Iowa State Fair Cooking Contest Stories
Besides creating a food to tame the dragon, contest entrants also had to submit a short story explaining
how the food would tame the hungry dragon. Click on the links below to read the stories.
(Note: the identities of the story authors were lost during the trip home from the fair.
We hope to identity the story writers and post that information as soon as possible)
Story 1 ● Story 2 ● Story 3 ● Story 4
Story 5 ● Story 6 ● Story 7 ● Story 8
State Fair Cooking Contest Main Page
I was my Grandmother’s 100th birthday, and I was skipping through the woods, with my basket full of mouth-watering chocolate fudge, when a big, mean, green dragon jumped out and wanted my mouth watering chocolate fudge candy, and I said, "No, it’s for my Grandmother’s birthday surprise." The dragon started to cry, and said, he didn’t have any friends, and that was why, he was so mean. –So, invited him to go with me to my Grandmother’s birthday party. When we got there, the three of us ate and ate and ate all the good chocolate fudge candy, and the dragon got sweeter and sweeter, so that he became so sweet and loveable, that we became the best friends, and we ate chocolate fudge everyday, and the dragon said, "Oh, little girl, how can you make this fudge so good?" – and the green dragon became a sweet chocolate mellow, tamed dragon.
It was crisp fall day in Iowa. Suddenly there was a disturbance in the neighborhood! There, at the end of the street, was a huge monster. I looked more closely. Yes, it was just as I thought. Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, had escaped from the colony in Romania. Not having any dead ferrets to offer him, I turned quickly and ran into my house. No, I wasn’t trying to escape. I grabbed a tray of Asian Chicken Wings that I had prepared for the tailgate party at the Iowa / Iowa State game and ran back out. I slid the tray down the pavement toward the dragon (I’m not completely crazy). And yes, he took them bones and all. Licking his lips in satisfaction, Norbert spread his wings and flew back to the colony in Romania.
"Castle for sale! Owner motivated! Price reduced!" It should have been a warning sign, but being a sucker for 14th Century architecture I bought it. Then I saw the reason for the bargain basement pric4. My new home came equipped with a fire-breathing dragon. I called the Humane Society. No luck. Likewise the ad I ran garnered no response.
This dragon was eating me out of castle and home. Three pigs and six chickens for breakfast, a cow for lunch and another for supper, plus, the occasional villager as a snack. The dragon made it all too clear what would happen if not fed, as he laid waste to acre of beans and my garden with his fiery breath. I had to do something.
The library was severely lacking in books on dragon vanquishing. A book on firefighting by Red Adair caught my eye. I would fight fire with fire. I hurried home and took stock of my meager pantry. I eyed the field of burnt beans and an idea quickly formed. I gathered the blackened beans and some fresh green chilies, fire-roasted of course. Knowing the dragon’s preference, I grabbed the last chicken.
Sixty minutes later I sat the steaming dish down. With a gulp the dragon downed the contents. A mighty flame burst from his snout only to be sucked back inward, putting out the fire for good. The dragon thwarted!
Now, to do something about that pesky moat-monster. ‘Tis a tale and recipe for another day.
Once upon a time when dragons were among us, a farmer’s wife got fed up with a "certain dragon." This fire breathing menace was destroying her lovely strawberry field. Used to solving her own problems, she worked out a plan!
When her husband returned from his last crusade, he brought home a used catapult, which had been sitting in the back field, o’ these many months. Finally she had a use for this useless weapon. Telling her son to fetch the weapon, she placed it in the middle of her strawberry field. Then set about picking strawberries, milking cows, and making the best strawberry ice cream in the village. No sooner than the last tub was churned, the alarm sounded. The dragon was on the rampage. They were ready! Barrel after barrel of ice cold Strawberry ice cream was loaded and packed into the catapult. Only one shot, they had to succeed. As the fire breathing dragon soared over their precious strawberry field, the farmers wife said a small prayer and let go.
The dragons eyes blazed, smoke and flames roared out of his nostrils. With his mouth wide open it was an easy target for the catapults ice cream attack. "DIRECT HIT!" Instantly the flames ceased, never to rekindle. The fire-breathing dragon bid a hasty retreat, never to return. As you know, a dragon without his flame is Nothing!
Encounter With a Dragon
It was a hot, humid day when the first reports began of a ferocious fire-breathing dragon taking over the Iowa State Fair. How could this happen…?
