![](\"http:\/\/micuisine.com\/images\/lunapiercook\/mnrofair07\/01_breann_ear.jpg\")
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One fair food item Mary really, really<\/em> likes is Elephant Ears. These are rather simple to make. A yeast-based pastry dough is allowed to rise. The prepared dough is stretched into a flat shape like a pizza crust, then deep-fried till it’s golden-brown. After a few minutes rest, it’s sprinkled with either a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon, or sifted powdered sugar, and served to a waiting fair guest. Personally, I don’t like these things\u00a0anywhere close to\u00a0as much as Mary does. They’re nearly always over-cooked, the sprinkled coating seems to get into, onto and around everything, and once I’m done eating even a portion of one, I end up needing a gallon of hot water just to get the sticky substances off my hands.<\/p>\n Then why was it, after I got one from the lovely Breann in the above pic yesterday evening, did I have to go back and get another one of these nasty beasties? What was so different about them that actually made me want more??<\/em> I had to find out …<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To get the whole story, I went straight to the source. Bob Johnson is the cook in this Elephant Ears trailer from Heidi’s Food Concessions. When I picked up the first Elephant Ear, Bob had had a visitor from a competitor’s trailer. When the competitor left, Bob had turned to me and, noticing my interest in that conversation, said with a smile, “They’re always trying to get my secrets. It ain’t gonna matter since they just keep on usin’ frozen dough!” I’d noticed the commercial mixer in Bob’s trailer, and the half-dozen or so 5-gallon buckets of resting dough. When I went back for the second Elephant Ear, I specifically asked Bob about what he was doing differently from everyone else.<\/p>\n “I actually got this recipe from my father-in-law”, he began … and went on to tell a bit of the story of a true classic. It turns out the recipe in question is not only a closely-guarded secret, it’s been in the family at least 75 years, possibly more. This is the 19th year Heidi’s Food Concessions has\u00a0had this Elephant Ears trailer\u00a0located on this spot at the Monroe County Fair. It’s off the beaten path: Instead of being stuffed in amongst the rest of the tightly-packed food fair on the fairgrounds, this trailer is parked further north, a few hundred feet southeast of the new MB&T expo building, seeming almost lonely sitting there next to an ancient Michigan State Police car. But because of the truly old-fashioned recipe, and the wonderful and friendly\u00a0service from family members, it’s worth seeking out.<\/p>\n Because of the Thompson family, I’ll never look at Elephant Ears the same way\u00a0again. But you can be sure I’ll be paying attention to how Ears are made in a given trailer before I’ll buy one. If they’re anything like the ones from Heidi’s, I’m sure I’ll be\u00a0craving more. Now, if I can only figure out what a proper fair drink would be for washing such a thing down …<\/p>\n One fair food item Mary really, really likes is Elephant Ears. These are rather simple to make. A yeast-based pastry dough is allowed to rise. The prepared dough is stretched into a flat shape like a pizza crust, then deep-fried till it’s golden-brown. After a few minutes rest, it’s sprinkled with either a mixture of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,39,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eat-this-blog","category-fairs","category-special-events"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"http:\/\/micuisine.com\/images\/lunapiercook\/mnrofair07\/02_bob_dough.jpg\")
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