2018 Minnesota State Fair – St, Paul, MN

Here’s my review of some of the state fair foods I ate this year. Yes, I ate too much. Yes, I spent too much money. Yes, I am sunburned. Yes, I probably hit the beer harder than the food this year. Yes, I will be back next year! (I didn’t go into detail as much this year, since it’s towards the end of the fair and people just want a list to go on, not a story. This is all I had time to put together.)

Wild Bill’s Breakfast Bake at the Blue Barn – I need to figure out how to make this delicious breakfast concoction. Corn chips and eggs baked with cheese into a cube-format, then covered with scrambled eggs and salsa. It’s awesome. People say this is way too heavy to start the day off, but I don’t agree. I love it.

Tangerine Boozy Red Bull Slushy from LuLu's – It’s vodka, red bull, and tangerine juice in a freezy situation. It’s magic.

Also, I got a Schell’s Red Sangria beer, which was my favorite last year. It’s pretty incredible.

Nordic Waffle with berries – we waited in a massive line for this and I was bummed that it was small, but it did really have good flavor. I’m glad we got it and it was just about worth waiting in the longest line I’ve ever been in at the state fair.

Had to try the Two To Tango, Three to Mango mango sour beer from Starkeller (in the back corner of Lulu’s Public House). One of the best beers of the day.

Then off to try the Key Lime Pie beer from Lift Bridge. People told me to drink this very fast since it gets a little “off” when it warms up a bit. They’re right. Drink it fast or the chemically-lime taste grows quite a bit. It was fun while it was super cold, though!

I ate the Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl from the Café Caribe. It was good, but with the avocado, mango, and tomatoes, it tasted like a tuna salsa. The rice was just filler, so I skipped about half of it, but it was slightly better than meh.

I had a bite of my sister’s Campfire S’mores Rice Kristie Treat (golden grahams, chocolate chips, and marshmallow). It was good, but I don’t care much about S’mores (insert all kinds of outrage from my friends here), so I probably wouldn’t get it again. She loved it, though.

Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs were next. I was a big fan of these, and people told me I would be. Lots of fun Greek cheese stuffed inside a flaky dough and then covered with honey and powdered sugar. Dino’s does some killer stuff at the fair.

We headed to the Hanger next for some Brisket Sliders and Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly – yes, multiple pig meats. The bacon-wrapped pork belly was pretty incredible (thanks for the tip, Motz), and Uncle DumDum loved it. The brisket sliders were much better than I expected from any sort of “fair brisket”. It had three different toppings – coleslaw, BBQ sauce and pickles, and crispy onions – and all of them were surprisingly good. 

Since it was nearby, Uncle DumDum and I split a couple of beer flights. 

• Mankato Brewing – Cake’d Up Celebration Beer – I actually liked this one a lot
• Tin Whiskers – Wheat Stone Bridge - not a fan
• Insight – Crazy Aunt – really an awful beer
• Summit – Skip Rock - decent beer, I'm ok with this one
• Insight – Sunken City - decent beer
• Mankato Brewing – Mad Butcher – I liked this one, since it wasn’t as hoppy, for an IPA
• Tin Whiskers – Flip Switch - it was fine
• Surly – Furious – Always good
• Castle Danger – Ode IPA – I liked this one a lot, as well

We headed over to Giggle's Campfire Grill for some weird beers. Tin Whiskers Dill Pickle Ale was a hit last year, and this year was no different. It’s a solid beer without being too overwhelming on the pickle flavor. I also got the Beaver Island Uffda Ale, which has a piece of Lefse and fresh lingonberries in it. I really didn’t like this one, especially when it warmed up. 

Off to O’Gara’s for some Irish Tater Kegs, which are jumbo tots with corned beef sauerkraut, swiss cheese, and sour cream in them. I really liked these. The sauerkraut wasn’t too strong and they were really filling, and came with thousand island dressing. I liked these more than I expected to. I also got one of the new Surly Gaelic Dark and Stormy beers. I liked this one a lot – great ginger flavor to give it a good amount of tang without being too bitey.

Thought we’d check out the BBQ Split from Mama D’s. It was the worst thing we ate all day. It’s simply BBQ (beef or pork, whatever you choose), mac and cheese, and coleslaw in a sundae boat. If you’re going to do something that simple, you should make that BBQ meat something to talk about, rather than something to avoid. The best part of this was the coleslaw, which is sad. Avoid this one at all costs.

