Fun comes bite-sized

Elia Powers

On a day when the temperature exceeded 80 degrees, and the humidity

was higher than average, a glass of lemonade and a spot in the shade

seemed heavenly at the Orange County Fair.

An open seat inside an air-conditioned building was invaluable

Wednesday. So visitors filled the plastic chairs around the Home &

Hobbies Stage, where chef Jan Mongell demonstrated cooking methods.

Mongell is the founder of Kitchen Talk, an Orange-based culinary

consulting company that specializes in food preparation and product

testing. Keeping with the fair’s avocado theme Mongell diced the

green-colored fruit and included it in nearly every dish she

prepared.

“My favorite way to eat an avocado is to slice it, salt-and-pepper

it and bite in. It’s awesome,” Mongell told the crowd.

With a full-blown kitchen behind her, Mongell bantered with the

audience as she prepared a mozzarella and avocado salad and a chicken

tenderloin dish, with an orange and avocado sauce.

Her husband manned a video camera on stage, giving the crowd of

about 100 people close-up shots of his wife stabbing the avocado pits

and tossing them into the garbage.

Mongell gave fairgoers cooking tips, such as: When cooking a dish

with avocado, add the avocado last.

Orange resident Michael Reed, an avid cook, visited the fair to

see Mongell’s presentation.

“I wanted to see what I might learn,” Reed said. “If there’s a

demonstration, I’ll go.”

Valerie and Richard Thacher didn’t have time to watch food

preparation. Their job was to eat.

The couple from Whittier judged a children’s baking competition

inside the Youth In Motion building. Both tasted portions of more

than 25 dessert items, such as cake decorated with plastic roosters

or cookies covered with icing. They judged based on taste, appearance

and texture.

Buena Park resident Brooke Stevens spent an hour Wednesday morning

baking a chocolate cake with macaroons. She has cooked since the age

of 2 and regularly makes bread and tomato sauces.

“I’ve always wanted to join a contest,” she said.

For this competition, entries were separated into three age

categories. Everyone who brought a desert item received free entry

into the fair, said Youth In Motion employee Karen Shaw.

In the ages 9 through 12 category, Christopher Keithly won Best in

Show for his M & M and cookie display that spelled out, “We Love the

OC Fair.” A cake in the shape of an avocado also won one of the top

awards.

“It’s fun seeing the kids’ work,” Valerie Thacher said. “Some of

them are really creative. It’s fun for us, too. It’s like wine

tasting.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.