Mad as a Hatter in San Diego

Mad Hatter, Steampunk and Food on the Fry

If you’ve seen one county fair, you’ve seen them all, right? I mean, they all have the requisite 4H and FFF entries of cows, sheep, rabbits, chickens and the like, don’t they? Your nostrils are accosted by the conglomeration of scents wafting from stands selling the usual manner of fair food; turkey legs, corn, fried everything-under-the-sun (I even saw fried lemonade and fried butter this year!), funnel cakes, kettle corn, and a wide variety of Mexican offerings. And cheese! So many ways to eat melty, gooey, greasy cheese!

But I digress. All fairs have a horticulture (that’s flower and garden) section where visiting bees stop by for a sample. Buildings are full of vendors selling the latest gadgets and gizmos and, my personal favorite, small businesses selling hand made crafts, foods, lotions, and potions.

So, nothing new to see, right? Even the vendors start looking familiar after a couple of fairs.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Fair

Um, not really. The San Diego County Fair took it all up a notch. They used this year’s theme, Mad About the Fair to full effect. From the people dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland, to the building filled with nothing but Wonderland-esque exhibits (including an audience participation Mad Tea Party), to the amazing graphics throughout the fair, stepping through the gates took you into an incredible experience of Alice meets Steampunk.

It’s a tram, no, it’s a cat…just get on already!

We arrived at the fair around 11 and visitors were already being directed to the dirt lot out in the south 40 where shuttles ran frequently between the 2 gates and the lot. Anticipating hours of walking, we opted to take it slow and board one of the trams which had been dressed up for the event. Sporting pointy ears and a Cheshire cat grin, the tram wound it’s way through the parking lots, picking up and delivering guests along the way.  As we approached the gates, flowers with a decidedly human feel marked our approach.

There was no way of avoiding the solid wall of food vendors lining both sides of the walkway leading into the fair proper, nor the scents of sugar, salt and grease teasing the nostrils and tempting the tummies. But we were on a mission.

First Stop-Home Arts

Photographer and Chef, Heather Hewes had taken techniques acquired during 2 years of culinary arts studies to enter a few things in the Home Arts competition. With high hopes but tempered expectations, we speed-walked past all the food to find and record her results.

Her pickled pineapple was one of the day’s winners, earning both first place and best of division. Her butter flake rolls took second place in their division, though I can assure you, they tasted like heaven to me! First place went to Lucia Yandell for her sweet and tangy yeast roll.  Heather’s red wine bundt cakes were out of the money this time, but there’s always next year! Other cooks and bakers displayed their talents to fine effect. The cake decorating, in particular showed both artistic and engineering skills. The first place winner in the fondant, fair themed division, Perla Castaneda is worth at least a mention and a photograph. Her cake was truly worthy of a place amongst other fine art. No detail was overlooked in her amazing rendition of the Mad Hatter, himself.

The table setting competition continued with whimsy and creativity while incorporating the fair’s theme. Addie Hadley took away not only First Place and Best in the Casual Division but Best in Show for her birthday display of woodland creatures all of which were hand made!

Words and even pictures can do no more than give you a small taste of the talent and skill of both the fair organizers and participants but I’ll try my best. In order to do it justice, however, I’m going to have to turn this story into a two-parter. So let me leave you with this final, spectacular entry.

Cathaleen Soderberg took three awards for this gorgeous needlepoint butterfly: First Place, Class 10-Other, Best in Division, and a donated award from the American Needlepoint Guild.

Don’t forget to come back for the Mad Tea Party, Steampunk Style

Stay tuned. In my next article, I’ll give you a tour of the building dedicated to all things Alice and Steampunk (with a little Grace Slick thrown in for good measure), the creativity of the horticulturists and a few of the personalities and maybe a few surprises! The Fair runs through the end of June. Check out their calendar so you can plan out your visits.

Special thanks to Heather Hewes  of #bakes by heather for all photographs contained in this article. None of the photographs may be reproduced, used or sold without express permission of the photographer.

Heather Hewes is a Chef with more than a passing interest in photography. Melding her two passions allows her to look at what she does from different perspectives while feeding her need to keep learning.