One of the traditions of the Fair is the Culinary contests and competitions - we still give out blue ribbons for Grandma’s apple pie. What’s fun is watching contestants compete against each other at the on-site competitions - especially when the contestants happen to be married to each other.

That was the scenario today at the Tamale! Tamale! Tamale! competition. Camille and Erik Waage of San Dimas arrived with their entries at the same time (well, they did drive together from home). they placed their competing tamales at the judges’ tables. You could see the competitive fires burning inside husband and wife. Ok, fine, they sat together, relaxing and chatting. Sheesh, work with me here, people!

After tasting Camille’s red chile pork tamales and Erik’s Tilamook pepper jack cheese tamales, the judges compared notes. It took only a few minutes of discussion before a winner was revealed: the blue ribbon goes to (drumrollllll) Camille! It was tough, but the judges liked the flavorful pork a little more than the cheese, although they did say the cheese recipe was a good, tasty simple recipe.

The Waages revealed there is no fiery discord in their kitchen. Camille is the true family cook; for Erik, cooking is more of a hobby. Their love of culinary adventures comes from both of their mothers, who, the couple said, are excellent cooks. And both Erik and Camille are previous winners at the Fair. The couple are passing down their cooking abilities and competitive edge to their 5-year-old daughter, who took home a blue ribbon in the Fair’s America’s Kids chocolate chip cookie contest.

The family that cooks together, wins a lot of ribbons!

Ever see a bunch of short-legged dogs run in thick dirt? Very funny. The Wiener Dog races had several heats at the L.A. County Fair - all very funny indeed. One racer, Blazer from Newport Beach, well, it was a miracle he made it to the end. At 35 lbs, he was the biggest contestant (he eats cat chow! Who knew cat chow was so high caloric?). Take a look:

Sally from Orange won this heat. Take a look at Blazer:

Let the trumpet blare! The race you’ve been waiting for is here! We’re not talking ponies at Fairplex Park. It’s the Wiener Dog races! Yes, tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 19, those cute little dachshunds will be racing to the finish line, in their cute little puppy dog silks. Races begin at 1:10 p.m. at the horse track, and will run every hour after that until 5 p.m. Go cheer for your favorite dog!

Alright Hot Blog on a Stick fans - the time has come. It’s contest time. I know thousands of you are faithful readers of the Fair-ey Blogster and fans of the L.A. County Fair, and I love you all. But just a few tend to send comments. I want to hear from you! So, to encourage a more engaging correspondence online, I am startin’ up the contests! Basically it is read my Blog, win a prize! (What? No! This isn’t a bribe to get more readers! Sheesh, such pessimists. I am doing this out of the goodness of my heart. And if I happen to get more readers because some people want to win some free stuff, well, fine. Did you know Stephen King stood at a busy intersection giving away his first novel to anyone who passed by? Well, he did! J.K. Rowling did the same at Starbucks with that first Harry Potter.)

Now, of course, not everyone can win (Fair/Fairplex employees are not eligible to win but I still love you, especially you Blondie). Periodically I will pose a question or quiz here in the Blog; the first to e-mail me the correct answer at contests@fairplex.com will receive a prize. And my bag of goodies is filled with fun stuff, including sweatshirts, tees, stuffed animals and eco-friendly items.

So, question No. 1: What are the names of the Fair’s four mascots and what types of animals are they?

If you know the answer, e-mail the Fair-ey Blogster at contests@fairplex.com. Besides the correct answer, leave your address so I can mail you your prize! I’ll post the names of the winners right here.

Today’s prize is this cool brown pull-over hoodie with the L.A County Fair design, modeled by the runway-ready Blondie:

So, hurry up! Answer the question! Keep reading my Blog for more great Fair inside info and the chance to win more spoils!

I am not kidding you! There are only 75 days left until opening day of the 2009 L.A. County Fair! What happened to spring? It was just here. This past Sunday was the official start of summer, and you know what that means here on the grounds of Fairplex. It’s go time! So, in honor of this being the 75th day and counting, I begin my countdown list of what we have to look forward to as the L.A. County Fair gets closer, 75 days closer. That’s 70, plus 5 more. That’s 76 trombones, minus one. That would be a diamond anniversary if we had been married for 75 years (75 years of marriage(!) - better be more than one diamond! Sorry, I digress). OK, here is a short list:

- Hot Dog on a Stick (what? you expected me to start with cute, cuddly animals? Hello! Did you forget who is writing this?)

- Cute, cuddly animals: ok, if you can recall, right behind Hot Dog on a Stick, I love, love, love all the animals we have during Fair, whether it’s the cute puppies at Bark Park or the soft, beautiful rabbits. I even love the huge rodent capybara.

- Big animals: Watusi cattle and their massive horns.

- Dinosaurrrrrrrs! I am so excited about Jurassic Planet, one of our new exhibits. It is all things paleo! We’ll have a T. Rex, Apatosaurus and a Muttaburrasaurus, which some smart-alecky 10-year-old mega genius pointed out that I was pronouncing wrong. Saw-ree!

- Food, fabulous food: besides HDOS, everything ooey, gooey, sticky, fried, frosted, toasted and deelish! This is one time when battered is a good thing.

