We went to the NC State Fair yesterday as we have pretty much every year since... well, I can't remember the last one we missed. Hit all the traditional faves: mini donuts, giant vegetables, rabbit house, prize winning crafts. Walked around the midway looking for interesting stuff to take pictures of. Went to the pig races -- they were fun, altho no substitute for the absent-this-year Dogs of the Wild West. The guy at the info desk told Sarah they were doing a fair in Texas instead this year. But I'll bet the damn fair spent too much money on Paula Deen so had to scrimp on the other entertainment. (kidding!)

But, really, it's the fair and it's all about the fried food. All the buzz and howl this year seems to be on the deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We did not choose to partake, instead opting for the deep fried cheeseburger. Which was pretty damn good, actually. Super-greasy but that's more due, I think, to inadequately hot grease. Conceptually, it's a sound idea. The burger's bun is replaced by the batter coating. I think if you had a lighter batter, like say a tempura, and had your fryolater running at the right temp, you'd be able to turn out something pretty amazing. I'm still pondering whether the patty was pre-cooked. I suspect it was. I think it'd be difficult to get a raw patty cooked all the way thru after you batter dipped it.
Other deep-fried highlights: shrimp sandwich, Reese's cup, peach cobbler (which was actually just peach slices, battered and deep fried but was still damn good, probably because they were battering and frying everything to order).