A new twist on fair foods

COVID-19 has thrown a mean curve ball at all of our plans over the past six months. This month we have gotten to experience what it’s like to not have county or state fairs to attend.
I am one of those fair junkies who is shriveling up from the lack of yummy treats. The lifeline to fair food has been breeched in the face of the pandemic.
Okay, I did take advantage of the Fair Food Parade at the Steele County Fairgrounds earlier this month to at least wet my appetite with a few food favorites.
But let’s just say it wasn’t quite enough to head off the urge of wanting more fair food.
If there is one thing I have learned throughout the coronavirus from United Way President Annette Duncan, it’s “innovation out of necessity.” She has coined that phrase several times in revealing what the United Way of Steele County is doing to rise above COVID-19.
Well, I took Duncan’s advice and put that into action last week. I organized my first ever Fair Food Party at home for family members. In this particular case, innovation is fair food party and the necessity is curing the withdrawals of fair food.  
My party featured some of the great foods we have all come to love at the fairs over the years. We had deep fried cheese curds and pickles, oh how the grease is still dripping off my fingers, pork chops on a stick, corn dogs, gyros, French fries, shave ice, Sweet Martha’s cookies (made famous at the State Fair), popcorn-candy mix, homemade mini donuts and some fresh lemonade to wash it all down with. All right, there was a beer or two thrown in with it as well.
I like to think my treats were nearly as good if not better than those you can buy at the fairs. There are a few things I have to perfect for next time, but by and large everything turned out quite well.
The best part of it was we fed a party of 10 people with a fraction of what it would have cost us at the fair. And it was fun to sample so many different things without having to eat a full order. I think my waistline is even thanking me this week.
We didn’t have to fight mobs of people either, at least in the case of going to the Minnesota State Fair, which I’m certain would have had record attendance last Saturday with the perfect weather conditions we experienced. I don’t think I’ve seen such ideal conditions like that for quite some time. There is something to be said about not battling elbow-to-elbow with strangers at the State Fair.
I can’t make the promise that my food party will permanently replace outings to the fairs in years to come. There is just something about the fair experience that gets in your blood.
If you’re looking for something fun to do, I suggest having a fair food party with your friends and relatives. It’s pretty easy to do and fairly inexpensive. It’s a neat way to think outside the box and impress others with your ingenuity.
And it’s a way of going in hot pursuit of avoiding to miss out on fair foods in the COVID world we’re living in.