked around that we can only imagine what are fair schedule will be like when we have kids in 4-H!  Overall we had a great time and the weather was great for it.  Here is my Top Five Franklin County Fair Favorites:

• Promote Our Commodities - I've been lucky the last couple of years to have be asked to judge the 4-H Promote Our Commodities contest.  This is a cooking and baking contest where 4-Hers bring dishes that feature beef, pork, lamb, dairy or soy.  It is always fun to try all the fun recipes the 4-Hers bring and to talk to them about Iowa's top commodities.  I hope I continue to be asked to judge this event!

LP helping me judge 4-Her Abby's Oatmeal Cranberry Soy Cookies - very delicious!

• Farm Bureau Burger Feed - Every year the Franklin County Farm Bureau (which both My Farmer and I serve on) sponsors a day at the fair.  One thing the Farm Bureau does as a part of that sponsored day is that we have a burger feed.  We pass out 1,000 pork burger and hamburgers.  It is great way to promote pork, beef and Farm Bureau.

My Farmer on the left, with a couple other Farm Bureau board members grilling pork burgers
at the burger feed.  You can see part of the burger feed line behind them.

• Entertainment - Our County Fair does a great job with an Entertainment line-up every year.  This year we really enjoyed going to the Oak Ridge Boys concert, Rodney Atkins concert and the Monster Truck Rally.  My personal favorite was the Oak Ridge Boys concert.  My Farmer, LP and I brought my Mom and Grandma along with us to the concert.  My Grandma, who will be 80 at the end of the month, is a huge Oak Ridge Boys fan.  She had a great time at the concert which made me enjoy it that much more!  She stood up near the stage for the concert and got high-fives from the whole band at the end of the night.  They played for over an hour and a half and had the entire crowd on their feet.  Their final song was Amazing Grace which was dedicated to those in Aurora, Colorado.

My Grandma is the one with white shoulder length hair in the bottom right of this photo.
You can see how close she got to the stage!

• Food - You can't talk about the Fair and not talk about FOOD!  Every year at our County Fair I have to eat at the 4-H Food Stand and get a taco salad and a slice of homemade pie, I have to get a chicken wrap from the Smoke & Crome stand, and I have to get homemade ice cream from Pleasant Hill.  This year my new favorite food I tried was fried cookie dough on a stick!  The food at the County Fair makes me excited for food at the State Fair next month!

My Farmer and LP after eating some homemade ice cream at Pleasant Hill

• Family Time - We had a blast as a family at the fair this year.  LP is only 16 months old but he had so much fun at the fair!  He enjoyed just people watching, to singing and dancing at the concerts, to cheering on the Monster Trucks.  It was fun to do things as a family all week long.

LP loved putting his hands up in the air and cheering at the concerts.
Here we all are cheering for the Oak Ridge Boys.

I always love hearing from readers.  What is your favorite thing to do at the Fair?