HOME STRETCH, JFG NATION! I hope you’ve enjoyed the first four parts of my Summer Fancy Food Show experience. I know I’m verbose, but man – two weeks later and I’m still talking about this ish? Yes, yes I am. And you love every word of it, in your eyeballs, don’t you? Yes, yes you do.

The second half of the second day of the Summer Fancy Food Show 2015 is always a bit weird. The show is actually three days, but since it’s been in New York, I’ve only been able to commit to two days. So the second of Day 2 is usually when I circle back to old favorites and try to meet people a second time, while at the same time trying to eat/drink all the remaining stuff I hadn’t gotten to yet! Woe is me.

I tried a LOT of craft sodas at the show, but Sipp was one of my favorites. The best adjectives for it: CRISP AND REFRESHING. The complex flavor profiles it had (Summer Pear with green tea and honey, Lemon flower with tarragon? WOW) weren’t overpowering – this soda was light and super fizzy and made for a perfect sip or mixer with booze. I loved it.

I don’t remember who made these pancakes, but let me tell you – mini pancakes with marshmallow creme? I highly recommend it!

I DO remember who made THESE pancakes, and it was Southern Culture Foods! Their combo of seasoned pancake mix with candied bacon pieces? One of my best bites of the show. Just LEGIT tasty flavors and great texture too – soft pancake with crisp bacon. Perfection.

It also helped that the heads of Southern Culture Foods were super nice and wanted me to eat pancakes until I popped. Next year, I’m coming to this booth first.

Ah, yes – this was the part of the Summer Fancy Food Show 2015 where the JFG team started to get photo happy. JFG Nicole shown here with a dude clearly promoting Perky Jerky. Hey – I give the guy credit – he knew what he was in for. He didn’t mind getting grab-assed all day.

Remember Playboy alcohol? The PR person told us to come back when the Playboy Bunny would be in on Day 2 to help promote the brand. JFG Jen and I couldn’t resist. The bunny…yeah, she was thrilled to be there, I’m sure.

Playboy bunnies on one end of the spectrum, and on the other end was Marcus Samuelsson! HOLY S. Top Chef Master and one of the greatest chefs in the country. I snuck this awkward picture before he could say no. He was promoting a tea company that….that….I have no idea what the name of it was, because he’s blocking the logo. Nice work, chef.

JFG Nicole got to met a hero of hers when we spotted Devin McCourty and his twin brother Jason McCourty pimping Cheribundi cherry juice. Devin McCourty of Patriots fame (left) is a ProBowl cornerback. Did you know twin bro Jason McCourty is ALSO an NFL cornerback? I did not. Plays for the Titans apparently. Who knew?

It was time to round out the day by running DIRECTLY to certain booths at the Summer Fancy Food Show 2015 to try things I have checkmarked in my media guide. On of those things was Carrot Cake Potlicker Jam. OMG this stuff was legit. I love carrot cake, and this spread made the bit of bread I spread it on TASTE like carrot cake. Amazing stuff.

The same company also made beer jellies, some of the most interesting spreads I saw at the show. These tasted really good, although I prefer jam over jellies (more texture).

Interesting sidenote – the owner of this company actually started out as a food blogger/critic, and then moved into the food space herself! Whoa. That’s it – I’m quitting my job to made a chip line. First flavor: Chicken n Waffles?

UM, yes, you are seeing this right. Marshmallows FILLED with peanut butter and chocolate. We roasted some over a small Sterno, and they got all crusty on the outside, melty on the inside. Then, when we bit into it, the inside molten chocolate and peanut butter came bursting out. Firecrackers went off in my head. These were amazing.

If Jet Puffed or Kraft doesn’t start doing this soon, they are missing out. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES! Marshmallows stuffed with speculoos? MAKE IT HAPPEN CAPTAIN.

One of my favorite treats from the Summer Fancy Food Show 2015: TIPSY SCOOP!  Boozy ice cream? I highly recommend it. The ice cream was amazingly smooth, and best of all, the alcohol flavors weren’t overpowering. The Vanilla Bean Bourbon, for example, had just enough kick on the back end to let you know booze was there but not enough to drown out the great vanilla flavor. A+ stuff.

This blend of Fruit Ice and Frozen Custard was the JFGal’s favorite bite of the show. Double Rainbow is an ice cream company from the West Coast, and this mix of two different things was a semi-revelation to me. To be fair, I’ve had Asian desserts that were similar – mixing shaved ice with taro ice cream, for example – but to see it the non-Asian context made me wonder why more companies aren’t doing this. The vanilla and tart cherry was a party in my mouth.

Serendipity 3 was at the show again hyping their new coconut frozen hot chocolate. S3 is already known for amazing frozen hot chocolate (essentially, chocolate slushees), and this coconut version…well, had added coconut flavor. It wasn’t mind blowing, but that didn’t stop me from drinking two of these.

Callie’s Charleston Biscuits was a big winner at the Summer Fancy Food Show 2015, as some of their savory biscuits were nominated for SOFIs in various categories. Their cocoa and cream cookies were what I focused on – these were essentially Oreos made from scratch! A dark cocoa flavored almost shortbread-like cookie with fluffy sweet cream in the middle? Waaaaay better than I expected. As an Oreo mark, I wanted to steal the entire tray of these.

One last random thing I spotted – some company made chocolate truffles inside ACTUAL egg shells!

FINALLY, the show was over. BTW, as you can see above, JFG Rob was replaced by my friend Shelley (JFG Shelley?) who had just landed from Europe and hustled over to Javits to catch the last part of the Fancy Food Show. She made sure to eat as much chocolate as possible before they started shutting the lights off.

And that’s a wrap! I took a bunch of footage, so maybe I’ll have a video up in like two years. I’d like to thank the JFGal, Jen, Nicole, Rob, and Shelly for joining me again on this gastronomic adventure. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about it, JFG Nation!

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Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy