Fair and Carni Food

Summertime....county fairs, carnivals, food and wine festivals, eat, drink and eat some more. Each year in Colorado there are 55 county fairs alone. This does not include the Renaissance Festival, the Palisade Peach festival, the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, the Telluride Wine or Jazz festival, Winter Park Jazz festival, the Taste of Colorado, Breckenridge and Steamboat Wine Festivals. I could go on and on, the list is endless. And what do all of these little get togethers have in common? Well, food and drink of course. From Aspen's chi chi poo poo $1225 per person ticket to the usually free admission to the local county fairs, Colorado has a plethora of venues for all tastes and pocketbooks. A hungry fair lovin' person can spend all of June, July and August traversing our great state eating a dizzying array of tasty eats ranging from a Lobster roll made with Hoegaarden beer at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic,

to fried bubble gum, funnel cakes and steak on a stick at the local county fair. Our budget has yet to afford us the luxury of the gastronomic experience at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, but we have tromped through many a hot and dusty county fair and small town festival in search of diet slaying cuisine that you eat with your hands. Often you can get an ice cold beer to wash down those fried cheese curds  with, makes for a mighty fine meal.

For the last several years, hubby and I have made an annual summer trek to the small farming community of Rupert, Idaho located in the southern part of the state; to spend a few days with kids and grandkids. We've taken our 8 year old granddaughter, Macy Jeanne with us the last three years and schedule our visit to coincide with the Minidoka County Fair. Our grandsons, Caleb and Waylen, participate in 4H and the youngest, Waylen now 7,  has been a 'muttin bustin' champ two years running.  Caleb has shown a pig the last two years and this year placed third, bringing in a record sum just a few dollars shy of the Grand Champion. Yes we are proud grandparents!

The rural town of Rupert where the kids call home does lack a bit for culinary offerings. There is no shortage of small independently owned eateries, but the food is hearty farm fare; fried, heavy, substantial food. Biscuits and gravy? No problem. Chicken fried steak and eggs? You bet. Slab of beef, pork, or chicken with potatoes and gravy? All day long. But ask for yogurt with fresh fruit or a salad made from something other than iceberg and you're likely to receive a look of confounded curiosity from the waitress. "You folks aren't from around here are ya?" Is the typical response. No ma'am we're sure aren't.

So each year when we set our sights on southern Idaho we throw out our standard expectations of travel and dining and we join the Future Farmers of America and eat BIG.

Eating at the Minidoka County Fair is no exception. This is America's heartland, sugar beets, corn, potatoes, cattle, pigs and lamb and chicken. And the fair is where everyone comes together to show off the best of the best in competitions where the coveted Blue Ribbon reigns supreme. Chores start early in the morning on the fair grounds, where kids feed, clean pens, bath and groom their animals in hopes of gaining the judges winning nod.

All that hard work can make a cow poke mighty hungry. Fortunately for us, (cow pokes and city slickers alike) there are some early rising cooks ready and waiting to dish up some fine eats. Long before trendy street trucks came into vogue, fairs have been outfitted with trucks dishing up everything from burgers & corn dogs to everything fried you can think of. Fried lemonade? Oh yeah, it's out there. Now, I tend to think that the smaller the fair the better the food. In my experience the small locally produced fairs tend to be run by the people who live there and who take pride in what they're selling. Their ingredients are locally sourced, they seem to know just about everyone who walks up to the window and they sure seem to be having a good time. Takes all kinds, 'cause it looks like hot, gruelling work to me.

At the Minidoka fair, a one woman espresso / coffee wagon kept busy throughout the morning hours, and I saw the same woman working the machine late into the evening during that nights rodeo performance. The fair lasts an entire week,  hopefully she gets a break during the afternoons, whew! Those farmers are made of tough stock.

There was another truck serving up breakfast. The selections ranged from eggs, sausage, ham or bacon and cheese grilled on Texas toast, to wrangler sized breakfast burritos filled with homemade hash browns, eggs, meat, cheese and chili's. Breakfast quesadillas, pancakes, french toast, smoothies, if it wasn't on the menu those nice ladies were more than happy to make what you wanted as long as they had the ingredients. These gals were dishing up the true breakfast of champions.

Lunch and dinner offered more choices. Steak or chicken on a stick. Large juicy chunks of sirloin marinated and grilled to order. The chicken was grilled and topped with a spicy barbecue sauce and each was served over a mountain of homemade potato chips. Hands down it was the best eats at this fair.

Hamburgers, corn dogs, corn on the cobb, chili cheese fries, funnel cakes, and one truck serving up something called 'dinner in a pot'. A hearty conglomeration of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Looked pretty tasty but too heavy for the blazing summer day. And of course there was the wagon serving anything and everything fried. From Twinkies to bubble gum and lemonade, if you can stomach it they'll batter and fry it. It didn't take a lot of will power to walk by that wagon, the smell of grease and batter was enough of an appetite killer for me.

We're at the tail end of fair and festival season for this year, but there's still Labor Day Weekend with one of the biggest food fests of the year, the Taste Of Colorado, right around the corner. Come on, you know you're craving one of those monster turkey legs.

There are more sophisticated food choices at the larger fairs these days, but there was something nostalgic and very charming about the seven small trucks and wagons at the Minidoka County Fair in Rupert, Idaho.

No doubt the easy smiles and gracious attitudes from the fine folks working those trucks, was a big part of what made our experience a first place Blue Ribbon winner.  Thank you Idaho, we'll see you next year!

Thank you to all of my past, present, and future clients. You're the reason I love what I do and I do what I love! I appreciate your referrals more than you'll ever know, please pass my name along should you hear of someone needing advice or help in the world of real estate.

Becky Goldsmith

720-979-3184

Becky@beckygoldsmith.com