Spaceburgers and fried Twinkies at the fair, oh my!

The most famous of American delicacies can be found at county fairs.

In Grant County, the most admired and highly anticipated delicacies seem to be Spaceburgers and deep-fried Twinkies.

This year I tried both for the first time.

I was the lucky recipient of the first deep-fried Twinkie ordered at the Moses Lake Lions Club fair booth this year. The title didn't make me feel much better about what I was about to do.

At the time I didn't want to admit it, but a Twinkie fried in batter is so deliciously delicious, an addiction for deep-fried Twinkies is permanently imbedded into my system.

During a return trip to the fair, I took a co-worker's advice and tried a second deep-friend Twinkie, this time with ice cream on top. A Twinkie fried in batter with ice cream on top is so incredibly, deliciously delicious, my permanent addiction now has a permanent topping added to it.

The much-coveted Spaceburger seemed just as foreign to me as the Twinkie, but I had to find out what all the hype was about.

I learned there is something magnificent about white bread cut into a perfectly round circle with Thousand Island dressing mixed into, instead of on top of, the meat.

As a result of my first saucer-shaped burger experience, I ordered two more from the Moses Lake Lioness Club before the fair was through.

I believe I could open a restaurant called Chrystal's Amazing! Spaceburger and Deep Fried Twinkies Restaurant and people from miles away would travel to Grant County to find out for themselves what all the hype is about.

My restaurant could bring new industry to Grant County, perhaps even a Hostess outlet. One can always dream.

In the meantime, my wait for next year's fair seems too long.

Chrystal Doucette is the Columbia Basin Herald's health and education reporter. The talk of deep-fried Twinkies in the newsroom was a relief to her normal worship of coffee.