Three Latest and Best

Sangria at Home: I'd been craving good sangria for a few weeks, and with the purchase of a huge "jar" complete with a spigot, I had an excuse. I also had two 1.5 litre bottles of a fine Gallo white Zinfandel that had somehow found their way into my home. Ironically, with its heavy sweetness, the pink wine made a great base for sangria although I added some additional reds including 3 bottles of the last of a case of Malbec. Then, I soaked pineapple, apples, lemons, oranges, and limes in vodka, then added all the standards (including the fruit and vodka, Cointreau instead of brandy, lots of fruit juice, and even a little sugar) and voila! The last of summer in a glass! Thanks to the 30 or so people who showed up to help me polish it off!

Hangover Food at Barcelona Tapas: Christy Speer nailed it in last month's Indianapolis Monthly review: Just appreciate this place for what it is, mine the menu for what's good, skip what's not (which is a lot), and love it for the fact that it's cheap and different. Thursday, I needed just what BT could give -- that big gooey order of goat cheese in red sauce with garlic bread, fried calamari and artichoke hearts, and churros with lots of cinnamon. A group of us shared about 10 small plates, caught up on news of the day, and assuaged our hangovers. Perfect.

Chocolate Eclairs at French Market: My favorite part of this time of year? The fantastic fairs and festivals! After delicious lamb pita and baklava at last weekend's Greek Fest, this past Friday featured all the treats that French Market had to offer (early, before they sell out!) For the best deal, buy wine by the bottle. And those extra tickets? Chocolate eclairs and cream puffs for breakfast the next morning!

Miscellaneous Wine and Questions

Fresh Market @ 54th and College: The land is cleared. The construction hut is up. Where is our Fresh Market? Anyone have an ETA on the ground breaking? What's the hold up?

Corked Dorks: Cracked a lovely bottle of 2000 Von Strasser Chardonney the other night. It was delightful if not a little heavy and oaky compared to all these white Burgundies I've been drinking lately. Sadly, we were going to follow it up with one of my favorites, the 2001 Iron Horse T-Bar-T Cuvee R but it was *corked!* (To be fair, I suspected it might be past its prime.) The cork was synthetic so we didn't get the big wood hit, but much like sour milk or rancid dairy, one sip (plus a second to confirm with a bad face) was all it took to know this wine was gone, daddy, gone. One local sommelier at a downtown restaurant recently told us their loss rate due to corked wines is close to 10%. That's more than 1 per case which can get pricey for high end wines. It certainly makes a fine argument for screw tops even on the pricey bottles -- tableside presentation be damned.

Cupcakes Cometh! Christy "dished" this a few weeks ago, but as usual, I'm late to the cupcake party. If you don't know that cupcake bakeries are all the fashion in NY, LA, and SF, then you've been living under a rock. Or at least, just not eating enough cupcakes. Enter The Flying Cupcake slated to open in the next few weeks at 56th and Illinois. They'll do other gourmet tidbits and treats as well as offer outdoor seating. (Great for when this weather cools off just a bit.) Look for them in the old Baskin-Robbins space.

More Location Shuffling: By the way, also look for a Starbucks moving onto the corner next to Kinkaid's, the former Emmett's salon space. Emmett's is moving to 49th and Penn and there will be some shuffling in that block as Emmett's and the expanded Patachou fill the space formerly held by Corks and the Hamaker Pharmacy. Confused yet? Don't worry, it will all be sorted out by the end of the year.

More Fair Food! I don't know how I missed this, but the Star picks up the recipe for the winner of the canola oil fried fair food competition: Fried Hush Puppy Meatballs. From what I can tell, you start with 2 quarts of canola oil for deep fat frying. (Yeah, transfat free doesn't mean regular fat free so get ready). Then you make meatballs, then you make hush puppy batter from a mix, then you apparently coat the meatballs *in* the hush puppy batter, and fry the whole thing. Use ranch dressing for dipping sauce. Finish by making an appointment for a double bypass.

Hangover Helper: Neal over at InTake has a nice article on pubs that offer great brunches. If you've ever been in the mood for a little bloody Mary and some good pub grub before lunch time on a Sunday a.m., these are the places to go. (I have other brunch advice like avoid any "seafood specials" and only order meals that are likely to be made fresh that morning, but that's a whole other post.) Now we know there's a reason to go to the Red Eye Cafe.

