Family Fun and Faire Fare

Firstly, please don’t leave me because of my alliteration addiction. Addicts need love, too.  Evidently, we also need to indulge in carb, fat and sugar laden treats whose visions and aromas waft unjustly to our senses at any county fair worth it’s salt. Oh yes, salted goodies, too, tempt the palate.  This is not the gourmet palate, by any means.  In fact, if you must cling tenaciously to your sophisticated ideas of what constitutes worthwhile food, by all means, avoid these fairgrounds like a culinary casualty!  This is the place for those who can set those notions aside, for at least one day a year, and delve into the delights you once enjoyed as a kid, or even discovered as an adult with a less limiting pocketbook.

A riot of color in dangling tantalizing prizes!

I joined my sister and her family, including my precocious and precious niece and two adoring and adorable nephews.  We were making our annual foray to our local Del Mar Fair, beautifully situated on the coast of North County San Diego. This meant that we didn’t have to tolerate a scorching sun, but we had to endure what we call the “June gloom” of the marine layer.

We made our way through the midway with its cacaphony of color and clanging sounds, overridden by the ever-present hawking by the dental-challenged carnies (for you not familiar with American country fairs, a “carnie” is a carnival ride or game operator whose sole purpose in life – or this 2-week period – is to extrapolate as much hard-earned money as is humanly possible from you through the indirect means of encouraging your children to tug at your sleeve imploringly for just ONE more dollar to try for the giant Sonic doll). *Intake breath here* So, where was I? Oh yes, the famous midway of flashing lights and popping balloons.  The kids actually did win at the kiddie games, and it offered some satisfaction to see the smiles brought by a .72 cent plush toy (won at a $7 dollar investment) that was clutched tightly for the remainder of the day.

Pretty pretzels, all in a row. Del Mar Fair

Rides? No one else in my family seems impervious to G forces, as I am. And the kids are small enough that they were restricted from any good gut-churning, limb launching tumblers. So, I braved the teacup ride. This, mind you, is a MINI teacup ride.  I was hurling it good and spinning with one hand and had to desist when my wee niece’s head started lolling in an alarming fashion. Crisis averted…we didn’t revisit any meals 🙁 (sorry – gross, I know)  We rode the ski-lift type sky ride over to the infield which afforded some nice views of the fairgrounds and race track and made me more jumpy than a white-knuckling adrenaline-pumping ride would do.

I barely fit in this demitasse!

Anyways, back to the important part of the Fair…food! Oh yes, certainly, there are rides, art exhibits, livestock, contests, vendors, competitions for tastiest pie or best heifer or most intricate wood-carving. Yeah yeah. We walked through all of these displays whilst gobbling down all sorts of traditional treats.  I shall regale you with them in proper order: Roasted white corn on the cob slathered in butter, popcorn – also doused in butter, a ginormous cinnamon role smothered in a cream-cheesy frosting, an even giant-er pretzel (well, two, actually, one plain salted and one sprinkled with sesame seeds), one barbequed turkey leg with implicit instructions to hold in a fist and gnaw on it like a Neanderthal, and finally but unmissably, a puffy fluffy cloud of pink (it must be pink!) cotton candy.

Cotton Candy Artisan - making my very own fresh puff!

This is a fair fare must; I insist here, again, it must be hand swirled while you watch and never EVER stuffed in a plastic bag. You’ll suffocate all the magic puffness out of it!  Luckily, my girly charms somehow have survived into my 40s and I cajoled the candy vendor to swirl one up for me, special-like. 🙂 If you’re wondering…yes! I DID share with the kids!  In fact, I used them as cotton-candy cohorts as I was so stuffed by this point I need accomplices for me to even consider plunking down the $5 bucks for the chemically altered equivalent of one tablespoon of colored sugar.

Can you guess what I had for dinner that night? A salad of greens, rocket arugula and tomatoes organically grown and fresh picked from my sister’s garden. I tossed it in olive oil, dijon, herbs and balsamic. Do you think I negated some of the food sin? (Do you think I care? 😉 )  Thanks for reading, and gaining weight along with me! What are your favorite fair indulgences?

Me and sis hoarding all the food!

If you enjoyed reading this foray into food, you may also like: My Top 10 Foods for Moods

or more fun family antics: Auntie Fail #38: Lapping Kids at the Go-Cart Track

All photos by G. Stark, unless including  me!