Anybody that has been following my Facebook posts for the last month knows I'm working on eating healthier, losing inches, body fat, and even weight. Yesterday I announced at the beginning of the day that it was going to be an entire cheat day. I announced this because I was going to the Oregon State Fair and it is the first time I have gone to a fair in several years. I went with the thought that I would enjoy whatever I wanted while I was at the fair. Nothing was going to be off-limits, elephant ears, funnel cakes, giant burritos, corn dogs, deep fried twinkies, anything that I had the urge to try while I was there was fair game.
We were there from 4-10pm. Pairings, located in the "Hart of the Garden", was the initial reason for attending. There were 15 each of the wine and food vendors. They need some tips from Savor Idaho because they should have had at least five more of each.
I've been spoiled watching Savor Idaho grow under the direction of Moya Shatz, which now sells out every year, this was the first year I wasn't able to go. The Hart of the Garden location was nice and green but, what do you expect from Oregon. I asked one of the restaurant vendors what the expected turnout was and they had been told to expect 1000 people.
The Statesman Journal newspaper article I just read said at least 50 people showed up. That would be like saying, "Well at least two people showed up." I think the reporter needs to learn how to count because there were at least 150-200 people when I was there at 4. They also need to check their spellings manually it would seem since they listed the location as being in the "Heart of the Garden" when it is the "Hart of the Garden" since Hart's Nursery maintains that area.
Changes that I would have made would be to move the event to the weekend. Most people that work Monday-Friday aren't able to leave early enough to attend a 4pm event. If I hadn't been able to leave work early I wouldn't have been able to make the drive down from Beaverton and get there before 7pm. People were still trickling in at about 5:45, when Tracy and I left the "Hart of the Garden" to explore the rest of the fair, since we had nothing left to try. Unfortunately we didn't even stick around for the second musical act of Patrick Lamb. I will have to make a point of catching another one of his performances.
We tried the "Paired" wine from each wine vendor along with the corresponding food item. The slow cooked lamb with blueberries was nice. Even the bread cubes with Olive Grand vinegars and oil to dip in were good. I enjoyed the Blood Orange olive oil paired with the Red Apple balsamic vinegar. Though I don't know if you can really count that as a food vendor. The Aged Gouda from Willamette Valley Cheese Co. was an excellent choice and they were generous with their cheese servings. What it made me want though was a nice simple fruit and cheese plate to pair with the wines.
I don't think that there was any real thought beforehand as to which wines to pair with which food vendor. Maybe there was and my unsophisticated palate just didn't notice it but the only one that went stunningly well together was the one paired with that Gouda cheese. It wasn't a wine that I would normally drink, it was dusky tasting red but the combination of that and the mellow deep flavors of the gouda were perfect.
I tried several different Pinot Noirs, Pinot Gris, Chardonnays, Muscat, Dolceto, and Viogniers. Out of all the wine I tried I only bought two bottles. The choice ended up surprising me because I was looking for a nice light wine to drink in the evening after work (doctor's orders I need to bring my HDLs up) I ended up with a dessert Viognier from Walnut City Wineworks. Now I just have to figure out what I will be pairing it with because it definitely wont be a Nutella Crepe.
There was plenty of seating scattered around but it really wasn't a day that made me want to sit. The acoustic music from 4-6 was really entertaining and made a nice background to the wine tasting. We didn't have to wait in any line with more than two people in front of us. The food was ok and I did manage to find an Italian restaurant in Salem that I want to try, Gambertti's .
As to the fair food I ended up buy a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade
with 1/2 the sugar cause I like it tart, and an elephant ear, I felt bad
throwing it away but after about 1/4 of it I was done.
The best part of the day was the company of my good friend Tracy. We even stopped and glanced at the Oregon Author's booth so that combines my three favorite things in one day.
Good Books,
Good Wine,
Good Friends
What Could be Better.
