What Can You Create in One Hour at the State Fair? Share Your Ideas!

[MomToEli]

Hi Everyone!

I am doing three live cooking demo's at our state fair - the first one being next Saturday!

For one of the shows all of the tools will be there and I bring the ingredients. I am restricted to one of 4 recipes. I'm going to do the Taffy Apple Pizza. I have to bake the cookie base at home, though, and haul it in with me. Not quite sure HOW I'm going to transport that ...

But for the other two shows, I have to haul in EVERYTHING - food, tools and all. There is an oven that is out of sight of the audience. I need help deciding what to make. I have exactly ONE hour - and that includes set up, demo, door prize drawing and cleanup. My dh and ds will go with me so they can hand out PDS and gather them back up. I will hand out a copy of the recipe. I want to encourage them to book a show or at least request more info. I can not sell anything AT the show, but they can certainly order from me afterwards. I'm thinking a link to my website is crucial.

So - any ideas? Oh, and I have to serve what I make as samples, so I need to be able to serve this on a napkin with no utensils, or pack in plates and forks. The building will be air conditioned. I have NO idea how many people will be there. And I'm supposed to make it fun and get audience involvement ...

I'm feeling like I've bitten off more than I can chew here ....

 

[chefjenibel]

At the Iowa State Fair?!?! Wow! You go girl! For those that don't know, this is a HUGE event! I will think about your questions and get back to you, but for now, just wanted to say "Congrats!"

 

[chefann]

Can you take the crust pre-made and do Clubhouse Chicken Squares?The Taffy Apple pizza is a good one, because it's definitely finger food. And you can cut it smaller to feed a larger crowd.

 

[pamperedlinda]

That's great Sandy!

Clubhouse Chicken Squares
Tuxedo Brownie Cups
Greek Islands Pastry

 

[etteluap70PC]

not much help I will have to think on it but I would cut the TAP into squares vs. tiny slivers.

 

[heather9892]

what about the profiterole puffs

i've never made these but just thinking they would be small enough that you could transport alot already done, and they can go on a napkin
also you wouldn't have to wait for them to cook you could have some already to be filled when you get to that point in the recipe

my other thought was the strawberry amaretto pastries smaller in size but not sure how they would taste without the almonds, watching for nut allergies and all.

good luck and congrats

 

[MomToEli]

I thought about the Chicken Clubhouse Squares, but the ingredients fall off of a normal sized piece ... I can't imagine being able to cut it into bite sized pieces.

I'll have to check out the Profiterole Puffs - never heard of or had them before.

Nuts would be bad - thanks for pointing that out, as I wasn't even considering that.

What about the Colossal Chopped Salad? I'd have to get dixie cups and forks to serve it, but I could have a bunch of it already prepped - maybe even have a second batch already mixed up so there would be enough for samples.

My director says to just serve up what you have and when its gone, its gone. And, I have no way of knowing if there will be 5 or 100 people there. I suppose a lot will depend on the weather ...

 

[chefann]

Colossal chopped salad would be good. You can pick up those little sampling cups at Sam's/Costco or a foodservice place. The profiterole puffs are on CC, in the theme show archive. They're mini cream puffs, basically. Delish!

 

[MomToEli]

At the Iowa State Fair?!?! Wow! You go girl! For those that don't know, this is a HUGE event! I will think about your questions and get back to you, but for now, just wanted to say "Congrats!"

Yes, the Iowa State Fair. About 1 million people go through each year. Of course, they aren't all there at once and they sure won't ALL be at my little time slots There are living cooking demos going on pretty much every hour the fair is open. I have decent times, too. Saturday is 11am-noon. Then the following Monday at noon, and Friday at 2pm. I could have had several more slots, but I have to pay to park and admission each day, plus buy my ingredients. DH and ds will go with me Saturday. And, I just realized that I need to find someone to go with me the other two days (dh has to work). My director told me I'll need help. Of course, she didn't point that out to me until AFTER I made the commitment to go....

