Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat. How utterly depresssing. :|

It was supposed to be the Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Festival. It looked
more like the BV crap/food vendor rush of ought eight. We are all familiar
with the downtown festivals of all types that purport to be of some
social/historical origin, but are primarily to suck the funds out of every
rube's pocket. This was right on schedule.

I got to thinking about this reading the french fry thread. Well, there's a
new kid in town! A continous single twist-cut potato chip deep fried all at
once and piled onto a plate like some grease-twist mountain. No doubt tasty
for grease fiends and brilliantly easy to do. Twist cut, deep fry, and
serve.... only FIVE FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!

Sorry, I was a bit shaken, there, but I couldn't believe the prices being
charged for food at this place. Almost nothing was less than $6!
Hamburgers, tacos, brats, etc. Howzabout an $8 burrito?!!!! The cheapest
thing was a simple hotdog for $4.

These prices are more than the prices charged in a typical SFBA festival, at
least when I left. And don't give me that "gas is expensive" crap. Gas is
typically $.50gal less here in CO.

AFter walking around for about 3 hrs and going to my van to come back and
pick up Mom for the ride home, I passed a hot dog stand on the opposite
corner that was there before the festival and will no doubt be there after
the festival. All prices were 40-50% less than any stand in the festival
for the same item. Are those food vendors jes plain greedy or are they
getting reemed by the town?

I'll not bother to get into the vendors selling plain ol' crap.

nb

notbob wrote:
>
> Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat. How utterly depresssing. :|
>
> It was supposed to be the Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Festival. It looked
> more like the BV crap/food vendor rush of ought eight. We are all familiar
> with the downtown festivals of all types that purport to be of some
> social/historical origin, but are primarily to suck the funds out of every
> rube's pocket. This was right on schedule.

Yes, most festivals, food fairs, etc. generally suck donkey dong these
days. I don't waste my time on them.

>
> I got to thinking about this reading the french fry thread. Well, there's a
> new kid in town! A continous single twist-cut potato chip deep fried all at
> once and piled onto a plate like some grease-twist mountain. No doubt tasty
> for grease fiends and brilliantly easy to do. Twist cut, deep fry, and
> serve.... only FIVE FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!

Those are known as "Tornado Taters" at the TX state fair. I don't recall
the price, but they sure are a tasty heart attack in a tub, especially
topped with cheese.

>
> Sorry, I was a bit shaken, there, but I couldn't believe the prices being
> charged for food at this place. Almost nothing was less than $6!
> Hamburgers, tacos, brats, etc. Howzabout an $8 burrito?!!!! The cheapest
> thing was a simple hotdog for $4.

Must be all the fuel costs to transport stuff there, and the diesel for
the reffer trailers if the fair is big enough for those. That and
perhaps high charges for boot space from profiteering festival
promoters.

>
> These prices are more than the prices charged in a typical SFBA festival, at
> least when I left. And don't give me that "gas is expensive" crap. Gas is
> typically $.50gal less here in CO.
>
> AFter walking around for about 3 hrs and going to my van to come back and
> pick up Mom for the ride home, I passed a hot dog stand on the opposite
> corner that was there before the festival and will no doubt be there after
> the festival. All prices were 40-50% less than any stand in the festival
> for the same item. Are those food vendors jes plain greedy or are they
> getting reemed by the town?

I certainly wouldn't discount a greedy politician or two lining their
pockets.

>
> I'll not bother to get into the vendors selling plain ol' crap.

Some pretty pathetic stuff eh? I've on occasion entertained myself by
undermining a product infomercial style demo or two.

