Our local fair is Addison County Fair and Field Days. As fairs go, it's pretty small, but it has all the key elements of a county fair: forbidden food, a Fairway with colorfully lit rides, farm animals, 4H exhibits, a parade, and all kinds of vendors.

You can walk from one end of the fair to the other in a couple of minutes, but if you've lived in Addison County for more than a few years you're likely to encounter half a dozen people you know along the way. There are some people we only see at the fair, so it's important to go every year just to stay in touch. It's an August routine, waving at people with a smoked turkey leg or maple milk in your hand.

County fairs seem to be everywhere, but I've noticed in our travels that each region reveals its culinary traditions at the fair. Here in Vermont, maple syrup is king, so we are blessed with delights such as maple bread, maple milk, maple shakes, maple doughnuts, and maple cotton candy.

We bought maple cotton candy for Emma and her friend Kati, but it turned out to be so good that soon the adults had their own (and I still pilfered a few pieces from the kids). I also had maple milk (7 oz. whole milk with a healthy shot of Grade B Dark Amber maple syrup, delicious), but I was denied my traditional maple-frosted doughnut -- they were out.

Like a lot of fairs, Addison County recognizes the agricultural background of the area. Tractor sales dominated the center of the fairground, and in the evening an antique tractor parade rumbled through, with old tractors by Oliver, Case, Allis-Chalmers, and Ford. Squashes and cakes and whole stands of corn were on display with red and blue ribbons. Young future farmers were outside the Cow Palace, carefully and throughly washing their livestock for judging. My daughter rarely gets as well cleaned as some of these cows were.

Of course, the real attraction of the fair for Emma and her buddy is the rides. A 15-dollar bracelet was their ticket to unlimited fun. Tilt-A-Whirl, Dragon Rollercoaster, a couple of slides, and Merry-Go-Round ... all classic amusement park rides. The warm humid evening disappeared in ride after ride until finally the kids were sweaty and exhausted, and it was time to go home and talk about going to the fair again next year.