Iowa State Fair

The Fair is here!! The Iowa State Fair funs August 8th to 18th in 2013.  From cows made from butter to everything you ever wanted that you didn't know you'd ever want on-a-stick, it's fair time!

Some people like to avoid the craziness, but I like to dive right in.  Have you ever seen so many mullets in one place before?

Kids love it too.  There are the over-priced carnival-rides of course.  But, if you can keep your kid occupied with the plethora of animals, the free give-aways (mostly fake tattoos that they want to be covered with from head to toe) in the varied industries building from hundreds of vendors and the little hands on the farm exhibit which is one of our favorites, you can possibly avoid spending too long in line for a $4 ride that they may or may not puke on. The hands on the farm exhibit is where kids go through the motions of being a farmer and milking a (fake) cow to earn (fake) money to buy something in the store at the end.  I'd say kids at least up to age 9 or 10 would like this.

And then there is the food....ahhhh the glorious food.  Three things I never miss are 1. A pork chop on a stick.  That hard to find french cut of goodness smothered with BBQ sauce. 2. A frozen apple cider slush.  Overly sweet, yet tart and perfect for the hot days at the fair.  They sell them in the same building where you find the butter cow and get your egg on a stick.  3. those darn buckets of chocolate chips cookies that you can't resist.  Why are they so good!? With so many choices, why would we pick cookies?  Because they are that good!  We finally came to our senses that we don't have to eat the whole darn bucket in the few days following the fair, they actually freeze really well and pulling out a Ziploc bag of cookies 3 months after the fair and popping them in the microwave for 20 seconds is like re-living the fair all over again.  Do it I tell you.

Well, that's all you are going to get about the fair from me....I am far from a fair expert, but I know there are some of you out there with tried and true tips, like "make sure to come on Eat Side night" so, please share with the rest of us what YOUR favorite parts/foods of the fair are.  Thanks!