#14/15 Corn and Apple Festivals - Godfrey/Jerseyville, IL - October 3, 2009
For the first time this year, I made it to two festivals on the same day and am glad to present the very first twofer edition. I'm not sure why two towns within 20 miles of each other would have a festival on the same day. One would think that they would want to maximize the local region's festival dollar at each by having them at different times. Yet, for me it provided the unique opportunity to hit 2 festivals on the same day, and explore my gluttony.
The Great Godfrey Corn Maze is the big draw, bringing people from all across the lands to be one with the corn. This treasure can not go unprotected and has its own guard. Everything he wears is of heavy gauge stainless steel, including his helmet (but not including his sword).
I entered the corn on the cob eating contest, which challenged me to eat as much as possible within 2 minutes. I was hungry, resolved and determined and ate 3 1/4 ears, Sadly the champ ate a little over five ears, and I was left tied for 3rd. I'm like a hockey player in the penalty box right now, I feel shame.
The Corn Cannon was an interesting contraption. The cannon utilized compressed air to shoot corn cobs at unsuspecting targets. The accuracy was shaky at best, and then you "get to" go and pick up the ears of corn you shot afterwards. Obviously I moved on.
OK, NOW TIME FOR APPLES!
An interesting dish called Pioneer Stew with cornbread and a slice of Apple Pie served on a metal tray. Pioneer stew is an odd concoction of beef, turkey, potatoes, green peppers, onions, and pineapples. Yes pineapples, it was like a bowl of chili with pineapples. Like many festival experiments, it was very interesting at first, then I realized why I hadn't had it before.
The apple items did not stop there. Behold an apple fritter, a cup of hot apple cider, and caramel apples. The fritter did not look appetizing at first, but burst with flavor on the first bite. A nice blend of ingredients with small chunks of apple in a crisp coating with powdered sugar. What's wrong with that? The cider sucked. The caramel apples were every bit as good as they look. Can you really go wrong with caramel on anything?
Video of the week: Steve Davis as Elvis at the Apple Festival. You can feel the energy of Elvis, although a threat at the end of this video had me a little unnerved.
Fall has definitely begun and the temperatures have sunk to a level I am not happy about. Yet, I have mustered on and jumped at the chance to hit these two festivals on the same day. After a month of fasting, the challenge of eating at two festivals was a welcome one.
I entered the corn on the cob eating contest simply thinking, I don't want to embarrass the locals with my eating prowess. Sadly, the typewriter method is not nearly as effective as the rotate while biting technique. I learned this lesson too late, and my measly 3 1/4 cobs was no match. With this knowledge I am prepared for next year.
This festival had everything to make a full day from recipe contests, to sand boxes of corn for kids, to even a petting zoo. I love corn, and just about everything you may eat or drink these days has corn in it. If you want more corny information you can check out my favorite Food Network Chef Alton Brown, with this transcript of the most informative source for corn information. (Sweetness of corn comes from the endosperm content, did you know that?).
Any other day, my day would have ended there. But with another festival just a town over, I hopped, skipped and jumped over to Jerseyville for some apples. I took it upon myself to sample every variety of apple product they had to offer. For such a relatively small festival, it actually had a fair amount of apple related items. If you didn't notice, I didn't have any corn related food items at the corn festival but this Apple Festival even provided cornbread. All that and Steve Davis as Elvis to boot. For some reason this MadTV sketch came to mind when I thought of Apple (Ok, maybe not the fruit). Or if you just want an easy laugh Coach Hines always does the trick for me for some reason.
Two festivals in one day. I'm not sure I experienced either one to its fullest potential, but it was a fun challenge to explore two different locations. It was hard to follow a corn on the cob eating challenge with an abundance of apple products, and I considered all of the corn/apple combinations. There was no way I could have known that corn/apple is actually best combined as either cattle feed or even a deer temptation lure. That just doesn't sound right.
Well it has been a busy and eye-opening Summer, but fear not Riz's Takes and Funnel Cakes is not going anywhere but up. I have been fasting for Ramadan for the past month (well at least from sunrise to sunset each day), which makes it difficult to blog about food festivals. I don't believe in excuses and know that my 2 loyal readers deserve more. So, I present a special outtakes edition from the food festivals thus far. Surprisingly I have a life too, but I will be back at an Apple Festival on October 3rd. Please continue submitting your suggestions.
