"county fair" news and stories

What's a fair without food? Residents of Broward County, Fla., are about to find out.

As the Broward County Fair doesn't have a fairgrounds of its own, it found itself homeless this year after its previous host, the Fort Lauderdale Stadium, closed for renovations. Scrambling for a solution, the fair relocated to a shopping mall.

"We'd rather have something than nothing at all," said the volunteer who answered the fair office's phone.

The Pompano Citi Centre has plenty of space for competitions and exhibits -- the spelling bee is scheduled for a room over LensCrafters, and student gardeners will display their plants at Lowe's -- but there's no room for rides or food vendors. According to the volunteer, who identified herself as Denise, the only food at the fair will be the canned beans, pound cakes and other edibles submitted for judging.

Growing up in cities (Los Angeles and then Portland, OR), county fairs really weren't a part of my life. However, they've always fascinated me, particularly the competitions in which people enter their baked goods, cans of jam and garden veggies. If you have a similar fascination, you'll love this piece, which appeared today in the Dan Berry's This Land column in the New York Times, titled Where the Competition Is Stiff but Sweet.

Berry regularly delves into the less-visible aspects of American life and this week features the baking competition at the Marquette County Fair in Sands Township, MI. He introduces us to the judges, a convenience store owner and a retired social worker, who taste their way through every single pie, cake, bread and cookie entered into the competition. Additionally, he briefly hits on the ways in which the state of the economy is impacting the entries into the baking contest. It's a lovely piece and makes me want to plan a weekend to head to a less citified area of Pennsylvania and attend some fairs.

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Apparently as one of the country's largest County Fairs, the Los Angeles County Fair has enough budget to advertise on television. I've seen a few of the commercials that make fun of LA's reputation, e.g. a mother and daughter shopping and asking whether cashmere comes from a boy cow or a girl cow, and one where several girls ask about cotton candy and Atkins. However, it wasn't until today that I saw this commercial that takes the cake.

The teacher asks, "Can anybody tell me what comes from a cow?"

The kids raise their hands and answer one by one: "Lattes?" "Nu-unh. My mom says non-fat half caff cappuccinos." "Iced Caramel Macchiatos?"

Oh, I fear for the future of our country.

Nabisco makes more than a dozen varieties of Oreo cookies, not including the ones that have their fillings dyed for each holiday, in addition to 4 Oreo ice creams and 8 other Oreo-related products. They do not sell what is rapidly becoming one of the most popular types of Oreo, albeit the unhealthiest: deep fried Oreo's.

A popular fair and carnival food, just like the deep fried Snickers bars, it involves dipping an Oreo into a thick batter and popping it into a sizzling hot pot of oil. When pulled out, hot and crispy, they are topped with powdered sugar and served. According to many, they are delicious and more easily justifiable than a Snicker's due to their relatively small size. One blogger described them : "The Oreo loses it's hard crunchy texture and becomes a warm chocolately cake delight. The creamy center melts and creates an inner glaze." Should you want to risk the health hazards of deep-fried foods for the delights of one of these treats, you can find instructions both here and here.

[Image the farmers wife]

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