Old memories :) I wrote this for two years ago. I went to the State Fair this year, but I will possibly write that later, otherwise during a food blog stage, I was on a roll.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Minnesota State Fair 2011
Missed or didn't get enough of the 2nd most attended fair in the US? Join us in reminiscing all of our fair food fantasies come true!
The smell of fried foods, anything-you-can-think-of-on-a-stick, endless walking, freebies, and the use of the Blue Ribbon coupon book... WE'RE SOLD.
First stop was the French Fries. These fries put most other fries to shame! What makes this the most desirable fries in MN? Double fried. Oh yes people! These fries located on Liggett Ave are LEGIT... then FRIED AGAIN! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and salty all over. When you bite into it, it's not any ordinary fry, you can taste the love that the oil and fries have mustered in the 10 seconds they've been together. It was such a magical meeting the first time, they had to be fried AGAIN!
Look at the golden goodness! Obviously they have a range of sizes to choose from. From 8oz. to 64 oz.!
Another resident of the State Fair, corndogs. Preparing for an epic battle, the corndog is dressed with its team color, red and yellow and ready to take on any dangers it may encounter! Too bad their enemy are thousands of Minneasotans, and I can be most notorious. So of course, we devoured them and destroyed one of our most desirable "appetizers". All in all, can't leave the Fair without eating a corn dog.
I want crab cakes. And for a person who wanted crab cakes, these were okay. Not the greatest, nothing special. Just crab cakes that decided to tug on my taste buds and say, "Try me!" and tried we did. The sauce wasn't that special. For me, if you want crab cakes go to Wilde Roast. Sure, $2.25 is a good deal for some crab cakes at the Fair, but I prefer to spend more on something much tastier.
Blue Moon Dine-In. You know? The place with a moon on top of the building near the Midway Arcade? Well we had a coupon for Korean Tacos. Oh yes, we were reluctant, but I mean the place had its lines and people were friendly. They gave us a Ron Burgandy ticket so what was there to lose? Turns out, we sacrificed stomach space. It tasted like something died in our mouth and it wasn't just our taste buds. We were initially thrilled, then derailed with sadness. Never again will we have Korean Tacos here at the Blue Moon Dine-In. Worst tacos ever.
No more... Never more...
We did sight see around the fair and lo and behold...CAKE! We didn't get to eat it, but we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted to. Fortunately for the cake, there's this barrier called glass and we can only look at their beautiful ribbons and imagine the taste they would have. And here we have a few random photos of what we saw at the fair.
Best hidden cheap gem ever: Apple Freeze. Cost: $1 and you get an Apple freeze and a sweet old lady smiling at you. It was a satisfying treat for the humid weather we had venture thus far. It's basically apple juice frozen. We like apple juice!
Who can go wrong with Bacon-on-a-Stick? Big FAT Bacon. We LOVED it! Nearly fought tooth and nail to ensure we properly got an even bite out of it. We'd eat a baby pig if we could. You know the quote, anything good in life is immoral, fatty, etc etc... well this is a good representation of that! It tasted like bacon, fried to perfection. Sensual to the tongue and heavy in the stomach. Oh we love you bacon.
Hunger Daze: One could only experience such delight with bacon in their mouth.
Now look who made a circle. Us. To the Blue Moon Dine-In again. Why? Well word on the newspaper, there was a new food to try: Sweet Corn Ice Cream. Sounds delicious right? I couldn't resist the urge to try something sweet and with hype. Hype it was. Well it is good! For $5 though... a bit steep. I could have ate a gallon of vanilla ice cream and be happy, but nope, I'm at the fair and I had to try this!
I suggest buying it ONCE with another person to share the price. It was not worth $5, but it is tasty. I got the Wild Blueberry topping, though I could have had the Honey Bacon topping, but we JUST had Bacon-On-A-Stick so I wanted sugar. Good and fast melting sugar food it was. Seriously, the thing melted faster than butter on a skillet! Luckily I like semi-soupy ice cream... It had bits of corn in there and two corn crackers. Great touches!
Frozen Custard on a Stick: Ran over to this booth, picked the LAST Strawberry swirl and ate in happy silence. Mmm.... worth the $2.25 I spent for this! It was good custard and I would have ate another if I could.
After the custard booth, we quickly spotted the Fried Fruits on a Stick. Coupon out. Food in! Sprinkled my fried fruit with powdered sugar. Took a bite. And seriously who was I kidding? I sprinkled this with chocolate syrup and ate it with the remains of my custard and could I have asked for a better match made in food heaven? Not at the moment. Nothing too special, but if you've ever had fried bananas... taste like that or a fruity donut.
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It's hot. I wanted to be cheap. $2 cheap. Which is perfect for the next treat: Frozen Grapes. Yes, you heard me! Frozen seedless grapes at the same place that sold the Gator-on-a-stick. And it tasted swell! Sweet grapes with a frozen texture. It's what you expect. I never had frozen grapes and people do this all the time apparently...
