Big Tex Choice Awards 2014

This year the State Fair of Texas celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Big Tex Choice Awards by doing the best thing possible: letting the public attend.  And in a moment of questionable judgement, the even let us in!  After the judging took place all of the attendees got to sample all of the finalists.  So let's break it down:

"Is All This Really Supposed to go Together?" Category

 

Deep Fried Breakfast for Dinner - I've always wondered why more food vendors at the Fair haven't taken advantage of the elements that make up the most important meal of the day.  Sure you can find Deep Fried Biscuits & Gravy but other than that the pickins' are slim.  But this year someone finally figured out that eggs, bacon, cheese, ham and everything else that tastes great at breakfast would taste even better wrapped up and deep fried.  This one works any time of day.

(EMI Score: 8 out of 10)

Twisted Texas Tacos - This one may be an overreach since it seems like the makers were afraid they would leave something out.  Deep fried beef brisket is the star of the show but is joined by all the Texas food favorites they could stuff into a tortilla.  Coleslaw, Mexican cheese and sweet pepper corn try to fight each other for the eater's attention but the best addition to the party is the crispy fried okra.  It made me wish I had a big bowl of it on the side.  My unsolicited opinion would be to not fry the brisket, slap some BBQ sauce on top and call it a day.

(EMI Score: 4 out of 10)

State Fair Brew/Funnel Cake Ale - Remember last year at the Fair when you wished your funnel cake tasked more like beer and your beer tasted more like funnel cake?  Probably not but it seems like Funnel Cake Ale NEEDED to happen anyway.  I would say that the brewers showed a little too much restraint since the flavor is more of a sweetened ale than a remembrance of the deep fried dessert.  If you get one, go all the way and get the "powdered sugar on the rim" option.  Then go get a funnel cake.

(EMI Score: 6 out of 10)

Ball Category

Fried Gulf Shrimp Boil - This is one confounds me.  It's a perfectly fried ball of food and yet for some reason it definitely reminds me of a bowl of gumbo.  It's a popular entry this year but, much like every shrimp dish ever, I wish there was more shrimp in it.  It's worth a slot on your snack roster and definitely wins the prize for best dipping sauce (remoulade).

(EMI Score: 7 out of 10)

Fried Sriracha Balls - I never went all in with the recent sriracha craze but it does make sporadic appearances on my plate.  But for the full-on sriracha fanboy, this one is a must.  However, not surprisingly, if you don't like sriracha, you won't like this.  The perfectly textured bites contain chicken, corn, green chilies and tomatoes which all take a back seat to the sriracha spice.

(EMI Score: 6 out of 10)

Chicken Fried Loaded Baked Potatoes - Footballs are also balls so football-ish shaped food can go in the Ball Category...so there.  Reminiscent of a pierogi, this entry falls victim to a misleading name.  The inside of mine contained some cheese and a small amount of bacon but I wouldn't describe them as "Loaded."  Don't get me wrong, a plate of these would be perfect comfort food on a rainy day but you gotta take things up a notch at the State Fair.

(EMI Score: 5 out of 10)

Dessert Category

Fried Sweet Texas - This one seems to be flying under the radar, maybe because it just makes too much sense.  Imagine a perfect melding of your favorite Texas treats: pecan pie, peach cobbler and buttermilk pie that is deep fried and paired perfectly with vanilla Blue Bell ice cream.  This one is a great match for the Fair.

(EMI Score: 9 out of 10)

Deep Fried Texas Bluebonnet - Calm down, no actual bluebonnets were harm in the making this dish.       This is a clever combination of blueberries, a muffin stuffed with cream cheese, white chocolate and whipped cream.  My only issue is with the blueberry glaze that had a bit of an odd after taste.  Interesting creation, though.

(EMI Score: 7 out of 10)

These are all worth a try individually but if you want to do the State Fair right, you know what you need to do:

It may have been one of the best lunches of my life and I totally recommend it.  And if anyone is questioning the scoring method, the only thing I've given a 10 out of 10 to is Fletcher's Corn Dogs.  So take that as you will.

So here's how the awards break down:

Best Tasting

Big Tex: Fired Gulf Shrimp Boil

EMI: Deep Fried Breakfast For Dinner

Most Creative

Big Tex: Funnel Cake Ale

EMI: Deep Fried Texas Bluebonnet

See you at the Fair!