It's Indiana State Fair Food!

What a day at the Indiana State Fair! After a quick stop at the downtown Farmer's Market (no love in the sour cherry department), it was off to the Indiana State Fair for a guided tour of fair food! It's no secret I love a good corn dog and my dining companion knew exactly the stand to take me for the best. Delish! And after corn dogs, we had deep fried vegetables (the fried green tomatoes were tangy and good), lamb BBQ (who knew there was pulled lamb), honey ice cream, then deep fried sauerkraut balls, deep fried corn fritters, and deep fried Pepsi nuggets (funnel cake dough mixed with Pepsi, then battered and fried.) I still wanted the deep fried peanut butter cups, but after the fry-tavaganza, I was done. We skipped the cheezy beef sticks (although that was the stand that marked where we parked the car), cream puffs, spiral cut potato chips, and I didn't get an apple dumpling.

Food does vary from vendor to vendor. Apparently, they use a common commissary, but each can modify their batter for corn dogs, combos of ingredients, and cooking times -- and cooking skill does make a difference. It sounds a little like a Top Chef challenge, but it explains why a few stands have wacky offerings and others have wildly varying versions of the same things. If you're looking for the best corn dogs, they're on the main street across from the back of the grandstand, right across from the In Shape Indiana booth (ironic, actually.)

Here's what I learned today at the fair:

*In one building, there is woman carving a 1360 pound block of mild cheddar.

*I now know what the inside of a horse's nose and esophagus look like thanks to the live horse gastro-endoscopy on display.

*The giant hog is only 900+ pounds this year. What is the year of corn coming to if we can't get a 1000 pound award winning hog?

*Did you know that it's bad to smell your food cooking? We learned at a cookware demo booth that the smell is all the nutrients leaking out. Of course, their cookware solved that. Who knew?

*Those water sprayers with fans are gifts from the gods.

*Watch your step so you don't get run down by the bio-diesel tractor pulling the fair train! *

*No one looks good eating one of those huge turkey legs.

Our best food of the day? The award-winning cajun corn fritters right in front of the administration buidling. Get them without the sauce. That's the cajun part. Sweet corn goodness -- which, by the way, is the theme of this year's fair. I did miss the pork tent and the famous Hoosier Ribeye. Ahh, something for next time.

All Around the Town

Olive Garden Class Action Suit: According to an ad in the Sunday Indy Star, local law firm Bingham McHale is looking for participants in a class-action lawsuit against The Olive Garden. If you were sick from the norovirus outbreak late last year, they want you to give them a call.

Booty Re-Call: I've seen no press about it locally, but nationally, foodies around the country are tossing entire bags of Trader Joe's popular Veggie Booty. The puffed snacks were recalled last week for possible salmonella poisoning by Robert's American Gourmet, the makers of the popular snacks. The recall does not effect Fruit Booty or any of their other popular products. Sadly, they no longer produce Girlfriend's Booty, which was, yes a real snack that also came in BBQ Girlfriend's Booty. No word on when the recall will be lifted.

July is National Ice-Cream Month: Like I need an excuse. Hey, I still didn't get that ice cream maker! I *hate* having to buy myself gifts I want. Maybe I'll be inspired by some of these luscious lookers.

Transfat Free Fair Food: Now you can have your deep fried Oreo andeat it, too. Officials have announced that vendors at this fall's Indiana State Fair will use transfat free oils for deep frying everything from corn dogs to Twinkies. With all the new oils, it's easy to eliminate transfats -- from McDonald's to fair food -- but all those saturated fats and calories are still there! Even so, enjoy! (I'll be in the funnel cake line.)

Weber Grill Opens Downtown: I didn't make it to any soft opening events, but several reports I'm hearing are that our new location of the Chicago staple Weber Grill looks pretty good. All is reportedly moving smoothly and well. They're open officially next week.

Devour Downtown Kick-off Event: Don't forget next Monday, July 9, to stop off at the Devour Downtown kickoff event, 4-6 p.m. in the Emmis building lobby. Last year's event was tasty and fun with great food samples from a number of restaurants and lots of new treat cocktails. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door and benefit Second Helpings.