2019 MN State Fair - Visit #4

Fran and Katie visit with our friend Ali and her daughter Madison, in what may turn out to be our last visit of the year.

Another bright and early morning at the Fair, this time with our friend Ali and her daughter Madison, who was visiting the Fair for the first time ever! She was NOT ready for her photo!

We finally were at the right place at the right time to get some Blue Barn breakfast! This was new item #1, the breakfast potato skin. Described as “Deep-fried potato skin stuffed with scrambled eggs and peppers, topped with blackened beef chislic – a South Dakota bar food staple – and drizzled with bearnaise sauce.” Not sure that’s a drizzle, but I’ll take it. Very good! I still have no idea what chislic is, but it was tasty.

The Nashville Hot Chicken-on-a-Stick is what’s been getting most of the press from Blue Barn. Anticipation was high for this one! Verdict? So-so. This had everything that I should have loved - fried chicken, corn flake crust, pickles, hot sauce…and it certainly wasn’t bad, but it was a little too salty and not really that spicy. The saving grace was the sauce-soaked bread underneath, which made everything better if you got a little of it with each bite. In the land of 500 foods, would I get it again? Maybe.

French toast bites with berry sauce, whipped cream and…. pop rocks! This one is a returning food, and definitely good enough to get again. Sure, the pop rocks are gimmicky but underneath all that is some legit french toast. I liked this best of the three items we got from the Blue Barn.

I think Madison - who is now ready for her photo! - also picked french toast as her winner!

Blue Barn starts serving beer at 9:00am. I believe the timestamp on this photo is 9:03am. :-) This is The Great Minnesota Handshake, a “strawberry milkshake cream ale with big strawberry fruit flavor and a touch of vanilla.” A big miss. The two of us that drink beer regularly thought it tasted like a sour, which is clearly not what you’re going for when you describe yourself as a cream ale. The strawberry was definitely there, but there was no trace of vanilla or the smoothness you want from a cream ale. Skip it.

Next up was a Skyride to the other side of the Fair (as Katie scooted along below).

Picture perfect Friday morning!

Over at the Ag building, we ran into RBG. I have no idea what category of art entry this is, but I’m glad it exists!

Prize-winning corn collection. Love the multicolored kernels.

This was a banner year for seed art! I honestly could put about 20 pictures of seed art in here. I liked the simplicity of this one.

I’m not sure there is anything more midwestern than political-protest-through-seed-art!

The Minneapolis Miracle!

Combining two of my favorite things!

The morning was off to a strong start. Ag Bldg selfie with Paul and Babe!

Since we were in the neighborhood… mini donut beer. (For those of you keeping track, yes this is now two beers before 10am). I have to say… and it’s hard to even type this…I think the mini donut beer was an off batch this year. It’s usually AMAZING, and this year the two I’ve had were just not quite as malty/yeasty amazing as usual. I mean, still great, but I’m hoping this is a one-year glitch.

Took four visits, but finally made it to the Mouth Trap for cheese curds. These never change, nor should they, perfect just like this. Even Madison approved!

Katie just drinkin’, drivin’, and craft appreciatin’.

The chocolate chip cookie category is hotly contested.

This is a cake. A cake!

Another amazing cake.

It also took me four trips to make it to one of my favorite food vendors, the Farmers Union.

I went to the Union because I realized (two beers in) that I hadn’t had any coffee this morning and if I didn’t change that a caffeine headache was going to arrive soon. The Farmers Union is where I first discovered the revelation that is Nitro Cold Press Coffee. I think the rest of the world (or at least, Minneapolis) has caught up in this regard, as you can now get nitro coffee lots of places, but this is still a fantastic version of it. Straight from the tap, nothing added, smooth and creamy coffee.

Next we checked out the school-aged kids art. This is one of my favorite things to do each year. Loved these elephants from a 7th grader.

1st grade!

Kindergarten!

5th grade!!

I realized earlier this week that I’d never had the Oven Fresh Brownie, which is on a lot of people’s lists of “Classing Fair foods not to miss”. Finally got it. Coulda skipped it. Super cake-y, stingy with the nuts. Katie makes the world’s best brownies, so I probably should have realized this would be a disappointment. Skip it.

Ali and Madison had to leave but wanted one last classic food, so we hit the corn. The hard working kids of the Corn Roast!

Happy to report the corn’s been getting even better throughout the Fair.

Katie and I did some shopping in the Grandstand, where I came across this fun art.

Shopping made us hungry again, so Pancho Dog time!

Final food of the day, RC’s BBQ’s new Jammin’ Brisket Grilled Cheese. “Slow-smoked brisket, red onion jam, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses and RC’s hot BBQ sauce.” Yeah, we have our winner of the day! I could eat three of these. Sweet, hot, cheesy, crunchy, smoky, meaty…all works together. Get it!

Finished the day chilling in the West End. Katie kept it pretty subtle with her custom made tee shirt today.

We caught the Americana Duet contest, which was a fantastic way to finish up our Fair visit.

One last selfie on our favorite music-listening lawn. We’re not sure if there’s a 5th visit in the cards this year… if there is, it’ll be Monday. Either way, my Fair wrapup awards post will be out Tuesday, and then my Facebook feed will be out of your hair until next year. :-)