Fair foods a tradition for Myakka resident

Myakka City’s Katie Greene stood at the fryer with a bottle of funnel cake batter in her hand.

She drizzled batter into a cylindrical mold and watched the funnel cake take form.

“The key to the perfect funnel cake is the batter needs to be thick, and the grease needs to be at the right temperature,” she said as she released the dough from the mold and let it sit in the oil for 30 seconds before flipping it.

Greene took the golden-brown, fried dough out of the fryer and placed it on a plate to cover it in powdered sugar.

She will go through the process of making dozens of funnel cakes each day as part of Katie’s Concessions during the 29th annual Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival starting Oct. 10. She’ll have her funnel cake trailer and pizza trailer at the festival every day of the festival.

Greene has been a food vendor at the festival since she started in the concessions business eight years ago. But she is the third generation in her family to be going to festivals, including the Pumpkin Festival. Her grandfather, Buffalo Greene, started the business in Traverse City, Mich., and it came to Florida when the family moved to Sarasota.

Buffalo Greene started out with a spider show in which people would pay a quarter to see spiders and snakes. He also sold Native American jewelry. For food, he had a cotton candy trailer and a taco trailer.

Katie Greene’s father, Brad, later added pizza, elephant ears and Italian sausage.

As a child, Greene remembers being sad about leaving her friends to go to events in Michigan for her family to sell concessions. But she also remembered all the times she met new people and went on rides.

“It’s probably every kid’s dream be out there getting to ride all the rides and go to the carnival,” she said.

Her family tells her the story about how when she was 5 years old, she would stand on two pizza sauce cans, so she was tall enough to reach the counter to put toppings on the pizzas. Unfortunately, she went overboard on one particular pizza.

“It was this like 20-pound pizza because I put all the toppings on it,” she said. “I didn’t know any better. But [the customers] said it was the best pizza.”

Now, Greene occasionally lets her 5-year-old son, Asher Bramel, help make pepperoni pizzas.

It wasn’t until eight years ago that Greene joined the family business. She went to the University of South Florida in Tampa and worked at an insurance company until she realized it wasn’t for her.

“It was a good job, and it paid well, but I just hated being at a desk all day, every day,” Greene said. “I need to get out and talk to people, and I love cooking and seeing people smile when they have our food and are sharing it with their families.”

Greene bought a pizza trailer from her father and started going to fairs and festivals in the Bradenton and Sarasota areas.

She added to her offerings with strawberry shortcake, ice cream and funnel cake.

The Pumpkin Festival will be the first big event Greene will attend since the pandemic began in March. Normally, she spends her summers in Michigan going to the fairs and festivals, but due to COVID-19, she’s been at home waiting for events to start again.

Greene said the Michigan events make up 80% to 90% of her income. 

“We’re definitely ready to start working again,” Greene said.

Greene hopes this year’s Pumpkin Festival will draw large crowds because people might be anxious to get out of their homes and enjoy a family-friendly event. Hunsader Farms is abiding by any Manatee County and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions.

When Greene has a chance, she gets away from the trailers to enjoy the craft show and grabs a caramel apple from another food vendor. Her kids, Asher and 1-year-old Ford Bramel, love to see the animals at the petting zoo.

She also wants to take a swamp buggy ride and try the maze, both attractions at the festival, but has been so busy in past festivals that she hasn’t had the chance to experience those yet.