Gallery: Fair Food Roundup at the Orange County Fair in California

What to choose, what to choose? I love mini anything, and donuts are delicious. Though there's always money in the banana stand. In the end, I had to go with ice cream.

Chocolate, of course. This particular fair had a "tasting" feature where you could get small portions of various treats for a dollar. A dollar! A better deal, you won't find. This was a "mini" cone, though it was the perfect amount for me.

Because it left room for funnel cakes! These are also "mini" $1 versions, about the size of the palm of my hand. It was a crispy, doughy, sugary delight.

I decided to pass on these. (It is a chocolate column, after all. Not a lot of chocolate going on here.)

There were some indoor stands away from the main food drag, featuring more standard gummies, jelly beans, and other colorful treats.

A classic treat, kind of like an Americanized, softer nougat, with nuts and fruit and stuff mixed in. Though tasty-looking, I didn't go for any. These bricks were massive and I have fillings to look after.

Though I DID have to spring for the honeycomb. We make a version of this at Liddabit, so checking out the competition is always a must. The texture of the honeycomb was light and lovely—though I have to say, I think our flavor is better.

Must. Move. On. Fillings crying in pain...

Ahh, I always break down at the baked goods. My friend Wendy said she had a hard time finding a decent cinnamon bun, and the best ones were at the fairground. True enough, this one was delectable: a crunchy outer layer with a soft, doughy, cinnamon-y center. I helped her out a fair (har, har) amount on this.

OK, can we stop here for a sec? Completely aside from the frogs legs, Twinkies, White Castle (yawn) and the "zucchini weeni" (muh?), might I draw your attention to the TOTALLY FRIED Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich? Can we zoom in on that?

Great, thanks. Yeah. That's a chicken sandwich with Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead of buns. The worst part? THEY'RE JELLY DOUGHNUTS. I saw it in person. It was terrifying.

This was more like a Klondike ice cream sandwich. A small distinction, maybe, but I was really curious to see how the chocolate shell would hold up. Sigh. It was delicious anyway, stuffed as I was—both warm and cold, salty and sweet. But we still had room for one more thing.

I ate more chocolate-covered bacon than one human needs in a lifetime when I was working at Roni-Sue, and as far as I'm concerned, she still does it best. Pass.

Despite the sign enthusiasm, this also felt like another pass.

Oo! That's the ticket.

Well, it's no artisanal popsicle (a la People's Pops and other popsicleries we've been seeing this summer) but it's sure some refreshing neon-colored shave ice was a perfect choice to round out the day. Bellies full, sugar shock settling in, my foodmates and I finally waddled out to the parking lot. But not before getting our hands stamped for re-entry.