What's better than cornbread? Having this many sorts of cornbread with friends right in the middle of Main Street in Little Rock at the inaugural Arkansas Cornbread Festival. Organized in and around the Bernice Garden, a privately owned public art garden, the event was expected to draw 800 to 1,000 people. Instead, three times that many showed up, ready to eat cornbread. More

Lots of new items are available in Little Rock this week for the 72nd Arkansas State Fair , which takes place from October 14 through 23. This year at the Midway and the food court, the emphasis seems to be on hot and spicy, with entries such as Jalapeño Lemonade and Nuclear Wings. Non-fried options such as the Rabbit Sandwich, MOINK Balls, and the BBQ Parfait are also popular. But of course you'll still find your Deep-Fried Watermelon on a Stick and Deep-Fried Corn-on-the-Cob, because what would the fair be without those? More

Thousands turned out for the second annual World Cheese Dip Championship after last year's super successful showing. This year the venue was moved to the much larger War Memorial Stadium to accommodate the bigger turnout. Competitors were asked to come with ten gallons each of cheese dip. Arkansawyers sure love their cheese dip! More

Crazy fair foods are nothing new. We found several great new fair foods, a couple of scary ones, and one new fair delight that won't disturb your waistline. More

When I stumbled upon Curly and Carole Anne, two banjo-playing mushroom farmers, I immediately fell in love. They run an all-organic farm way out in the Ozarks. Driving there took us down all types of dirt roads, over several streams and to a land where GPS and cell phones cease to exist. What followed was three days of shiitake talking, cooking and eating. What really struck me was their discussion of what "local" means and how that can affect sustainable family farms. Watch the video to hear more. More

Alma is better known for its association with Popeye the Sailor Man than Blondie, but a version of the famed Dagwood Sandwich, which we've had on the brain lately, can be found at The Red Rooster Bistro. More

I've spent most of the last year looking for the best breakfast in the state of Arkansas for the Arkansas Times. The fruits of my labor (the top breakfasts around the state plus a baker's dozen of pastry places) are in the current issue of the Times. But which of these were my favorites? Here's my personal Top 10. More

The Arkansas State Fair, which lasts until October 17, is in full swing in Little Rock. Like many other regional fairs, Arkansas boasts a lot of unusual (and usually deep fried) foods in its food court and on the midway. Here are ten new items joining local favorites like deep fried pickles and okra, Hubcap burgers, fried gator on a stick, and pineapple whips. More

Every state has its claim to culinary fame—Mississippi to catfish, Florida to Key Lime Pie, Texas to barbecued beef brisket. But for years Arkansas has been without something that could definitively be traced back to the state. That was until last year, when documentarian Nick Rogers traced the roots of cheese dip back to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Rogers and event organizer John McClure got together with an idea to put Arkansas on the culinary map: a festival celebrating cheese dip. More

Southerners have had a long love affair with all things fried. We eat fried chicken by the tub, savor fried oysters drenched in hot sauce, munch fried okra like popcorn, and still relish a mess of fried chitlins now and again. But dill pickles? Fried? More