Blue Ribbons

Before we delve into today’s post, it’s time to reveal the results of our poll. The votes are tallied and it was a CLOSE race. We had two clear leading contenders for our next cooking destination taking about 60% of the votes. And the winner is…Cuba! Cuba took Argentina by just one vote! Thank you to everyone that participated. We’re looking forward to our Cuban cooking adventure.

However, before we get to Cuba we have a few posts to share first. Today is a taste of our adventures from the State Fair. 

A few weeks ago we made a trip down state for some traditional country fair fun. I hadn’t been to the State Fair since I was a kid and Mike, Mr. N and Miss A had never been. So here’s a little taste of our excursion with a little help today from Miss A. She’s seen Mr. N and I write posts before and she decided to take a turn at it, with a little help from mommy. (Miss A’s words are in italics.)

Our first stop at the Illinois State Fair was the famed “butter cow.”

The butter cow is made out of butter and nothing else. It was big and just made out of butter. We got to try some cheese sticks in the butter cow building. The were good and healthy.

After visiting the butter cow, we went to Conservation World.

In Conservation World we touched fish and a turtle. I didn’t touch the crayfish cause I just didn’t want to. I loved making my tie dye dress. Mr. N made a pillowcase. Mommy made shorts and daddy made a shirt. I shot a BB gun and so did Mr. N.

It was fun. I hope Mr. N liked it. Mr. N climbed a rock wall. I just sat there and watched him because I was not age enough. Mr. N did good, but he didn’t make it to the top. Your turn mommy…

After Mr. N finished the rock wall, it was time for lunch. There is an endless array of stands with fried food, funnel cakes, corn and corn dogs. We also happened to notice there was an Ethnic Village full of cooking stands featuring foods from around the world. How fitting is that! Miss A’s first stop was Brazil.

I got a lime and kiwi shake up to drink. It was green. It tasted good, but not too good. I’m kidding. I liked it. After Brazil I went to get my food at the Mexico stand. I got a cheese quesadilla. It was good, but I dropped part of it. Mr. N went to Romania and he got shrimps. Mommy…

I actually stopped off at the Cuban stand for my lunch and had a fabulous pulled pork and caramelized onion sandwich. So good! Mike went to India and got some chicken curry which was also very good. Once lunch was finished we hit a few more exhibits before heading to the high dive show.

We watched a high diver show. They were good. The guy jumped roped off the diving board. He was really, really, really high. It was over my head. I could not go high diving off the top. They did good flips and I was excited to meet them because they were good flippers. The Illinois Fair was fun. Mommy I’m done blogging now.

And that’s a wrap for Miss A. Not a bad attention span for a four-year old! Anyway, Mr. N and Miss A really did enjoy the high dive show. The tallest jump was 75 feet in the air. I can’t imagine jumping from that height into a small pool of water (it wasn’t more than 12-feet deep), but then again I can’t jump off a regular sized diving board either. Before leaving the fair the kids did a bit of dancing at the break dancing demonstration, played a few games, took a 10 minute little rest while mommy and dad sampled some state wines and then for the big finale…

The big slide. Mike and the kids are up in the top right corner of the picture. I’ve done a few of these slides with the kids, but the height always gets to me. I really enjoy the ride down, but the steps up, not so much. So this time, I hung out with the kids giant inflatable prizes and the camera at the bottom. The day at the fair was definitely a fun adventure. The kids are already talking about next year – Mr. N wants to enter the baked goods competition.

Speaking of the baked goods, Mr. N bought the Blue Ribbon Culinary Contest cookbook and picked out a recipe which we’ll share with you next weekend. He really got into the different foods and contests, and his favorite winner’s display…the banana bread competition. Go figure! Have a great weekend and we’ll be back mid-week with a special recipe for one of our good blogging buddies. Cheers!

49 thoughts on “Blue Ribbons”

  1. The Orange Bee says:
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    We love the Texas State Fair…my hubby and I will be going next week for the second time. Our first turned out to be a shorter than planned visit as Miss T got ill and we had to leave. We have a “butter” carving display as well, this year ours is all about Girl Scouts. I love everything about the fair except I do not do rides! Looks like a great time. The best corny dogs at our fair are at a stand called “Fletcher’s” – how about at yours?

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  4. Sawsan@ Chef in disguise says:
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    Sounds like a wonderful day đŸ™‚
    I don’t think I would have the guts to climb that high, hights and yours truly don’t get along very well.
    Ihave a question though: was Miss A ok with not climbing the wall? we were at the kids musim the other day and My daughter got to climb the wall but my son didn’t and he made sure we knew he was not too happy about it

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  5. helene dsouza says:
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    Mummy I am done blogging… hehe

    Too cute! XD

    cuba won by one vote. I think so I said Argentinian right, well cuba is alright too.

    They must be having a super AC for that butter cow. What a huge thing.

