Wisconsin State Fair: Eating My Way Thru It

The Wisconsin State Fair is home to a ton of food items on a stick and crazy deep fried concoctions involving bacon and a multitude of other ingredients. So many, they website has pages dedicated to them. We even have an event to kick off the Fair known as the Sporkies awards. This contest is judged by local celebrities including my foodie friend Nick. I took some of his suggestions when I planned to get my grub on at the Fair.

Of course the Fair is also known for the agriculture and horticultural displays, the latest and greatest As-Seen-On-TV-Items, rides, games, music and drinking, but to me.....it's all about the FOOD.

I had the opportunity to go twice during the 11 day run and there are still 3 days left so if you plan to go this weekend, here are my suggestions for food! (They don't have a food map of the grounds (work on that for next year State Fair) but the info booths are staffed with super friendly folks that will lead you to what you want!)

Jumbo Pickle - a must!!! Found in the Expo Building on the south end of the grounds. I went with just an original but there are garlic and spicier options
 

Cheese Curds - need I say more? There are tons of options for these little fried pieces of happiness, but my favorite location is just north of the Budweiser Pavilion and all they sell are these curds. It's something about the breading that I just love!

Honey Lemonade from the Wisconsin Products Pavillion. Super refreshing for an August day. My only complaint was that there were no lids for the cups and I wanted to walk thru the barns and not have debris fall into my cup.

Deep friend peanut butter and bacon nuggets with Berryweiss jelly! This was my favorite item on Saturday. It reminded me of toast in the morning with a savory factor. I had a Summer Shandy to go with these. I plan to recreate these with the new Jif Whipped Peanut Butter I bought at the store this week - stay tuned!

Saz's Sampler Platter - cheese curds, mozzarella sticks and sour cream & onion fries. This is a staple at both State Fair and Summerfest - always delicious.

 We couldn't eat this cake, but I loved it - A tribute to all things Wisconsin and well deserving of it's award!

I got to go back to the Fair on Tuesday with some friends and stumbled across the Fried PB & Jelly on a stick at Machine Shed - west side of the grounds sort of near the ejection seat!. Not knowing what to expect, I excitedly ordered one to compare to the nuggets. It's a deep fried Uncrustables sandwich on a stick and then powder sugar is sprinkled over the top. This became my favorite item at this year's Fair. Sure it didn't take a rocket scientist to create this one, but sometimes the simplest items taste the best. My friends were jealous and ordered them later in the evening.

 

My friend ordered the Krispy Kreme burger and said it was pretty good. She liked the sweet and salty combo. This is also at Machine Shed.
 

 Loaded fries from Machine Shed - these were ordered twice as well because they were so good.

My friend really wanted to ride the ejection seat but couldn't find a partner to go with her. Just watching it, I thought I was going to lose my dinner but I give props to people brave enough to be flung into the air on it!

The Micro is a newer area at State Fair, featuring many awesome Wisconsin microbrews for a very reasonable price. I tried the MKE Brewing Company Creme Puff Ale and as much as I was hoping for a tinge of sweetness to it, it wasn't really sweet, but very refreshing.

  

I also got a Hinterland Cherry Wit beer and it was the right amount of sweetness I was looking for on an Summery August temperatured evening!

Keg Killing is in effect at The Micro and if you "kill the keg" a siren goes off and you are introduced to the other pub folks, recognized for your efforts and given a t-shirt. This goes for the Flight School area too. Flight School provides you 3 smaller-sized beers for the same price as the other beers in the Micro, but you get to try more!


