The judging for the Foodie Awards will be March 5, but in order to get your mouth watering, I've gone out and talked to a couple of the vendors.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN'T BE FRIED?
One thing that always fascinates me is all the things that are fried at rodeos. Sure, you can get French fries, onion rings and all the basics, but the company "Fried What" has kicked the whole frying experience up a notch and has come up with a way to fry just about everything.

"Some of the strangest things we've fried is hot chocolate, key lime pie and watermelon," said Norma Bowers of Fried What.

This is the second year Bowers and her team will be frying up delights at the Houston Rodeo. And you'll be happy to know that they use transfat free oil. So while deep fried Twinkies may never be considered healthy, at least you don't have to worry about your cholesterol.

In fact, chocolate dipped fried Twinkies are one of their best sellers. Other rodeo favorites include pickles and fried Snicker bars and Milky Ways.

Bowers says there is a secret to frying and it all has to do with the batter. Her company uses three different types of batters depending on the type of food you are planning to fry.

"Our own secret recipe batters are made fresh daily. While we can't give you the recipe, the batters can be purchased at our booth," said Bowers.

This year Bowers says they plan to bring even more fried goodness to the rodeo including fried sundaes.

"We take marshmallows and bananas and cover them with either hot fudge or caramel. Then, we dip them in our secret batter and fry until golden brown. Finally, we top with ice cream, whipped cream and chopped peanuts," said Bowers.

Now that sounds, mmmm...mmmm...good. You can check them out in the Kids Coral next the Little German Kitchen.

IT'S NOT A RODEO WITHOUT A SMOKEHOUSE
I'm beginning to think that when in Texas, where's there smoke; there's meat. That's because smoking meat is a specialty the state takes seriously.

In fact, New Braunfels Smokeshouse has been smoking meat since 1945 and has been a rodeo vendor since 1972.

"We've watch the rodeo grow. We started out in the old Astros Hall and were there until they closed that building down. We then went through the growing pains of the new building," said Mike Dietert of New Braunfels Smokeshouse. "We now have two booths. One is in the main lobby and the other one is in the rodeo plaza tent."

Getting prepared for the rodeo isn't easy. Dietert and his team came to Houston a week before the opening day to set up equipment and get ready. They have a number of loyal clients that look for them at the event and they aim to please.

"Our most popular items are the sausages, turkey legs and baked potatoes with all the trimmings," said Dietert.

All of their meats are smoked at their facility in New Braunfels and Deitert says their secret all has to do with quality.

"You got to have quality product from start to finish. I've worked with them for almost 42 years and my client manager has worked with them for the almost the same amount of time," said Dietert.

Deitert says he started out with the smokeshouse when he was young and learned a lot along the way. Their goal is to give the customer a quality product and give them a fair deal for what they buy. They also try new things to keep the customer happy.

"A couple of years ago, we introduced wurst kabobs at the rodeo and people seemed to like them," said Deitert.

And what's not to like? The wurst kabobs have five different kinds of sausage so customers get to try a little of everything just with one item.

"It's got some cheddar wurst, jalapeno wurst, apple wurst, bratwurst and a pork and beef sausage," said Deitert.

It sounds like this kabob could be a sausage lover's dream.

THE BEST OF THE BEST
Both Fried What and New Braunfels Smokeshouse will be competing in the Golden Buckle Foodie Awards on March 5.

Other categories include:
o Best Burger
o Best Taco/Burrito
o Best Baked Potato
o Best Bar-B-Que
o Best Fried Food
o Best Food-on-a-Stick
o Best Dessert
o Best Seafood
o Favorite Food

If you want to find out what the judges think are the best tasting rodeo foods, drop by The Kids Country Stage located on the east side of Reliant Astrodome next to Reliant Center. They will start tasting and judging at 9:30 and will finish around noon.

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