An Afternoon at "the Great Minnesota Get-Together"

During our first full weekend in the Twin Cities, Flavio and I decided to take a break from unpacking to spend an afternoon at the cultural mecca that is Minnesota State Fair.  Joined by our friends Craig and Jill, we had an incredible deep fried time.


For those of you not from here, the Minnesota State Fair, locally known as "The Great Minnesota Get Together" is the largest state fair in the country in terms of daily attendance. Last year, the State Fair had 1.8 million visitors in 12 days, and this year, daily attendance was between 150,000 to 200,000 per day.  The fair itself features a number of attractions including livestock displays, a fine art exhibition, interactive science and health displays, animal rescue booths, and questionable/awesome rides.

Most importantly, the Minnesota State Fair features an obscene number of foodstuffs that are fried and/or on a stick.  Because Flavio 1) has only lived in New York and L.A. and 2) has never been to a state fair, I was eager to show him this unique part of Minnesota culture.  Also, Flavio aside, I couldn't wait to sample all of the Fair's fried delights.  So Saturday morning, I donned my flowered H&M sack dress (to hide my expanding belly as I filled it with food), put on a pair of comfortable shoes and headed off to the fair.

Swedes -
Inventors of the Smörgåsbord and this H&M dress
Coincidence, I think not.......

So our foursome, Flav, Craig, Jill and I, began our culinary adventures at the fair with a "healthy" option. An option that features calcium, fruit and protein - Milkshakes, of course!!  Naturally, our cups of tasty, fruity, dairy goodness were a delicious start to our day at the fair.

Also, while getting our milkshakes in the dairy building, we were able to catch another notable feature of the fair....Busts of the candidates for Minnesota State Dairy Princess (AKA Princess Kay of the Milky Way Candidates)....carved out of....wait for it...BUTTER.

Butter Bust - No Joke

After our milkshake/butter bust needs were met, our group went on to try another less healthy, but very tasty dairy food item - fried cheese curds.  For those of you who did not grow up in the dairy belt, allow me to explain.  Remember the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" who was eating her curds and whey?  So, the curds and whey she was eating are a leftover byproduct in the cheese making process.  To make fried cheese curds, you take the curds out of the whey, fry them up and enjoy.  If you've never had fried cheese curds before, I have to say, they are little salty, fried pieces of heaven.  Needless to say we were in cheesy bliss.

Next, we moved on to other fried delights.  Jill and I enjoyed some the State Fair's famous french fries, and Flav had fried cheese on a stick.

In a turn of events shocking to none, after the french fry/cheese curd one-two punch, the girls were a little "fried food out".  To finish out the day, our group sampled one of the fair's few non-fried options - grilled corn on the cob.  Mmm, mmm, mmm........

So, with bellies full of tasty goodness, we ended our day at the fair.  While Flav and I were both beat, our day at the fair was a wonderful, much needed break from packing that couldn't have come at a better time.

For the other Minnesotans, what is your favorite part of the fair?  And to our non-Minnesota pals, anyone interested in joining us next year?  See you in the comments.