I don't have pictures of the following but some brief thoughts on other foods had at the Fair.
-Deep Fried Pickle Spears - my friend was in heaven with them dipping it in ranch. Found near the WE Energies booth.
-Pig Candy on a stick - Deep fried bacon on a stick that is then marinated in sweet & spicy sauce. Skip it - didn't like it and my second piece numbed my taste buds it was so spicy. (Machine Shed)
-Roasted Corn - This is a Fair staple and I have worked this booth - they sell thousands of cobs a day dunked in melty butter! I didn't get it this year but the New Berlin Lions Club runs the booth with a ton of volunteers and makes this Fair staple a lasting tradition.
-Cream Puff - I am not a fan of them personally, but that is something that the Wisconsin State Fair is known for and they sell by the thousands. The production line is awesome to watch as well, but I avoid that area because it is so crowded.
-Baked Potato - Wisconsin Products Pavillion - can't go wrong with that
-Maple Syrup Cotton Candy - Wisconsin Products Pavillion - I usually buy this every year, but took a year off this time in search of something else sweet that I never found.
-Cheapest Beer at the Fair (Miller Products) - found by the Oriental stores on the north west side
-Grilled Cheese - Wisconsin Products Pavillion - fresh melty cheese between yummy bread, you can't go wrong!


So that was my trip through the Fair for 2013. Hope you can make it out and try all the great foods and have some fun at the Fair.

March Recap

Although I had a Malware issue at the end of March, I still managed to get 12 posts out. They were rather well received and I see my readership increasing almost daily. I cannot thank you guys enough for that. If you think that someone else would enjoy reading my blog, please share it with them or ask them to like my Facebook page. Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to share things that you like.

So what were the most read posts? I wanted to do a top 5, but because two of them were a tie, I have a top 6.

5 (tie): Pork Burritos - these were soooooo good! I still remember the flavor and having a cold margarita with a salted rim was perfect.

5 (tie): Mock Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - this was the dessert for the pork burritos irronically and received rave reviews from Matt. I left him a container with nine of them in it and I think it was a day or two later that he told me he finished them off!!! I would have had a belly ache, but isn't that a guy for you? Bottomless pit that doesn't gain an ounce?

4. Book Review of Blackberry Winter - I'm currently writing my review of this month's selection The Fault In Our Stars that I also listened to on CD and will be sharing that soon as part of PB Finger's blog reviews.

3, 2, 1 - Lori, Karen and Beth's Wellness Journeys and the Energize Zone. These ladies are just amazing and still motivate me to stick with it now that my challenge is done. Time to join challenge number 2 this Wednesday and continue my nutritional education. You can't beat eight weeks of Boot Camp classes and eight nutrition classes. Keep drinking your water!!!

So additional things that happened in March that haven't made the blog yet and some will are:

St. Patty's Day 7k

Rumchata Car Bomb Cupcakes

Meeting Phillip Phillips

Checking out the Harley-Davidson Museum

Easter Dinner

Happy April - I have a lot in store, so I hope you stay with me this month and in the future. Again thanks for reading!

Pin-It Tuesday: Mock Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

I cannot quite explain my obsession with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, especially the holiday shaped ones. Trees, hearts, eggs, pumpkins -I love them all! The sweet and salty combination is my kryptonite. I have an extremely hard time resisting, but I try with all my willpower.

But when I found this recipe on Pinterest to make them at home, I just had to give it a whirl.

The ingredients are simple enough that I had everything already at home!

I had to mash up some graham crackers and it ended up being a bit more than one of the three packages in the box.

All dry ingredients are mixed together.

Although I had a little issue measuring the powdered sugar - whoops! Mom loves when I make a mess in her kitchen :)

Then the wet and dry ingredients are combined into the heavenly peanut butter filling!

Then you have to spread it into a pan and let it set up in the freezer for a bit before putting the chocolate over the top.

Here is where my fail came in. Who would have known that 20 seconds too long in the microwave can destroy chocolate? (I do now!)

My mom came and saved the day, but Matt stopped by and distracted me so I didn't get the final picture. Yes he laughed at me and my chocolate debacle but couldn't wait to try the final product. I took some over to his place the night we had the pulled pork burritos.

They are a pretty good mock version of them and now I know just how bad they are for me. However making them myself means that I can cut them as small as I need for a PB/Chocolate fix. Matt loved them and ate a few after the burritos and had the rest that I left him in the next few days.

This will definitely go on my repertoire of amazing desserts that need to be rationed! :) Or sold at a bake sale!