Last weekend was the 985th annual(?) Ohio State Fair, sponsored by Bisquik and diabetes. Pierre and I were curious to see what would make it into the deep fat fryer, so we piled into Jill's car and made our way to the fairgrounds, where we were greeted upon entry by a 15-foot cardinal and a wide array of even wider people.
Naturally, our first stop was the pig races, which were hosted by two beoveralled former I-bankers who introduced us to their flock-- gaggle? school? of wee piggies. I bet two dollars on Hamlet, and Pierre rooted for Notorious P.I.G.
Things slowed down a little during the potbelly division.
After the races, Jill inexplicably suggested we locate a purveyor of greasy delights, and nobody argued. But what to fry....what to try....?
Gisella opted for the jambe de dinde, or "leg of stegosaurus," which, despite its obvious violations of the tenets of portion control, was by far the healthiest choice made by the group.
To wit:
Gail ordered a corn dog, which is classic, and probably as safe a choice as any. Gail, by the way, went to grad school at UVA (or "U.Va.," as the style manual requires), so we are sisters in C-ville.
Now I might take some flack for saying so, but I swear I could feel Paula Deen's buttery, slightly racist spirit as we waited for our mouths to open and our arteries to close.
And while the rest of us were squinting up at the signage muttering things like, "fried spray cheese? Is that even legal?" and "doesn't the Fluffernutter catch on fire?" Jill knew exactly what she wanted: Six Oreos, un-boxed, battered and deep fried golden brown. Because there's no sense steaming those puppies.
We dainty ladies pretended not to want to eat all of Jill's Oreos, but Matt held up his side of the gender norm bargain. Lest we think he wasn't gender-normal.
And Pierre's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw what I ordered for us to share.
That there is fried peanut butter and jelly. (But please note the use of whole wheat bread). And did it appeal to Pierre's Franco-Prussian culinary sensibilities?
And what goes best with a pb & j?
A glass of milk. Fresh squeezed!
Hello, World!