The summer may be over, but it has been a great experience at these festivals. Behind the scenes there is a lot of waiting around for the next tractor pull (pictured here), or waiting in line for the next towboat tour. Either way, festivals can be very relaxing. [Salisbury Steak Festival]
There has been a lot of crap for sale at the craft fairs attached to these festivals. I keep seeing these assorted bamboo light contraptions, and I have no idea why or who would want them. Actually they might just come in handy if you live in a houseboat docked at a pier. [Superman Festival] I also came across these geese that you can dress up in their very own getups. For just $20 you get a goose, and for $10-$28 you get to dress it up and put it in your yard. I feel really bad that I haven't gotten a single sponsor to pay a dime for this site yet, and this goose business is cleaning up. [Hot Air Balloon Festival]
The stars and bars. I see these flags everywhere, but this one even had a skull to boot. Solid. Nothing confuses people like a man of Indian descent born in Kentucky. [Strawberry Festival]
Car Shows are a standard at many festivals, and here is a sampling of some cool ones I've liked thus far. Let me know if you know the make, model, and year of these cars. [L to R: Peach Festival, Mustard Festival, Ketchup Festival].
A certain fast food company's clown spokesperson may be loved by kids around the world, but I found this chucklehead to be just downright creepy. If you can't see; the coloring book is completely blank then is magically colored in when he sprinkles magic dust and the kids throw colors at him (adults too). Creepy. I hate clowns. [Ketchup Festival]
This was a heart-warming moment. This is a gut wrenching rendition of "God Bless America" as sung by the former Mayor of Salisbury, MO. There weren't many dry eyes in the crowd. [Sailsbury Steak Festival]
Some of you may have read my boastful blog of my Nascar Challenge in Newton, IL's Strawberry Festival. I completed the tire changing simulation in 16.4 seconds. Here is the local record setting kid demonstrating how the challenge was supposed to be done. [Strawberry Festival]
Oh Matt Barber. The dreamboat is back! Here is another song I recorded at the Salisbury Steak festival, which I didn't have room for in the original post. The ODB (Original Dream Boat) electrified the crowd with "When I look in your eyes". Simply the best. The Matt Barber Experience is in St. Louis on Sept. 22 @ the Barnes Jewish Retirement Center at 2:00. Check it out! And here is yet another song from youtube entitled "You Are My Friend". Jaw dropping, with exclusive interviews at the beginning and end. If you have 6 minutes you will feel better, that's ODB's mission. [Salisbury Steak Festival] Sorry for the sitcom-esque rehash of past episodes, but I've been busy and it's hard to do food festivals when you have been fasting. Yet, it was a great opportunity to give my 3 loyal readers a little more that didn't make the first cut (some shouldn't have made this second cut). For anyone else, feel free to catch up on past posts which are arranged by month on the left side of the page. Thank you again for your support, and I will be back with an all-new Apple Festival from Jerseyville, IL on Oct. 3rd.
Amish Cheese Festival - Arthur, IL - September 5, 2009
Meet Miss Slice and Artie the official mascots of the Cheese Festival. I never saw Artie, but I did see a very soggy slice of cheese run away from me to get out of the rain (presumably).
According to this sign you are free to accept candy from absolutely anyone in Arthur. That is sweet. Kidding aside, the people I met were extremely polite and welcoming. Guess I'm no longer a stranger.
This was an interesting contraption. It was called a car, yet didn't have any wheels. I still like larger than life food themed items that serve a dual purpose (ie. Bagel cannon, Inflatable Horseradish, Catsup Bottle Water Tower, etc.), but did it need the "Say Cheese" painted on it?
With my current eating restrictions due to Ramadan, I was unable to participate in this cheese eating competition. The challenge was to see if you can eat a pound of Colby Cheese in under 5 minutes. Only one person did, the man in the navy shirt. He brought his own knife and cutting board to finely chop the cheese first, and then just swallowed handfuls at a time with a water chaser. I liked the ingenuity, but I could have taken him.
The rain was a definite problem. Although not much seems to be a problem for the Amish. The Amish have a strong presence in Arthur with Horses and Buggies clip clopping around every street. I don't think I have what it takes to be Amish, it would sure hurt this amazing site's future. I did find it odd though that the horse and buggies are required to have electronic turn signals on the buggies in order to be street legal these days. Attorney friends, any opportunity there?
