ALONG COMES MARY

(Editor’s Note: I was so excited when The LA County Fair invited me out to their preview food evening. Unfortunately, I could not make it so instead I sent out the great Chris Lam to report back to us on what they have in store this year. Special thanks to Chris for a great post & to the fair for providing me with comps for myself & a GIVEAWAY! See more info below!)

The LA County Fair celebrates its 91st anniversary this year, starting today August 31st through September 29! The team invited media to try out the yummy goodness called fair food the other day, and I brought my appetite. One of my targets this evening was to find gluten-free food for folks who have a restricted diet. Mission: Accepted.

Sidenote – do Gluten-free folks call themselves “Gluten-ers”? Like Directioners?

First up, the famous Chicken Charlie’s stand – home of the fried everything – fried twinkies, fried oreos, fried DODGER dogs! Let’s talk about the menu. While there are a ton of fried items you can’t eat, Chicken Charlie offers chicken or beef kabobs, rotisserie chicken (with hummus), ribs and chicken wings, corn on the cob, and hummus (on its own). The entire menu can be found here.

Next up was my favorite food item at the fair. Tasti Chips offers baskets of deep-fried potato slices with toppings. Their Chipotle BBQ Beef “Dirty” Chips were delicious and I was very tempted to go back for another basket of chips with bacon cheddar cheese. NOM. Chips made of California-grown potatoes and 100% pure allergen-free peanut oil. Plain chips are gluten-free, and for $2.50 you can add bacon cheddar cheese or jalapeno cheese.)

(Chipotle BBQ Beef “Dirty” Chips – blue cheese crumbles are optional! Note: plain chips are gluten-free; this is not.)

Thirsty yet? There are many options at the Fair. You may know Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives of New York. Her Skinnygirl cocktails and mixers have been quite successful. Haven’t tried her drinks? TRY THEM HERE.  At the FAIR!! Visit the Skinnygirl Bar and order the Skinnygirl Twisted – mixed with Skinnygirl vodka and iced tea. Or you can be a classicist and order the Skinnygirl Cosmo (Skinnygirl vodka and cran) or Skinnygirl Margarita (Partida tequila, lime and agave). Not a hard liquor drinker? Bethenny has come out with Skinny Vine wines!  Holla at yo’ girl!

(Skinnygirl Vine wines: Mini Moscato, Slim Chardonnay, and Thin Zin.)

Tired of fried? (Blasphemy, people, blasphemy.)

 Harold & Belle’s to Geaux offers steamed crawfish, red beans and rice. Dr. Bob’s will be out there with handcrafted ice cream. The Cornucopia Café serves iced coffee, teas, and fruit smoothies. You know I’ll be hovering around them, sucking down iced coffee like there’s no tomorrow.

                                                   (Mango Smoothie, $5.29)

I’m saving the best for last, winos.

Now, I don’t drink wine but I had a great conversation with the wine pourers at the media event. One of the pourers had been with the Fair for over 10 years, pouring wine. I know people make fun of me attending the Fair but let’s just think about the economy and how these county or state fairs bring in income for folks in the area. Back to the wine…

Hundreds of wines will be poured in the Wine & Beer Marketplace for all you wine aficionados to taste.  If you’re not familiar with wine and don’t want to schlep all the way to Wine Country, you can sign up for wine education classes at the Fair! Most courses are $17.00 per person and you can check the schedule here!

Thank you to the LA County Fair PR team and to Mary for inviting me to the media preview event this week. I’m looking forward to gorging myself in fried food, iced everything, and… wait for it… KE$HA! (That’s right – I bought tickets to see Ke$ha! So I’ll you soon!)

Now, back to Mary….

I have two pairs of tickets to giveaway to the LA County Fair! Enter by simply leaving me a comment telling me what you’re most excited about for the fair, earn 2 additional entries by likng the Fairs Facebook as well as Along Comes Mary & let me know you have done so! 🙂 Enter by September 8th, good luck!! xo

(Chris’ Disclosure: I was invited by the LA County Fair team to try and review their fair food. All opinions are my own and honest.
Mary’s Disclosure: I have been provided with complimentary tickets to the LA Fair.)