10 Things to DO at the CNE

I went to the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) on a quiet wednesday in the first week of the EX.  I prefer to go midweek before crowds of families go.  It's much easier to walk around and the lines are shorter.  The weather was perfect.  Sometimes it rains for days during the EX so you have to pick a good day to go.  I had a jam packed day of a bunch of different things to do.

Here is a list of 10 things to Do at the CNE

1. EAT THINGS YOU KNOW YOU SHOULDN'T EAT

I didn't eat as much stuff as I hoped I could but I did manage to pack in a couple of days worth of calories from what I did eat.  I split a Collossal Onion with one of my friends and had to find the new Frosted Flakes coated chicken on a stick to try.  Anything fried and on a stick is popular at the CNE. The chicken was great and so was the onion.  Why does fried stuff have to taste so good?  I had to get one of my favourite yearly tradition foods and got the hot off the waffle press Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Cool vanilla ice cream wrapped in warm waffles. what's not to like and you can walk and eat it.  There was a couple of new things I couldn't find and then it was too late to get it so I hope I get another chance to get back to the CNE before it's over to find them.

2. SEE FREE MUSIC SHOWS

I must admit that I was never a huge General Hospital fan so Rick Springfield as Noah Drake doesn't mean much to me but I was around for the music of the 80's plus so I remember when his hit JESSIE"S GIRL took off.  I wasn't a huge fan of his music but he has 17 top 40 hits so I was familiar with some of them.  But I became a fan when I read his book and saw the documentary about him and learned about his crazy life.  Since the shows are free at the Bandshell I had the opportunity to go see his show while I was at the CNE.  I sat in seats at the back with my friend and his friend but I got annoyed with the couple in front of us making out while standing. All I could see was them, so I got up and left my friend and moved closer to the stage and stood in the area in between the bench seating.  Because I did this I was able to take this photo and be there for when he decided to do some crowd surfing and actually walked as far as I was in the crowd.  I actually was able to touch his arm as he tried to climb down to the ground from the bench beside me.  Yeah I wouldn't have been able to do that if I had just sat in the crappy seats at the back so I was glad I did that.  I had a great time while on the other hand my friends sitting at the back had a horrible time and hated it.  I must say that my friend isn't really a fan of his music but he isn't exactly the demographic that Rick Springfield sings to either.  It's more my demographic.  By the way he is now 66 but has the energy of a 26 year old so you have to be inspired by what he has accomplished.  Heck he is starring in a movie with Meryl Streep right now where he plays an ageing musician.. not much of a stretch but his character is a good guy in the movie to Meryl's messed up character.    Morale .. don't sit back... go for it.

3. SEE CELEBRITY CHEF DEMOS

Everyday during the festival there are celebrity chef demos in the Enercare building.  I checked out Zane Caplansky (owner of Caplansky's Deli} and also TV personality and more.  Zane is a good Jewish Ambassador and has lot's of stories about his customers and his passion for the Deli business.  He is also featured in the documentary Deli Man which is a must see Documentary.  He was talking about brisket and burgers at the demo and then he did a trivia question giveaway after his demo.
Some chefs that I would recommend going to see are Bob Blumer, Chuck Hughes, Matt Basile and Matt Dean Pettit.  There have already been a few great ones and some new ones this year.

4.  WIN STUFF

I won a jar of Caplansky's mustard without even trying too hard.  Zane Caplansky asked the trivia question "What's Zane's favourite condiment?"   too easy when he sells mustard for his smoked meat.  So I got a jar of mustard.  Good way to try it.  Now all I need is some good smoked meat to slather it on.

5.  GO ON RIDES

Well I didn't go on rides.  I don't do rides but I do like to take photos of them but I would have to say make sure you go on the rides before you eat any of the crazy CNE foods.

6.  TAKE SILLY SELFIES

There are always opportunities to take silly selfies at the CNE.  I stumbled on a section of the Enercare building where there was a whole display of Sherlock so I took this fun selfie with Benedict Cumberbatch since I can't do this if I see him in person at TIFF.  

7.  SHOP FOR ALL KINDS OF STUFF

I need some good luck so I found this evil eye bracelet in the International building for $5 and hopefully it will drive away any evil spirits but either way it's pretty and it was inexpensive and will remind me of the CNE.   So it's a good thing.

