The 2007 San Diego County Fair, Part 2-It's open, it's been open

mmm-yoso is the blog.  Kirk just wrote about food from a local Vietnamese Grocery store and a Whiskey Soda Lounge in Portland, Oregon, Ed just wrote something about food from taco trucks in Yuma and now Cathy is writing this, food at the San Diego County Fair.  Variety, you know.  You don't have to go to a sit down restaurant in San Diego for food.

Hi again.  The San Diego County Fair has been going on for a few days now.  If you recall, from my previous post, it opened in June 8.  It goes on until July 4.  Here is what it looks like, what some exhibits look like and, oh, what we ate.

When you enter the Fairgrounds, you are always greeted by the statue of Don Diego, who is dressed in the theme of the Fair, this year, " A Salute to Heroes".

As with all County Fairs, there are Livestock - cattle, calves, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys mainly.   There are small animal competitions and on June 30 the animals for food are auctioned off.

In the Home Arts section, there are displayed the winners of many of the competitions- Preserved Foods, quilting, collections, various craft competitions, cookies and cakes.

The Fine Woodworkers Association had a vast array of hand made furniture and accessories as well as demonstrations going on all day. 

There are also competitions of High School and Junior College students, a Gem and Mineral Show,  Photography and Fine Art.  There is a Newsroom at the Fair with the local newspaper having staff there to answer questions and. 

There are some celebrities- musical performers at night, and the day we were there, the Roloff Family of the Discovery channel television show "Little People, Big World" .

Oh, then there is the Midway with Fun Zone rides, games and general "Fair" diversions... 

There is that Chair Lift that carries you from the one gate to the Bing Crosby Hall , where sales of gadgets abound...

Oh, and look at that- there is food.  The reason for the blog.  Let's get into it.

A sample menu, of pretty much everything you might want to try...and I have, in prior years- Deep fried Twinkie, (Twinkie dipped in batter then fried), Deep fried Snickers Bar (I like how the caramel is warm and oozy) and then new- this year. The Chicken sandwich on a Krispy Kreme donut. Yep; had to.

Not a plain Krispy Kreme, nope- a jelly donut.  Salty, yet juicy and flavorful  preformed chicken served on a fresh jelly donut.  I liked the mix of sweet and salty, for two bites anyhow.  They give you honey as a condiment, in case the jelly and glaze isn't enough.  This cost about $6. I don't know.  It doesn't matter. 

The rest of the stuff we got was pretty much the usual. The falafel sandwich, with avocado, which is always my favorite  food.

Mushrooms on a stick (eh); artichoke hearts on a stick (yum).

There are also available the turkey legs, the "Ten Pound Loaf" of bread slice, topped with cheeses and garlic butter, the grilled corn, grilled peppers (stuffed with nacho cheese, I might add).

The Cinnamon Roll Truck-if you look closely, they list all the locations the truck will be this year- the County Fairs-

The cream puffs, fried sweet potatoes, and so much else.

But, there was something new and different this year, oh yes...

See those bones on the front of the grill?

That post will show up soon.  Unfortunately, Typepad is doing something odd and I cannot finish this post.  I have been trying for the last 30 minutes. This one is done and Part 2 of The County Fair Part 2 will be up before you know it!

The San Diego County Fair, now until July 4 www.SDFair.com

Comments

[Liz]

I love fair food. I can't leave without having at least one roast corn.

[nhbilly]

Talk about fun and not to mention the FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

[Cathy]

I understand, Liz...and it isn't even fried! Tastes different than when we do it at home.
One more post about food coming up, Bill... but all of it is fun.

[The Office Goat]

We tried the fried rattler but not the chili, and also had one of the turkey legs with BBQ sauce from the mexican/southwest place on the opposite corner of the same building as the snake place. I think those two items occupied the opposite ends of the food:dollar spectrum...

[clayfu]

sigh i'm totally going to miss the SDfair this year =( i'm curious about the donut sandwich haha

[Cathy]

Hi,TOG- We actually bought the same thing. I wanted to include it in this post and Typepad acted all nasty to me last night. The joys of eating rattlesnake will be up soon, possibly in a way you don't expect :)

[Cathy]

Hi, Clayfu...The Krispy Kreme sandwich was available at most State Fairs last year and only just now made it to California. It was good, but I am kind of not a fan of jelly at this point in time. The flavors did go well together though...salty and sweet. There will be many County Fairs near you after this one ends. They head north-the vendors do not just work in San Diego and stop, you know.

[MrBally]

I can't wait to see your rattlesnake meal post!

[mindless]

You can still buy fresh "on-the-hoof" meat at the fair. Animals that were not auctioned off can be bought on the barn floor from the people who raised them. I called the Fair livestock folks and they said that the meat packer that they are using is actually not local, but is CCI from Corona.

[Cathy]

Thanks for the information, Mindless; I heard Roger Hedgecock on the radio talking about it today. Seems that less than half are sold at auction.