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  6. ChgoJohn says:
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    What a fantastic time for the family! I’ve never been to a state fair and every time I read something like Miss A’s wonderful account ( I almost said “your account”. Yikes!), I wonder why I’ve never gone. Oh, well. Maybe next year.
    It does sound like you all enjoyed yourselves and I’m glad you got to see the Butter Cow before Paula Deen got there. đŸ™‚

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  8. TheCubanFoodBlog says:
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    Wish we had something like that here. I guess carnival is as close as it gets. I’ll bet the pan con lechon was amazing!! Though not every pulled pork sandwich here is good, from years of searching I’ve found a few really good spots in Havana. As for cook books, I can relate – I would rather spend money on cook books than shoes!!! Loving the blog and will try to stop by as often as dial-up internet allows. Besos, Tanja

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    • Kristy says:
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      The carnival sounds interesting! And that’s a tough call for me…shoes or cookbooks? I’m not sure I could decide. đŸ™‚ Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a chance to visit again. And it looks like your blog might be a good spot for me to find some good recipes!

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  10. Charles says:
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    That slide looks awesome fun – only went on one once when I was much younger and loved it! Too bad I missed the poll – for what it’s worth I would have voted for Tunisia! My father-in-law is Tunisian so I could have given you some awesome ideas. sigh đŸ™‚ Next time maybe!

    That butter cow is… huge. Could you give an idea of the size of it, because it looks massive. That’s one heck of a lot of butter. I guess it’s in a refrigerated cabinet right? Otherwise the glorious moo-cow might turn into a blobby heap on the ground! đŸ˜€

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    • Kristy says:
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      So now I will come to you when we visit Sweden and Tunisia! Perfect! đŸ™‚ The butter cow is life size. It’s in a refrigerated cabinet on a riser. I had never seen anything like it! And yep, it’s a lot of butter.

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  11. Profiteroles & Ponytails says:
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    The cow butter sculpture beats the butter scupture of our (unpopular) city mayor that was at our summer exhibition. That is fantastic that Mr. N wants to enter the baking competition next year. The blogging (and cooking/baking) has obviously had quite an impact on him! Looking forward to your Cuban adventures.

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  14. sallybr says:
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    Miss A. did a fantastic job describing the fair, and of course, shows her great taste by picking Brazil for the first stop. Made my heart melt a little….

    the high dive description made me go weak in the knees – I am very scared of heights, perhaps because I have to stretch my neck really hard to get to be 5ft tall… he, he, he

    great post, I confess that my vote was for Belgium, but… it’s ok, I will still have fun with Cuba

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    • Kristy says:
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      She has a definite love affair with Brazil. It was the first country she picked when we started the blog too. đŸ™‚ And I’m with you on the heights thing. I can’t even jump off a regular diving board. Eek!

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  17. Three Well Beings says:
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    What a delightful family time! That butter cow is hilarious! I love county fairs and some of the things that make them so much fun. All the fried foods just amuse me to no end! I think the fair is made for curious boys and girls with all the hands-on experiences and I enjoyed the family photos! And since I did cast my vote for Cuba, I am looking forward to what’s coming next, Kristy! đŸ™‚ Debra

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  18. Dawn says:
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    Ok, so, we really do lead parallel lives…we went to the Puyallup Fair today, which is like a county fair – but definitely the largest I have ever seen. The girls went downt the “Super Slide” which looked exactly like your picture. We had a fun day, but just too many people, and by the end my husband and I were just done. Glad you had fun too!!

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  20. Nami | Just One Cookbook says:
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    I enjoyed reading about your family and the fun day! Miss A did a wonderful job too. đŸ™‚ It was wonderful to see other parts of the US as I rarely got out of the Western states! Butter cow is amazing! WOW, whole butter?? I’m really impressed. Wonder what they are going to do with it after… make a croissants (lots of butter, you know) might be a good choice! j/k. I’ve gone down those slide a few times with the kids. I might enjoyed it more than kids. LOL. Thanks for the fun post!

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  21. Barbara Bamber | justasmidgen says:
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    I am looking forward to the day that Miss A has a blog all her own.. I will be a loyal follower:) That looked like such a fun family day, the food and activities sound just super!! I went down slides like that one when I was a little girl, it was great to relive a few memories tonight! xx

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  23. Courtney says:
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    Miss A did a wondeful job describing the fair! (Though I have to admit the butter cow scares me a little. đŸ™‚ ) We love the fair and my oldest was looking over my shoulder and got really excited at the slide picture – since he did one almost exactly like it, too! So sorry your comments aren’t getting through. I’ve let WP know and they are currently ‘investigating’ it. Hope you are having a wondeful weekend!

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  25. Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says:
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    What a fabulous job you did Miss A!! That butter cow is something else; I’ve never seen a statue made of butter before – how neat! And I’m with you on the crayfish ;-). Pulled pork… caramelized onion… mmm… – and a high dive show too… wow, there’s nothing that was included at this Fair! What a fun time and a great post idea. Lots of telling pics too. Thank you for reporting Miss A :).

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  26. spicegirlfla says:
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    Out of the mouth of babes…I’m very impressed with Miss A’s details on your trip!! I remember taking my kids to the fair, wish we had gone every year. Can’t say we ever saw a butter made cow though!! Mr. N has the right idea, I buy cookbooks for souvenirs whenever I travel! Its my favorite way of remembering the trip!

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  27. Choc Chip Uru says:
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    Awww thanks for sharing your photos and trip to the state fair – it seems like so much fun đŸ˜€
    And the giant slide a winner!
    And YAY can’t wait for some Cuban cuisine!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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