This was to be my 3rd contest victory of the festival season. Cheese Curling. Just like the Olympic event on ice, except with cheese instead of stones, a street instead of ice, and actual brooms rather than ice brooms. I joined three other people to form a curling team and we visualized manipulating that cheese to our wills. Unfortunately Mother Nature had different plans, and the cheese curling was postponed to Monday. My apologies to "TeamCheesealicious" for not doing the 5 hour trip to play in the make-up game.
For some reason my eye is always drawn towards anything spicy. I picked up these two varieties of locally made Amish Cheese. A Habanero and Jalapeno wedge, and a chunk of Smoked Horseradish Cheese. The smoked horseradish cheese is excellent with just the right kick to compliment a roast beef sandwich. The habanero/jalapeno one is just pure heat. It's the difference between a good hot sauce and something that is just trying to injure you. I guess the name should have warned me, but I have too big of a spice ego to be scared. I'm Indian man!
Video of the week: Welcome to what has been called, "a toe-tappin' good time". Meet the Gunny Sack Revue. I counted at least 9 guitarists, and they created a good old-fashioned sound that resonated with contentment. This video of "I'm doing Alright" doesn't do the group justice, especially gauging by the audience applause it received after they began playing.
This festival had some great potential to be a true winner, but the rain managed to hamper a great deal. I'm no stranger to rain at festivals, and I put on my rain gear and soldiered on. I even called ahead to make sure the festival was not threatened by the weather. I was told that they have canceled events at the festival only once when the streets flooded over into the sidewalks. Mind you I had picked Saturday as the day to drive five hours round-trip because of the cheese curling tournament. Unfortunately I will have to re-start my training for next year.
There were also some strange food incorporations at this festival. I will grant that they did have dedicated sites for a breakfast option and a lunch option, these are ancillary options normally reserved to the more established and long running festivals. Yet, for some reason they offered a pancake and sausage breakfast and a Ham and Bean Sandwich for lunch. No Cheese? A cheese omelet or cheesy hash browns for breakfast, and I have no idea where to begin with the Ham and Bean Sandwich (Is that an actual item eaten by people with other options? ). I think this festival features an ingredient loved by everyone (except the lactose intolerant) and is easily incorporated into almost anything. There wasn't even any fried cheese curds or anything else cheese related to buy from the vendors.
The cheese festival was much larger than I had expected, and could have been great on a sunny day. A solid festival for sure. I also applaud their ingenuity in creating events using the theme ingredient such as: The Cheese Curling, a "Rat Race" 5k (which I mistakenly thought would actually be mice running through some sort of maze), the cheese eating competition (which is a nationally accredited event), and the ceremonial first cutting of the cheese (where they gave away a slice of cheese to everyone from a giant wheel of cheddar.
I don't want to portend to know a lot about the Amish culture, and quite frankly it confuses me a little. I mean man has used the same tools to create things to make the same tasks easier and more efficient. To me it's a no-brainer, I would have never made it to Arthur without my modern means. But, there is something interesting about the notion of anabaptism (to be baptized later in life when one understands what they are committing to), and staying true to a simple life. The modern world definitely complicates things beyond necessity and we all truly long for a simpler life. It takes a great strength to choose to live this lifestyle in today's age, and I honestly respect that. This site has some good information if you are interested in learning more about the Amish.
This was a great festival, that would have only been better had the weather cooperated. The only limit to cheese utilization is your own imagination. Cheese always reminds me of my mother giving me a slice of American cheese and a sleeve of Ritz Crackers. Although my tastes have evolved since then, very little beats that combination or a hot grilled cheese sandwich. I wonder if that habanero and jalapeno cheese melts into a good chip dip, or if the horseradish cheese would make a good grilled cheese. Time to find out.
The Great Godfrey Corn Maze is the big draw, bringing people from all across the lands to be one with the corn. This treasure can not go unprotected and has its own guard. Everything he wears is of heavy gauge stainless steel, including his helmet (but not including his sword).
An interesting dish called Pioneer Stew with cornbread and a slice of Apple Pie served on a metal tray. Pioneer stew is an odd concoction of beef, turkey, potatoes, green peppers, onions, and pineapples. Yes pineapples, it was like a bowl of chili with pineapples. Like many festival experiments, it was very interesting at first, then I realized why I hadn't had it before.
