Fair Night!

A couple of weeks ago I threw together a 'fair night' dinner for Husby and the kids.  I could tell you it was because our local fair was coming soon and I wanted to get everybody in the spirit.  Or I could tell you that I wanted my family to sample a healthier (mostly baked) selection of carnival food...but I would be glossing over the truth.  

The real story is this:  Husby decided to power wash the entire back porch and lawn furniture while the kids and I decided to scrub down all of the backyard toys.  We were hot.  We were a mess.  We were exhausted!  But the backyard looked fantastic!  :D :D :D

I had been planning on making a lasagna that day, but that wasn't going to happen.  I needed something super quick and easy...and remembered the corn dogs in the freezer.  

Corn dogs would work, everybody would be fed...but I felt bad.  I like to make a nice dinner on Sunday evenings and that's when I got the idea for 'fair night'.  

Take a look at how it turned out:

 Inside Picnic

I grabbed an outdoor table cloth and put it on the kitchen table.  Next followed white paper plates and red napkins from my leftover party supply stash. I thought the red and white made things a bit more fun and festive.

Bonus:  Paper products meant that there wasn't a big mess to clean up either - score!

 Watermelon

We already had a large bowl of cut watermelon in the fridge, so out it came.

 Dinner is Served

Baked corn dogs and baked tater tots helped to relieve some of my guilt that this dinner was without a single green vegetable......

 ...and then I threw caution to the wind and added homemade funnel cakes!  Yay!!!

I purchased this funneled pitcher from Aldi last year.  It came complete with the mix and cooking instructions for (I think) less than $3.

Funnel cakes are pretty much just a runnier version of pancake mix poured into hot oil...through a funnel.  That's it...that's the magic.  I was a bit disenchanted at first, I mean didn't the carnival workers possess some sort of secret culinary powers?  Nope, it's just a funnel...hence the name...hahaha!!!

Yummy!

The funnel cakes turned out great, dinner was a hit and everybody had a good time.

And there you have it: an easy way to turn a last-minute-of-the-busy-day-dinner into something fun and memorable!

 (Fun Fact:  Baby Girl and I wore tiaras during dinner.  Every fair has a queen and we shared the position!  ...Baby Girl also showed up at the table with a pirate sabre, but that's another story.)

I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015