Labor Day at the Fair

I know I've gotten off topic lately, and I promise I'll go right back to regular restuarant reviews after this one. But first, my fried food adventure. Last weekend I took a trip out to nowheresville, CT where they host the Goshen Fair each August. I've been almost every year since I was a little girl, and while I used to live for the pony rides and balloons, it's the fried food that keeps me coming back every year (umm.. well, that and the farm animals). Trust me, nothing can make you crave steamed vegetables more than a day with my family at the fair, but it's all in the name of tradition. And deliciousness.


First stop: Art's french fries. Anytime I ever have fries that are above the norm, I benchmark them right against Art's from the fair. And they usually fail. The fries are all made fresh,

of course, from sacks of potatoes sitting out behind the stand. Cut thick and fried to perfection, we'll salt those babies up and they're gone in seconds. I can't say for sure what makes them so good. We've had plenty of fresh potato fries at all sorts of different fairs, but none of them compare to Art's. Maybe one day we will learn their secret.

This year we decided to be economical and get the fries for us to nosh on during while in line for the fried dough. Again, you can get fried dough at any carnival or fair, but something about the fried dough at the Goshen Fair just makes your whole trip worth it. I'll admit that this year the fried dough tasted a little different than normal -- we overheard them fumbling with the oil temperature -- but it still came out well: just the right amount of chewiness (though I kinda missed the bubbles). I know most people like their fried dough with sugar and cinnamon, but my family and I always get the fried dough pizzas. Could you ask for sauce and cheese on anything better tasting?

All things come in threes, so our next stop, naturally, is the thin sliced onion rings. Again, you can see the bags of fresh, yet-to-be-peeled onions hanging out at the back of the stand, ready to be transformed into your next artery clogger. I love to look inside and watch the machine coat the newly sliced onions in batter before they're hand-dipped into the fryalater. They come out thin and slightly crispy. More salt and more fighting your family for more addicting fried food.

Alright, so usually three is enough, but we decided to push our limits this year and get some funnel cake too. Then we remembered that the funnel cake isn't on the rotation for a reason: there isn't anything very special about them. Sure, they're nice and thick, and they're covered in powdered sugar, but there isn't any addicting quality about them that keeps you coming back for more.


After a break from the food to look at the animals, check out the award-winning vegetables and watch the woodchopping competition, we grabbed a bag of salty-sweet kettle corn for the ride home. It was great to get away from cell phone coverage and breathe some fresh air for a few hours, but it was back to the city for me.