Puyallup Fair

Puyallup is a town about thirty minutes south of Seattle. They have a huge fairground there that's open for about four weeks in late summer/early fall. This was the last weekend, so I went on Saturday with some friends to check it out. It was gorgeous and sunny all weekend--if I believe the warnings from local DJs, we probably won't be getting any more sunny days for quite awhile, so I'm glad I was out to enjoy it.

The fair was crowded, and hot, but still pretty fun. I was too impatient to wait in line for the rides, but I did tolerate the lines for a some good eats, which were well worth the wait.

My favorite snack from the fair were the Fisher scones. They are a longtime local favorite and I can see why--tender and fluffy, served hot from the oven and smeared with honey butter and raspberry jam. I waited in line a second time so I could have one for the road. Here are some pics of the big bakers oven and the scone assembly line.



Saturday was a banner bad-eating day, I'll admit. Of course, I had to have a corn dog. Right? You can't go to a fair and not have a corn dog (or in this case, a Krusty Pup). I resisted elephant ears, cotton candy, burgers, funnel cakes, and every other kind of junk food imaginable...except for fudge (Penuche! Brought home for just the occassional nibble.) Oh, and then there was this German food cart outside the fair, selling these little fried pastries filled with beef. I can't recall how to spell or say what they were called, but they sounded interesting so in service of culinary exploration, I tried one. It was tasty, but not remarkably so, and too greasy. You win some, you lose some.

Overall, the fair was larger and more commercial than I expected. But they did have prize-winning vegetables and cows and goats and stuff, so it was like a state-fair-meets-amusement-park. Here's a picture of a pretty squash that won some ribbons. I didn't take any pictures of the giant squash--they'd been graffitied, strangely enough, and it kind of took away from their otherwise impressive girth.


So, there goes the weekend. This week, I have a lot of kale to make. I've also got some tomatoes to use up, so those will probably go into a soup with basil, garlic, perhaps carrots. I've got SO MANY ONIONS AND GARLIC! I think I'm going to roast up the garlic, in paste form it lasts for awhile. As for the onions, who knows. I'm taking suggestions!