This weekend we took part in a longstanding Texas tradition: the State Fair of Texas.

We were there to check out everything the State Fair had to offer, especially its unique food concoctions.

We woke up bright and early and headed out to the fairgrounds. Since it was the nicest day of the year so far, we were joined with what seemed like the entire city of Dallas.

Everyone was there to see Big Tex, the “tallest Texan” who is celebrating his 55th year at the State Fair. We also saw African acrobats twist, limbo and stack themselves on top of one another, as well as the Human Cannonball shoot through the air, Dancing with the Dogs and BMX stunt bikers land some crazy tricks.

Walking down the midway, you can smell the deep fryers at work.

What the State Fair is probably most noted for is its variety of fried foods. Each year there seems to be another type of fried food from fried Coke to a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We tried as many of these items as the Fair had to offer, but we finally could not handle any more.

We were actually kind of hungry so we started with something a little more substantial, a smoked turkey leg, as we journeyed around the Fair.

We complemented it with a corny dog as we relaxed to watch a little college football on the big screen. The corny dog is one of the most popular foods at the fair, and for good reason. It was delicious. The flier at the state fair claims, “This is where it all started, back in 1942, when the Fletcher brothers came up with a dandy little battered novelty on a stick.” They estimate that the Fletcher brothers sell over 500,000 corn dogs each year at the State Fair.

We then decided to try a perennial favorite, the caramel apple, as we viewed the car show. We were expecting a crisp cold apple, but when we bit into the apple it was warm and mushy. We were not impressed, so we set our hearts on the fried, artery-clogging desserts. We decided to try many of these fried foods, but limited ourselves to just a bite or two. We started with funnel cake, which is just plain fried dough. They never disappoint, and can be found at many different locations.

If you are going to eat something fried, you should venture into the unknown and try something you will find only at the State Fair of Texas. Keeping this in mind, we gave up on the funnel cake and headed toward the midway, the land of rides, but more importantly, the land of fried foods.

We tried a fried Oreo and a fried Snickers at one booth. Fried marshmallows, fried Twinkies and fried Nutter Butters were also offered. We definitely preferred the fried Snickers. The chocolate was actually melting as you bit into it. There are quite a few other treats that competed in this year’s third annual Big Tex Choice Award. The finalists included, in order of placement, Mama’s Fried Sweet Potato Pie, Zesty Fried Guacamole Bites, B.W’s Original Fried Banana Pudding, Texas fried cookie dough, country fried peach cobbler on a stick, deep-fried latte and Fenie’s fried chili frito burrito.

Try the fried guacamole and fried cookie dough, which were two of our other favorites. If you haven’t tried any of these fried foods, it is definitely worth ditching the diet for an afternoon. The State Fair is open only until this Sunday, Oct. 21, so make sure to get down there and try all of the fried food you can handle.