Had a cow, man!

Kim and I took a trip to the Orange County Fair today. For 2007, the theme is Cowabunga! - the Year of Herefords, Surfers & Sand.

This year's signature fair food: The deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (the ingredients here are pretty self explanatory), and the Hucowamongous burger. It's big. I mean, BIG. The biggest burger I've ever seen.

I wasn't even planning on eating one until Friday, when Carl at work questioned whether a person could even eat such a thing. Well, I took that as a challenge, and was determined to give it a try. I'm no champion eater, but I'm no stranger to large amounts of food, either.

We spent a good amount of time wandering the fairgrounds, looking for this beast of a burger, but couldn't find it anywhere amongst the deep-fried desserts, and various meats on sticks. My strategy to prepare was to avoid any fair food I'd normally eat; instead I drank a couple beers (Sierra Nevada Summerfest).

We gave up hope finding this burger on our own, and visited an information booth. The helpful staff told us they were somewhat hidden away, inside the Carnival of Products building, at the California Grill. The lady told us she shared one such burger with her 6'5" husband and 5'11" daughter, and between them, they managed to finish it.We thanked them, and headed over.

When I went to order it, the man behind the counter at the California Grill asked me if I was sure I wanted it. Of course I was sure! Within minutes, it was ready.

As we carried it outside, there was lots of pointing and staring. At the burger. It has a commanding presence. I'm not sure anyone saw the man behind the burger. We found a table and I settled down.

How did I do? Was I up to the challenge? Have a look!