These Changing Times.

[Steve]

Well, graduation time is nearly on us, and once again we face
the age old tradition of the graduation party where aunts and
uncles, grandma and grandpa, brother and sisters gather together
for some light refreshments to watch the graduate open gifts 
and count the money they are raking in.

But now days there is a twist. Back in the day, graduation,
confirmation, funerals, and weddings all meant a spoon full of
mixed nuts, a couple open fact mini-rye deviled ham sandwiches,
maybe a small splash of potato salad, a small square of cake,
and lots of coffee.

But today, kids are creating their own non-traditional 
celebrations. My niece is going to have a taco bar at her
graduation party. And, another one of her friends has hired
a corn dog concession stand to come to the party and provide
all the corn dogs you can eat. 

For those who don't know, a corn dog, also called 'pronto pup',
is a hot dog placed on a stick, dipped in (usually) corn batter
then deep fried in oil until the batter turns to a dark brown
pancake color (American pancakes that is). 

Here in Minnesota and other places where the county and state
fair are big events, it seems like almost a contest to see 
who can come up with the most innovative food served on a
stick -- porkchops on a stick, deep fried Snickers Bars on a
stick. As always, 'on a stick' is good, but you get bonus 
points if you can figure out how to deep fry the food as well. 
I suspect if there was a way to do it, they would come up with 
battered deep fried ice cream on a stick. 

Just curious if the 'taco' graduation party is a local thing,
or if these unusual graduation parties are springing up 
everywhere?

steve/bboyminn