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat. How utterly depresssing. :|
>
> It was supposed to be the Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Festival. It looked
> more like the BV crap/food vendor rush of ought eight. We are all
> familiar
> with the downtown festivals of all types that purport to be of some
> social/historical origin, but are primarily to suck the funds out of every
> rube's pocket. This was right on schedule.
>
> I got to thinking about this reading the french fry thread. Well, there's
> a
> new kid in town! A continous single twist-cut potato chip deep fried all
> at
> once and piled onto a plate like some grease-twist mountain. No doubt
> tasty
> for grease fiends and brilliantly easy to do. Twist cut, deep fry, and
> serve.... only FIVE FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!
>
> Sorry, I was a bit shaken, there, but I couldn't believe the prices being
> charged for food at this place. Almost nothing was less than $6!
> Hamburgers, tacos, brats, etc. Howzabout an $8 burrito?!!!! The cheapest
> thing was a simple hotdog for $4.
>
> These prices are more than the prices charged in a typical SFBA festival,
> at
> least when I left. And don't give me that "gas is expensive" crap. Gas
> is
> typically $.50gal less here in CO.
>
> AFter walking around for about 3 hrs and going to my van to come back and
> pick up Mom for the ride home, I passed a hot dog stand on the opposite
> corner that was there before the festival and will no doubt be there after
> the festival. All prices were 40-50% less than any stand in the festival
> for the same item. Are those food vendors jes plain greedy or are they
> getting reemed by the town?
>
> I'll not bother to get into the vendors selling plain ol' crap.
>
> nb

What were you expecting?

I have only been to one fair that had semi decent food.

I think the attendance and/or ethnicity of the crowd had a lot to do with
it.

Dimitri

notbob wrote:
> Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat. How utterly depresssing. :|
>
> It was supposed to be the Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Festival. It
> looked more like the BV crap/food vendor rush of ought eight. We are
> all familiar with the downtown festivals of all types that purport to
> be of some social/historical origin, but are primarily to suck the
> funds out of every rube's pocket. This was right on schedule.
>
> I got to thinking about this reading the french fry thread. Well,
> there's a new kid in town! A continous single twist-cut potato chip
> deep fried all at once and piled onto a plate like some grease-twist
> mountain. No doubt tasty for grease fiends and brilliantly easy to
> do. Twist cut, deep fry, and serve.... only FIVE FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!
>
> Sorry, I was a bit shaken, there, but I couldn't believe the prices
> being charged for food at this place. Almost nothing was less than
> $6! Hamburgers, tacos, brats, etc. Howzabout an $8 burrito?!!!! The
> cheapest thing was a simple hotdog for $4.
>
> These prices are more than the prices charged in a typical SFBA
> festival, at least when I left. And don't give me that "gas is
> expensive" crap. Gas is typically $.50gal less here in CO.
>
> AFter walking around for about 3 hrs and going to my van to come back
> and pick up Mom for the ride home, I passed a hot dog stand on the
> opposite corner that was there before the festival and will no doubt
> be there after the festival. All prices were 40-50% less than any
> stand in the festival for the same item. Are those food vendors jes
> plain greedy or are they getting reemed by the town?
>
> I'll not bother to get into the vendors selling plain ol' crap.
>
> nb

A neighbor does roasted almonds. This year his booth cost on the West Coast
is $850 per day. Gotta sell a lot of almonds to cover that.
Janet

On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:44:20 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> wrote:

>notbob wrote:
>> Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat.


>A neighbor does roasted almonds. This year his booth cost on the West Coast
>is $850 per day. Gotta sell a lot of almonds to cover that.


Sounds as predictable as a downtown festival in Boise, Bradenton,
or the Bronx. At least Dollywood has BBQ'd turkey legs and
funnel cakes.

Billy <Hereiam@hotmaildotcom> wrote in
:

> On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:44:20 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > wrote:
>
>>notbob wrote:
>>> Took Mom to a downtown festival, Sat.
>
>
>>A neighbor does roasted almonds. This year his booth cost on the West
>>Coast is $850 per day. Gotta sell a lot of almonds to cover that.
>
>
> Sounds as predictable as a downtown festival in Boise, Bradenton,
> or the Bronx. At least Dollywood has BBQ'd turkey legs and
> funnel cakes.
>
>

I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
cakes...

Saerah

Dimitri wrote:
>
> What were you expecting?
>
> I have only been to one fair that had semi decent food.
>
> I think the attendance and/or ethnicity of the crowd had
> a lot to do with it.

A friend of mine had a Chinese girlfriend, and she
invited us to attend a Chinese food fair. Pretty much
everybody there was Chinese, except me and my friend.

I bought a couple of the marinated pork-on-a-stick.
One of the worst cases of food poisoning I ever had.

Food fairs that allow amateurs to participate are
not a good deal.

