The Fried Twinkie

Over Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Memphis to visit my Mom and Dad. While there, all the kids, Gramps, and I went to the Delta Fair -- something new since my day, but fun nonetheless. When I was a kid, everyone went to the Mid-South Fair, where you rode dangerous rides, watched people make sculptures out of butter, saw Jerry Lawler and Dutch Mantell wrestle, and ate. I even saw Waylon Jennings in concert one year.

Classic fair fare, of course: corn dogs, gyros, Memphis BBQ, popcorn, corn on the cob, funnel cakes. I loved the fair.

As I mentioned in my last post, though, I mentioned that I've been watching Food Network this summer and have seen several shows about fried fair food. Apparently, they've been frying everything from corn to Oreos to Snickers bars. Oh my.

And Twinkies.

When we got to the fair, I started scouting out the food. Sure enough, every stand had lists of deep fried wonders. I even saw one place where the adventurous could try "fried dough." Not for me.

I did try a Twinkie, though. I couldn't help it. I walked up to the trailer and placed my order. The lady inside took a real Twinkie, put it on a stick, battered it with funnel cake batter, and dropped it into hot oil. Doesn't get much easier than that. After a moment, the delicacy was golden brown and, with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar, ready to go.

And it wasn't bad. It was pretty good, really, as long as you only take one or two bites. I shared the delectable morsel with everyone else, and everyone was happy.

Until we rode the "Fire Ball..."