The weather here in Minnesota has been incredibly clement this summer – encouraging more State Fair goers than ever before. The total for the dozen days will likely break the record, now approaching nearly 2 million visits!
My wife and I went for a second time yesterday. Thanks to a tip from my son, I found healthier food fare this time around – a pot-roast sundae (savory roast beef atop a scoop of mashed potatoes mixed with corn – yum!). On our first visit I succumbed to the siren call of a vendor selling deep-fat fried Hostess Twinkies on a stick, to which I compounded the calories by agreeing to it being dipped in chocolate and powdered with sugar. You can see this terrifically calorific confection pictured alongside a free yardstick — a mandatory pickup for any serious fairgoer.
I avoided the bacon on a stick dipped in chocolate at the advice of my daughter, who tried it last year. She worked the Haunted House at the last two Minnesota State Fairs and ate just about everything on a stick. My wife ate a piece of corn on a stick and part of a foot-long corn-dog on a stick. That looked good to me, but I was already satiated by my second sundae — the pot roast: I’d already eaten an ice-cream sundae with rhubarb and strawberries (highly recommended by my colleague Pat).
Several years ago I ate a deep-fat fried Snicker’s candy bar on a stick. Based on a sample size of two, I advice not eating any dessert confection that’s been deep-fat fried. I really think this can be hazardous to one’s health, especially on an empty stomach. However, if you like to live dangerously culinary-wise, see the recipes at the end of this report from the Seattle-Post Intelligencer on the Puyallap Fair. (“Puyallup” does not sound too appetizing, though, does it?)