8.  MEET UP WITH FRIENDS

I met up with one of my friends during the day and we shopped and ate and walked around and then I met up with my other friend after he finished work to go see Rick Springfield at the Bandshell.

9.  STAY HYDRATED

Maybe having the new Coffee and donuts Shake from Fran's isn't the best way to stay hydrated but it is something new to try.  But I do recommend bringing a bottle of water because some of the building can get pretty hot, especially the food building and a bottle of water can cost about $3 sometimes.

10.  HAVE FUN

It's only once a year so splurge.  Shop, eat, play games, go on rides and do whatever you want to try at the CNE because you only live once so go for it.


*disclosure  Entrance to the CNE was complimentary but all opinions and photos are my own.

Has the food at the CNE gone too far?

I haven't been to the CNE so far this year but today there is a report that about 12 people got sick yesterday while at the CNE.  They are still trying to determine the common link but they think it may have originated in the FOOD BUILDING.    Has the CNE gone too far on allowing some of the food vendors to try and out do each other on how much deep fried grease laden foods they can dish up at the fair?

Normally I love to go to the CNE just for the food and see what new inventions they come up with,   but over the past few years it seems that they just come up with ideas to out fry each other and add bacon or butter on everything.   The Cronut craze wasn't enough of an artery clogger so they had to slap a cheeseburger in it and some bacon jam on top.   To be honest when I saw it on the news just looking at it made me feel sick.

How can you tell what food made you sick when you have a Cronut Burger with a Bacon Milkshake and a Lobster Roll followed by an Ice cream waffle... the Ice cream waffle is always my favourite treat...just because of the hot waffle really.    

All I know is there are a few things that are a recipe for disaster at the CNE if you aren't careful.   The FOOD Building is always HOT.   The days are long.   There are young kids who aren't planning careers in the food industry serving food.   People attending the fair spend hours walking in the sun and eating everything in sight and will probably eat about 4 times the calories they would eat on a normal day.  Then maybe add some rides that shake your body upside down like shaking a milkshake or think of it like shaking a hot bottle of pop...  What do you think will happen??  Yup.. It's all got to go somewhere.

Nothing will kill the attendance and a summer business more than the rumour of food poisoning coming from one of the vendors.  

Should the CNE reject foods that vendors want to serve based on what's safe or appropriate for the public?  Should the CNE monitor the food vendors more often?   Is it the CNE's responsibility or is it our own to be diligent when we eat out?   How do you really know if your food is safe?  You don't.

But here's what we can do.   Don't go overboard and eat things you would never eat on a normal day.  Think about travelling and what happens when you eat food in different countries.   Eating all the food in site at the CNE acts the same way in your body as introducing foreign food.  It doesn't like it.
If the temperature outside is extremely hot or you are overheated be careful what you eat.  Your system is already being taxed.   You may be dehydrated.  How many people do you see walking around swilling water?  Most people are drinking things like those monster pops which will dehydrate you even more.   A good option at the CNE is the fresh shaken Lemonade.  I love that.  It has lots of ice so it lasts a long time and has the detoxing effect from the fresh lemons.

There isn't a huge selection of super healthy options at the CNE.  You really need to hunt for them.   There are less offending foods if you know you might have an issue.   I have friends that have brought their own food.   For me that kills the fun of the EX and I don't want to be lugging anything around besides a bottle of water.

But here's an idea.   Maybe we should try and sway vendors into creating healthy but tasty options.    How about a Caprese Salad on a stick?  How about  Hummus dippers?  How about grilled Pineapple on a stick?    If they can get creative by deep frying butter and mars bars, why can't they come up with healthy decadent foods that people want to go there to try.

There is another option at the CNE for a couple of days.  They have the food trucks which serve up pretty fresh foods but even they have really high calorie options but some of them make an effort to add some lighter fare or at least super fresh foods because it's in their best interest to develop a fan base of people that will keep following them from event to event.  That's how they make a living.

The rumours of the Cronut Burger being the culprit of the food poisoning at the CNE may kills their summers business and may change the way we look at the foods at the CNE.   Is it about time?

What do you look for when you go to the CNE?

The Ex - Food Heaven or Hell?

The Ex not a great place to look for healthy food.