Since I was close, I tried a Helles Ya, You Betcha lager from Summit Brewing. It was just ok. I’ve had much better Helles-style beers, but I managed to drink this one, without TOO many problems. 

I’ve heard some negative things about the Moroccan Sausage Bowl from Sausage by Cynthia but I was really happy with it. It was a smaller portion, but I was pleased with the portion size when I was done eating it all. Great seasoning, and great veggies in it. I liked it a lot, especially the chopped green olives they put on top!

I had a Honey Cream Soda Float on my list, so I managed to find one at the Minnesota Honey Producers Association. This was surprisingly good and I am glad I got it. Also, I was amused that the young high schoolers there were scared of the bees that were buzzing around the stand. Hahahaha

My annual stop at the Mouth Trap for cheese curds! I love these things so much.

I thought I’d split a Zesty PB&J Sausage from the Gass Station Grill with Uncle DumDum. I honestly couldn’t even taste a hint of peanut butter nor of cherry jelly, but that sausage was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was delicious.

Off to the Ball Park Café for some more beers – I got a Kirby Pucker #34 from Eastlake Brewing (which is still amazing and I love it), and a Passion Fruit Pils from Bent Paddle (this one I didn’t like as much, but still drank it). 

I heard people talk about the Spumoni Tsunami beer from Bad Weather Brewing. This was the worst beer I had. Totally undrinkable and I pitched it after two drinks. Sorry, but it was bad.

I had a couple of Sweet Martha’s Cookies that I stole from my sister. They’re fine, but I truly don’t get the hype. 

Headed to Coasters to try the Funnel Cake Cream Ale from Lakefront Brewery (which was just ok, but the powdered sugar helped) and the Margarita-Style Kettle Sour Ale from 612 Brew. This one wasn’t as tasty as the Funnel Cake beer. 

I figured I’d better try the Pepperoni Chips with Roasted Red Pepper Queso from Lulu’s Public House. I’d heard bad things about this, especially about them being super salty. But, since I’m a salt-fiend, I tried them anyway. They’re fantastic and I think everyone should eat them. I am so glad I ignored the muggles that told me not to get it! I also tried the Slipstream Black Current Apple Cider from Social Cider Werks – which was amazing and exactly what I needed to stave off the heat and sunburn I was working on. This was really great.

Finally, as a cap off to the whole day, I split a Swedish Meatball Smörgås from the Blue Barn. It was really awesome. People got weirded out by the white gravy and pickles on top, but it was fantastic. Trust the Swedes, my friends – they know what they’re doing.

15 foods and 24 beers/drinks partaken in - not a bad year at the fair!

Top 5 foods to try:

1. Bacon Wrapped Pork Belly

2. Zesty PB&J Sausage

3. Sweet Greek Cheese Puffs

4. Brisket Sliders

5. Swedish Meatball Smorgas

Top 5 beers to try:

1. Two To Tango Three To Mango from Starkellar

2. Slipstream Black Current from Sociable Cider Werks

3. Kirby Pucker #34 from Eastlake Brewing

4. Schell’s Red Sangria Beer

5. Mankato Brewing Cake’d Up Birthday Cake Celebration Beer

Another Minnesota State Fair in the books!!! Thanks for coming to visit, sister and brother-in-law!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad today!

I can't think of a better role model to turn into. He's the one that started my cookie dough addiction and taught me that there isn't a time limit to stand in front of a donut counter picking out the right donut with the most frosting. He taught me about watching professional wrestling and roller derby and how to be the best fan you can by yelling incoherently at every sporting event (the shirtless thing is all my own). He also taught me a bunch of other things that are actually helpful and have gotten me where I'm at today. I owe him a lot.

Love you, Dad. Hope your birthday doesn't put you in the hospital with sky-high blood sugar levels!

(When did my sister get so short?)

Pizza Train - Osceola, WI

D.Rough came home and asked me if I’d be interested in riding on a pizza train with her niece and nephew. I immediately started chanting “PIZZA TRAIN” and stomping around the house making a train whistle sound. “I’ll take that as a yes”, she said.

