There’s something about this time of year that makes me crave a delicious, golden, deep-fried hot dog on a stick.
Maybe it’s the thick heat of late August or the nostalgia that seems to always come with the end of another summer. Or maybe it’s simply because it is that wonderful time of year when the Ferris wheels and carnival games park themselves next to the livestock pens and the butter cows, and open their doors to another state fair season.
There’s nothing I don’t love about a state fair. Livestock shows and 4-H competitions, cook offs and concerts. Rows and rows of food vendors offering deep-fried delicacies, that later you fight to keep down on the Tilt-A-Whirl. It’s a great time of year.
So in the spirit of all of the state fairs popping up across the country this month, here are some of my favorite fair-inspired fare (pun intended):
Homemade Corn Dogs
Grilled Corn on the Cob
Chocolate Fried Pies
Burgers with Beer Cheese Sauce
Oreo Lollipops
And no fair food list would be complete without including a meat-and-potato-filled sundae … topped with a cherry tomato, of course. Check out Illinois’ Meat Man Parfait.