On 2008-08-11, Janet Bostwick > wrote:

> A neighbor does roasted almonds. This year his booth cost on the West Coast
> is $850 per day. Gotta sell a lot of almonds to cover that.
> Janet

I wondered about the economics of these festivals/fairs. Since the primary
point seems to be the vendors and not the alleged theme of said fair (art,
food, history, etc), I have to assume these municipalities have it all
worked out as to how much $$$ they are going to reap and how much they will
charge vendors for the privilege of shaking down the rubes. Eight-fifty
seems quite high, since some of these vendors look like they don't gross one
quarter that, but I guess it depends on the locale/event and what you're
selling. In the end, I can see no reason for these events other than to
fill town coffers, so I'm sure the vendors pay dearly for their spot and
have to charge accordingly and that more than just simple greed was the
determining factor on the absurd price points.

Anyone else having any info on the economics of fair/festival vendors?

nb

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:18:20 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-08-11, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>
>> A neighbor does roasted almonds. This year his booth cost on the West Coast
>> is $850 per day. Gotta sell a lot of almonds to cover that.
>> Janet
>
>I wondered about the economics of these festivals/fairs. Since the primary
>point seems to be the vendors and not the alleged theme of said fair (art,
>food, history, etc), I have to assume these municipalities have it all
>worked out as to how much $$$ they are going to reap and how much they will
>charge vendors for the privilege of shaking down the rubes. Eight-fifty
>seems quite high, since some of these vendors look like they don't gross one
>quarter that, but I guess it depends on the locale/event and what you're
>selling. In the end, I can see no reason for these events other than to
>fill town coffers, so I'm sure the vendors pay dearly for their spot and
>have to charge accordingly and that more than just simple greed was the
>determining factor on the absurd price points.
>
>Anyone else having any info on the economics of fair/festival vendors?

We just got through with the taste of Chicago. There was one vendor
(restaurant) interviewed for TV who said he made over half his years
profit during the 10 days of the fest. So I guess is can be
profitable in the right situation. But we did have 1.2 million people
attend. I'll bet a small city would have much different results.

Lou

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:20:46 GMT, sarah gray >
wrote:

>I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
>cakes...

Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

sf wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:20:46 GMT, sarah gray >
> wrote:
>
>> I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
>> cakes...
>
> Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>

For those of us who have never had one, please tell us what an Elephant
ear is. Thanks, and here's a potato for you.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/...1b8de35bc3.jpg

Becca

Dimitri wrote:

> What were you expecting?
>
> I have only been to one fair that had semi decent food.
>
> I think the attendance and/or ethnicity of the crowd had a lot to do
> with it.
>
> Dimitri

We have a mixture here in Louisiana; some good, some bad. We have
funnel cakes, but we also boudin, jambalaya, beans & rice, catfish,
crawfish, oysters on the half shell, corn on the cob and turkey legs.
Like he mentioned, the food is not cheap. The food they serve at ethnic
festivals, like the Greek Festival, are pretty good.

Becca

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:10:23 -0700, sf wrote:

>Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>


Tomato....toooooemaaato...potato........potatoe... .........it's all
the same when it comes to funnel cakes/elephant ears....

sf wrote in :

> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:20:46 GMT, sarah gray >
> wrote:
>
>>I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
>>cakes...
>
> Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>
>
>

Ellie knows that even if I don't give in to her pleas for fair food every
time we are at one of those things, she will at least get a corn dog and an
elephant ear at the state fair. Because that way I get to have them, too

Saerah

Becca > wrote in news:6ge7faFfhss6U1
@mid.individual.net:

> sf wrote:
>> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:20:46 GMT, sarah gray >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
>>> cakes...
>>
>> Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>
>
> For those of us who have never had one, please tell us what an
Elephant
> ear is. Thanks, and here's a potato for you.
>
> http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/...1b8de35bc3.jpg
>
> Becca
>
>

when nb posted about the potato, I assumed he was talking about these:
http://badfortunecookie.blogspot.com...fly-fries.html

which they have at the fairs here all the time.

an elephant ear is a large (dinner plate sized) circle of sweetened
dough, deep fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar( and sometimes
other flavorings.) I am a purist, for the most part. If they have
cinnamon, I might ask for a little of that

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6412917...423805/in/set-
72157601662061344/

Saerah

sarah gray wrote:

