Carol Dunfee was on a mission.

With her bare hands, she cradled a freshly made funnel cake heaping with strawberries and apples.

The powdered sugar and whipped cream may not have been the deciding factor in the bending of the paper plate, but it didn't help.

No matter to Dunfee and her husband, Bob, both of Austin.

The two were part of a throng of Mower County Fair attendees enjoying the different types of fair food Wednesday night.

Before Carol Dunfee sat at a picnic table, her husband was more than ready to tear into the delicacy.

"Bob can't wait to eat it," she said, noting it's a tradition for the couple to eat fair food. "Every year. That's what the fair is all about."

Her favorite treat is the funnel cake, but Bob Dunfee confessed to another desire.

"You gotta have those pork burgers with fried onions," he said. "Not raw onions. Fried onions."

Sue Wangen, of Austin, was busy tearing into a gyro -- onions, tomatoes and cucumber sauce included, of course.

"This is nice because I don't have to make them myself," she said. "It's very good. It's messy. But the messier, the better."

Wangen said she wasn't worried about the food's aftertaste, particularly if it meant bad breath.

"If they don't like it, they can just go away," she said.

But apparently not everyone is enthusiastic about fair food.

Austin's Teresa Anderson learned as much after her 4-year-old daughter, Aleesha, took one bite of a corn dog.

"She didn't like it," Anderson said. "I think I'll just take it home and see if (my husband) likes it."

Dan Fields can be reached at 434-2230 or by e-mail at dan.fields@austindailyherald.com