Minnesota State Fair

This weekend, Terry and I went to visit our friends Diane and Tom in Shoreview, MN with the goal of going to the Minnesota State Fair. The food at the fair had been featured at least once on Food TV. We were intrigued.

We got to Shoreview Friday evening. The Minneapolis paper had extensive coverage on fair food. The goal seemed to be to put anything on a stick included s’mores, spaghetti and meatballs, and tater tot hamburger hot dish. The s’more on a stick sounded particularly appalling. I don’t like s’mores to begin with, and these were made with Rice Krispie treats and treats made of other cereals, such as Froot Loops. Seriously, s’mores are too sweet with just the chocolate and marshmallows. The deep fried olives on a stick, stuffed with cream cheese, were more my style.

Diane and Tom’s house was conveniently located within walking distance of a bus stop to the fair. We walked there mid-morning on Saturday. The bus had no schedule other than “every 20 minutes.” We didn’t wait too long before a fancy coach bus showed up. The strollers were stowed underneath the bus, and even though the bus had a huge number of seats, we were lucky to get some. The last folks had to stand.

We went straight to the fairgrounds. I used my phone to take a picture of the sign where the bus dropped us off so I would know where to wait to go home. I learned this trick from my students, who constantly take pictures of everything I write on the board. I felt so young!

Diane had gotten our tickets in advance, which was not only cheaper but enabled us several enormous lines at the ticket booth. One through the entrance gate, we were greeted by a lovely garden. Upon discussion, we agreed to meet there in two hours.

Garden at the Fair entrance (Tom, Diane, and Terry are to the right)

Diane took a picture of Terry and me under the entry sign.

Terry and me under the entrance sign

And then it was off to jostle our way through the masses. This is the beginning of the fair. The wires above are for gondolas that go over the fair. Note also the fried pickle booth. Fried pickles were very popular.

Gondola rides and fried pickles

As was food on a stick, including hot dish on a stick.

Hot dish on a stick

Scotch eggs on a stick (a Scotch egg is a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage, breaded and fried. I’ve had a Scotch egg and found I did not like them as much as I thought I would.)

Scotch eggs on a stick

Cheese on a stick.

Cheese on a stick

And anything that can be fried was available fried, such as deep fried pie.

Deep fried pies

I had heard rumors that there was deep-fried butter, but was unable to verify its existence. But then, we covered less than half of the fair.

Diane and I went to see the animals. Terry and Tom went separate ways. We went to the sheep and poultry barn, which was filled with goats and rabbits. We watched one round of dairy goat judging.

Judging dairy goats. Apparently, you must dress like your goat

And looked at the rabbits, finding one that looked like the Easter bunny.

The Easter bunny

We asked at the information booth where the chickens were. Alas, they had gone home on Wednesday. The Minnesota State Fair runs for 12 days. I’m sure the chickens were glad to get home, but we were disappointed to have missed them.

A woman selling alpaca wool products brought her alpacas along. So cute!

Alpaca

We walked past the Coliseum, which was decorated with images of industrious, well-armed pioneers and Native Americans on horseback. I’m sure there’s a story behind the “L’Etoile du Nord” (north star in French) at the bottom.

Carving on the Coliseum

We pressed on to the Dairy building to see the butter sculptures. We were greeted by rows and rows of vendors. Where is the dairy? I finally spotted a sign way in the back for the butter sculptures. There was a small case for award-winning cheeses back there too. The butter sculpture was in progress. The model, bundled in a winter coat and wool mittens, sat for the artist who carefully sliced curls of butter from a 90 pound block of butter while hunched against the 40°F cold. The whole area rotated, displaying the nine sculptures that had already been done and the two remaining uncarved blocks with photos of their subjects attached to the front. Each sculpture takes 6 to 8 hours, and the subject of the sculpture gets to take it home at the end of the fair. And do what with it??

Butter sculptures

The back wall of the building was devoted to a brisk business in ice cream and malts. Diane wanted a malt, but the line was unbelievable. Worse than customs in Miami, and just as many stanchions.

We went to the Agriculture/Horticulture Building next. There was a lovely water garden out front with an informational plaque about gardening with native species.

Native water garden

The building was laid out with wings radiating from a central and highly decorated point.

The hub of the Horticulture Building

The vegetable competition was closed for judging.

Judging the vegetables

We could still see the giant pumpkins. The winner was 775 pounds. Because we can.

Giant pumpkins

We admired the apple competition.

Minnesota apples

And the fruit competition.

Grapes, pears, and other fruits

There had also been a wine competition. A glass case displayed bottles with ribbons. All the bottles were empty, which made Diane want to be in on it. Because it was all wines made in Minnesota, I wasn’t so sure.

The empty bottles that remained after the wine competition

Various flower groups rotate through one wing. We were lucky enough to be there for the Orchid Society’s show.

The orchid show

An unusual orchid

Another orchid unlike any I'd seen

So delicate!

At the back of the wing for grains was the seed art. It was amazing. Some people have a lot of patience. And a lot of glue.

Picture made entirely of seeds

This was made of all natural materials, mostly seeds, but the hearts are birch bark

This is the sugar beet competition. The sign on the lower right says that a 3-pound sugar beet produces 6.5 ounces of sugar. That doesn’t seem very efficient, does it? I wonder what it is for sugar cane.

Largest sugar beet contest

We were hungry by then. Diane was still thinking of a malt, and got one at a custard stand without noticing that it was custard. Still, she was third in line instead of 437^th.

Diane orders a malt at a custard stand

This is the best picture I could get of the mass of humanity that was everywhere.

I can't remember when I last saw so many people at once, if ever

After careful contemplation, I settled on hot dish on a stick, not because I thought it would be good (although it was recommended by the newspaper’s food critic) but because it was the most Minnesotan thing.

And here it is—four pre-cooked meatballs separated by three tater tots, dipped in corn bread batter and deep fried. What does not show up in the photo is the small cup of cream of mushroom soup dipping sauce. It was delicious! The corn bread was light and slightly sweet. The meatballs were nicely seasoned (although not spicy—that would be so NOT Minnesotan). Tater tots are tater tots. I was pleasantly surprised.

Hot dish on a stick (I had to hold Diane's malt while she took the picture). Not visible: cream of mushroom soup dipping sauce.

A very popular stand was Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar, which was turning out millions of chocolate chip cookies. I was certain that they would not be as good as the ones I make with butter and walnuts. But people were lined up in abundance.

People waiting for freshly baked chocolate chip cookies

Close up of the bucket of cookies held by a complete stranger and taken without her knowledge

We met Tom and Terry back at the garden at 1:00. Terry was finishing a 16-ounce cup of fries. (I noticed that the French fries sizes went up to “Souvenir bucket” for $11.) He had also had walleye on a stick. It was not breaded or batter-dipped and was unsuitable for dipping.

We waited in a long line for the bus back home. My feet were tired, and I was glad we got a seat for the ride.

When we got back to the house, many monarch butterflies were flitting around Diane’s native flowers.

Monarchs on meadow blazing star

We rested the remainder of the afternoon. Terry through a dog-slimed ball for Rio, who never seemed to tire of the game. Later than evening, Terry was rewarded by being accepted as a new friend.

Terry and Rio

We came home today so we could have tomorrow to avoid holiday traffic and get ready for the week. It was fun trip!