Favorite Carnival Foods?

Discussion in 'Food & Drinks' started by Allie Seay, Mar 6, 2015.

  1. Allie Seay

    Allie Seay Veteran Member
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    I don't know what has me thinking on carnivals, amusement parks and such today, but something surely does. No matter if it's a small venue like a carnival or a larger one like Six Flags, I've always loved grabbing a corn dog and a cone of cotton candy. Not at the same time. Just one of each before I leave.
    In fact, it's like I can't leave without having them.
    I might sample something from all the other goodies to be had, but those two are "the ones" for me.


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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I always loved going to carnivals, especially as a kid; but even after I was an adult, I still enjoyed taking my kids to the carnival.
    I think we didn't have corn dogs when I was young, I probably had a hot dog instead. I loved snow cones, had to be cherry flavor, and if not cherry, then lime would do.
    Cotton candy was too sweet, and it was sticky; so I admired the "fluffy pink cloud" look of it, but didn't eat any.
    In the fall, we always went to the local fair, and back then, there were food booths from all of the local churches. The pies and cookies were all homemade, they cooked the hamburgers right there in front of you, and usually each church had a "special" for the night, such as a meat loaf dinner.
    We would browse through the whole line of them, reading what each one had on special, and then choose where we wanted to have dinner. Sometimes, we had dinner at one and dessert at a different one if the pies looked better.
    I usually had a hamburger deluxe regardless of which one we ate at, so it really didn't matter much to me; but it was a lot of fun looking anyway.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I have always been partial to the huge sausages. and the funnel cakes were good too. When I owned an ambulance company, we had a contract to staff the Mercedes Rodeo each summer. It was a week-long rodeo and, although the rodeo would close at night, the carnival people as well as the students who had animals there, would stay the night, so we staffed a trailer that served as the first aid area, and kept an ambulance there 24-hours a day for the whole week, and two ambulances there when the rodeo itself was in progress. The food vendors near the first aid trailer would give us free food, so I have had plenty of carnival food.
     
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  4. Allie Seay

    Allie Seay Veteran Member
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    We used to spend a lot of time at fairs, carnivals and amusement parks when I was a child and my granddad still did the sound systems for just about everything going in the midsouth, so we ate a lot of carnival food, too, back then. On top of my corn dogs and cotton candy I was also fond of the corn on the cob that always seemed so perfect and extra buttery.

    There was one vendor at an amusement park in Memphis who was always giving me candied apples. I wasn't too fond of apples, but would try to eat them anyway. They always got stuck to my teeth.

    I mean the whole thing would get stuck to my teeth and I'd be distressed because I couldn't get it off.
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I remember those candied apples, too ! ! They were always such beautiful apples, with the deep glistening red glaze over the red apple, which is where we get the color "Candy Apple Red" that used to be such a popular car color at one time.
    However, as you remarked, Allie, they were definitely sticky, and i am pretty sure that I had at least one of them stuck in my teeth also. A better choice, and actually even better tasting, was when they had the caramel apples. Even though they weren't as pretty as those shiny red ones, they were easier to eat, and tasted wonderful.

    Another carnival treat that I really enjoyed was the Elephant Ears. They used to be large enough to share around with the whole family; but like most other things, they are much smaller (although more costly) to buy them at the carnivals nowdays.
    When we lived in Washington, we used to go to the Puyallup Fair, and they had fresh made scones, with raspberry jam. Those were the most awesome treat ever, and at the fair was about the only place that you would get them.
    If you have never had a scone; they are similar to a homemade biscuit, but a little sweeter, and are a folded over triangle shape, and with jam (preferably raspberry) inside. Delicious ! !
     
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  6. Allie Seay

    Allie Seay Veteran Member
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    Yvonne, those red candied apples were definitely prettier than they were good.

    I don't remember elephant ears and had to look them up to see what they are. They do look like something I would like. Fried and similar, maybe, to a funnel cake. They don't look hard to make so I might have to give this recipe a try sometime:

    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/elephant-ears-2/

    And ANYthing with raspberry jelly or jam inside is alright by me!
     
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  7. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Allie, the Elephant Ears are made from a thin circle of hot and fresh fried bread, and then sprinkled wiith cinnamon and sugar. They are like having the freshest bread ever, and the closest thing I can think of to compare them to would be a freshly made yeast donut with sugar sprinkled on it. Even that doesn't begin to come close to describing an Elephant Ear, though.
    The fried bread also is used in making "Indian Tacos", not usually found at carnivals; but sometimes at fairs and the larger flea markets. An Indian Taco is made just like a regular taco, but instead of a flat tortilla; it is put on the flat (but fluffy) fry bread, which is also fresh and hot.
    You have not begun to live untl you have tasted an Indian Taco ! !
     
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  8. Mal Campbell

    Mal Campbell Supreme Member
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    For me, my favorite carnival food were funnel cakes. You could smell them as soon as you entered the park. They were so good, fried dough with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I love them still.

    In Virginia, elephant ears where a type of pastry, with lots of flaky, crispy, buttery layers. In between each layer was cinnamon sugar - yumm!

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