The Washington County Fair! by Jack Tiggleman.

As luck would have it, our visit coincided with the Washington County Fair, and being the Michigan redneck I am, I begged Suvir to take us. Fortunately for me, it's his favorite week of the summer.

Before heading out to the fair, Suvir treated us all to some of the best eggs I have ever had.

Never before in all of my 13 years have I had eggs that were just laid the night before. And never in my life have I had eggs that tasted this good. I am normally not the breakfast kind of guy, but I gulped these down and asked for seconds, and I was even tempted for thirds.

The yolk had a beautiful, orange color, looking like the the rising sun was plopped down in the middle of my plate. The cheese had been perfectly melted into the egg itself, making it taste almost like an omelet, yet a hundred times better than the best omelet I've ever had. Actually, it was probably a hundred times better than all of the eggs I've ever had. I don't know how I'll be able to go back to real life after the American Masala farm. My mom better kick her breakfast up a notch. 

After my stomach was filled to the brim, we headed out to the county fair. Where, surprisingly, the first thing we did was get a big Bucket-O-Fries.

It was kind of hard to carry both drinks and the bucket of fries, so I came up with a creative solution.

  
Somehow, even after such a delicious breakfast, I still probably ate a whole Bucket O Fries by myself. 

 
 

After we were all even more stuffed than we were before, we went to see the cows. One of the baby cows got a little thirsty during the day, so he got some milk from his mommy. We also saw one of the cows being groomed by one of Suvir and Charlies' friends Brian Gilchrist.

After we saw all of the cows, we headed over to where the piggies are. As much as I love bacon, its kind of sad to think that these cute little piglets will be on my breakfast plate someday! Thankfully, the little boy next to the pig said that his family only raises pigs to be pets.

 

Finally, we saw all of the chickens, many of which, as Suvir pointed out, could be found back at the farm. 

After we saw all of the animals, we (well, Suvir, Mattie and I, Charlie and my Mom were too chicken) headed on over to where the rides were. The swing ride was relatively gentle, but the rides only got more ferocious.

My mom didn't like this ride a lot, I think she almost puked just watching us. It was actually quite fun!!! 

  

Finally, we have... the Tilt a Whirl (or some such name). I didn't like this one very much, to be honest. After I got off, I felt like I was going to tilt, and hurl. Somehow, I still had enough power in me to throw three baseballs.

After three tries, I somehow broke three beer bottle bottoms in a row, winning me this giant dog I like to call 'Puppy.' Sadly, I won't be able to bring Puppy home with me, as it might be kind of hard to get him on the airplane. He will be my donation to the American Masala Farm kids room.

We then ordered three of the unhealthiest things I have ever seen: Deep fried oreos, snickers, and Reeses.

I think I gained five pounds just by eating them, but they were sooooooo good!!! The oreos were probably the best, as the cream melted perfectly with the chocolate, and the Snickers were really good as well, as they had a little bit of a crunch because of the peanuts. The Reeses had a little too much peanut butter, but they were still pretty good!

After a great day of fried stuff and animals, we sadly had to head back to the farm. On the way back, we stopped at Battenkill Valley Creamery, where we picked up some chocolate milk, cream, milk, and some delicious ice cream.

If you can't see it, in the background is how much milk a cow makes in a day, which is about nine gallons of milk! The ice cream I got was cookies and cream, with the cookies folded into the cream right in front of my eyes.

They also showed us where they stored and processed all of the milk.

 

As if we didn't have enough to eat, when we got home Charlie made some delicious pasta straight out of the American Masala cookbook! If you have the cookbook and want to try the dish, its the baked ziti with vegetable sauce. If for some reason you don't have the cookbook, you should get it right away! The pasta will definitely be a favorite of our family's for years to come.

 

Tomorrow we will be headed to Lake George, stay tuned!  

Comments

[Craig Tiggleman]

Jack, another AMAZING post, thank you so much for sharing! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time!
I miss you and Mattie - love you both!!! Dad

[Sally]

Hi Jack - I am so sorry to be missing all this fun. You are certainly the intrepid reporter, willing to have all kinds of food decorating your face. Bravo!! Next time you are in town I will have you on my tv show - perhaps you have a favorite cooking gadget you could demonstrate? Actually, I love the ones that don't work - especially if they are the "as seen on tv" variety.
I am glad you are enjoying the area and having so much fun. I am a caterer and today I am making something like 20 pies from scratch so that's why you haven't seen me around. Keep up the good work - I appreciate the smile you have put on my face when I take quick breaks to look at your blog. I love fried dough, and your photos made me salivate! Darn you! Aren't Suvir and Charlie just the best!?!?!
your future friend - Sally

[Paula]

Jack! Great posts! You are a natural blogger. Your photos absolutely capture the spirit of the fair, and your eggs photos make my mouth water. I especially like the picture of the eggs in the carton.
After meeting you over at the fair at the Argle Fire Department concession I happened to catch sight of you and your crew in the rides area (I was waiting for my duaghter at the Zipper) at the moment that you won the big Puppy. It was fun to see how delighted everyone was with your success. After years of going to the fair, I can tell you honestly that it's hard to win such a big prize. Good for you! I hope you enjoy Lake George. I look forward to hearing about it.

[suvir saran]

Jack - your photographs and your writing are very evocative of that which you describe. A wonderful gift for you to have. Enjoy it and use it to your advantage and for the benefit of others like us.

Thanks for making time to share your musings with us.

Paula - you are really very special and kind. Thanks for coming by to the blog and for your encouraging words to Jack. We missed seeing you all again. Hope you all enjoyed the fair. We had so much fun. Jack, Mattie and I went on almost all rides and several times on a few of them.
You will hear about his Lake George and Vermont adventures in the next couple of days.

[Bonnie]

Those eggs are so beautiful! I have enjoyed Jack's account of his visit with Suvir and Charlie. State Fairs...you gotta love 'em. I went to the Iowa state fari many years ago and had a blast. People everywhere having fun, lots of animals, rides, stuff, and food and animal events...even music. I bet there was some nice music too.

Seeing folks have fun at a place like a fair is an old fashioned piece of America...thanks for the memories.

I look forward to reading Jack's story on Vermont and Lake George (aaah, Lake George) on Tiggleman's wild adventure..

Man, those eggs are beautiful!

[AN]

Excellent posts and pics--bravo!
Annette Nielsen

[Karen Sheldon]

Jack, It was great meeting you, your sister and Mom. I really enjoyed your pictures, especially the one showing how much milk a cow produces in a day. You are a natural writer! Keep it up and enjoy the rest of your vacation. Good luck with school, Karen