Fran Katie and I made a quick Saturday night trip to the Fair. Thanks to the rainy weather earlier in the day, it was cool and it wasn’t crowded - perfect for covering a lot of ground in a short period of time! We also met up with Konr and Jenny again for a serious Fair food session.
On our way in we stopped into the Miracle of Birth barn. Farmers from all over the state plan their animals’ pregnancies each year so that they’ll give birth at the Fair, and this is the barn where the mamas get to have their very public deliveries! It’s normally one of the most popular places at the Fair and therefore impossible to get in to see anything, but tonight it was not crowded at all!
As a result, we got to see lots of brand new fresh farm babies!
Hi Willow!
Piglets!
Lamb!
Now here’s where the Miracle of Birth barn takes a turn for the weird. When an animal is about to give birth, she is moved to the “arena” in the center of the barn. Notice the bleachers on the other side for the spectators, and the live stream on the TVs above. Yep - spectator birthing arena! This mama looked like she was more than ready to get that baby out. We headed off to meet up with Konr and Jenny before the big event.
When we met up with them, they thoughtfully had the Sausage Sisters “One Bad Dog” ready to go. Sonoran sausage with pepper jack cheese, wrapped in bacon, corn and jalapeno salsa, avocado ranch sauce, cornmeal bun. This was fantastic! The only thing keeping it from perfect was a bun that could have been toasted. But definitely worth a try.
Next up was the San Felipe Deviation Stout Steak Naan Taco that’s been getting a ton of buzz. And it was super yummy! That chopped steak marinated in beer almost gave it a cheesesteak type vibe, it was juicy and super flavorful. The naan was a very nice touch too. I’d definitely eat it again, but there’s some sticker shock: that guy is $10.
We moved right along to the new vendor Que Viet. The giant egg roll on a stick was nicely done. They did not skimp on the pork inside, and the crisp on the outside was fantastic. Legit egg roll fish sauce for dipping, too. Maybe not an every-year kind of thing, but it’s worth a try.
Also, this stand reminded us of a Fair Pro-Tip: always check if a vendor cart has a second window on the back side. Que Viet did, and there was no line. Winning!
We also had their vietnamese coffee. Cheers, Konr! It was decent, not great. If you want cold coffee at the Fair, you could do a lot worse than this and it’s a good chance of pace, but I don’t really need it again.
I love these moments at the Fair where it’s “find a random stool behind a food cart to organize your food munching”. The Fair ain’t about bein’ fancy! Also, I don’t know what was in that Vietnamese coffee, but both Konr and Jenny are PUMPED UP! Speaking of Konr and Jenny, I cannot overemphasize how key it is to pair up with fellow foodies if you want to cover a lot of food territory at the Fair. This is the secret to trying 10 things and not hitting 10,000 calories! Nice work tonight, team!
Next stop, one of Jenny’s favorites: the Fried Green Tomatoes. She’s been talking them up for years so it was great to finally try them! Katie and I might be converts - these kind of compete in the same space as the deep fried pickles, but these are a more subtle, nuanced flavor. Very nice!
Getting fortified with some Lift Bridge Mini Donut Beer and a Minnesota Mule from Ball Park Cafe. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Mini Donut Beer is a legit great beer and I wish they had it year-round. I think about this beer for months before the Fair. The Mule is new this year, a spin on a Moscow Mule, not usually my thing but Katie liked it.
We all hoofed it across the fairgrounds to the West End Creamery so we could introduce Konr and Jenny to one of our favorite Fair desserts. This shouldn’t be as good as it is - it’s so basic… a warm Eggo-like waffle, vanilla ice cream, and Nutella (which you have to ask for because it’s not default). But it just works!
This ended the food tour de force for the evening. Konr and Jenny headed over to the Jim Gaffigan show at the Grandstand, while Katie and I did some shopping in the West End Market. Katie found the perfect lamp shade for our new basement “old timey minnesota” decorating theme.
This is maybe the point in the evening where you could legitimately question my decision-making skills. On an impulse, I opted to get the Chicken in a Waffle from Blue Barn. I missed it the last two years and although it really wasn’t the right time in my culinary evening to get a waffle full of buffalo-style chicken and sausage gravy (plus a malt ball like thing at the bottom of that waffle for some reason!) I did it anyway. And if I’m being honest… I DID NOT REGRET IT! Yep, it’s weird and gimmicky. Yes, I’d eat it again!
Katie and I headed over to the Creative Activities Building next. We try to go there every year to see all the crafty stuff that Minnesotans have made. These folks were demo’ing how to spin yarn, and they had been doing it for 12 hours today. And they looked like they were having a ton of fun! Check out the headwear.
This state is full of some seriously talented people. Check out that quilt! Katie assures me that’s an insanely difficult quilt to make.
This is a replica of the Milan cathedral made out of balsa wood with TWELVE THOUSAND CUTS required. And it only took the guy three months to make. He won a special award for innovation and technique.
Every year I look forward to seeing all the great food contest entries. The jams are always fun to photograph.
Cookie winners!
Check out the decoration on these! Nice work, Melissa!
The Creative Activities building is a great place to reaffirm your faith in the human race and reinforce that there really is something for everyone. Here are a few of my favorite random creative activities entries. @[1051595559:2048:Pat Rivera] we thought you might appreciate this Sled Dogs through the Ages display from the “collections” category!
The Marie and Pierre Curie stamp collection is a winner, too!
I can’t make this up - a collection of Kazakhstan candy wrappers!
Cross stitch Pope Francis netted a 5th place ribbon.
This was clever. Doll-sized recreations of real 80s prom dresses!
Another one of those “only at the Fair” moments. We left the Creative Activities building and walk around the corner, and BOOM there’s the 76-year-old, still-extremely-funky George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic! One of tonight’s free shows at the Fairgrounds. He was holding court in his silver sequined suit along with his entourage of musicians.
The Minnesota State Fair mascot, Fairchild, looking dapper in the evening light.
Just when you thought we were done with the food… some Mouth Trap cheese curds to top off the evening! A classic, these were extra warm and squeaky tonight.
Payment for our babysitter @[100003102454896:2048:Sally Richards]!
Just when we thought our evening was over and we were walking to the exit, we got to see the evening fireworks show over the Grandstand!
A couple of happy kids after a great night at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. More visits later this week!
MN State Fair 2017 - Visit #1