>> For those of us who have never had one, please tell us what an
>> Elephant ear is. Thanks, and here's a potato for you.
>>
>> http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/...1b8de35bc3.jpg
>>
>> Becca
>>
>>
>
> when nb posted about the potato, I assumed he was talking about these:
> http://badfortunecookie.blogspot.com...fly-fries.html
>
> which they have at the fairs here all the time.
>
> an elephant ear is a large (dinner plate sized) circle of sweetened
> dough, deep fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar( and sometimes
> other flavorings.) I am a purist, for the most part. If they have
> cinnamon, I might ask for a little of that
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/6412917...423805/in/set-
> 72157601662061344/
>
> Saerah

That photo was the Texas Tornado that I was familiar with, but we have
the ones that you posted too. We get plenty of trashtastic food at our
festivals, but we have some healthy foods, too. I am sure I would love
the Elephant Ear. :-P

BTW, if it is 'trashtastic', then I love it. If I do not like it, then
it is 'craptastic'. Thanks for the link to Elephant Ears! Dang, now
I'm hungry.

Becca

sarah gray wrote:
> Becca > wrote in news:6ge7faFfhss6U1
> @mid.individual.net:
>
>
>>sf wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:20:46 GMT, sarah gray >
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I always have a hard time deciding between elephant ears and funnel
>>>>cakes...
>>>
>>>Elephant ears, hands down! Haven't had one in years. <Slobber>
>>
>>For those of us who have never had one, please tell us what an
>
> Elephant
>
>>ear is. Thanks, and here's a potato for you.
>>
>>http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/...1b8de35bc3.jpg
>>
>>Becca
>>
>>
>
>
> when nb posted about the potato, I assumed he was talking about these:
> http://badfortunecookie.blogspot.com...fly-fries.html
>
> which they have at the fairs here all the time.
>
> an elephant ear is a large (dinner plate sized) circle of sweetened
> dough, deep fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar( and sometimes
> other flavorings.) I am a purist, for the most part. If they have
> cinnamon, I might ask for a little of that
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/6412917...423805/in/set-
> 72157601662061344/

At the St. Charles County Fair in addition to the usual fair food, they
sell deep-fried chicken livers and gizzards. You can order either or
both. I go for the livers, which are wonderful just as served, but I
can never resist dousing them in one of the many hot sauces they have on
the counter outside.

That booth (actually a trailer) is always sited down by the horse arena
where they have the rodeo events and mule jumping. I love seeing
teen-aged girls in spangles and Tammy Faye eye makeup wolfing down
deep-fried gizzards then entering the ring on top of twelve hundred
pounds of stupid, roping a calf, then leaping down to tie up three
months worth of vigorously protesting hamburger.

My daughter (age 17) is heading down to the Chuckwagon races with the
crew from her barn Labor Day weekend in Clinton, Arkansas. Three days
of camping, racing, concerts, barn dances and barbecues.
http://www.chuckwagonraces.com/
She's stoked because "Outlaw Wimmen", an Arkansas team she met down
there last year, has asked her to be an outrider for them. The event is
huge, with thousands of horses and riders.

Last year she called me and I could hardly understand what she was
saying for all of the yelling and hollering going on. Turns out she'd
been challenged to a race by some locals and beat them riding bareback,
winning several hundred dollars in the process. The noise was her
friends from the barn carrying on.

In the interim between the official events the announcers would play
music and announce the various unofficial races and grudge matches going
on down on the field. Al, the old man who owns the stable where my
daughter boards her horse, told me they'd announced a race involving a
little red-haired gal ridin' bareback against 4 local boys and he said
he went hustling over to watch because he knew there was only one girl
that matched the description.

She handed them their asses, they handed her the cash and she'd promptly
turned around and gave Al a couple hundred to cover gas money for
trailering the horses down. Then she went shopping, buying presents for
family, friends and the girls she gives riding lessons to.

Al raced in the Snowy River Run (a three day event) and took a rock to
the face, shattering his sunglasses. The next day he told my daughter,
"Girly, I hate to do it but I'm gonna ask you for those fancy glasses of
yours for the race".

She forked over the Oakleys. He took several more rocks to the face,
ruining the glasses but not his eyes, and wound up winning 10 grand on
the race. He gave her a saddle in trade for the shades.

Dear daughter says she's never eaten anything as good as the barbeque
that weekend. The meat came down to the event on the hoof and was
slaughtered and cooked on site. I have no doubt that it was good 'que,
but I also know that hunger is the best spice.