- End of Summer Concert Series: holy cow! I cannot tell you what the lineup is, but you are gonna be so excited!

Ok, that is just a few. Things are heatin’ up here, so stay tuned! Don’t forget to follow the Fair on Twitter!! And Facebook!

We’ve had plenty to toast to recently, with the announcement of the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, a great media preview tasting of the winners last week in Beverly Hills, and a very successful Wine & Cars Under the Stars gala last Saturday, which was the first opportunity for the public to taste the winners.

See all the medal winners here and read about us in other blog postings:

http://gastronomy-101.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-la-wine-competition-preview-and.html

http://thirstyinla.com/2009/06/19/2009-la-wine-spirits-competition/

http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/los_angeles_international_wine_and_spirits_2009/

http://www.womenwine.com/posts/journals/18487-winners-of-the-2009-la-international-wine-competition

http://freshcatering.blogspot.com/2009/06/la-international-wine-spirits.html

and

http://www.diglounge.net/drinks/los-angeles-international-wine-spirits-competition/

 Fairguests can taste the medal winners during the L.A. County Fair at the Wine & Spirits Marketplace, presented by Ralphs. You can also try beer and extra virgin olive oils. Sign up for a wine education class. What a way to spend an afternoon!

I love food – I can’t help it! When I’m eating I think about how delicious it is and when I am not eating I am planning my next meal.

I have to say that working on this year’s L.A. County Fair is not helping much. All of this food talk just makes me hungrier. Whenever someone mentions the Fair all I can think about is vanilla soft serve with caramel and sprinkles. I know it’s a little lame considering all of the other fried goodies we have to choose from, but I’ll take soft serve any day of the week – sometimes twice! What can I say – I love Dairy!

Needless to say with my love for Dairy comes one of my favorite competitions of the year – the Los Angeles International Dairy Competition! Last year was my first competition and I have never seen so much ice cream, cheese, milk, butter, yogurt, or sour cream outside of a grocery store! I have to say – it was a magnificent sight! It’s only April and I can’t wait for this year’s competition and it’s in August!

I’m not an official judge or anything – especially since I have never met an ice cream I didn’t like, but just taking part in the competition is gallons of fun. The best part is that the winners of the competition will be on display in FairView Farms for all to see… just follow Daisy to the pink and brown aisle!

As we all continue to work diligently to bring everyone the most amazing 2009 Fair, we are also working on the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition and the Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition. When it comes to the best of the best… it all comes from these competitions!

Entries are pouring in (not literally… yet) and keeping everyone on their toes. The most exciting part is where the entries are coming from- Italy, France, Canada, Boston, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, and that is just the beginning!

The best part of all of this for our Fairguests is that you all get to taste the award winners. Yes…you heard right! During the Fair, you can stop off at the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Marketplace, presented by Ralphs and taste award winning wines, learn about the different spirits, and taste award winning beers in the brand new beer tavern. This amazing new tavern will serve the award winning beer both inside as well as outside!

So get your taste buds ready because our award winning entries are going to knock your socks off this year!

P.S. Don’t forget! If you want to join in on the fun, enter your homemade wine and homemade beer into the Fair competition. Every entry will be displayed in The Village on Broadway so you can brag to all of your friends!

Do you enjoy the thrill and excitement of competition? Does the sight of a blue ribbon make your heart skip a beat? If this is you, then you are in for a treat!

All contests and competitions for this year’s L.A. County Fair are now posted on our site, and there is a contest or competition for everyone. For those of you who are masters of the culinary kitchen, you can enter everything from baked & preserved foods to homemade wine, homemade beer, and even tablescaping! However, if your passion is for fashion, decor, quilting, knitting, pottery, art, scrapbooking, or even jewelry, then Tapesty is your place to shine.

Hundreds of people enter every year and you can too. Join us in The Village on Broadway and you’ll be amazed at how much fun you will have!

All right all you competitive souls of all ages - time to break out the recipes, sharpen those knitting needles and get your crayons and water paints ready. It’s contest time at the L.A. County Fair! There are blue ribbons to be won (and in some cases, cash!) That’s right - we are putting the call out for your best chocolate chip cookies, your best scrapbook page and for you youngsters, your best art work.

Culinary, home arts and kids contests and competitions are the heart of tradition here at the Fair. They’re fun and exciting, and our crew tries to keep them current by adding new additions each year.

OK, no shoving or hair pulling, no name calling. Everyone walks away with at least a participants ribbon and the knowledge that they tried their best! Here is a link to our competitions page. Make sure you read the rules and note that there are different deadlines for the competitions! So, what are you going to enter into the L.A. County Fair? Here are a few contests to think about:

Tablescaping - categories this year include Under the Sea, Motion Picture Perfect, Return of Romance.

In Culinary, there is the amazing perfect pasta sauce, best chocolate chip cookie, the always-fun BBQ contest, run for the fair (where contestants have to find ingredients for their masterpiece from food vendors at the Fair), new this year is the live cupcake decorating and, everyone’s favorite, SPAM!

America’s Kids has a ton of fun contests for kids, including art, sewing, cooking and events for families to enter.

Come on - enter! Next year it could be your picture up here holding the coveted blue ribbon!