We drove about an hour up to Osceola, WI and found signs directing us to the depot. It’s got a bunch of train cars and locomotives and a small museum there at the depot. Kids were running around everywhere getting on trains and having the time of their lives (except those who were crying because their parents wouldn’t buy them something in the gift shop). I had no idea what to expect from this trip, since I intentionally didn’t do any internet snooping before this trip. We picked up our tickets for the pizza train and headed to the front of the line – pizza train customers are VIPs. Only one car was serving pizza – the rest of the riff raff had to sit in one of the other cars with no pizza (and a cheaper ticket price).

On our way onto the train, you grabbed a box with a personal pizza in it, a soda, and a brownie, and then pile in to find a booth to eat lunch. Everyone on our car wolfed down the pizza before we even got going. I told D.Rough we should wait until the train pushes off. Oh yeah - the train takes a short trip into Minnesota, detaches its locomotive from the front, drives around to the back of the train (which now becomes the front) and heads back to Osceola. Sure the pizza would take us 90 seconds to eat, but I wanted to be romantic and old-timey.

The nice Pizza Train lady told us a super quick history of the train (multiple cars from different eras) and then we took off. The kids all loved it. There was a snack car made from a box car. They had bars on the open doors, which let more people check out the passing scenery. There were a few different cars, and another dining car (used for brunch and dinner trains sometimes), and there was a mailcar. Sadly, no club car. All of them were pretty interesting, if you’re into trains (which apparently all male children are).

Here’s a photo of the locomotive driving away before it reattached itself on the other end of the train and headed back to Wisconsin.

All in all the whole thing took about an hour and a half, but you drive through some pretty beautiful wooded country and along the St. Croix River, eventually crossing it into Minnesota. It’s a nice little field trip for the family and I’m glad we all got to go. I’ve never heard of the pizza train, but now, all other forms of transportation will pale in comparison. And we found out there is a Pumpkin Train and Fish Fry Train – I know what someone is getting for their birthday this year….

No Top 5 list for this trip, but we had a blast. Thank you, Repeat and LunchLady for an awesome field trip!!

www.mtmuseum.org

2012 Minnesota State Fair – St. Paul, MN

My sister PalmMapper and brother-in-law UncleDumDum were in town celebrating their 10 year anniversary. The trip was a surprise for my brother-in-law, who has never been to a State Fair before. He’s always wanted to check it out and who better to go with than someone who can also eat their weight in fried food! ME!!! PalmMapper had printed out a couple of new fair items (which coincided nicely with my own list that I always write up) and we headed out to the fair.

We got there early to ensure we could see D.Rough on TV at the KARE-11 building. In fact, we got there too early, so we started eating without her. There’s no better time for breakfast than… uh… breakfast time. We headed into the food building and started the day right.

Ham, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Stromboli from American Stromboli. It’s hardboiled eggs chopped up with ham and shredded cheese baked in a pizza dough - delicious and comes with a side of salsa. While you’re waiting in line, you get to look through the window and watch them make cinnamon rolls… which of course means we had to get a cinnamon roll, as well. Really good dough perfectly baked and with TONS of cinnamon. And of course we got it iced with sugary frosting – which melts immediately on the hot roll. Perfect way to start the morning.

We headed into the other wing of the food building to find Rajin’ Cajun. The entire building was empty and we didn’t think it was open. Thankfully, there were workers behind the counter who were willing to make our breakfast sliders (right before the power went out in the entire building). The breakfast sliders were a trio of small buns filled with steak, Cajun sausage, and ham (each slider has its own meat). They also had scrambled eggs and cheese on them, and each was complimented with an incredible homemade garlic mayo. We actually ate this in order of our favorites, accidentally: ham first, just ok; sausage second, pretty good; steak last, really beefy and tender. I had heard the steak might not be the best, but we must have gotten a good piece because we were thrilled with it. AND it’s really cheap for three sandwiches.

We headed back to the KARE-11 building and watched the Minnesota RollerGirls get interviewed by Eric Perkins. He’s a hilarious guy that just got a promotion to Sports Director – which he’ll be fantastic at. Congrats, Perk! Now it was time to find the 1919 root beer booth – I’ll never get enough of this stuff. It’s my favorite root beer.

We walked around a bit and found the animal barn. I claim I like to go here to watch animal surgery – which they have set up in a sterile booth with cameras and then bleachers outside it to watch the action. But the real reason I like it there is I get to pet the cute dogs. Sure it isn’t cool and it isn’t tough-guy, but I don’t care. The dogs are awesome. This year, the Great Pyrenees stole the show. Beautiful dogs.