Studios at Las Colinas

Devin takes a look around the movie props and memorabilia that used to be on display at the Studios in Las Colinas.

See Saw

Not too long ago our travels led us to Leander, TX which was one of the filming locations for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, considered to be one of the most influential films in the genre.

The grisly "warning" scene at the beginning of the film was shot at Leander's Bagdad Cemetery.

The cemetery is also used in another scene at the beginning of the film.  The scene doesn't show too many recognizable landmarks but you can see a tombstone marked "Pickle" in the film which is still there.

If that doesn't satisfy your inner Leatherface, you can always head up to the Fort Worth Stockyards.  The World Famous Tattoo Ranch has what they claim is the "Original Saw" from the movie on display:

You can also check out the live snakes that hang out there:

On Location #40 - TNT's Dallas Episodes 16-18

Episode #1 - - Episode #2 - - Episodes 3 & 4 - - Episodes 5 & 6  - - Episode #7 - - Episode 8 & 9 - - Episodes 10 & 11 - - Episodes 12-14 - - Episode #15

 Well we've clearly fallen behind on this so we'll try to burn through a few more episodes to catch up.  Luckily these featured a lot of interiors and Southfork shots so there's not a lot for us to track down.  Let's start near downtown Dallas:

Rebecca's new apartment is in one of the newest buildings in the city, Museum Tower:

The new building caused a controversy with its neighbor, the Nasher Sculpture Center.  As the reflection (at certain parts of the day) was described as a "Death Ray" by visiting art lovers.

The next episode featured a return location to Adair's Saloon in Depp Ellum:

John Ross and the family detective meet there to discuss various Ewing schemes and shenanigans.  You may also remember it as the post-oil strike celebration location in the first episode.

Sadly the next episode features the death of an icon.  The storyline had J.R.'s murder taking place in a hotel in Mexico:

But the famous and historic Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards played the part of the Hotel Colon:

Dallas the show and Dallas the city will never be the same without the villainous J.R. Ewing and the legendary Larry Hagman.

Matchbook Memories: The Buckhorn Saloon

Sometimes coming across something as mundane as an old matchbook can bring back memories.  So a couple of old matchbooks from the Buckhorn Saloon are a flashback to one of San Antonio's most populous attractions.  These look like they were from the era of the saloon's original location:

The inside of the second one promotes Lone Star beer but there was a time when the Buckhorn proudly served their own custom branded brew:

All this reminiscing brings back memories of our trip there a few years back.  Here's some video we shot highlighting some of the more unusual things in their collection:

Secret Fair Park Decoration Graveyard

While tooling around near Fair Park, I recently stumbled upon what can only be described as a Secret Fair Park Decoration Graveyard.  It is behind the park and completely fenced in but I got what pictures I could:

Clearly, there are several leftovers from the Chinese Lantern Festival (which was, in fact, extended it Feb. 17th) but look closely and you'll see some other interesting stuff:

Notice the dinosaur?  Well, there's more.  A few more dino statues, a Santa Claus, some longhorns...a cornucopia of wackiness:

What's the story here?  Are these beautiful things left to rot?  Just being stored temporarily?  Would it be a big deal if I rented a truck and took some stuff?  Questions abound.

Dallas Multitasking Building

A lot has happened at the Dallas Municipal Building.  The historic downtown building has been home to City Hall, the Dallas Police Department and the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby.  The exterior also attracts location scouts for television and movies.

You might have recognized it from the movie Robocop:

Or from a Season 2 episode of Prison Break:

During one of their many breakouts, a little of downtown Dallas can be seen as the Prison Break boys run to freedom:

You can also see the building in a 1962 episode of Route 66:

Which also shows off a little of downtown:

More info can be found on the building's own historical marker (including referring to Lee Harvey Oswald as JFK's "alleged" assassin.

Long Lost Love

If you've had a hankering to lay your eyes on Love Field Airport in Dallas circa 1962 then your best bet is to take a look at the season 2 episode of Route 66 titled "Aren't You Surprised to See Me?"  The beginning of the episode starts with the episode's crazy antagonist arriving at the airport: