State Fair News

State Fair of Texas leaks semifinalists for '25 Big Tex Choice awards

State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards trophies

State Fair of Texas

The Big Tex Choice Awards — the annual culinary competition among concessionaires at the State Fair of Texas — have arrived for 2025. According to a release, 30 semifinalists have made the grade for the 21st Annual Big Tex® Choice Awards, presented by Karbach Brewing Company, with entries both savory and sweet.

The Big Tex Choice Awards kicked off in 2005 and has now become a staple of the annual fair.

The contest kicked off in June with 76 entries represented by 50 concessionaires, marking the highest number of submissions in Big Tex Choice Awards history.

All competitors are required to have at least one year of experience as concessionaires before they can enter the competition.

The selection process is headed up by a panel of internal judges and requires “blind judging” from start to finish, meaning the panel does not know which concessionaire is behind each recipe.

To vie for a spot in this semi-final round, contestants put their creativity to the test by coming up with an enticing name and description for their original concoctions. Then, the judges taste and score each dish to see if they are as delicious as they sound and look.

In mid-August, the semi-finalists will be further narrowed down to 10 finalists.

Bacon Jam Cannoli
Bacon jam is cooked with brown sugar, maple syrup, and spices, mixed into ricotta with milk chocolate bits, then piped into cannoli shells. Each end is topped with bacon jam, and the whole thing is drizzled in chocolate.

Brisket and Brew Stuffed Pretzels
Brisket is blended with beer cheese made from cheddar, wrapped in pretzel dough, sprinkled with salt, and baked.

Candy Lemon Sour Face
Sweet-and-sour candy-coated lemon.

Chill & Thrill Delight
A twist on Colombia’s famous Salpicon de Frutas featuring a cup of diced mango, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and strawberries, soaked in watermelon juice with a splash of lime, topped with shaved mango sorbet.

Churro Cheesecake Jalapeño Popper
Jalapeño poppers with a cheesecake filling, covered in churro batter and fried, with a side of dulce de leche sauce.

Coconut Quadruple
Fresh young coconut served with a coconut slushy topped with soft-serve coconut ice cream and coconut flakes.

Colada Limonada
Frozen twist on piña colada and tangy lemonade blended with coconut, pineapple juice, and lemonade, topped with cherry syrup, a cherry, and a mini umbrella.

Cookie Chaos Milkshake
Over-the-top cookie butter milkshake with snickerdoodle chunks, Golden Oreo Cookies, classic Oreo Cookies, whipped cream, edible cookie butter cookie dough, Biscoff cookie, cookie butter drizzle, and a rim of crushed Biscoff cookie pieces.

Crab & Mozzarella Arancini
Rice ball made of crab, rice, mozzarella cheese, onion, red bell pepper, lemon, black pepper, garlic, coriander, and basil, served with marinara.

Decadent Dubai Chocolate Dream
16-oz cup drizzled with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, freeze-dried strawberries, pistachio floss, and a gold-dusted Dubai chocolate chip cookie stuffed with pistachio kataifi, marshmallow, and chocolate.

Deep Fried Deli Tacos
New York deli meets Dallas taqueria: Pastrami, mashed potatoes, cheese in a corn tortilla, fried and served with a spicy green sauce.

Dirty Red Bull Tex-arita
Cocktail contains sweet cream liquor, Blue Razz Pop Rocks, Watermelon Red Bull margarita, and Blueberry Red Bull margarita, topped with' Pop Rocks, blueberries, and watermelon.

Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake
Served in a cup, featuring Belgian chocolate, pistachio spread, kataifi, tahini, chunks of New York-style cheesecake, drizzled with chocolate, pistachio cream, and crushed pistachios.

Dubai Chocolate Funnel Cake Fries
Funnel cake strips drizzled with chocolate, topped with pistachio cream and knafeh pastry.

El Cono Loco
Tex-Mex chicken spaghetti with Hatch green chiles, queso, Monterey Jack, inside a garlic parmesan bread cone, topped with pico, sour cream, and slice of avocado.

Hot Honeycomb Lemonade Shake Up
Lemonade Shake Up, a Fair favorite with lemons, sugar, and water, enhanced with honey, fresh jalapeño, chamoy and Tajin, and skewer of honeycomb.

Meat Lovers Crunchy Calzone
Flour tortilla filled with shredded mozzarella, diced pepperoni & salami, and seasoned ground beef, topped with red sauce, served with fried mozzarella bites and a side of ranch and marinara.

Pop-Elotes
A popcorn version of elotes with popcorn, spicy mayo, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and cotija cheese.

Poppin' Boba Rita
Frozen margarita with wine-infused poppin’ boba pearls in mango or strawberry flavor. Make it "dirty" with cold foam, coconut syrup, and a Tajin rim.

Pop Rocks Margarita
Frozen margarita with fizzy Pop Rocks and a firework-style garnish.

Russell’s Key Lime Pie Bombs
Key lime pie mixed with extra graham cracker crust and crushed Nilla Wafers, rolled into bite-sized pieces, dipped in pancake batter, fried, then topped with Chantilly cream, powdered sugar, and a sugar-coated lime jelly candy.

Texa-misu
Layers of Quadratini wafer cookies topped with frozen “cremespresso,” whipped cream and more Quadratini wafer cookies.

Texas Smoked Brisket Crepe
Brisket, onions, tomatoes, arugula, and melted cheese in a cone shaped crepe, with smoky sriracha mayo and chimichurri sauce.

Texas Water
Natural flavors transform any spring water, sparkling water, or pale ale into a pineapple or lime refresher.

Tex’s Toast á la Mode
French toast topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel, real maple syrup, and cinnamon cereal crunch for that extra pop.

Ube Rice-Cream Crunch
Tribute to Filipino flavor starts with ube (purple yam) and gets a crispy topping of puffed rice made using the traditional South Asian muri method, where dry salt is heated to a high temperature, then special rice is added to puff and pop, plus Cool Whip and a cherry.

Vietnamese Crunch Dog
Asian twist on corn dog, coated in a crispy mix of panko and bánh mì crumbs, with sriracha mayo and pickled veggies.

Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders
Cajun-seasoned Wagyu patty with cheddar and bacon sandwiched between two fried, panko-crusted deviled egg halves, with ketchup-inspired sauce.

What on Earth is This?
UFO-shaped smash burger features a smashed beef patty, chicken, steak, and vegetables in a bun, topped with mustard, provolone, chipotle mayo, fiery green chile, and "mysterious" sauce.

Yabba Dabba Doo
Dirty Sprite with crunchy ice pebbles, strawberry and green apple syrups, fresh mango and strawberries, coconut crème, Skittles, Lemonheads, pineapple slice, whipped cream, chewy ropes, and a sprinkle of Fruity Pebbles.

awards state fair of texas

Movie Review

The life of an actor is far from rosy in dramedy Misty Green

Photo courtesy of A24

Rosalind Eleazar in Misty Green.

For every well-known/successful actor in Hollywood, there are thousands of others whose lives are more tenuous as they struggle to find work. The new film Misty Green is about one such actor who, after a period in the limelight, now finds herself on the outskirts of the industry, just hoping to find her way back in.

Misty (Rosalind Eleazar) won an Emmy for a 2000s-era TV show that still gets her recognition, but not much work. Still living in the apartment of a recently-deceased man with whom she was having an affair, Misty spends her days sleeping in and her nights getting blitzed on alcohol and drugs. She seems to be heading nowhere fast until a few things coincide to break up her routine.

The man’s wife (Amy Landecker) shows up and tells her she has seven days to vacate the apartment; Misty’s brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) — who is bipolar — arrives after being kicked out of his facility for non-payment; and Jordan (Chris Rock), a former colleague with whom she had a falling-out, reappears in her life, offering a possible chance to rehabilitate her image.

Written and directed by Rock (his first feature since 2014’s Top Five), the film is a funny and excruciating look at how the entertainment industry might actually work. Misty is her own worst enemy thanks to late nights fraternizing with unsavory characters like Zach (Adam Driver), who deals in drugs and women in equal measure, but her frustration proves warranted when her agent, Randy (Topher Grace), and casting directors like Rhonda (Tracie Thoms) hardly give her the time of day.

Misty tries her best to stay positive, but when jobs like singing in a bar are the best she can do, the mountain seems insurmountable. Rock does an effective job of demonstrating the elements that are within and without Misty’s control that affect her ability to regain her position in the industry. The chip on her shoulder is almost as big as the bias some have against her, and other negative circumstances don’t help matters much.

There are many small touches that Rock and his crew put in the film to give it an air of authenticity. Filming in Los Angeles (a rarity these days), Rock uses both subtle and overt shots of homeless people in the city, suggesting that the line between the haves and have-nots is a fine one, especially with Misty on the verge of not having a place to live. He also has cameos from a few of his funny friends, including a bit of meta-casting of Anthony Anderson (who has faded a bit after starring in Black-ish) in a bit part as a cop.

Eleazar, a British actor best known for appearing on the Apple TV show Slow Horses, is a magnetic presence as Misty. The character herself is somewhat cringey in her decision-making, and Eleazar sells every bit of her righteous indignation and self-defeating actions. The supporting cast is great across the board, including Rock, Driver, Kaluuya, Thoms, Grace, Anna Kendrick, and Rich Sommer.

Misty Green makes you rage against the Hollywood machine, laugh at the various ways different people deal with its maddening quirks, and hide behind your fingers as Misty chooses options that don’t help, either voluntarily or because her back is against the wall. It’s a powerhouse of acting that gives a unique angle on the inner workings of Hollywood, one that ironically might be competing for awards at year’s end.

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Misty Green is now playing in theaters.

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