While there she made new friends, kicked some ass, danced under the
stars, rode horses, mules and a longhorn steer - his owner was a great
big gal, probably 6'4", and she'd had him fitted out with a cow saddle.
No bridle, no reins, she'd just reach forward, grab his horns and turn
his head to wherever she wanted to go.

I won't say I don't worry about her, but I also think it's amazingly
cool that there's this part of American history that's still alive and
vibrant and thriving and that she's part of it.

On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:25:06 -0500, Kathleen
> wrote:

>My daughter (age 17) is heading down to the Chuckwagon races with the
>crew from her barn Labor Day weekend in Clinton, Arkansas.

<snip>

Thanks for the take-along. You have reason to be very proud. Good for
you and your daughter!
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

Becca > wrote in
:

> sarah gray wrote:
>
>>> For those of us who have never had one, please tell us what an
>>> Elephant ear is. Thanks, and here's a potato for you.
>>>
>>> http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1365/...1b8de35bc3.jpg
>>>
>>> Becca
>>>
>>>
>>
>> when nb posted about the potato, I assumed he was talking about
>> these:
>> http://badfortunecookie.blogspot.com...fly-fries.html
>>
>> which they have at the fairs here all the time.
>>
>> an elephant ear is a large (dinner plate sized) circle of sweetened
>> dough, deep fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar( and
>> sometimes other flavorings.) I am a purist, for the most part. If
>> they have cinnamon, I might ask for a little of that
>>
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/6412917...423805/in/set-
>> 72157601662061344/
>>
>> Saerah
>
> That photo was the Texas Tornado that I was familiar with, but we have
> the ones that you posted too. We get plenty of trashtastic food at
> our festivals, but we have some healthy foods, too. I am sure I would
> love the Elephant Ear. :-P
>
> BTW, if it is 'trashtastic', then I love it. If I do not like it,
> then it is 'craptastic'. Thanks for the link to Elephant Ears! Dang,
> now I'm hungry.
>
> Becca
>
>
>

I try to eat decently most of the time, but fair food is a big treat,
esspecially when you don't eat fast food much. I am so looking forward
to the elephant ear I'm splitting with Ellie at the state fair, heh.

I think I'll have to get some of those potato things, too, heh.

Saerah

sarah gray wrote:
> Becca > wrote in

>> That photo was the Texas Tornado that I was familiar with, but we have
>> the ones that you posted too. We get plenty of trashtastic food at
>> our festivals, but we have some healthy foods, too. I am sure I would
>> love the Elephant Ear. :-P
>>
>> BTW, if it is 'trashtastic', then I love it. If I do not like it,
>> then it is 'craptastic'. Thanks for the link to Elephant Ears! Dang,
>> now I'm hungry.
>>
>> Becca
>
> I try to eat decently most of the time, but fair food is a big treat,
> esspecially when you don't eat fast food much. I am so looking forward
> to the elephant ear I'm splitting with Ellie at the state fair, heh.
>
> I think I'll have to get some of those potato things, too, heh.
>
> Saerah

If you behave during the week, I see nothing wrong with having a treat.
The only time we eat fast food, is when we are traveling. We travel
often, so I try to behave, even when I am out of town. Still, I find
ways to misbehave. :P

Becca

notbob wrote:
>
> AFter walking around for about 3 hrs and going to my van to come back and
> pick up Mom for the ride home, I passed a hot dog stand on the opposite
> corner that was there before the festival and will no doubt be there after
> the festival. All prices were 40-50% less than any stand in the festival
> for the same item. Are those food vendors jes plain greedy or are they
> getting reemed by the town?
>
> I'll not bother to get into the vendors selling plain ol' crap.

I had a major disappointment at a local festival. We went by bicycle,
pedaling over 12 miles to get to the event. In previous years I had had
excellent Indian food and Gyros. As we were getting close to the even I
was starting to get hungry and had a hankering for a nice Gyros like the
one I had the last time I went to it.

I came across a concession that was selling Beef Fajitas, Chicken
Slouvaki and their "world class Gyros" and ordered one. I should have
been more aware of what they were serving to the people ahead of me.
They had a big warming tray of fried onions and peppers (red and green)
that they were putting on everything..... hardly any meat but a lot of
this universal filler. They topped my gyros <?> with a squirt of a very
liquid sauce.

It was disgusting. There was hardly any gyros meat in it, and the meat
tasted like it was all pork, no beef or lamb in it. The sauce was mostly
basically a very wet yogurt and garlic, no cucumber.

Meanwhile, my wife had gone elsewhere and got an order of chicken
nuggets. They were even worse than my gyros.

I don't see myself being motivated to go back next year.

notbob wrote:

> I wondered about the economics of these festivals/fairs. Since the primary
> point seems to be the vendors and not the alleged theme of said fair (art,
> food, history, etc), I have to assume these municipalities have it all
> worked out as to how much $$$ they are going to reap and how much they will
> charge vendors for the privilege of shaking down the rubes. Eight-fifty
> seems quite high, since some of these vendors look like they don't gross one
> quarter that, but I guess it depends on the locale/event and what you're
> selling. In the end, I can see no reason for these events other than to
> fill town coffers, so I'm sure the vendors pay dearly for their spot and
> have to charge accordingly and that more than just simple greed was the
> determining factor on the absurd price points.
>
> Anyone else having any info on the economics of fair/festival vendors?

There is an annual Food Fair in the city next to us that used to be
quite enjoyable. When it first started it was a lot of fun. A number of
local restaurants and wineries would set up booths and over samples of
their dishes for a reasonable amount. Basically, you got about a half
serving of appetizers for about half what they charge in their
restaurants. It was a good way for them to spotlight their businesses.

Then the festival organizers introduced the "bite bucks", tokens that
you had to use to buy things instead of cash, and prices soared. While
it used to be quite cheap to sample their wares it is now quite
expenive. You can't get half of a Thai spring roll for 50 cents. Now it
is $3 for one. No more samples of wine for $1, they are now $4 or more.
Meanwhile, the better restaurants have pulled out and it is now
mostly the usual concessions that you see everywhere else.

On Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:33:22 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>I came across a concession that was selling Beef Fajitas, Chicken
>Slouvaki and their "world class Gyros" and ordered one. I should have
>been more aware of what they were serving to the people ahead of me.
>They had a big warming tray of fried onions and peppers (red and green)
>that they were putting on everything..... hardly any meat but a lot of
>this universal filler. They topped my gyros <?> with a squirt of a very
>liquid sauce.
>
>It was disgusting. There was hardly any gyros meat in it, and the meat
>tasted like it was all pork, no beef or lamb in it. The sauce was mostly
>basically a very wet yogurt and garlic, no cucumber.
>
>Meanwhile, my wife had gone elsewhere and got an order of chicken
>nuggets. They were even worse than my gyros.

Try sqwerts's gyro recipe from the RFC signature dishes page. It's
just as good as anything I can get here in Chicago.

Lou

Lou Decruss wrote:

>
> Try sqwerts's gyro recipe from the RFC signature dishes page. It's
> just as good as anything I can get here in Chicago.
>

I just had a look at it. It is different from the one I do, which always
turns out nicely.

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:49:57 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>Lou Decruss wrote:
>
>>
>> Try sqwerts's gyro recipe from the RFC signature dishes page. It's
>> just as good as anything I can get here in Chicago.
>>
>
>I just had a look at it. It is different from the one I do, which always
>turns out nicely.

Care to post yours?

please?/???

Lou

Lou Decruss wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:49:57 -0400, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
>> Lou Decruss wrote:
>>
>>> Try sqwerts's gyro recipe from the RFC signature dishes page. It's
>>> just as good as anything I can get here in Chicago.
>>>
>> I just had a look at it. It is different from the one I do, which always
>> turns out nicely.
>
> Care to post yours?
>
> please?/???
>
> Lou

GYROS

1/2 lb Ground lamb
1/2 lb Ground beef
2 slices semi dried (day old) bread
2 Cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 Tbls Fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Ground funugreek
1/4 tsp Ground cumin
1 Egg, beaten

Combine the ingredients and mix thoroughly in a food processor. Place
the mixture in a loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes in a loaf pan. When
done, let it cool with a (full) juice can or other heavy object.

To server, slice and heat on griddle or grill pan and place on a warmed
Pita with chopped onion, tomato, feta and top with Tzitzki sauce.