 

[Teresa Lynn]

WOW!!

The last time I was at The Iowa state fair I attended an Air Supply concert!!!

Memories!!

 

[stayinathomemama]

Hi Everyone!

I am doing three live cooking demo's at our state fair - the first one being next Saturday!

For one of the shows all of the tools will be there and I bring the ingredients. I am restricted to one of 4 recipes. I'm going to do the Taffy Apple Pizza. I have to bake the cookie base at home, though, and haul it in with me. Not quite sure HOW I'm going to transport that ...
..

I would consider making the Taffy apple Pizza on the rectangle stone or Bar Pan and precut the crust before you do any topping. Also, after using the APCS, I'd use the wedger on the apples, this way you have smaller pieces of apple and less likely to fall off the pizza. A rectangle pizza is easier to cut in squares than a round.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Grandmarita]

Our new Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet is one that you could make and feed
lots of people samples with. The flavor is beyond description. I just wanted
more, more, more. It uses our Cookware, Forged Cutlery to prepare the veggies, and you could serve it in some of our Simple Additions to be spooned
from into sample cups. I'd recommend forks for those samples. It is a very low cost recipe in that a 6 pack of the Ramen noodles only cost 88 cents at Wal-mart. Even if you did it with Pork Tenderloins, you can get away with one pound which in my area goes for $2.99lb. in a Family pack of three. Since you are doing two of your shows near lunch times, you do not have to limit yourself to dessert or baked goods. I'd highly recommend that recipe because we have cards that are already printed that you could hand out. I bet you could get help from HO in one day shipment of a 1,000.

My experience at the NYS Fair was that I wanted recipes of whatever I tasted. That would sure get your name out. You could stick your contact
label on the front. The space on the printed recipe side is tinier than usual.

 

[dianevill]

I like Grandmarita's idea (although I have to admit, I've never found pork tenderloin that cheap - our local grocery store is $6.99/lb). You would need a single burner that you could pick up at WalMart for a few bucks. The profiterole puffs are awesome, too, and what you don't use one day, throw in the freezer for another.

 

[pamperedlinda]

You could use chicken instead of the pork that would be cheaper.

You know what, ground pork is really inexpensive, I wonder how this recipe would be with that? You could use the mix n chop...

 

[StacieB]

What a great idea about the ground pork!! Try it at home and see how it works!! A trifle or salad would work too!! Use the little cups!! best of luck, sound like you have great time slots too!

 

[MomToEli]

I'll check and see if I can use a hotplate or if I even have access to an outlet. That would be a good idea.

I really like the salad idea, because it is cold and goes together fast. I just have to weigh the cost of cups & forks vs napkins. I also think the ingredients would be easier to haul around. I do have the wheeled case, so I figure I'm packing everything in there.

I will be handing out recipes at the booth (I'll be there Monday afternoon after that demo) for sure. I'll also be sure to have whatever I demo printed up. I'd like to get people to go to my website ... what about having THAT printed up and telling them to go there for the recipe?

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I wouldn't do plates.....around here we have restaurant/catering supply stores (Gordons Food Service) and you probably have something similar where you live. Go there and get the plastic condiment cups - you can get them in 1-4 ounce sizes - and a 2-3 ounce one would be a good size just to give everyone a taste. I think they are like $1.49 for 200 cups or something like that. Very cheap. I buy them all the time to use as "dip" cups for my DS.

 

[MomToEli]

I wouldn't do plates.....around here we have restaurant/catering supply stores (Gordons Food Service) and you probably have something similar where you live. Go there and get the plastic condiment cups - you can get them in 1-4 ounce sizes - and a 2-3 ounce one would be a good size just to give everyone a taste. I think they are like $1.49 for 200 cups or something like that. Very cheap. I buy them all the time to use as "dip" cups for my DS.

