Junk food. But a higher level of junk food.

I’m eating a really awful sour-cream glazed doughnut while I write this. Hm. Better have another to see if it’s any better…

Many years ago I was at the PNE (the local summer fair, here in Vancouver) and I was wandering around with my Hasselblad, taking photos of interesting things. It was a lot of fun. I went thinking I would maybe get a few good photos but I ended up with a bunch of images I was really proud of. Here is the roller coaster:

And the swings. A ride that I last rode when I was in Grade 6. Didn’t end well for me. I’m not usually prone to motion sickness, but… Yeah.

But back to the junk food and the Funnel Cakes.

I was wandering around a back area of the fair. It was right beside the chaos, but about 20 paces away – enough to be in a rather forlorn and somewhat less traveled area. I thought it looked fantastic and so I took a photo.

…and then I figured I had best pay for the privilege. I bought a funnel cake.

The booth was run by what I’m guessing is a husband-and-wife team. I expect they would go from fair to fair, peddling their funnel cakes. I vaguely remember being told it was an old family recipe. The fellow had a funnel full of batter and he picked it up and made a crisscross pattern in a deep fryer. In about a minute he flipped the lattice over and cooked the opposite side.

Then out on to a paper towel of some sort, a liberal dusting of powdered sugar and it was handed over.

It was heavenly. Better than any other doughnut I think I have ever had. Who knows why? It could be the family recipe, it could be the fact that I was really hungry. The cake was freshly made – still piping hot when it landed in my hands.

But I think, possibly, it was because it was made with a bit of love from someone who took his work very seriously; who had done it a zillion times before and who knew exactly how to produce the perfect piece of deep-fried battered goodness.

If you’re going to eat junk food, it better be good junk food.