Rodeo Food: By The Numbers

Okay, this "funnel cake fairy" is totally creepy, but we still want what she's powdered sugar-ing.

The first day of March is here, with a crisp cold front to kick off the annual Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo season (although this past weekend's World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest is the real kick-off point). I'm hoping the weather will stay this cool for Thursday, when I'll be heading back to judge the annual Gold Buckle Foodie Awards, because there's nothing worse than getting the meat sweats on a hot day.

Between the Foodie Awards, the Bar-B-Que Contest, Best Bites, Rodeo Uncorked! and the midway filled with some of the tastiest fried foods on the planet, the Rodeo is one of the city's largest food events each year. And more than 2 million people attended the 2010 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a new record for attendance.

It got us wondering: Out of all that food, what are the most popular items at the midway each year? Our friends at the Rodeo helped us out, compiling a list of the most consumed foodstuffs from 2010. See the breakdown below.

Photo illustration by Monica Fuentes