The 3rd Annual Fran's Fair Awards for 2017!

And now, to wrap up the 2017 Minnesota State Fair, I present the completely subjective, heavily biased 3rd annual Fran’s Fair Awards:

Food Categories

As usual, getting the bad news out of the way first:

Biggest Disappointment - The biggest disappointment this year for me had to be the pickle beer. I get that beer is a highly subjective thing, but what bothers me about this is that I love pickles and sour things in general and this should have been in my wheelhouse. And I’ve downed plenty of bad beers (I lived in a fraternity house for three years…) but this was undrinkable. So sad.

Dishonorable mentions: the Ole and Lena Hotdish on a Stick. My expectations for this weren’t super high to begin with, but I feel like it is really letting the good people of Minnesota down to represent their signature dish so poorly. The two main ingredients are meatballs and tater tots, so it was a bad sign when I ate half the thing and still wasn’t sure if I’d seen a tater tot yet. Oh well. I also was disappointed by the El Sol breakfast chilaquiles. One word: bland. Finally, I’m gonna say it: Sweet Martha’s. I love them for the tradition and that’s really the point of these and why I insist on having a few each year. But if I’m evaluating them as a chocolate chip cookie, they’re kind of a hot mess (literally and figuratively).

And now for the good stuff!

Best Main Entree - A strong category this year! The Peterson’s pork chop, winner of the last two, made another strong showing this year. Honorable mentions go to the Blue Barn Chicken in a Waffle and the Hamline Church Wild Rice Meatballs. But I’m going to give this one to a newcomer, the Sausage Sisters’ One Bad Dog. I shared this with three others and I’m kinda wishing I had one all to myself! I loved that this incorporated bacon in a non-gimmicky way that actually added something to it, and the more I think about the unusual corn meal bun the more I like that choice. Avocado ranch sauce and a not-too-hot corn and avocado salsa add up to a category champion! Make no mistake - I still think the Peterson’s Pork Chop sits atop the Fair Food kingdom, but it didn’t feature as prominently in this year’s Fair (I only had about 1/3rd of one). So, at least for 2017, One Bad Dog is king!

Best Snack - This might be the hardest category of all this year. So many excellent entries! The classic side of things had strong showings this year from the peach, the Danielson and Daughters onion rings, the Mouth Trap Curds, the roasted corn and the Pretzel Haus pretzel. I’m especially excited that the peach and the corn had bounce-back years after some letdowns recently. And I also have to give a shout out to Jenny for introducing us to the Fried Green Tomatoes which might be muscling out the deep fried pickles for that crunchy, sour snack. The Que Viet egg roll on a stick was good enough to make me want to go to their actual restaurant in town. But now to the business at hand… I thought the Blue Barn Corn Fritz were a grand slam home run. Light, full of sweet corn, just a hint of cheese - and that chimichurri sauce is a crazy good idea!

Best Dessert - The buzz heading into the Fair was all about the Hot Indian Foods S’morsas, but I’m giving the nod to their boothmates instead - make it two years in a row for the Rabbit Hole! The Lefse Good Times Roll was amazing! It’s a labor-intensive assembly, which is a Fair rarity. And a lot of thought went into it - I love seeing new interpretations of ethnically authentic food at the Fair (in this case, it’s derived from a Taiwanese street food dessert). It even evolved over the course of the Fair - by the end they seemed to be hitting the marshmallow fluff with a torch to give it a bit more of that s’mores taste. It’s a shame that it was only available for half the fair. With the Rabbit Hole’s track record, they could clearly support a whole booth by themselves. Honorable mention goes to the Dairy Goodness Bar’s Pie in the Sky malt - just a few simple ingredients that you might not think to put together, but totally worked.

Best Breakfast - I made it a point to try more breakfast items this year, but I still haven’t hit upon the perfect fair breakfast. However, this year I’m giving the nod to the Blue Barn’s Wild Bill’s Breakfast Bake. I like a little heat with breakfast and this had the right amount, plus the cotija cheese and pickled onions packed in the flavor. I’m also going to give a possibly controversial honorable mention to the Bacon Fluffernutter sandwich. This met with mixed reviews but if I’m being honest, every time I look at that picture my mouth starts watering. That’s gotta count for something, right? There’s also a question about whether or not it’s even breakfast, but hey, it’s served with syrup and by Fair standards, that’s good enough for me!

