30 Cool, Creative + Quirky Calendars for 2013

Homemade Funnel Cake

If you're a big fan of fried goodies, then you *have* to make this treat. It's the perfect mix of hot, sticky, and sweet, and definitely satisfies those fair food cravings. You can split it among a bunch of people like your friends or your family...or you can eat it all yourself.

State Fair Corn Dogs

Even with all the new, hyped-up, experimental foods each year, there’s nothing like a classic corn dog. This recipe calls for a Dutch oven in lieu of a deep fryer.

Gluten-Free Fried Cheese Curds

FRIED. CHEESE. CURDS. It’s only fitting that a Minnesota blogger would get this wholly Midwestern indulgence exactly right.

Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

This might be the most American thing to ever have happened. We recommend you don’t skip the optional white chocolate ganache topping. U-S-A. U-S-A. U-S-A…

Puckerin’ Pickle Popsicles

Half of you are probably gagging right now, half (like us) are pretty excited to try this weird pickle juice pop. Cocktail possibilities, anyone?

Krispy Kreme Burger

Apparently, Luther Vandross claimed to have come up with the Krispy Kreme burger while on tour. Because, why not?

Fried Cookie Dough

We’re digging this fried cookie-dough concoction. It’s simple if you buy the store-bought stuff.

Frozen Chocolate-Covered Bananas

There’s always money in the banana stand. This recipe — which mixes the peanut coating with pieces of crispy bacon — is MONEY.

Caveman Pops (Roasted Turkey Legs)

Inspired by the behemoth meat drummies of state fairs and Medieval Times alike, a good brine makes this recipe a success.

Cherry Pie

If you’re looking to take home a blue ribbon, here’s the secret.

Fried Mac and Cheese Bites

It is your duty as an American to deep fry everything, including macaroni.

Maple Chocolate Bacon Skewers

There’s nothing more fair-friendly than chocolate-covered bacon on a stick.

Fried Avocado

Oh, California. You would try to keep healthy with your fair food. Well, not exactly healthy… but it’s no fried Coke.

Deep-Fried Coca-Cola

This dish involves infusing Bisquick batter with real Coca Cola — don’t you dare try to use diet in this Southern fair recipe.

Deep-Fried Spaghetti and Meatballs On-a-Stick

Minnesota is at it again. Do the laws of physics even apply to this?

Grilled Corn Sweet Corn

If you need a break from all the fried fodder, sweet corn is a must!

Fried Oreos

Anybody can fry a Snickers bar, but we are partial to the creamy, gooey Oreos.

Cream Puffs and Éclairs

This is Wisconsin’s official dessert. At their state fair, it’s served on a large dinner plate.

Beer and Bacon Battered Deep Fried White Castle Sliders

Get outta here, Orange County. What have you done?!

Monster Crunchies

Just in time for the back-to-school season, these monster crunchies are a wacky snack the whole family will love.

Kool Aid Pickles

Kool-aid can be great by itself but pairing it with pickles creates a sweet and tangy treat you'll surprisingly want more of.

Southern Fried Green Tomatoes

Deep fried foods and state fairs seem to go hand-in-hand. We're not complaining though.

Puff Pastry Plum Tarts

Craving something sweet and sticky? Bake this easy puff pastry plum tarts recipe. You'll love the sweet blend of plums, brown sugar and flaky crust.

Flamin Hot Cheetos Corn (Elote)

This is grilled sweet corn's spicier sister. With flaming hot cheetos baked on top, this corn on the cob recipe is going to quickly become a guilty food pleasure.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispies

What happens when you mix chocolate, peanut butter and rice krispies together? You get treats that are sure to give you a sugar rush.

Spring is officially here, people. You don’t need any other excuse to invest in a cute new bag. Show off your sharp style at the farmer’s market with this cactus bucket bag.

