Nothin' Says Home Cooking Like Stuff Fried In Fat. (Nope, nothing.)

Truth be told, I am a sucker for fair food. Lord help me, I am. There is just something infinitely scrumptious about anything that is coated in batter and fried like the dickens. Oh, glorious golden joy; how I do love thee.

And because we normally try to be healthy eaters around here, we keep the consumption of these illicit treats to a minimum, and only during what we call "Fair Season". Thankfully, "Fair Season" is a short one here, lasting from the Blue Tip Festival in June to the Wayne County Fair in September. A short window to enjoy the goodness-gracious-golden-glory fare we do love just so very very much. But that's a good thing, right?

Anyway. Back to the purpose of this blog. Those know me know that I love to cook. A lot. One of my best things to do is to create some of our favorite foods in my own kitchen. It gives me endless joy to eat something at home that I loved in a restaurant; at a fraction of the price. Sometimes I make it a personal challenge to find "Copy Cat" recipes or to create them on my own, just to see if I can do it. (FYI, one usually can).

So in the spirit of Fair Season, that is what I set out to do for tonight's dinner. In truth, I kept it simple, only making the Chicken Gyros and Funnel Cakes from scratch. I had Dan pick up the fried veggies at the Blue Tip Festival on his way home, and I totally cheated and used bagged onion rings instead of making my own. (I do however, have an awesome recipe for them).

The results? Yum. Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum. (Can you believe spell check actually highlighted that? Yeah, me neither.)

Fair-Fare. Chicken Gyro w/cucumber sauce and Fried Veggies ('cause every meal needs a veggie).

Just look at all the cucumber sauce goodness. Go on. You know you want to.

Nothing beats a fried dessert. Am I right or am I right?

Try the Gyros:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/Chicken-Souvlaki-Gyro-Style/Detail.aspx?prop31=2

Give these Onion Rings a chance. Truly. You'll be thinking "Swenson's who?"
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/old-fashioned-onion-rings/detail.aspx

Wanna fry up some Funnelled delight? Sure you do!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/Funnel-Cakes-IV/Detail.aspx?prop31=2

(Thank you, Allrecipes.com for the veritable smorgasbord of goodness you make it possible for me to put on my weekly menus.)


And now my friends, I think I shall go exercise. For a rather long time, I should think.