Granted, if you have a bad case of "the hungries" your food lust will doubtless be appeased during a visit to The Taste of Edmonds. But you should be aware that the menu, which has been prepared for this weekend, does not represent the acme of culinary adventure.

What does that mean?  No deep-fried Twinkies.  No deep-fried cookie dough.  No deep-fried Oreos.  No deep-fried bacon. No deep-fried Snickers.

And if you are anticipating a heaping side dish of deep-fried butter, forgetaboutit!

     You could sample all of the above if you had spent a weekend at the Texas State Fair where, legend has it, the corn dog was invented.  That was a long time ago.  Deep fried butter is a more recent addition to the menu.  It consists of chilled balls of butter, wrapped in dough, then dumped into a tub of sizzling oil.  You can order the original formula or deep fried butterballs in garlic, cherry or grape flavors.

      Food festival favorites vary by region.  Indian fry bread, sopapillas and tamales head the list in many Southwest foodfests.  In the east eager eaters can anticipate pierogies, baked clams and a whole lot of Italian sausages.  Bostonians tend to order a dish known as "wholly cannolli".

      In virtually all regions of the country, including this one, a visitor can anticipate feasting on corn on the cob, elephant ears, a "blooming onion", gyros, kettle corn, pulled pork and strawberry shortcake.

      If we're lucky, Taste of Edmonds visitors will find grilled salmon on the menu.  And you'll encounter enough Asian noodle dishes to feed Hong Kong.

      But no deep-fried snickers, wholly cannolli or grape-flavored butterballs.  You'll only find those if you take your appetite deep into the heart of Texas.

      Maybe we should invent some regional treats like deep fried lutefisk in squaw bread.  We could call it Pronto Tonto or a Scandi Dandy.