The 2012 San Diego County Fair: Part One

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food.  Sometimes the bloggings consist of events surrounding food, whether the purchasing and preparation, the adventure of getting to the city, county or country serving the food, or the exploration of the surroundings of where the food is served, Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy try to write about the background and history of the meals blogged about. Today, Cathy is blogging.  

Hello again.  Usually I post about the San Diego County Fair before it opens.  This year, I thought I'd change it up.  Also, I was at the Fairgrounds before most booths were set up.

As an example, here is a photo straight down the Midway: the Ferris Wheel wasn't even set up yet.

However, Chicken Charlie had his booth constructed....

That day, the Home and Hobby Competitive Exhibits were being judged...

Preserved Foods, the "heart" of the Fair, had a lot of entries this year. Above are some pickles being judged.

There are many Craft categories and competition is plentiful.  So many entries.

As well as the Felting, Spinning and Weaving competitions.

The Quilting competition has many categories which always have many beautiful entries.

So.  The Mister and I did go to the Fair for the first time this year one morning before the fog had lifted (yay June Gloom!).  The Theme this year is "Out of this World".  You can see Don Diego (above) dressed in a sort of astronaut suit. 

It was busy that morning. You can see the Ferris Wheel all the way at the end of the Midway...

To the left of the entrance are the various Flower and Garden Show entries.  Above, you can see some decorations incorporating the Fair Theme.

Other competitors made use of unusual plants which looked to be "Out of This World"

T

Other competitors use plants as well as all of the space given to share a vision of the Theme.

The Gems, Mineral and Jewelery exhibits are fascinating, as always.

Design in Wood always has beautiful items.

One local High School has an Instructor who supervised the students to create basic weapons-and enter them in the Fair.  These are sling shots, trebuchets, catapults and marshmallow shooters entered by one class... 

The Home and Hobby displays all the competitors, with their respective awards, ready on opening day. 

The Preserved Food and Liquer competitors are also displayed with their respective awards.

The quilts are displayed all around the second floor of Home and Hobby.  

Along with all the Collections...

This is a collection Started after June 1 last year. It is Max's fur brushed from him and formed into a cute display.  This entry won a few prizes.

OK.  The food at the Fair. This is a  preview of some of the offerings- you can choose what you'd like to eat if you are there. 

The Bacon A Fair booth is selling a 2 pound turkey leg wrapped with one pound of bacon.  Yes, people are buying it.  

If you walk over the Race Track, to the infield, where the Children's rides, games and a new Zip Line are located-go to the left.

The Lobster Shack, a new vendor, is here. Look to the right in the above photo.

Those two beautiful copper pots are filled with water and on top of a huge stove/heat source.  You can see the basket to the left being filled with live lobsters.

A whole lobster dinner is $25.  There is a person who will crack and 'start' your lobster for you. There are also other offerings for a bit less (lobster roll sandwich is $17) and those prices are not bad for this kind of fresh made meal.  

However, this is the County Fair, so the once a year offerings are plentiful..

...along with the creative booths.  As far as what The Mister and I ate on this visit?

My usual. An artichoke sandwich ($9, with $1 avocado added-$10, includes tax and the salad)

This is what I get every year. The roll- a hearty slightly crunchy, toasted wheat roll with melted cheese, olives, sprouts, the avocado, tomato and plain (not marinated) artichokes.  It's just perfect.  

This day, The Mister and I got all wild and crazy and spent $3.50 (instead of $3 for a single flavor whichis also a bit smaller)  on a Neopolitan cream puff.  Chocolate, strawberry and vanilla whipped cream (the strawberry is nice, not artificial flavor) on a fresh made (we got to the booth before the puff pastry was finished baking that morning) flaky light puff pastry roll.  

Oh, there are rides and a lot more I haven't shown.  This is the San Diego County Fair, 2012 edition.

Here's the back side of the Entrance- a cute Exit sign for this year.  We'll be back.  There is a lot more that goes on at the 5th largest County Fair in the U.S.A.

San Diego County Fair Website. There are so many daily contests and events (This weekend is Beer Fest; July 2 will have Food Trucks on the infield) and also many ways to get disounted tickets.  If you live here, you've seen ads since the beginning of May-Much more publicity this year.  Go.  Enjoy!

Comments

[caninecologne]

I always love your SD Fair (Del Mar!) posts! If we do go this year, I want to try that artichoke sandwich that you like - looks so good! I'm not one for the rides (that's my daughter's dept!), but i do love looking at the collections! Thanks for the "preview"!

[James]

I thought of your prior posts and stopped at the cream puff booth this year. Really enjoyed the puffs on a stick - even the blue raspberry.

[Jason]

The misses (not Kirk's, but mine) also always gets the artichoke sandwich. When I mentioned that you add avocadoe to yours, she just said "ooooooh". I think you just inspired an addition to her next artichoke sandwich.

[Cathy]

Thanks, cc. I also like the falafel sandwich from Roxy's (small photo in my 2007 Fair post)-the bun really makes it-tastes good and is healthy. Collections are interesting this year; people are so diverse and apparently have free time...
So glad you tried it James. This visit was the first time we tried the strawberry and now I am curious about raspberry. Even the purist in me enjoys a little craziness.
There are always people at the Roxy's booth, Jason, but I never see anyone writing about the food other than beer battered artichoke or mushrooms on a stick. Good to know your misses is one. Enjoy the Fair!

[Soo]

Thanks for the awesome fair pictures! I didn't have the strength walk through everything myself.

[Cathy]

Hi again, Soo! You're welcome. I didn't even put in any photos of the animals or flowers and there are a lot more of the FairFood selections-you'll see.

[Kirk]

Hey Cathy - I'm waiting for a porchetta booth to open....... I think it's only a matter of time!

[Cathy]

Upscale Fair Food: unusual for many who attend, Kirk. There probably will be something like that on the July 2 Food-Trucks-on-the-infield-day. But to have it every day, THAT would be a County Fair.