Iowa State Fair 2011 - It's All About the Food

There are so many great things to see and do at the Iowa State Fair - you can't miss the Butter Cow in the Ag Building or the Sand Sculpture in the Cultural Center, absolutely have to check out the Biggest Boar and the Super Bull, and there is always some awesome free entertainment.

But for us, the Iowa State Fair is all about the food! The fair is quite the family affair for us, we can have 7, 8, sometimes 10 people all wandering around at once. So we eat our share of fair food. And I'm warning you - we rarely seek out the healthy stuff. It's the fair, for pete's sake!

Our 'meeting up' place on a Saturday morning is the Bud Tent.  We usually get going early - around 9am everyone is there and we start planning our day.

My traditional 'Breakfast of Champions?' An ice cold Bud and a crispy golden corn dog from the stand across the street. Hits the spot about 9:15am.

Deep Fried Butter on a Stick was this years' big excitement in new fair food. We had to try it, of course. It was actually really good - kind of a cinnamony buttery roll of sorts, or almost like a nice buttery coffee cake.  The butter did all run out when you took a bite, though. Still - thumbs up on the deep fried butter.

Others in our group went the more traditional route with mini donuts.

Grant couldn't pass up this giant pecan roll. It was ooey gooey crunchy goodness.

We always enjoy at least one pork chop on a stick from the Pork Producers tent. They really know how to cook 'em. Grilled to perfection, this chop was juicy and so flavorful.

I can never pass up the fresh cut fries at the fair. Grant's not a fan, but the rest of us made quick work of these fries - they were almost gone before I remembered to take a photo.  

I guess we did have one mostly healthy treat. These fresh apples were pretty tasty - and even more tasty when dipped in a sweet and creamy caramel sauce.

Bacon on a stick? Yes, please! It was even better when dipped in melted chocolate.

The Rib Shack from Knoxville, IA, was a new vendor this year. These ribs were smokey and just the right amount of chewy. Good sauce, too.  

And what's the fair without a gizmo? Gotta have one of these.

We had fun tasting several Iowa wines in the Iowa Wine and Cheese Garden. Enjoyed a bottle with some Maytag Blue Cheese and Maytag Natural White Cheddar.

With stops at our favorite fair watering holes - Diamond Jacks, Margaritaville, the Depot, Jalapeno Pete's and Stockmen's - it's no wonder I forgot to take photos of some of the food we had! We also enjoyed a bucket of those wonderfully warm chocolate chip cookies, Grant had a chocolate Wonder Bar, we downed a big basket of nachos, ate pizza and deep fried cheese curds.

And we really enjoyed the Iowa Craft Beer Tent! What a great idea - with so many exceptional Iowa brews to choose from, we sampled our share. Sure hope that becomes a yearly addition to the fair.

Truly, nothing compares to the Iowa State Fair. For food and fun, you can't beat it. Let us know in the comments what your favorite food was at this years' fair!