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:24:12 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>Lou Decruss wrote:
>> On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:49:57 -0400, Dave Smith
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Lou Decruss wrote:
>>>
>>>> Try sqwerts's gyro recipe from the RFC signature dishes page. It's
>>>> just as good as anything I can get here in Chicago.
>>>>
>>> I just had a look at it. It is different from the one I do, which always
>>> turns out nicely.
>>
>> Care to post yours?
>>
>> please?/???
>>
>> Lou
>
>GYROS
>
>1/2 lb Ground lamb
>1/2 lb Ground beef
>2 slices semi dried (day old) bread
>2 Cloves garlic, chopped fine
>2 Tbls Fresh parsley, chopped
>1 tsp Salt
>1/4 tsp Pepper
>1/4 tsp Ground funugreek
>1/4 tsp Ground cumin
>1 Egg, beaten
>
>Combine the ingredients and mix thoroughly in a food processor. Place
>the mixture in a loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes in a loaf pan. When
>done, let it cool with a (full) juice can or other heavy object.

I don't understand the juice can thing?

>To server, slice and heat on griddle or grill pan and place on a warmed
>Pita with chopped onion, tomato, feta and top with Tzitzki sauce.

I like the parsley addition. I've also heard some use carrot. I put
your recipe in my file and I'll experiment. I don't think I'll use
beef though. I like all lamb. Thanks for posting this Dave.

Lou

Dave Smith wrote:

> There is an annual Food Fair in the city next to us that used to be
> quite enjoyable. When it first started it was a lot of fun. A number of
> local restaurants and wineries would set up booths and over samples of
> their dishes for a reasonable amount. Basically, you got about a half
> serving of appetizers for about half what they charge in their
> restaurants. It was a good way for them to spotlight their businesses.
>
> Then the festival organizers introduced the "bite bucks", tokens that
> you had to use to buy things instead of cash, and prices soared. While
> it used to be quite cheap to sample their wares it is now quite
> expenive. You can't get half of a Thai spring roll for 50 cents. Now it
> is $3 for one. No more samples of wine for $1, they are now $4 or more.
> Meanwhile, the better restaurants have pulled out and it is now
> mostly the usual concessions that you see everywhere else.

Sounds like fun, it is too bad that the better restaurants pulled out.

Every year, Epcot has a Food & Wine Festival. Each marketplace has
samples of food, beer and wine you can purchase. We have gone twice and
we enjoyed it. The weather is nice, there are no crowds and it is fun
to sample foods from different areas around the world. Some friends who
went with us tried the different beers and they had a good time.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/

Becca

Becca wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>
>> There is an annual Food Fair in the city next to us that used to be
>> quite enjoyable. When it first started it was a lot of fun. A number
>> of local restaurants and wineries would set up booths and over samples
>> of their dishes for a reasonable amount. Basically, you got about a
>> half serving of appetizers for about half what they charge in their
>> restaurants. It was a good way for them to spotlight their businesses.
>>
>> Then the festival organizers introduced the "bite bucks", tokens that
>> you had to use to buy things instead of cash, and prices soared. While
>> it used to be quite cheap to sample their wares it is now quite
>> expenive. You can't get half of a Thai spring roll for 50 cents. Now
>> it is $3 for one. No more samples of wine for $1, they are now $4 or
>> more. Meanwhile, the better restaurants have pulled out and it is
>> now mostly the usual concessions that you see everywhere else.
>
> Sounds like fun, it is too bad that the better restaurants pulled out.

It used to be fun. It was a good way for local restaurants to get some
exposure and let people taste their food. There were a couple of
restaurants that impressed me enough that I went to them for meals. Then
there were those which I knew about and seeing them in action turned me
off them, like one that had a shrimp dish on their menu but I saw that
they were just adding frozen cooked shrimp at the last minute instead of
using raw shrimp.

It seems to have gone the way of a lot of other exhibitions that have
devolved from good marketing exercises to quick money grabs. The CNE in
Toronto used to be a lot of fun. When I was a kid the Pure Food Building
exhibitors used to hand out all sorts of free samples, or sold them very
cheap. Some of them handed out coupons for free drinks,milk shakes etc.
but the last time I was there the free samples were gone and they were
more into selling snacks at inflated prices.


> Every year, Epcot has a Food & Wine Festival. Each marketplace has
> samples of food, beer and wine you can purchase. We have gone twice and
> we enjoyed it. The weather is nice, there are no crowds and it is fun
> to sample foods from different areas around the world. Some friends who
> went with us tried the different beers and they had a good time.
>
> http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/
>

Thirteen years and it is still a good deal. Good for them.