I Went To The Fair :)

[notme]

so, last year at this time, i was about a month in to the gluten-free diet. i was still figuring things out. every year our family does the tennessee valley fair in knoxville. it's a big deal: about 4 carloads of people every year (and that's not even all of us lol) anyway, last year i brought a gluten-free sandwich, a juice, and a larabar. i brought the larabar into the fair with me and left my sandwich in the car - i was wayy too cool to be carrying around my dinner - HA - plus i would look stupid unwrapping my food at another dining area, blah, blah, blah. so i wandered around the place looking for *anything* i could safely eat. NOTHING! when everybody sat down to eat, i ate my janky larabar (which didn't agree with me at all) and was hungry and miserable. and the fair was unfair

THIS YEAR: i made my own pizza on udi's crust <yay udi's! and wrapped the slices up and put them in my Giant Snack Pack (an insulated backpack) along with cashews, homemade cereal bars, apple juice with ice, pound cake (oh, yeah, i should share that recipe - yummy yums) I WAS READY THIS TIME - as soon as we walked into the place, the various fair-fare aromas started making me feel like i was starving to death - whipped out my handy backpack, and scarfed down delicious pizza i walked and ate and walked and ate some more. it was great! then, while scouting for gluten-free foods (my new hobby?), i actually found a 'petros' that was gluten-free! so, double WIN

i am still exhausted from all that walking and TILT-A-WHIRL <yeh! but pretty happy to be able to manage a situation that vexed me a year ago. pretty stupid that it bugged me so much when it only took a little pre-planning.... one step at a time.....

ps - i actually rode on the swings! (ok, the kiddy swings with my grandson, but last year i would not have been able to) so: take THAT, vertigo! yeh!!!!

[Skylark]

Yay! I'm glad it worked out so well!

I like the challenge of finding fair food I can eat, but I only go for the evening so I don't take as much risk of starving. Corn grilled in the husk is everywhere, and I can often find artichokes or grilled asparagus. I've also gotten candy apples that worked out fine, Kettle corn, and our fair has a Mackinac Island fudge booth.

[kareng]

That's great!

I think at fairs you can usually have cotton candy & kettlecorn. If they have those potato fries only trucks, they should be OK, too. You can quiz them & they should know what they are putting in stuff. Lemonade should be good, too. Popsicles and ice cream bars. I have seen one that only does pieces of apple with a hot carmel sauce (carmels and milk)

Unless you have intolerances other than the gluten.

[love2travel]

Glad to hear you were so successful! Preparedness and a positive outlook really makes a difference.

[mbrookes]

This year I plan to make my homemade pronto pups and take them along with some little packets of muustard. That, along with the other things already mentioned, should get me through our State Fair.

The pronto pups come from Carol Fenster's book "100 Best Gluten Free Recipes". They are really good.

[notme]

i *was* eyeing up those fried potato trucks i wish (she says dreamily, lol) if they had a dedicated fryer and potatoes were the only thing they made, they would put up a sign, even a tiny one <because i would see it! that said 'gluten free' - there wouldn't be anything funky in the frying oil otherwise? you would think. and some of the apple stands (gosh i DID forget about caramel apples man i wanted one!) i thought maybe they would be g//f.

nope, no other food intolerances that i know of. i try to stay away from soy as much as possible, though.

i had to google 'pronto pups' and cheese curds? you must be up yonder - midwest? now i must make pronto pups!

also: posting the awesome pound cake recipe in the appropriate forum - it was duh-lish-usss. everybody: have an awesome day!!

[Skylark]

I don't know about the carmel apples. I've found flour in carmel sometimes and the ones at the fair never have ingredients. I get candy apples, the ones that have the red hard candy glaze on them. I've never seen gluten in a candy apple recipe.

[notme]

yeah, i thought that, too: flour in the caramel. well then, i got a year to figure out how to transport a caramel apple in 900 degree heat without getting everything sticky beyond belief

[Skylark]

Isn't sticky beyond belief the whole point of a carmel apple?