"You had me at FRIED"- State Fair 2013

October 9, 2013 

"Deep Fried Fun" 

This past weekend, my immediate family (The Kingsicks), my children and I went to The State Fair of Texas in Dallas, TX for our Bi-Annual family trip. This year we traveled without Chris who just needed "a break" (A much deserved break at that).

Friday PM- Hotel Fun

We started the weekend by getting to our hotel around 8PM and taking a dip in the indoor swimming pool. This is a special tradition that Natalie has with Gigi and Poppy when they travel for their baseball trips but poor little Luke did not know about this tradition and didn't want any part of this! We tried to get him to settle down and stop crying but he just kept screaming louder and louder. He kept trying to point towards Natalie and saying gibberish so we tried to take him into the pool where Natalie was... yeah, this didn't work and he just screamed even louder. We decided to just take him out of the pool and get him a bottle. At this point the only person he wanted was Poppy (He really is a "Poppy's Boy", which I know my dad LOVES)!

Saturday AM- Rides and Farm Fun 

We woke up early enough in the morning to get down to south Dallas and get a good parking spot. We were able to park really close and were inside the fair ready to go by 9:40.

We made in record time... 

Monekying around the Fair!

We started off by purchasing some coupons and then letting Natalie ride a few rides. Natalie is used to going to places that allow UNLIMITED rides so she was a little confused as to why she couldn't just stay on each ride and ride it again. Several of these she rode by herself (to save tickets) but there were a few rides where she got to share the experience with someone else too. Let me tell you... Natalie is going to be my ROLLER COASTER BABY! She started out riding a "Kiddie Coaster" with Gigi Shirley. Then she moved on to an adult Twister Coaster with mommy and ended up on a crazy Airplane like ride that I am not even sure if I would ride. And her common statement after the ride was one of two things: 1.) Wow, that was AWESOME!  and 2.) Can we do it again mommy! I LOVE THIS!

This picture may prove that Luke too will be a Roller Coaster Baby!

Riding the Four Wheeler together!

Riding the Kiddie Coaster with Gigi Shirley!

The "Jungle Cats Coaster"... Wow, this was way more "adult" than I thought. It was a small roller coaster where the car spun around really fast! Natalie LOVED it! 

I don't even know what this one was called but my 4 year old rode it... And Auntie Allie's face says it all! But yet again, Natalie LOVED it! 

Saturday Afternoon- FOOD, FOOD and More FRIED FOOD! 

Deep Fried Thanksgiving Dinner

After we spent a few hours letting Natalie and even Luke ride amusements, we decided it was time to get our first FRIED of the trip. We started off with the "BIG TEX" Winner of Most Creative Fair Food the DEEP FRIED THANKSGIVING DINNER! This was really tasty with a Turkey and Stuffing Mixture that was rolled into a ball and of course, DEEP FRIED! It came with brown gravy and a yummy sweet cranberry sauce for dipping. This was a great way to start our eating extravaganza but certainly set the bar HIGH for the remaining items we wanted to try!

This was very tasty and with an in-home Turkey Fryer... 

we might be trying to make this at Thanksgiving! 

Chicken Fried Meatloaf

This creation was one that Allison especially wanted to try and me as well since Chris does not like meatloaf and we never have it. This was a very interesting dish that more or less came out as a southern favorite of "chicken fried steak". The texture was different but the taste was highly similar. It was served with a heaping scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy!

This was Allison's favorite... It was pretty tasty! 

Deep Fried Cuban Roll

This was the "BIG TEX" Winner for BEST OVERALL TASTE for 2013. This was more or less a very pork friendly style of egg roll. I personally thought it was scrumptious but Allison thought otherwise.

If you are a pork eater... this was to die for!

Deep Fried King Ranch Casserole

This one had the best presentation BY FAR with the casserole being shaped like the State of Texas and even had a Texas flag on top of it. This was just like homemade King Ranch Casserole but even better since it was deep fried! It was served with fancy tortilla chips and sauce (Natalie enjoyed these)!

This was so cute... I LOVE the presentation! Bobby Flay would be impressed!

Red Velvet Funnel Cake 

My mom, sister and I are HUGE funnel cake fans and LOVE getting them at events such as this. We saw a "RED VELVET" funnel cake sign and knew we needed one of these. Of course by the time we got back half way across the fair grounds we were exhausted but the walk was WELL worth it! This was delicious and tasted just like a Red Velvet cake and even had a cream cheese icing on top! YUMMY!

YUMMY! That is all I can say!

Deep Fried Cake Balls

Allison has been to the fair numerous times since she lives in Dallas and had told us about these from last yer's fair. Her and I especially wanted to try these and had just about given up on finding them when out of nowhere we saw the sign for them. Almost as if the angels began singing and the "hallelujah chorus" began to play! These were INCREDIBLE and I wanted to get my own order they were so good.

We may have to try making these with our fryer too! YUMMY!

Deep Fried Oreo

You cant go wrong with a classic and an old favorite. We tried to Deep Fry these ourselves a few years ago but let me tell you... its just not the same. These were very tasty and a great way to end our food frenzy at the fair!

If it ain't broke... Don't fix it! A classic "Deep Fried" staple and it did not disappoint! 

Dollar Dogs (For the Kids)
It was hard to imagine that there would actually be some decently priced food for our kids but sure enough, there was a "Dollar Dog" food stand deep in the heart of the fair! However, I must say I question the type of meat that was in these hot dogs! Nonetheless, the kids ate them and were satisfied!

I am certainly glad they only cost a dollar! 

And then there were some things that we were just not brave enough to try! 

Fried BUTTER? Really, GROSS! 

Overall our food trials turned out great and we all enjoyed each of the DEEP FRIED items we tried. We discussed with each other our favorites but for memory purposed we came up with a "Ranking System". Each of the 4 "Klingsicks" get to list their favorite savory and sweet dish.

Ron

Savory- Chicken Fried Meatloaf

Sweet- Deep Fried OREOs 

Shirley
Savory- Deep Fried King Ranch Casserole
Sweet- Red Velvet Funnel Cake 

Kellie
Savory- Deep Fried Thanksgiving Dinner
Sweet- Fried Cake Balls

Allison
Savory- Chicken Fried Meatloaf
Sweet- Deep Fried Cake Balls

I am so tremendously blessed to be able to not only go to the State Fair of Texas but to attend this event with my two kids and wonderful family! I had a blast riding all the rides and trying out all the new culinary concoctions. I think we need to make this an ANNUAL event! Thanks Mom and Dad (and Allison too)! We love y'all! 

God is good... All the Time!