I haven't been to a State Fair in YEARS! With
Tracy in tow we headed to Dallas on Saturday to experience one of the most massive state fairs in the United States. Over the course of our 4+ years in Shreveport we've continually heard just how over the top the food is at the
Texas State Fair. As we embarked on this adventure we decided to make it our mission to taste as much of it as possible. Now before you read on and get totally grossed out by the sheer amount of food + calories, please know that we split everything you see. The only exception is the corn dog...we each had our own [and yes, it was good!]
Lee [above] and Tracy [below] show me how to attack a staple of fairs everywhere...the infamous turkey leg. It was a first for me and it was quite tasty. It was, however, quite a bit of work, especially when you're sharing it among three people and you're trying to tear off hunks of meat. That being said, we didn't demolish the whole thing.
Once we got a little protein in our empty bellies we started in on the sugary goodness that was offered at every turn. We bypassed fried twinkies, fried moonpies, and fried butter [seriously] but stopped when we saw fried oreos [below, right] and fried nutterbutters [below, left].
If you like peanut butter you'll love the fried nutterbutters [these were one of Tracy's faves from the day] and while I wasn't so sure about the fried oreos at first, they definitely grew on me. Not sure I'd clog my arteries with them again but I'm glad I experienced them.
Proof that fried butter really exists. We didn't have it but the fried pizza looked pretty good and I have a feeling the fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich was fairly popular. And, hello, how in the heck do you fry Coke?
Horrible picture but a GREAT corn dog! We each enjoyed our own and it was good because I don't think I could have shared. Next time, though, I'm getting ketchup with it. Both Lee and Tracy got mustard and I followed their lead. I'm definitely more of a ketchup girl!
The above sugary goodness was my favorite of the day. Any guesses? Before I tell you what it is let me set the scene...we all knew we wanted to try some of the more outrageous treats but didn't want to eat a regular portion so we could taste more. We each decided to pick a dessert and we'd share it with the others. The fried treat above was my pick. It's a fried s'more and it was YUMMY! Quite honestly this is one that not only would I buy again but I was a bit bummed that I had to share it. I have a feeling both Lee and Tracy felt the same way. We had to wait for a minute while they finished frying it so it was insanely fresh. The inside was totally gooey and had us all licking our fingers [not to worry - we were using the hand sanitizer they had at each food booth like crazy!]
This one is Lee's pick and I apologize for the blurry photo [it was much harder than I thought to quickly snap a food photo]. He was originally going to pick fried cheesecake based upon the rave reviews from
Erin and the fact that he loves a good cheesecake. However, while in line for the fried cheesecake he decided to switch his order to fried pecan pie. That's what you see above and it met with some mixed reviews. The bite I had was from the center and it was filled with ooey gooey pecan pie goodness [yum!] but the bites Lee and Tracy had were more from the edge and that was just the fried coating.
As we headed back to buy Tracy's dessert treat we stumbled upon a place that was selling fried bbq bologna. Lee had been dying to find some BBQ and while this isn't at all what he had in mind, we decided he needed to try it. Tracy and I each had a bite and while it was ok, it wasn't worth the calories. Lee liked it but wouldn't buy it again.
Tracy's pick was the fried cookie dough we saw on the menu when we purchased the nutterbutters & oreos earlier in the day. By the time we found it again it was pouring down rain and the line was a bit longer than we were prepared for. As we stood in line and reassessed how many tickets we had left [you have to buy tickets which are then used to buy food] we realized we had quite a few left over. In order to not waste too many we made the decision to try something crazy. But first, Tracy's fried cookie dough was good but it was a bit too rich for me. One bite and I was done. Shocking given my love of cookie dough.
And the crazy purchase I mentioned above? It was the fried Coke that had us all perplexed earlier in the day. It's more like a root beer float but instead of ice cream they used what tasted like doughnut holes and poured about a shot of Coke over it. It was topped with some kind of foamy topping and I'm incredibly surprised to say this but it was really good! Definitely the most surprising find of the day. Not sure that I'd get it again but I'm extremely happy to have solved the mystery of fried Coke.
