4 More Days until the MN State Fair 2017.

Lets Eat: Minnesota State Fair 2015

Dear Friends, As summer comes to an end and the last days of the State Fair are upon us, If you’re heading out to the fair I’ve written a mini review on our hits and misses! Laura and I took an adventure and tried a few of the new foods from 2015 & a few from 2014 that we never tried. Of course we had the classics as well! To help you on your journey, We decided to rate these goodies on a Blue Ribbon Scale from 1-5. Ready, Set, Let’s eat!! The Totchos are one of the newest additions to the fair and received the full 5 blue ribbons. To get these fried patata’s you must make your way down to the Warner Coliseum. It’s across from the Birthing Center . I’ve never been in here before and let me tell you it was very neat! We made our way to the Totcho stand and placed our order for a heap of seasoned tot’s with nacho & shredded cheese, dollop of sour cream, bacon bits (not the fake ones) green onions and your choice of beef or chicken. I HIGHLY suggest ordering the chicken version! We grabbed seats inside the coliseum and enjoyed the show. It was great!!! Girl Eats Fair Rating : 5 Blue Ribbons. A few years ago when I was a 20 something girl of the city, I googled “state fair on a budget” and was introduced to my everlasting fair tradition. If you go into the fair from Snelling Avenue, If you take a right by the info stand, tucked in between is the Midway Men’s Club. For $2-2.50 you can get a hot made to order hamburger and a beer for only $3.50!! In my opinion it’s the best deal at the fair and the guys running the stand are a hoot! This is great for large groups as well because hey, where else @ the fair can you get a meal for less than $6. Girl Eats Fair Rating: 5 Blue Ribbons. Another new addition to the fair was Sara’s Tipsy Pies. Fun fact is that although the fair introduces 50 new foods, this is the only official new vendor at the fair. Tucked in the food building Tipsy Pies are preparing baked pies with apple fillings mixed with booze! Woot! Two of my favorite things. I ordered the 2 Gingers Whiskey (did you know MN is the only state that sells it outside of Ireland?) with a whiskey glaze, Laura ordered the Maple Bacon Pie and it was sensational. It was warm from grandma’s oven. Although many favor Minneapple pie, this is a true gem that’s baked not fried and you can see the hard work being put into each because they’re hand formed and pressed! Girl Eats Fair Rating: 5 Blue Ribbons. Next up on the new food list was found in the dairy building where you can visit Princess Kay’s Butter carving. We picked up the Sea Salt Caramel Puff Corn Sundae. This was fantastic especially on a hot sticky day. Fresh cream with swirls of caramel and a puff corns on the bottom and top. I know you’re thinking, puff corn… yes like Old Dutch puff corn. I can’t believe I’ve never tried this, the combination was dynamite. It reminded me of eating an ice cream cone edge that was softened by the ice cream at dairy queen. Girl Eats Fair Rating: 5 Blue Ribbons. Ok, so last year the Chicken in a Waffle was a hit as one of the new foods. Last year I didn’t try it so we ventured out to the West End( formerly Heritage Square) to the Blue Barn ( Longfellow Grill, Lowry, Freehouse). Maybe it was the fact that this was nearing the end of our fair journey, but honestly the money I spent here ($15 for 2 things) was a complete WASTE! The concept is appealing but on a hot day the heavy gravy and breaded chicken bites was hard to get down. I’ve heard there was a milk ball at the end, but it wasn’t worth finding for my $9.50. The new items here are the Cluck and Moo (Beef, Chicken with potatoes and gravy), Shoreman’s Lunch and French Toast with pop rocks. I didn’t try any of those but if you’re looking for a new state fair food this could be a place to stop. From what I've heard the other dishes are good, but heavy mm comfort food. Little to say I only ate the waffle edge. The gravy was good but I'd rather have it on a biscuit. The chicken were small popcorn chicken pieces, I don't know this was not as amazing as I've heard so maybe I was missing something. If u get this eat it before you fill up on tots, corn dogs and cheese curds Girl Eats Fair Rating: 3 Blue Ribbons. To go with my waffle mess, I ordered the new Caramel Apple Pie without the caramel or graham crackers around the rim. I've read the caramel is sticky and the Graham's fall into your cup and visually makes it unappealing. For the record, I’m a beer connoisseur, there aren’t many I wouldn’t try and this one was added to my never again list. For $4.50 I seriously plugged my nose and chugged as much as I could due to not wanting to waste my money. The caramel flavor hit you at the end, but it wasn't a sweet caramel taste, it was bitter and in my opinion just gross. Not sure where the Apple was either. This could have been a real treat, but it just wasn’t so I had to subtract a few on this one. Girl Eats Fair Rating: -2 Blue Ribbons. To get that awful taste out of mouth I strolled down to the Scheels Beer Stand (Next to Lulu’s Public House, West End) and ordered the Blu Beer. This was a new food last year and sadly by the time we made it down there it was sold out. This should be bottled. Frothy cold berry foam is on top of the smooth berry beer delight. I would’ve much rather ordered 5 of these to avoid my experience at the Blue Barn. Girl Eats Fair Rating: 5 Blue Ribbons. If you get a porkchop on a stick, pick up a container of the seasoning ( located by Minneapple Pie) you won’t be disappointed!! We used all of ours last year and I upgraded to the $8 bottle this year! Oh and if you wanna take it to go just ask for tinfoil!!

Girl Eats Fair Rating:5

If you go into the Grand Stand look for the vendor Aloe Tinnery. They make recycled nightlights with unique designs using scrap tin. It’s coated in a sealant to avoid rust. I loved our one from last year that I had to get another this year!

I plan on going back one more time, so if I try a few things I missed I’ll give you an update!

Stay Cool, Drink lots of water, Catch a Park and Ride if you can and enjoy yourself! Take the sky ride if you’re tired! It’s worth it and the views are awesome! Don't feel weird if you bring ziploc Baggies or containers!! It was a brilliant idea:)

Happy Eating! Girl Eats Fair Don’t Forget to Check out the Pics: http://bit.ly/1Xu7wAY

Nitrogen cooled caramel popcorn!! Yum #mnstatefair #statefair #peopleofthestatefair #beard #beards #beardsman #minnesotastatefair #popcorn