Happy Lughnasadh

Spent some much needed time with friends last night, peaceful vibes, good food, calm energy. 

The First Harvest is here and the seasonal tilt toward autumn begins again. 

The Big E roundup - Welcome Fall

Today marks the final day of The Big E's 2025 season. I went on Connecticut Day this year and I had a really great time, especially considering the fact that I wasn't able to go last year.

  

Regardless of what the calendar says, Fall officially begins for me personally on the day I go to the Big E. Here are some highlights: 

My photos in The Big E!

One huge thing for me this year is that I entered some photos into their annual Photography & Fine Arts contest and two got in! I've wanted to do this for years and finally did it. My photos were on display in the New England Center, among lots of other photos, art, fiber crafts, etc. It felt amazing to be included with so many other talented people's artworks!

And now, the food. Here's everything we ate/drank this year:

Chocolate lemonade (lemonade w/ chocolate syrup) - Vermont building. Verdict: 👍

Maple Donut - Vermont building. Verdict: 👍

Baked potato w/ the works - Maine building (of course) - Verdict: 👍

 

 

Giant roasted salted cashews - Rhode Island building - Verdict: 👍

Lobster Nachos - New England Craft Pub - Verdict: 👎 not worth it, hardly any lobster, underwhelming

Warm Apple Maple Creemee - Ferrindino Maple stand - vanilla soft serve w/ crumbly bits, warm cooked apples, maple syrup drizzle - Verdict: 👍

Lots and lots of wine, mead, and hard cider samples! Verdict: 👍

Sloppy Dough - Anna's Fried Dough stand - Fried dough w/ sloppy joe meat and melted cheese - Verdict: 👍👍👍 one of our absolute favorite things this year or maybe ANY year.

Lobster Volcano - International Lobster House - Bread bowl filled with lobster bisque and a generous portion of steamed lobster chunks - Verdict: 👍

Whiskey bread pudding - Steaming Tender (near the Craft Commons) - Verdict: 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 - holy shit, this was decadent and fantastic.

Last but not least: Big E Cream Puffs! I always buy these at the end and take em home. One original flavor, and one of this year's special flavor, Espresso. Verdict: 👍

Next up - A general assortment of autumn/Halloweeny things:  

And finally: An assortment of miscellaneous things that caught my eye.

 

Happy Autumn to all!

 

Autumn achievment unlocked - The Big E 2023!

One of my favorite seasonal rituals has been achieved - my annual visit to The Big E!

It was a gorgeous weekday, and we got there on the early side before things got too crowded. The sun was out, the temperature just right, a perfect autumn day from morning til evening.

The free wine tasting, featuring 6 New England area wineries, was one of the highlights of my late morning. It gets crowded during peak times and I hadn't been able to go in years. We didn't have to wait too long. I'm not even a big wine or alcoholic beverage person, but I do like new experiences and flavors, so this is always a fun time.

Of course, one of the main attractions to the fair is the food. This year I broke with tradition and mostly tried foods that were new: either new to me, or new to the fair this year, starting with plantain fries topped with pork, grilled onion/peppers, and a yummy sauce. Loved this and would get it again.

Next up: the apple fries, new to the fair this year and highly recommended. These were fantastic, crispy fries made of apples and dusted with cinnamon sugar - we opted for the caramel sauce addition.

New to me this year was the deep-fried taco, the outer skin reminded me a bit of an egg roll. We chose the chicken option, which also had lettuce, tomato, cheese, & sour cream. I would've loved some hot sauce on this, but it was otherwise pretty great.

 

 
We also shared a Mass Sea Breeze, a refreshing and very sweet drink.

And last up: the smoked salmon on a stick from the Maine building - which usually sells out as it is extremely popular. It's definitely some of the BEST salmon I've ever eaten, and I am a huge fan of salmon. I've had it before, but most years they run out before I can get it. 

 

Pickle lemonade was one of the new offerings at the fair this year, but we didn't try it. There were a lot of pickle-flavored items, including pickle-topped pizza and a pickle cupcake. I didn't try any of those either. I like pickles, but not sure I need a pickle cupcake. Maybe if I'd had more wine it would've sounded like a good idea.

 

 

Last food item of the day, which is my usual custom, is buying a cream puff or 2 to bring home. This year's special flavor was MAPLE which I am extremely excited about. Maple is one of my favorite New England flavors, 10/10 would recommend this cream puff.

I was happy to see some Halloweeny vibes here and there as well, mostly in the Storrowtown/craft area of the fair.

The Rhode Island building always showcases the Great Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, which returns every year to the Roger Williams Park Zoo (and is absolutely worth visiting; I blogged about it a couple years ago)

Our night concluded with a spooky moonrise. And that's it for my 2023 Big E adventure!

To read more of my more in-depth posts about The Big E, check out these links:

Part 1: Intro / Part 2: Crafts & shopping / Part 3: Animals & agriculture /

Part 4: State buildings / Part 5: Food / Part 6: Other stuff