This year's theme, "Race to the Fair"...well, since I'm not really into cars and shit, I didn't bother checking out the car exhibit. Look at the statue of Don Diego, all dressed up! I love how they change him up every year!
We were able to get in EARLY (20 minutes) courtesy of our Media/Sponsor passes (thanks Darlene!) and practically waltz through the Credentialed gate (next to Will Call)...
Fkg A, it was awesome getting in early and enjoying some unusual peace and quite before the fair opened for the masses. It was cool walking through the main walkway devoid of the usual crush of fairgoers. That wouldn't last too long though but we enjoyed it while we could!
The first thing we did was head over the Chicken Charlie's...
We just had to try the Deep Fried Kool-Aid! What's the point of going to a fair without trying at least one deep fried food?
It was $5.95 for five pieces - one for each of us!
My piece!
You can see the Kool-Aid coloring permeating the batter as well as the light coating of Kool-Aid powder on the outside. It tasted just like a cherry Kool-Aid flavored donut. Nothing spectacular. I guess the name sounds like it would be some magical Ferran Adria-inspired thing where it would be frozen Kool-Aid inside of a smoking sphere or something. But no, it was just fried dough with Kool-Aid flavoring! The verdict? We all liked this!
The Deep Fried Twinkie - served with strawberry jam on top. The other choice was Chocolate syrup. This was the dessert that they were most curious about but it kind of left them disappointed. I don't know what they were expecting, but I thought it wasn't too bad. I would have eaten it plain though.
Okay, even I have my limits. This is not something you would pay me to eat, so no, this offering was bypassed.
Another favorite of ours was the Australian Battered Potatoes. None of this $2 taste crap. I don't want to pay $2 for just ONE measly slice.
I paid the full price for the full on plate - $7.50 (with cheese). By the way, I hope you realize that this plate was shared between five people and that I did not hork this down by myself! Last year we had it with ranch dressing and cheese. I got only one topping this year. This plate was enjoyed by all but finished off by Bert and me.
Ooh...nutz, heh heh. If they didn't have cinnamon on them, I'd eat them!
The thought of eating Deep Fried Butter disgusts me! Look, they even had a Baby Ruth candy bar stuffed into a deep fried jalapeno. That's different! But we didn't want to try that...
Bert went here later to get our lunch...Juicy's.
Oh yeahhhh....(cue the song from the end of "Ferris Bueller", chuk-ka cha-ka!)
Here are a few of the rides the girls rode...
I would totally throw up if I went on this thing!
This was the Zipper! The girls liked it so much, they went twice! It's a miracle that no one hurled!
All three of the girls got the Half-Dog ($2 taste) of the Mile Long Dog. I know that wouldn't be enough for me.
The girls bought a large Cherry icee to share while TC got the Blue Raspberry and I got the Cherry Lime. I haven't had one of these in awhile and this was a flavor I hadn't tried either. It wasn't too bad, but I think I like the original Cherry better.
Here's Bert's Sausage with grilled onions and peppers from Juicy's. I liked his lunch better than mine. The sausage was pretty hefty and the bread stood up to the fillings.
I'd asked him to get me something from Juicy's as well because I didn't want to stand in a long line somewhere else. Since I didn't specify what I wanted (I had texted him while sitting with the girls), he went the safe route and got me a burger. There were also the same grilled onions and peppers in here. TC had some of this (since her hot dog wasn't enough) and I ended up bagging the remaining 1/3 in an extra ziplock (for later!). The burger wasn't anything special but I had a few bites of it as well as Bert's lunch.
I separated from the group a few times to check out various things such as the shops and the hobby collections. During that same time, Bert and the girls checked out the farm animals, the petting zoo, and the World of Horses. Before meeting up with them again, I stopped by the pink Gingerbread House to try this new dessert, Eton Mess, a dessert traditionally served at Eton College's annual cricket game, and popularized recently because it was was served at Prince William and Princess Catherine's wedding. I couldn't resist. I had to try it...
I thought this was totally worth it ($6.75) - the dessert was so pretty and when I was walking to the rides, I heard a few people oohing and aahing over the dessert. I just love the mirrored crown pick they put on the top! So fkg blingy and fancy! I felt like I should be wearing a frilly pink Glenda the Good Witch dress and floating on air farting bubble gum scented rainbows while holding this dessert! Yeah, like that will ever happen, but I think this was the best thing I ate that day (shared of course with Bert)...
This looks pretty easy to replicate - Vanilla ice cream, crumbled meringue cookies, whipped cream (I hope they used the real kind and not that Cool Whip shit), fresh strawberries (and raspberries), and raspberry puree. I looked at several recipes online and some variations call for port or rum, some with strawberries only. In any case, I will try making this for a future dinner party.
Of course, the girls wanted to be hopped up on more sugar...
Here is a chocolate dipped banana with nuts and a soft serve vanilla cone.
TC's cone...
One of the "fun" houses. The gory corpse on there reminded me of a rejected Iron Maiden album cover. It's not quite Eddie.
A jumbo cotton candy was also enjoyed by all...
Even though they probably tasted the same, for some reason, I liked the artificial blue much better!
Some purses we saw on the way out...I liked the nerdy Hello Kitty and the one with Donuts!
Pink's was new this year. Too bad I was already full otherwise I would have tried the Martha Stewart hotdog. Well, next time we're up in LA, we'll have to try it at their original location.
One last shot of sugar before leaving...
Yeah, there ya go...
A big thanks to Darlene who provided me, Bert and TC with free passes. We got to go through the "Credentialed" gate since they were Media/Sponsor courtesy passes. We didn't even have to go through a metal detectors like the rest of
Since kids under 12 were free on Tuesdays, TC and one of the neighbor girls were free but the older one used our extra pass (since TC didn't need it). Parking was free since we parked at the Del Mar Horsepark and got to ride a double decker bus on the way there and a double decker school bus on the way back. With the money we saved, we had more to spend on rides for the girls and all that healthy fair
food.
Who else went to the SD Fair?
Here's a cool behind the scenes look from FOY, Cathy - Part 1 (Before It Opens) and Part 2 ("It's open!")
Darlene got a preview of the fair a few weeks ago(Media Party!)
Kirbie went last week (her posts has pictures of the flowers, collections, and some animals)
Leanne just posted Part 1 and Part 2 of her take on the Fair
[Update: And here's Mary's post!]
What are your favorite fair foods?
5 comments:
Yay! Glad you had a good time. I'm drooling over the Eton Mess and I agree that it's something you can easily replicate at home.
Thanks again Darlene! :) That was so nice of you to send those tix!
Re: Eton Mess - it's so ridiculously easy to make. i would totally make that and just buy the meringue cookies (trader joe's) instead of making them. plus this is a no bake dessert too!
It was so nice to see you briefly at the fair! I love your photo of the swings, it looks so cool. I didn't try the Eton Mess, I kind of wished I did since I wasn't that excited about my choice of dessert in the end. But oh well. I'm sure I could make it!
I love the blue cotton candy too. I don't know but I think they do taste a little different but then it's probably just my brain playing tricks.
hi mary - likewise - hope you were able to have your garlic battered mushrooms! your bf is a nice guy!
hi c - the blue IS different! ha ha. seriously, it's probably not though.
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