Western Idaho Fair 2010

Well, I hate to say it, but due to a somewhat ill-advised (albeit in retrospect and entirely contextual) stop at The Egg Factory for breakfast, not as much munching took place at the Western Idaho Fair as I was expecting.  The heat and Sun didn't help either. 

I didn't eat this

The ladies had pizza from the Idaho Pizza Company booth which they said was tasty.  The Pronto Pups are, of course, required eating and as good as ever.  Same with the cotton candy, or at least that's what the kids thought.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the elephant ears, which are more of the fried dough variety than the flaky, crunchy pastry of my youth.

I managed this picture before the rest was devoured

The most important thing I learned was that, as small as the fairgrounds are, the further you get from the entrance the higher the prices get.  A bottle of water right inside the gate is a buck.  That doubles on the midway, and by the time you make it to the rides you can expect to pay three dollars for that bottle.  As the sun went down my appetite returned, and with it my desire to try something different.  I can't remember the name of the vendor for the life of me, but one of the food stands had Oreos, Twinkies, candy bars and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, all of which are deep fried.  I decided to go the Twinkie route, since I'd seen Bourdain do it on TV.

Twinkie.  Deep fried.  On a stick.

While I have to admit the taste was decent, it was on the chewy side and the filling had completely evaporated, likely due to it being held under a heat lamp rather than being made to order.  Damned sad considering it cost four dollars.  I ended up tossing half of it.  Around this time one of the kids decided they wanted fries, and while a lot of the vendors were charging four bucks for curly or home-style fries, Roy's Milkshakes was selling crispy, golden fast food style-fries cooked to order for two dollars a pound.  I decided I needed to end the evening on a high note, so I snagged a gyro from Zorba's Kitchen.

Traditional gyro from Zorba's Kitchen

While this was every bit as good as it looks, it's nothing you can't get the rest of the year.  It seems I just wasn't meant to find anything truly weird and special this year.  I never even got to try the chocolate-covered bacon because I couldn't find the stand that was selling it.  Next year, I'm fasting all day until I make it to the fairgrounds.

Thought about it, but decided to take Bubba's word for it

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