Green Dilly Beans: Going to the Fair

It’s been a while, but I intend to keep my promise to post about the MN State Fair. Without further ado, and a hearty hello from the green gopher greeter, here is my day at the fair.

In my humble opinion, state fairs are all about the biggest, most ginormous "fill in the blank". Therefore, the "biggests" were my first stops.

The biggest pig:

The biggest pumpkin, clocking in at 990 pounds:

The "also rans" in the Great Pumpkin contest:

Creative craftsters even got in on the gourd action. A few highlights:

The biggest ever categories weren’t limited to pigs and produce. My search for the biggest of them all extended to the midway carnival prizes. It didn't take much effort to spot the most gargantuan stuffed dog I’ve ever seen, won in a lucky game of bottle toss. The big dog scale is slightly thrown off by the big dude carrying it. Check out the shorter guy in blue on the right for an idea of just how big the dog is compared to your average human.

After scoping out the produce, I was getting hungry and went off in search of something to eat. Fair food is famous for its wide array of fried food on a stick, and the MN State Fair is no exception.

For the uninitiated (eg: me), hot dish on a stick = alternating pieces of Hormel meatballs and tater tots skewered and served with a cream of mushroom soup dipping sauce.

The sign is a little hard to read, but a pickle dog amounts to a pickle, on a stick of course, smeared with cream cheese and wrapped with pastrami. For some reason I was almost tempted by this, but thought better of it and moved on. Does this sound appealing to anyone else? