How many food groups?

There may be a mere four (or so) in the world outside.

But at State Fair, the annual 11-day ode to farm animals, people watching, entertainment and everything on a stick and/or deep-fried, there have to be fully 50 - if you count the likes of flavored milk, deep-frying oil, sculpted dairy products, whipped cream (this has to be a food group) and, yes, bacon.

America's love affair with bacon may be subsiding in trendier areas of the country, but not here, certainly not at the fairgrounds.

And so, with State Fair just eight days away, we anticipate the second State Fair Bacon Lovers Day - this year, Friday, Aug. 12.

Once again, chef Brian Moran of St. Paul Fish Co. at the Milwaukee Public Market has teamed up with Patrick Cudahy to create new recipes using the local company's applewood smoked bacon.

All five - bacon-wrapped shrimp with spicy barbecue sauce, bacon walnut chocolate chip cookies, bacon bow-tie pasta salad, bacon buttermilk biscuits, and ham or bacon and fontina crescent rolls - will be offered up for sampling to fairgoers from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. and 10 to 11:15 a.m. in Central Park.

Moran's personal favorite is the bow-tie pasta salad, though the shrimp, he said, got good response at his neighborhood Fourth of July block party. The cookies, he said, are also pretty good.

But the popular crispy pork strips are not confined to Bacon Day. At Apollo's Gyros at the fair, you can treat yourself to the new deep-fried bacon-wrapped hot dog on a stick. For dessert, you can stop at a Cedar Crest ice cream stand in the Exposition Center or at Badger Ave. and Center St. to try its new bacon sundae: vanilla ice cream, pancake syrup and real bacon bits.

I'm not so sure about bacon with my ice cream, but two other new sweet treats on deck at the fair did jump out at me: whoopie pies (various cake flavors filled with white buttercream or cream cheese frosting), from Lehmann's Bakery in the Original Cream Puff Pavilion; and something called tropical fruit tempura on a stick, with powdered sugar and caramel, chocolate or strawberry sauce, this from Joey's Seafood's new stand near the Big Backyard.

Food at the fair is certainly one of its biggest attractions - you've heard, of course, about the new deep-fried butter. But not all the food is intended for consumption. Some of it is about the competition.

On Thursday, Aug. 11, the fair's Team Cream Puff will attempt to set a Guinness world record for the world's largest cream puff. Assembly begins at 2 p.m. in Central Park.

From Aug. 12 to 14, Sarah Kaufmann, the "Cheese Lady," will aim for a Guinness record for carving the world's largest cheese sculpture. You can see her whittle away at more than 1,000 pounds of cheese in the Farm and Family Building.

Before the fair even begins - today and Saturday - local amateur cooks go cake-to-cake and pie-to-pie to compete for ribbons and bragging rights in the fair's culinary competitions. The winning creations, chosen from nearly 1,600 entries (nearly 200 in cookies and bars alone), will be on display in the horticulture building. Once again, we'll publish selections of winning recipes in the Food section in the weeks to follow.

So much food packed into just 11 days. Prep your stomach now.

Recipes

Here are two of chef Brian Moran's bacon inspirations:

Applewood Smoked Bacon

Bow-tie Pasta Salad

2 cups bow-tie pasta, cooked and drained

1 cup cooked green peas

2 tablespoons chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley

6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1 cup crumbled, cooked applewood smoked bacon

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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Applewood Smoked Bacon and Walnut

Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

½ cup solid vegetable shortening

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ cups flour

1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

½ cup finely chopped cooked applewood smoked bacon plus extra for sprinkling (see note)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter and shortening until well mixed, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add sugars and vanilla, mix until well combined, then add eggs 1 at a time until mixture is well combined, scraping down side of bowl.

Mix salt and baking soda into flour, then slowly add flour mixture to batter, a little at a time, until dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts and bacon pieces with a wooden spoon.

Drop 1 ½ tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets, sprinkle top of each cookie with a few extra pieces of bacon, then bake in preheated oven 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown.

Note: If you don't want to fry bacon, you can purchase and chop precooked bacon strips.

Nancy J. Stohs is food editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. E-mail her at nstohs@journalsentinel.com. For food and dining updates, become a Facebook fan at jsonline.com/food/facebook.