October isn’t complete without a visit to the Georgia National Fair in Perry. When I was a student at Georgia Southern University, my college roommate and good friend Amanda and I would sing at the South Gate entertainment stage every year. Several friends would come to support us, and then we’d all walk around the fair and eat our share of funnel cakes. It was a tradition I looked forward to each fall, and this year was no exception.
While I didn’t sing, I did get to share the fair with my family, and three nieces who recently moved to Perry from Lascassass, Tennessee. They had never been to the Georgia National Fair before, and I loved getting to experience it with them. My 11-year-old niece Lydia ate her first funnel cake, and my youngest niece, Julia Hope, rode the sky buckets with me and didn’t even get scared. We watched a few shows, like the Extreme Water Ski and Stunt Show Spectacular and the Sea Lion Splash, and shopped at the Georgia Grown marketplace. I came home with all kinds of local goods, from strawberry jalapeno jam to spicy and mild cheese straws and fresh baked peanut butter pretzel cookies. The girls took pictures with the Stilt Circus characters and we even saw brown and white spotted llamas.
If you’ve never been, the food section is just amazing. They have flat top grills for what seems like miles filled with Italian sausages, turkey legs, chicken and barbecue ribs. The smell of that meat cooking is so enticing, but I tend to lean toward the sweet side of things. You can’t visit the fair without trying at least one thing deep fried. So, this year, it was deep fried Oreos and cookie dough. I have to say the Oreos were my favorite.
Speaking of the fair, today is the last day of the 60th annual Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair, and that’s another one I’ve always loved and know you will too. Be sure to join the fun and take advantage of this fall family tradition.
In the spirit of the Kiwanis fair and in honor of their famous pancakes, I’m sharing my Pumpkin Walnut Pancakes that I hope you’ll try with a hot cup of coffee. Enjoy the season!
Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser is a private chef and the author of the best-selling memoir “Some Kinda Good.” Featured in Forbes, on Food Network and ABC, she writes about Southern, coastal cuisine, locally sourced and in season.
Connect with her on social media by liking Some Kinda Good on Facebook, or follow @SKGFoodBlog on Instagram and Twitter. To learn more, visit RebekahLingenfelser.com.