Ok, now that your bellies are full of crap let's take a quick walk around the fair, shall we? Above is Big Tex and he really is BIG. Holy cow, he towers over everything.
We stumbled upon a cool demonstration where a man was carving amazing pumpkins. The detail work is absolutely incredible.
During the course of the day we learned that Tracy likes trains and since Lee used to work for one I decided it was fitting to get a pic of them together in front of a train...
One of the bigger disappointments of the day was the lack of livestock to check out. We finally stumbled upon a few animals and were mesmerized by this brahma bull...
He was so sweet I joked to Lee that we should take him home. He didn't buy it and we left brahma bull-less. The kitties were quite happy with that decision.
All in all we had a great time at the fair. I won't be eating my way through another for a VERY long time but I'm so glad we did it this year. It was a fun adventure and I was thrilled that Tracy got to experience it with us. Even with the exercise we got running to our car parked a mile away in the rain, we were stuffed and opted to skip dinner. My belly rumbled all the way to the hotel. Thank goodness for ginger ale!
I haven't been to a State Fair in YEARS! With Tracy in tow we headed to Dallas on Saturday to experience one of the most massive state fairs in the United States. Over the course of our 4+ years in Shreveport we've continually heard just how over the top the food is at the Texas State Fair. As we embarked on this adventure we decided to make it our mission to taste as much of it as possible. Now before you read on and get totally grossed out by the sheer amount of food + calories, please know that we split everything you see. The only exception is the corn dog...we each had our own [and yes, it was good!]
Lee [above] and Tracy [below] show me how to attack a staple of fairs everywhere...the infamous turkey leg. It was a first for me and it was quite tasty. It was, however, quite a bit of work, especially when you're sharing it among three people and you're trying to tear off hunks of meat. That being said, we didn't demolish the whole thing.
Once we got a little protein in our empty bellies we started in on the sugary goodness that was offered at every turn. We bypassed fried twinkies, fried moonpies, and fried butter [seriously] but stopped when we saw fried oreos [below, right] and fried nutterbutters [below, left].
If you like peanut butter you'll love the fried nutterbutters [these were one of Tracy's faves from the day] and while I wasn't so sure about the fried oreos at first, they definitely grew on me. Not sure I'd clog my arteries with them again but I'm glad I experienced them.
Proof that fried butter really exists. We didn't have it but the fried pizza looked pretty good and I have a feeling the fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich was fairly popular. And, hello, how in the heck do you fry Coke?
Horrible picture but a GREAT corn dog! We each enjoyed our own and it was good because I don't think I could have shared. Next time, though, I'm getting ketchup with it. Both Lee and Tracy got mustard and I followed their lead. I'm definitely more of a ketchup girl!
The above sugary goodness was my favorite of the day. Any guesses? Before I tell you what it is let me set the scene...we all knew we wanted to try some of the more outrageous treats but didn't want to eat a regular portion so we could taste more. We each decided to pick a dessert and we'd share it with the others. The fried treat above was my pick. It's a fried s'more and it was YUMMY! Quite honestly this is one that not only would I buy again but I was a bit bummed that I had to share it. I have a feeling both Lee and Tracy felt the same way. We had to wait for a minute while they finished frying it so it was insanely fresh. The inside was totally gooey and had us all licking our fingers [not to worry - we were using the hand sanitizer they had at each food booth like crazy!]
This one is Lee's pick and I apologize for the blurry photo [it was much harder than I thought to quickly snap a food photo]. He was originally going to pick fried cheesecake based upon the rave reviews from Erin and the fact that he loves a good cheesecake. However, while in line for the fried cheesecake he decided to switch his order to fried pecan pie. That's what you see above and it met with some mixed reviews. The bite I had was from the center and it was filled with ooey gooey pecan pie goodness [yum!] but the bites Lee and Tracy had were more from the edge and that was just the fried coating. 