After a quick swing through the fine arts building, we eventually found our way to the International Bazaar. One of the new items they had this year at the Midtown Global Market booth was Camel Burgers. UncleDumDum wanted to try one, since he had already ridden a camel at the Minnesota Zoo a few days earlier (I’ll see if I can score a photo). He grabbed one and had it cut in half so we could split it. The sandwich could use some sauce or something, since the meat itself is a little bit dry. It’s got a decent flavor, so it isn’t bad, and I will say it’s way better than the camel on a stick I had last year at the fair.

We headed to the Holy Land Deli (one of our favorite places in the Twin Cities anyway). D.Rough got a gyro on a stick, which ended up looking like a gyro steak on a stick. I’ve never had gyro meat cut this thick and I was worried it wouldn’t be crispy like I like it. But it honestly was a good piece of gyro meat (did I mention it is on a stick?), especially paired with the tzatziki sauce dip that comes with it.

We had to get the lamb fries, since they were the talk of the fair. Lamb testicles! The sign says they’re grilled, but they aren’t. They’re clearly fried. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with these things, but we absolutely went for it. The balls themselves don’t taste like much, to be honest. They just taste like “fried”. Not fried meat. Not fried anything. Just fried. The Holy Land dip that comes with them gives them some flavor, but it just didn’t taste like much. So for $5, you get some bragging rights, but not much else. Meh.

Next on the docket, poutine from Duke’s Poutine. As you know I’m participating in a Twin Cities Poutine Crawl trying out all the poutine in the Twin Cities. This was basically a requirement at the fair. The fries were pretty good. I like when there are bits of potato skin on the fries for texture and flavor. The gravy was a little lack luster and bland (still salty, but not much meat or even gravy flavor). But the real winner was the curds. We all ended up fighting over them. Very tangy and held their shape in the heat of the gravy and fries, but had the squeak that lets you know they’re serious. This was a pretty solid dish of poutine, especially for a fair truck.

Right across the street from the Poutine truck was the Icee truck. I had to get one – blue and red mixed. Nothing fancy, especially considering we walked by an Icee truck earlier that had like 10 different flavors. But I would have gotten these two flavors anyway – I’m old school - so what was the point? Delicious. And now, Coach is jealous.

We needed to rest our feet from walking, so we popped into the air-conditioned coliseum to watch the bull judging. Sure it isn’t action packed, but it’s just the thing you need after a morning of walking and eating.

We had to get Scotch Eggs – a hardboiled egg encased in deep fried sausage. I really like these monstrosities and get them whenever I see them. This year, the one we got was a bit dried out, even though I drenched the thing in maple syrup (they have other more normal sauces to put on them, but I like syrup). Just ok, this year.

PalmMapper was finally worn down by the cheese curds signs. You can only walk by cheese curd booths so many times without stopping to buy some and she had reached her limit. I’m not even sure which booth she got these at. They were delicious, as always. They could have been fried a bit longer in my opinion, but a deep fried cheese curd is a good thing, no matter how you look at it.

Deep Fried Pickles from The Perfect Pickle were next. I love these things. We get the sampler pack – regular, Cajun, and cream cheese-stuffed. These things are always delicious – today was no different. And they have Dew at their booth, which is a bonus for me.

We headed into Heritage Village so Rita could try this new beer from Schell’s Brewery – it’s a Shocked Radler, which means it’s beer with Grapefruit in it. UncleDumDum was unsure about trying it, but he tried it and liked it. …And then we spend much of the remainder of their trip going to Twin Cities liquor stores trying to find it (it isn’t in bottles until next year). Good stuff, according to everyone who tried it. I was still drinking my dew. But we did get photos of D.Rough and Rita hanging with the raccoons and hyenas.

I was feeling desserty – which doesn’t happen often. I needed a cannoli from Ole’s Cannoli (pronounced like Oleee, not Olé like in a bullfight – though it still cracks me up when I hear it pronounced that way). I’m man enough to get sprinkles on my dessert – and I’m glad I did. The fried shell of this cannoli was a little thicker than most I’ve had, so it was difficult to break into pieces, but the flavor of it was just right, so I’m not complaining. Also, the mascarpone cheese filling was spot on to the hundreds I’ve had in Italy and Sicily, so kudos to Ole for nailing it!

