Thousands flocked to the Magnolia Silos downtown in mid-October to enjoy the sights and sounds of local entrepreneurs Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Silobration festival. The couple, known for their Home and Gardens channel show “Fixer Upper,” work and operate almost exclusively in the Waco area. Their warehouse store and outdoor venue, Magnolia Silos, have garnered national attention for their rustic, farmhouse-chic home decor and their famous Magnolia cupcakes.
During the Silobration, however, there were many sweet treats other than cupcakes to be found. Vendors travel from far to set up tents for the weekend, where they sell everything from leather bags to baby clothes to candles. Though many people come to the Silos for this festival to explore clothing and home decor options, many stay for the delicious set of food trucks that come down to serve up their unique flavors.
This year, some of the most exciting food trucks in attendance were the dessert trucks. Amid the smell of barbecue, seafood and savory burgers, one could still smell the sweet aroma of safe-to-eat cookie dough and doughnuts wafting through the air. There were 23 food trucks present at Silobration, several of which were filled with sweet treats, and many of which traveled far to arrive in Waco for the event.
One such truck was the Wildflower Caramel Co. belonging to Matt Dixon who drove his caramel caravan to Waco from San Antonio, where he and his wife Ellyn have been running the Wildflower Caramel truck for two years now. Each week, there are six unique flavors to choose from in the truck, and each caramel is made with locally sourced natural ingredients and wrapped in recyclable packaging, as part of Wildflower’s mission of “ensuring the fair and ethical treatment of all living things through the supply chain,” as stated on their website. At Silobration, Dixon said the food truck was a long time in the making.
“It’s our second year doing Silobration … We’ve been in business now for two and a half years,” Dixon said. “You know we started our company really just making gifts for people at Christmastime, and one thing led to another and that’s what we do.”
Dixon said they love being part of the Magnolia family, and that they hope people will continue looking to them for their caramel cravings. The best way to find the Dixons outside of Silobration is through their Instagram page @wildflowercaramel.co, or on their website.
A bit further away was dOugh M G, an edible cookie dough food truck based out of Oklahoma City. Deana Haines had always dreamed of opening a food truck, but she and her husband came to the idea of making edible cookie dough in a spur of the moment decision two years ago. Their business has since taken off and was even voted Oklahoma’s best cookie dough by Spoon University, a food publication.
“We actually take this concept and marry it with an ice cream concept that we own, and we run that out of Oklahoma University’s football stadium,” Haines said.
Haines and her family frequent Waco, but have only officially worked this event and Magnolia’s Spring at the Silos event as well.
“We love coming down here,” Haines said. “This is one of our favorite, not just Silobration, but Magnolia Market, one of our favorite places to come because everyone is super friendly. The organization of this event is mind blowing … this is probably the best organized event we’ve ever been to.”
Those in search of mouthwatering cookie dough in Oklahoma and the surrounding areas can find it through their Instagram page @doughmgoklahoma.
While there were plenty of food trucks from far and wide, Magnolia also gave Silobration visitors a taste of Waco with the local Churros’ Time truck, a family-run business created in Waco. Lina Lopez is a Waco native who has been working with her parents, who own the food truck, to build the brand over the course of the past year.
“We bought the food truck last summer, and it’s just been building the food truck and perfecting the recipes, and we finally opened in March,” Lopez said. “We’re from Waco, but we’ve never actually been to a Silobration … It’s been really cool, just meeting people from all over the United States.”
The family takes a twist on a classic churro recipe, including options such as ice cream churros and one called “Date Night,” Lopez’s personal favorite, consisting of mini churros with nutella, fresh strawberries and fresh blueberries. Lopez said their Instagram, @churrostimewaco, constantly informs people about where they are in Waco, and, luckily for Baylor students, Churros’ Time will also be on Baylor campus next week for the FIJI Fright Night event.
With so many options for a sweet treat, the Silobration visitors certainly did not go hungry. Along with their bags of Magnolia merchandise, they also returned home with new dessert options thanks to the many food trucks that were invited.