Turn back the clock 18 years… an abandoned barn in Eastern Iowa had once been essential to the farm. Countless hours lifting hay bales into the loft, the old pulley lay rusting in the corner. Wooden stanchions where cows waited to be milked, now empty. Musty air permeated pens where piglets once romped each spring.
The barn was dying…no one noticed beneath rotting floorboards, as a long forgotten egg hatched one cool, autumn morning. Long Iowa winters forced the your dragon to fend for himself, keeping warm by breathing fire and living off the land.
He grew to become a lonely angry teenager, setting off to destroy the land. Nearing Des Moines, delightful aromas drew him to the Iowa State Fair. Eating his way through the fairgrounds, he became agitated when the sticks from foods-on-a-stick got caught in his throut.
My Chocolate Raspberry Bars came to the rescue, soothing his sore throat and reminding him of wild raspberries growing near that old barn. Developing an immediate bond, we discovered that I, too, had grown up working and playing in that very same barn.
He moved back to his birthplace and I often visit bringing he favorite treat. He wasn’t the savage beast we once believed… just a lonely, misunderstood teenage dragon, restoring the purpose for that old Iowa barn.
A dragon is on the rampage
And we know there is only one way
To tame this savage beast with a zesty treat
For we will save the day!
The Crispix cereal is making noise
The pretzels are standing guard
The Triscuit crackers are getting in position
For this dragon taming is going to be hard.
The oil is pacing back and forth
Along with popcorn and dill.
The Hidden Valley Ranch is so mixed up
Confusion was present, but just until…
Cajun seasoning finally showed up
Along with a Hot Tamales feast.
Zesty dragon food saved the day
For we have tamed the savage beast.
One day I had to go to the land of the three dragons. When I got there, I saw them, the three dragons. They were 10 feet tall and each had a different power. One was the Dragon Resound-the dragon of thunder. The second one was the Dragon Obscurity- the dragon of darkness. Third, I saw him the most deadly one of them all, the Dragon Decorate-the dragon of ice. They were all fighting when I got there and it was all almost frozen. I went o see one of the sages there, his name was Makki, the sage if ice. He said the only thing that will stop Decorate is the meat of the royal order of the dragons. He gave me a bag of it and I asked what it was and he said it was elk. Then I went to see one of the Valkeon, her name was Ralen the Valkeon of darkness. She said the only thing to stop Obscurity is the sweet drink of the sky. She gave me a sack of it. I asked what it was and she said it was V-8 Juice. Then I finally went to the last one, the mighty and the short-the dwarf whose name was Zarchno the mighty and powerful dwarf of thunder. He said the only way to stop Resound was to give him the gold of the mushroom. He tossed me a stash of it, he told me the layman’s term for it is cheese. I went down to the castle of the order of the wizards to think about what to do, then I went down to the kitchen and I saw fruits, vegetables, and beans. I will make a chili cheese dip to stop the dragons. So I made it and took it to the town square and called the three dragons: Resound, Obscurity, and Decorate. They came at once and I gave it to them, not knowing what it was, they ate it and they were done and down for the count. The people of the small magical town were saved from the dragons for another hundred years.
Demi the Dragon
One August night we heard an alarm go off at the Blank Park Zoo. A dragon had flown the coop and split. The mad fire-eating dragon came barreling down my street!!! It began blowing smoke and flames trying to get inside to watch the TV show "Dragon Tales."
I looked on a website and it said…
Diet
Bearded dragons and uromastyx eat both plant products and insects. Juvenile lizards should be fed crickets, mealworms, wax worms and other various insects at least 3-4 times weekly.. Most juvenile lizards favor insects over plant matter. Adult diets include 60-70% of leafy greens, such as mustard greens, collard greens, kale, endive, and spinach. 25-40% of the plant diet consistes of frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans), grated carrots, squash, or other such vegetables. Adults should be offered fresh plant matter daily and live foods every 7-10 days.
So, I ran in the ditchen and made a big plate of comfort food. He rolled over after gobbling it all and took a snooze. I taped "Dragon Tales" so he could watch it later and got him TBOE. He was soon reunited with his wife Donna and their 3 Drags, Dennis, Darlene and Debra.
In a matter of minutes food made him go from <<mean dragon picture>> to <<nice dragon picture.>>
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