Jodi on 
Erin on 
Eric on 
Bill Evans on 
So the Calgary Stampede is finally over and the city has returned to its senses. I did go to see what all the fuss was about. There’s something about record-breaking heat, a midway and ridiculous numbers of people in ridiculous cowboy hats. It means one thing. An excuse to eat things on sticks and gorge on overpriced greasiness.
This is the first year that all fried food on the Stampede grounds was cooked in oil free of trans fats. But really, who are we kidding?
First stop, corn dogs! A hot dog coated in cornbread batter and deep fried in hot oil. Sweet golden outside crunch, hot doggy insides. You either hate it or love it. I love it. But only once a year.
Did you know they’re called pogos here in Canada, dippy dogs in Australia, hot dogs in South Korea, amerikan doggu in Japan and toasty dogs in Europe? Corn dogs ($4) get around.
Someone at work came back from Stampede raving about a new product in the Big Four building called a porksicle. So of course I had to seek it out. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to find the porksicle was just a BBQ rib with one end of the bone as a stick. Man did I get suckered. Plus it was $7 with a side of fries.
But no matter what, I knew the mini donuts (2 bags of 15 for $5) would make everything okay. It’s kind of fascinating as well as morbid for me to watch the dough circles roll down the little chute, float into the pool of hot oil and then get counted out and coated with cinnamon sugar.
I know I just watched them get deep fried and yet there they go, down my gullet. Always save “those little donuts” for last, and eat them fast. Otherwise, they really suck after 15 minutes.
No time to try the deep-fried Coke (spongecake soaked in Coke and deep-fried) this visit. Maybe next year.
oh, how I love fair food. Mini-donuts and corn dogs are so good, but you’re right, should only be eaten once a year.
My husband craves the ‘fiddlesticks’ at Edmonton’s Klondike Days (pardon me, now called ‘Capital Ex’).
Ice cream dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts. On a pointy stick.
I once went out with a guy who made minidonuts in his coffee shop. Believe me, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of that smell. It was like dating a fisherman.
We didn’t go down to the grounds this year. Scott usually gets a corn dog and I have one bite. The deep fried coke sounds gross. I heard there was deep fried cheesecake this year too. Did you see it/eat it?
I missed the deep-fried cheesecake – it was way too hot to wander around looking for it – but it’s definitely on my list for next year.
wow, I would have had to try the porksicle just based on its name too… deep-fried cheesecake sounds very intriguing!