Oh, thanks, Becky! I'll look.

 

[smspamperedchef]

That is AWESOME! How did you get this event booked? I would LOVE to see if I could do something like that here!

Hi Everyone!

I am doing three live cooking demo's at our state fair - the first one being next Saturday!

For one of the shows all of the tools will be there and I bring the ingredients. I am restricted to one of 4 recipes. I'm going to do the Taffy Apple Pizza. I have to bake the cookie base at home, though, and haul it in with me. Not quite sure HOW I'm going to transport that ...

But for the other two shows, I have to haul in EVERYTHING - food, tools and all. There is an oven that is out of sight of the audience. I need help deciding what to make. I have exactly ONE hour - and that includes set up, demo, door prize drawing and cleanup. My dh and ds will go with me so they can hand out PDS and gather them back up. I will hand out a copy of the recipe. I want to encourage them to book a show or at least request more info. I can not sell anything AT the show, but they can certainly order from me afterwards. I'm thinking a link to my website is crucial.

So - any ideas? Oh, and I have to serve what I make as samples, so I need to be able to serve this on a napkin with no utensils, or pack in plates and forks. The building will be air conditioned. I have NO idea how many people will be there. And I'm supposed to make it fun and get audience involvement ...

I'm feeling like I've bitten off more than I can chew here ....

 

[Teresa Lynn]

She's from Iowa, it will have to be made with pork!! (Sorry, ground pork doesn't sound like a good substitute to me.)

Sandy, make sure you eat a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich for me EACH day you are there..... with lots of mustard, pickles and onions

 

[MomToEli]

She's from Iowa, it will have to be made with pork!! (Sorry, ground pork doesn't sound like a good substitute to me.)

Sandy, make sure you eat a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich for me EACH day you are there..... with lots of mustard, pickles and onions

Well, okay. I guess I can eat at least one ...

Those are one of my favorites, Teresa! They are so BIG, though. I usually get a fresh squeezed lemonade to go with it.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

When our kids were little we would go to Iowa twice a year and we would eat tenderloins at least once a day. never needed fries because they were so enormous. my boys were so proud when they were big enough to eat the whole thing.

We've also been know to schlep an ice chest back to Texas filled with tenderloins, and cartons of AE chip dip.....

 

[chefann]

OMG! Pork tenderlon sandwiches take me back. There's a restaurant in my college town that's officially the "Shake and Burger", although everyone called it "Giant Tenderloin" because that's what was on the big sign on the roof. Unfortunately, being a broke college student, I only ever ate there once or twice in 4 years. (Mom and Dad paid for the on-campus meal plan for me.)

 

[MomToEli]

I got these by luck. My ED gets a booth at the State Fair each year and her downline directors get a time slot and they bring their downline in with them. For my director, I'm the one. That gave me one of the demos. My director had the other time slots (different building, different event at the fair) and couldn't do them all herself, so she asked me if I would take some of them. Being the smart girl that I am, I said yes

Check out who at your fair has the fair booth. Chances are really good that they also are responsible for scheduling cooking demos. I know the reason that there are extra slots available is because many of the directors are having a hard time finding people willing to do them. Don't ask me why. I'm not interested is doing any more of them, though - ingredients, fliers, catalogs, admission and parking for 3 is enough for me ... now I just hope, hope, hope that I will do a good enough job that people who actually live within an hour of me will beg me to come do a show at their house!

 

[MomToEli]

Ok, here's my plan for the three demos:

1 - Colossal Chopped Salad
2 - Taffy Apple Pizza
3 - Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet

1 and 3 will be in an air conditioned building. 2 will not.

I'm going to try the Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet this week at home, but I'm going to make a 1/2 recipe. Wow, I just noticed ... that only makes 6 servings???

