Why I'm Still Full From Yesterday: The Gilroy Garlic Festival

I still haven't eaten yet today, and didn't eat anything for dinner last night, except some garlic kettle corn. And for good reason, I stuffed myself silly of my favorite "food" yesterday afternoon at the Gilroy Garlic festival!

It took a good hour and 45 minutes to get to the festival, since traffic was really heavy, so once we finally got in, we had to quench our thirst! The hubs had some beer and I had a classy "wine cooler," aka, wine, Sierra Nevada and a splash of cranberry juice.


Next came the tough decisions. What type of garlicky food would we start with? There are a ton of choices, all over the festival, but I knew a good place to start was Gourmet Alley, where the specialty (i.e. not standard fair food with garlic thrown in) foods are featured. So many choices!


We split the combo with a half of roasted garlic pepper steak sandwich, penne con pesto, calamari, and garlic marinated mushrooms (I didn't try the mushrooms, but everything else was very good, although the calamari was on the chewier side and not that garlicky).


After inhaling the combo plate, we decided to finish off our drinks while walking around the festival, just checking things out. They had lots of interesting garlic displays, cooking demonstrations, and several stages with live bands.


Of course, after all that walking around, we needed another garlic fix, so we got some of the best garlic fries I've ever had! So crispy and garlicky!


We went and listened to some more music in another pavilion, and I happened to notice yet another strip of food vendors, with one featuring something I'd never seen before.


Deep fried garlic! Holy awesomeness, they found a way to make garlic into an actual food, not just a seasoning! I of course had to try it.


ZOMG, so freaking good! The batter was light and crispy, and not too greasy, and when you bit into it, the garlic clove was nice and soft and nutty. It tasted much like roasted garlic, but not as soft and mushy, but with a similar mild flavor.


And no, we weren't done yet! Next we needed to go get yummy real fruit smoothies. You go around to the three flavor stations inside the tent, and they layer on the flavors however you want (sadly I couldn't try the banana, because I'm allergic).


By then we were getting tired from being out in the sun all day, so made one last stop to get a big bag of garlic kettle corn to take home with us. It was still warm, and an oh-so-good snack, or dinner, for later. Me with my popcorn baby:


So yeah, that's why I didn't really eat dinner last night, or anything yet today! I'm still stuffed with garlic. Sigh! Best food day of the year!