As a Power of Women honoree, Mariska was recognized in regards to her work as an advocate for sexual assault survivors. She took the stage and used her platform to discuss rape and assault conviction reversals, shining a light on the recent overturned ruling in Harvey Weinstein's landmark NYC case. Here's what she said:

Today I want to talk about reversing convictions, and more specifically I want to talk to you about how impossible it is to reverse mine. It’s impossible to reverse my conviction that survivors matter. It is impossible to reverse my conviction that what happens to us matters, and that our society must respond to survivors with a more a compassionate, holistically, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of what healing means.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that after a trauma, survivors can reclaim lives of hope, of possibility, of audacious risk, beautiful intimacy, and glorious, glorious abundant joy. And I stand before you as evidence of that statement.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that we must listen to survivors as experts on what justice means. It is extraordinary how little their voices are consulted, let alone incorporated, in the process of deciding how to repair harm. Justice is not a one-size-fits-all journey.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that patriarchal impunity has to end. Patriarchal impunity is when a male-dominated system exempts perpetrators from punishment. Studies show that only 20% of all rape cases in the U.S. are reported to the police, and that between 5 and 0% of all rapes result in a guilty plea or a conviction. So why do 80% of victims not report? Because they're met with a system that grants impunity to perpetrators; a system that blames victims; a system that accepts only those victims who are experienced as "real" rape; a system that completely misunderstands the neurobiology of trauma, which causes behavior in women that doesn't fit the picture of how a "real victim" would act.

Is that change needed that victims should just pull themselves together? Just buck up and report anyway? No. No, it's the system that receives them that needs to change

It is impossible to reverse my conviction — and the conviction of my extraordinary team, The Joyful Heart — that the backlog of untested rape kits can be brought to zero; that the testing of all new kits must be mandated; that we need a statewide kit tracking system; and that survivors have the right to access the status of their kits.

It is impossible to reverse my conviction that grammar — yes, grammar — that we use when we speak about rape must change. In the sentence, "A woman is raped," there's a crime and there's a victim, but there's no perpetrator. Where's the perpetrator? Where is he? Statistically, as we know, most likely he's walking free. He's so free that he doesn't even appear in the language about the crime that he committed. Is that not extraordinary? It's extraordinary that in the very grammar, the perpetrator goes free. Reintroducing perpetrators in the language of rape will make some very unwieldy grammar, but that's the nature of change. It's unwieldy, it's messy, it's uncomfortable, but it's necessary.

Hargitay continued on in her prolific speech to describe that rape shouldn't be considered a "crime of passion" because it's "not simply the next step in the trajectory of his passion" when a man takes a consensual hookup too far and assaults a woman against her will. She stated that it's "an exercise of power," doubling down that the language we use is important.

The speech went on to address that rape is both about power and control, as a "construct" that was "built, and assembled, and reinforced over time." She noted that there are people with these positions of power — and she specifically called out those in the entertainment industry — that could make a difference and aligned themselves to victims and survivors.

After this and some other remarks, Hargitay specifically called out the Weinstein conviction reversal. She said:

I do want to say something about the Harvey Weinstein conviction, specifically about the reason that it was overturned: too many women's voices. Too many women's voices were allowed to speak. Hallelujah! Amen! I can't imagine anything more beautiful than that. The Daily podcast episode talked about how it was so risky for the prosecution to have that many women testify. Risky to let women speak? You're damn right it is!

Too many women speaking brings change. Too many women speaking shakes the establishment. Too many women means we get listened to more, and people might actually hear what we have to say. Look what happened when women started saying just two words, right? Me too — just as an example — a tidal wave of change. Me too.

And then of course, there was the response: the Me Too Movement. The backlash. The examination of whether the changes that have come are lasting, or are even positive. Of course there's a backlash! What did they expect? For women to speak repeatedly, loudly, together, with a purpose — for there to be no backlash? The backlash is evidence of how powerful those voices were, how powerful those voices ARE.

Watch Mariska Hargitay's Full Speech Here

Turns out that your TV heroes really can be your IRL heroes after all. Long live Olivia Benson! Long live Mariska Hargitay!