 

[chefann]

It's 6 large servings, Sandy. That's why a lot of us who have made it already have used less meat than it calls for. You could make a 1 1/2 batch, not increasing the meat, and it would be OK. It's also better with additional veggies - increase the carrot, add bamboo shoots (which also shows the can opener ). All those additions will make it go farther. For the fair demo, I recommend breaking up the noodle "bricks" into much smaller pieces before you add them, then you'll be serving pieces of noodles instead of long strands.

 

[pamperedape]

My 2 cents...

I know that many people don't eat pork at all. (not me though! I LOVE PORK!!) I think you might be safer using chicken if you're doing the noodle skillet.

 

[chefann]

My 2 cents...

I know that many people don't eat pork at all.

That's sacrilege in IA! Not eat pork? Whyever not?

Just kidding, but there is some of that mindset.



Of course you could do the demo with pork, and just let people know that it works just as well with chicken.

 

[chef_kimmo]

I don't know if you have this resolved or not but the hotplates come where you can run them with a propane bottle instead of having to run a cord. My hospitality director has one and it is pretty easy to use. (the propane bottle is one of those small ones like you use on a lantern).

Good luck with your demos and I would love to hear how it goes!

 

[Grandmarita]

Depending on how confident you are about slipping the "silver" off the pork tenderloin, (be sure to practice that at home), how about preparing them at home and just do the slicing and quick cooking at the fair. I noticed that they "skin and slice" easier when partially frozen. They generally are completely thawed by the time I have them ready to saute.

I used our Meat tenderizer to smash the noodles into manageable bits. It gives you one more item to show.

At our NYS Fair, I noticed lots of the golf carts scooting around. Can you arrange for one to take you and your equipment to the bldg. where you are doing your demo. Maybe you could call ahead to ask how you would get that assistance. I would think that your Director know all the ins and outs of doing this kind of show, and should have that inside information. I believe that I got that kind of help when carting my quilts to the Home Bldg. because of my "bad back". Of course, it was before the Fair opened, and they had to be judged worthy (which they were)!. What a thrill to have three quilts on exhibit that year. I had only been into doing County Fairs up to that point.

 

[its_me_susan]

Hi Everyone!

I am doing three live cooking demo's at our state fair - the first one being next Saturday!

For one of the shows all of the tools will be there and I bring the ingredients. I am restricted to one of 4 recipes. I'm going to do the Taffy Apple Pizza. I have to bake the cookie base at home, though, and haul it in with me. Not quite sure HOW I'm going to transport that ...

But for the other two shows, I have to haul in EVERYTHING - food, tools and all. There is an oven that is out of sight of the audience. I need help deciding what to make. I have exactly ONE hour - and that includes set up, demo, door prize drawing and cleanup. My dh and ds will go with me so they can hand out PDS and gather them back up. I will hand out a copy of the recipe. I want to encourage them to book a show or at least request more info. I can not sell anything AT the show, but they can certainly order from me afterwards. I'm thinking a link to my website is crucial.

So - any ideas? Oh, and I have to serve what I make as samples, so I need to be able to serve this on a napkin with no utensils, or pack in plates and forks. The building will be air conditioned. I have NO idea how many people will be there. And I'm supposed to make it fun and get audience involvement ...

I'm feeling like I've bitten off more than I can chew here ....

I vote for Apple Berry Salsa (make loads of chips from home to bring). I did this for a fundraiser and sold $1000, got 3 bookings and a recruit! Everyone loves it, you can keep it cool in chillzanne and it sells lots of products. You can talk about fall/apple shows!

 

[chefsteph07]

Sandy, how did the fair go?Sandy, I was just reading through these posts and I didn't see anything about the outcome of the cooking demos!
How did it go??

 

[pamperedlinda]

I was thinking about this the other day too....how did it go?

 

[christinaspc]

I really liked the taffy apple pizza myself i am going to be giving that one a try i also got an idea about the truffle browniw cups i think that would be a nice thing to get people interested in stoping and weeing what all we had to offer with pc besides the products and possiblity of more.