It was time for beer flights back at the Ag building. The ag building (pronounced “AYG building” in Minnesota)(I got told I wasn’t allowed to make fun of Minnesota accents while AT the MN State Fair – it’s apparently an unwritten law, enforceable by punching) had a huge exhibit on hops since home brewing is so popular now. This also created an absolute madhouse for trying to get tickets and get in line for the beer flights. They had four different sets/flights of beers from Minnesota: Dark, Light, Belgian, and something else I can’t remember. You can’t mix and match, so I went with the Belgians. All were delicious, however, you have no idea what you’re drinking. The cups aren’t labeled at all, so it’s almost pointless, unless you’re only hoping for four small cups of beer for $8. Next year will be better… right guys? Better system? Just a hint…

Teriyaki Ostrich on a stick at Chinatown in the food building. Looked like a meat lollipop, actually. And surprisingly, this was pretty delicious. The meat itself was much better than other ostrich I’ve had (sounds weird to say, but yes, I’ve had other ostrich), but it was better without the teriyaki dipping sauce. We almost went back for more of the ostrich.

D.Rough swears by the cheese curds at the Mouth Trap in the food building. So we scored some. They were better than the curds we had earlier, if only because they were fried a bit longer to get crispy. Delicious.

UncleDumDum had never had lefse before (it’s a potato pancake – a Swedish thing), so he popped in to Lynn’s Potato Lefse and got one filled with lingonberries. I like these things but only enough to eat some if someone offers. I don’t think I’d order one for myself. It’s a little bit dry and could always use more filling in my opinion. But if you’re Swedish, I’ve heard these are the holy grail of lefse. I could take it or leave it.

You’ll notice, up to this point, I haven’t done anything with bacon. I’m not an addict. I can stop anytime I want. I don’t need bacon all the time. That being said, I DOOOO love the bacon on a stick at Big Fat Bacon. So we grabbed one. The bacon is super thick and deep fried. You can also put this delicious chipotle orange glaze on it, which I highly recommend. I really like these, even though they’re nothing fancy. They’re just fantastic.

D.Rough and I tried the sweet corn ice cream last year at Blue Moon. It’s really good, and really weird. But we liked it enough to try it again, since we were near it. This year, we got cayenne peanuts on it, instead of the honey bacon glaze. I like this much better. The ice cream actually has pieces of sweet corn in it, as well as some corn nuts – which is a brilliant touch, I might add. The dish is about the perfect size to split with someone. UncleDumDum wasn’t a big fan, but the rest of us ate it ALLLLLLL.

We passed by Luigi’s and I mentioned they have the best Hot Dago on a Stick ever. UncleDumDum had never had one, so I said it might be worth it (although he should also have a real hot dago sandwich from a restaurant). It was. These things are sooo good here. Garlic breadstick, meatball, garlic breadstick, meatball, garlic breadstick, meatball, garlic breadstick – then cover it all with mozzarella cheese and bake it. Then serve it with marinara sauce. Man, these things are awesome.

Back for more 1919!!! This time, a large.

And another repeat from last year – the Yankee Apple Pie Chocolate Sandwich. The whole things sounds horrific, but it honestly is one of my favorite things to get here. It’s apple pie filling and some chocolate sauce cooked between two slices of bread until toasted. Then cover the thing with powdered sugar (which apparently gets all over your black shirt while eating, especially if it’s windy). I’m glad we got this on the way out of the fair, or I might have gotten two. They’re fantastic.

I think I can safely say we did some damage at the 2012 Minnesota State Fair. I’m not sure if it was amazeballs enough for UncleDumDum to come back and do it again, but I had a blast hanging out with my awesome family. We like to eat, and I’m sure we eased into the five-digit calorie zone for the day. Thankfully, I only let myself do that once a year. Then I start training for next year!!!!!!

Top 5 things at the 2012 Minnesota State Fair
1. Hanging with my sister and brother-in-law
2. Yankee Apple Pie Chocolate Sandwich
3. Hot Dago on a Stick
4. 1919 Root Beer
5. Poutine (especially the cheese curds)

Bottom 5 things
1. Beer flight debacle
2. Lamb Fries – still, I now have bragging rights
3. Camel Burger
4. Scotch Egg
5. Severe lack of cute puppies in the animal barn