I have been feeling sick for the past few days so I haven't been in the mood to do any cooking or other heavy duty household duties.   But I was getting stir crazy at home and wanted to go down to the Ex today because it was the last day of the Food Truck Frenzy and the same day that my favourite Food Network Chef Chuck Hughes (Chuck's Day/Week Off) was doing a food demo... well more like chatting while his restaurant chef was doing some cooking.  I am starting to feel like I am stalking him at this point since I was sitting in the audience and listening to him talk and then all of a sudden he says "Hi" and looks in my direction.  I didn't even realize he was talking to me... so out of it still from being sick and just kind of didn't expect him to stop mid sentence and say hi.  So I had a 30 second delayed reaction and then all I did was wave... still out of it... he says "she doesn't look happy to see me"...  of course I was...   he was my diversion for the day so that I didn't sit at home being sick and feeling miserable.   Going to see Chuck is more like going to see a stand up comedian lately.   He spends the whole time telling stories, cracking jokes and answering questions.    I have been trying to arrange an interview with him for my documentary and finally met his publicist face to face.   I always find it weird to email someone you haven't met and ask for something when they have no clue who you are and if you are legit or not.   So now she knows who she has been emailing so that made the trip down to the Ex worth it.    I had to think about going today because it is getting really expensive to go to the EX these days unless you go after 5 which I have been doing the past couple of years.   But since it was the last food truck day and only day for Chuck Hughes I forked out the $16 admission price and because I wasn't feeling 100% I drove down and then had to dish out another $25 for parking.   Paying for parking was well worth it when I finally left and didn't have to wait for a packed bus to the station because by that time I had just left the FOOD Building Oven and was so hot I just wanted to drive up the parkway with the windows open.

I went into the Food Building to see what Bacon Nation was all about.  Bacon on a stick, bacon wrapped hot dogs and some other concoction with Nutella which just thinking about it makes you want to toss your cookies.

I was also on the lookout for other weird foods new to the Ex this year.  I walked by this booth and saw this picture of a hot dog in a chocolate eclair.  I used to love chocolate eclairs when I was a kid but this one I don't think so.

Then I spot this food vendor selling food in a cone.  I suppose this makes sense since there isn't really enough seats to sit down and eat your food properly in the Food Building and since it's a million degrees in there anyway it's always better to hand hold your food while walking out of the building.  They had Sheppard's Pie in a cone and some chicken thing and a few others savoury things I can't even remember now.

So it made me wonder if this was Foodie Heaven or Hell?  Most things were either stuffed in a bun, deep fried, with bacon,  sweet and savoury mix or all of the above as in the case of the krispy kreme hamburger or the eclair dog.   All I kept thinking about is all the people with The Ex Food hangover that had to go and buy some pepto bismol or tums to get through their day.   All the sick little kids hurling all over the place and the parents saying "never again" but then doing it again the next year.

What about the people who are Vegan, Vegetarian, eat only Kosher or Halal or Raw food diets.   I guess the Ex would be Hell for them.
Is it Heaven or Hell for a foodie or food blogger?  It was kind of a mix of both for me.

The Heaven this year was the lineup of Food Truck Frenzy where I picked up some Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos from the Gourmet Gringos food truck.  Even though the fish was fried it had a nice light fresh batter with some crunchy slaw to balance the hot/cold/greasy/fresh taco.   One of my other favourite food trucks Buster's Sea Cove who had their Lobster Roll and Shrimp and Fish Tacos had a huge lineup.  I would have gone for that but decided to try one of the other trucks to see how it compares.  It was good but Buster's is still my fav.

A couple of hours later I went back to the food trucks but wasn't in the mood for the mostly brisket and pulled pork and taco options that the trucks had so I ventured into the Food building to see what I could get.

I managed to find a baked potato vendor and had a mexican baked potato.  There you go... something not deep fried.   Only one person in the line ahead of me.   The big lineups were for all the deep fried, greasy, heart stopping foods you could find at the Ex.  So I suppose it's like a license to eat whatever you wouldn't normally eat when you  go to the Ex.




One of my All Time favourite things I almost always get when I go to the Ex is the Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich.   The Hot Waffle sandwiched between the cold ice cream hits all the sensory spots.  Cool and refreshing and also warm and comforting.   A friend of mine just went to the Ex and had almost the same things to eat as I did.   So there is food for everyone there.   You just have to do a little searching to find it.

The Food at the Ex.. Heaven or Hell?  
You Decide.