Best Drink - This seems to be the weakest category of the Fair year after year. Farmer’s Union nitro coffee continues to be strong. The Que Viet Vietnamese coffee is probably now the 3rd best coffee drink at a Fair full of terrible coffee drinks (behind the nitro and the People’s Organic stand in French Meadow). Overall, I’m going to give the nod to the mini donut beer this year, probably to the surprise of no one who’s been paying attention. If you like hops, you’ll hate this beer, but if like me you are SO over the hoppy beer trend, this is the Fair-only beer for you. Hopefully we see some more inventive drinks next year.

Best Food Value - Not much at the Fair can be described as a value, and this year more than most there were some distinctly terrible values (I’m looking at you, $10 Tejas Express Deviation Stout Steak Naan Taco and $9 Blue Barn Beef Pocket!) This year I’m going traditional and giving the nod to the $2 all you can drink Milk. Yes, the price doubled in recent years, but it’s the only item at the fair that is unlimited, and that’s got to count for something! Especially when you have a milk-loving kid, this is a super handy thing to have at the Fair. Sometimes, classics are the best! Also, it’s been a while since I pointed out the milk pro-tip: get a half-and-half white and chocolate mix. Lightens it up on those hot days but still a treat. 2018 preview: I just read that there’s a decent basic burger to be had at the Midway Men’s Club for $2.25! A $2 burger at the Fair? Unheard of!

Weirdest Thing I Ate - Pickle Beer. And I immediately regretted it.

Biggest Regret of Food I Didn’t Get To This Year: I really wanted to get back to the Mancini’s pizza. It’s the one pizza at the Fair that’s not a mass-produced mess - they do a grilled pizza with some really well thought out toppings. It’s just hard for me to justify pizza at the Fair, but I am bummed I missed it. Honorable mention to Giggles’ Duck Bacon Wontons, which got a lot of good buzz.

Best New Food - This goes to the Sara’s Tipsy Pies Brown Ale Onion and Gouda Pie - a food that defies categorization, but needs to be recognized. Too small to be a main entree, too savory to be a dessert, and is anything called a pie a snack? I dunno, but what I do know is that you take that first bite and you immediately know “Yep! This is awesome.” Definitely deserving of best new food status. Well done!

Non-Food Categories

Best Music - I managed to catch bits and pieces of a few concerts this year, which was better than last year. I think my favorite music memory is the 15 or 20 minutes of the George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic show Katie and I wandered into by accident. The incongruity of it all was what made it - so not what people think of when they think of a state fair, and we wandered into it right after spending an hour looking at knitting and cookies and such, which are a lot of fun but definitely not nearly as funky!

Best Non-Musical Entertainment - The Minnesota Historical Society’s History-on-a-Schtick show. Very funny, very clever, well written and acted, and I learned a lot about Minnesota in the process!

Best Art or Craft - I’d like to give this award to all of the talented children of the state of Minnesota! I saw so many pieces of amazing art done by kids in 8th grade or younger. I’m blown away by how many great young artists we have in this state! Looks like the Fair will be set for another generation or two. If I had to pick a favorite, it was the Old Man drawing by 8th grader Emily Wu. It looks like a photo!

Best Educational Exhibit - The Water Bar in the Eco-Experience Building. It was a lot of fun talking to the water bartender, tasting the different waters, and learning why water tastes different in different cities.

Best Non-Food Value - Between all the free concerts, shows and exhibits there are so many to choose from. I’ll give it to the horse competitions at the Coliseum. Every year, they keep Henry entertained for hours, and each year we see something different. This year we caught the “Tennessee walking horses” competition, with the ladies riding in formal English wear, and some of the barrel races and jumping competitions. It’s fun to see all the different things horses can do, and it’s nice to get in from the heat and crowds and enjoy the show for a while.

Most Minnesotan Experience (new category for 2017!): Easy one this year, having a swedish/wild rice meatball dinner in the Hamline church dining hall. They’ve been doing it for 120 years and they’ve got it completely figured out. So much of the Fair is about the latest trends and the new foods, so it’s nice to be reminded of the Fair’s roots. I’m going to make sure to have at least one dining hall experience every year from now on!

Grand Prize - Best Thing at the Fair!

2016 Minnesota State Fair Grand Prize: And the winner is…. the Rabbit Hole Lefse Good Times Roll! (So yes, that means that this is really the best new food too, but I wanted to recognize the Tipsy Pie above). Everything I love about Fair food. It’s inventive, it crosses cultures, it has a surprise or two, it sounds a little weird, they hand assemble it right in front of you with care, and then boom! it all comes together and it’s amazing. In a Fair full of great desserts this one managed to stand out, that’s why it’s my best thing of the Fair!

And that’s a wrap for 2017! Only 352 days to go before the madness begins again. 😃