As we headed back to buy Tracy's dessert treat we stumbled upon a place that was selling fried bbq bologna. Lee had been dying to find some BBQ and while this isn't at all what he had in mind, we decided he needed to try it. Tracy and I each had a bite and while it was ok, it wasn't worth the calories. Lee liked it but wouldn't buy it again.
Tracy's pick was the fried cookie dough we saw on the menu when we purchased the nutterbutters & oreos earlier in the day. By the time we found it again it was pouring down rain and the line was a bit longer than we were prepared for. As we stood in line and reassessed how many tickets we had left [you have to buy tickets which are then used to buy food] we realized we had quite a few left over. In order to not waste too many we made the decision to try something crazy. But first, Tracy's fried cookie dough was good but it was a bit too rich for me. One bite and I was done. Shocking given my love of cookie dough.
And the crazy purchase I mentioned above? It was the fried Coke that had us all perplexed earlier in the day. It's more like a root beer float but instead of ice cream they used what tasted like doughnut holes and poured about a shot of Coke over it. It was topped with some kind of foamy topping and I'm incredibly surprised to say this but it was really good! Definitely the most surprising find of the day. Not sure that I'd get it again but I'm extremely happy to have solved the mystery of fried Coke.
Ok, now that your bellies are full of crap let's take a quick walk around the fair, shall we? Above is Big Tex and he really is BIG. Holy cow, he towers over everything.
We stumbled upon a cool demonstration where a man was carving amazing pumpkins. The detail work is absolutely incredible.
During the course of the day we learned that Tracy likes trains and since Lee used to work for one I decided it was fitting to get a pic of them together in front of a train...
One of the bigger disappointments of the day was the lack of livestock to check out. We finally stumbled upon a few animals and were mesmerized by this brahma bull...
He was so sweet I joked to Lee that we should take him home. He didn't buy it and we left brahma bull-less. The kitties were quite happy with that decision.
All in all we had a great time at the fair. I won't be eating my way through another for a VERY long time but I'm so glad we did it this year. It was a fun adventure and I was thrilled that Tracy got to experience it with us. Even with the exercise we got running to our car parked a mile away in the rain, we were stuffed and opted to skip dinner. My belly rumbled all the way to the hotel. Thank goodness for ginger ale!
8 comments:
So I went to this fair every year for 9 years - 1981 to 1990. Showed steers and lambs but never went to the fair part. Looks like I was totally missing out. Glad you guys had a great time but can I just point out that SAN ANTONIO IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN DALLAS. Ok, I will move on now.
YUM!!!! I absolutely love fairs :)
Whoa, I'm feeling a little "queezy", but wish I had been there just the same. Sounds like so much fun (minus the rain, of course). So glad you were able to share your experiences with Tracy. Maybe your next Fair experience should be San Antonio!!
oh yum! glad there was a turkey leg involved! :)
That is SO COOL and the food looks DELICIOUS and the pumpkin carving man is one talented person for sure! :o) Glad ya'll had a great time!
Oh what fun you had!!! given that the fair is currently going on here in Winston and I am sorry to say that we didn't have time to attend while Jordan and Natalie were here, I liked your version better and the food looks incredible. One of the "new" things advertised at the NC fair is "fried butter" so interesting to see it also offered in Texas. Given that Texans do everything in bigger portions I would bet that some of those foods that you had would not be available here. Thanks for the great pictures and so happy too that Tracey was able to experience it with the two of you. I am like Sue, maybe next year, San Antonio????
Connie
Mama Mia, my stomach hurts! What a great bunch of pictures. They have those massive turkey legs at Disneyland too, and they always kind of freak me out. People look like Vikings walking around gnawing on them.
Loved the pics and glad you guys had fun!
Donut holes with Coke poured over them and then something frothy on top of that?! I will have to see this concoction to really understand it. MMMM....fried oreos and cookie dough sound disgustingly delicious!
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