The 2010 San Diego County Fair, Part 1. Before it opens.

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food consumed by those of us who write about our adventures surrounding the consumption.  Lately, you have been reading about Kirk's China vacation- family, sights and food He and His missus enjoyed.  Today He is taking a break. Cathy is writing.

Hi.  The 2010 San Diego County Fair will be opening tomorrow, June 11. Once again , I have a behind  the scenes look into the set up and what you can expect to see and enjoy this year. 

The theme this year is "Taste the fun" and the front gate proclaims this to everyone entering. Don Diego is wearing a tasteful apron embroidered with the Official Fair Logo.

Of course, you know from my prior  posts, that I consider the "heart of the fair" to be the Home and Hobby section. Because the origin of County Fairs was for the farmers to show off the fruits of their labor.

This year is no exception, and the entries were submitted for judging a few weeks ago. Spinning and weaving.

  

Quilts. Various crafts. Collections.

 Of course, Preserved foods. I have shown and explained to you the judging of Preserved Foods in prior years  and will skip that this year.  Let's just say that this year (as you can see on the above entry table areas) there were more than 70 jellies for a single judge, as well as more than 70 jams for another judge and then a few other judges shared canned fruits, vegetables, dried foods,  marmalades, conserves, preserves, pickles, relishes, salsas, honeys, syrups, vinegars and (new this year) liqueurs which left all of the judges pretty tired of craving much sweet or canned anything and wanting fresh vegetables and protein packed foods for quite a few days after judging.  {The top liqueur has won "Best in Show" for the Preserved Food category.}     
Once judged, the items are set up on display, and this is what you will see.

 
But I suppose you are interested in what delights the food vendors are offering this year... 
So I am just going to show you some of the booths which are set up.
These are more or less the 'usual' ones.
 
 

  
 The Health Smart menu on this booth has me intrigued...Because I will be eating items from this stand... and this one.  All for the sake of mmm-yoso!!!

Again this year there are discounted tickets at the local Albertson's, you can get in free if you enter one of the daily contests and there are free parking lots nearby, with bus service directly to the gate. For more information, see the Official San Diego County Fair website

The 2010 San Diego County Fair, June 11-July 5 (closed June 14, 21 and 28)

Comments

[Kirk]

Hey Cathy.... Deep Fried Butter, oh my......

[Jo`]

WAHOOOO!!! LOL This is MY kind of post! We've been harvesting garlic for the past few weeks so the garlic stuff got me drooling. Email if you want my newest recipe, Shrimp in garlic cream over guinea egg pasta... ;o)

[Cathy]

Hi Kirk...Yeah...the things I will do for a post.

Hi Jo! I will look-and try- everything garlic I see, just for you. The deep fried Pop Tarts look good to me, though. With the weather like it is today, I think a Hot Chocolate will be in order...

[Liz]

I'm just down the street. The food choices look deadly but I'm tempted to visit.

[janfrederick]

Yah, that deep fried butter must be the penultimate deadly food, with deep fried lard being the ultimate. But I guess they'll have to save that for the year of the "Be Healthy" fair theme.

[Rosa]

Deep fried butter!?!?!? Um..wow. Better have those shock paddles on hand for when you go into cardiac arrest... O_O

[Cathy]

If you can get some less than face value or free entrance tickets, then that'll save you quite a bit of money, Liz. We went yesterday (opening day) and things are pretty much the same as always. Tuesdays have $2 samples of food items at most of the booths (but the 15th is a $3 admission day with tickets bought at Albertsons, so it'll be crazy busy) otherwise, be prepared to spend on average $6 at each food both.
It isn't deadly, JF, as long as you eat a balanced diet. Like fresh fruit and veggies, for a week before and a week after that concoction...:)
The plates o' frozen butter (wrapped in tortillas and then deep fried) do need to be shared, Rosa. The garlic one is not as tasty as the cinnamon one(and I don't like cinnamon at all).

[h]

Do I spot fried avocado on that sign? I'd love to try that, it seems almost as decadent as deep fried butter (yuck, btw!).

[Cathy]

Hello again, h! I tried the deep fried avocado a few years ago and it didn't send me. I like eating raw avocado with olive oil and maybe some salt... This version needed to be dipped in ranch dressing, which went with the batter and the avocado had no flavor.

[Carol]

Deep fried butter, I knew it was just a matter of time. :) Next year, how about some deep fried lard? Love all the pictures of the quilts.

[Cathy]

It's just frozen flavored butter (garlic or cinnamon) in a tortilla...like a sort of quesedilla, Carol. I talked to some people who tried it and they liked the cinnamon better than the garlic. I dislike cinnamon more than I dislike chocolate, so really did not want to buy either. Lots of beautiful quilts this year.

[Christine @ Tea for Two Sisters]

Hahaa! Heart Attack Cafe, what a name! I'm so envious of the selections you have at the fair! We usually have a bunch of Pizza Pizza stands, along with random chip wagon fare at our dinky Super Ex. T_T

[Cathy]

Hi again Christine. The San Diego County Fair is the fifth largest(in attendance) County Fair in the States and vendors line up to be here. They vie to sell the most so can get a spot on the Midway the next year. I have no idea what they can sell/deep fry to surpass these selections.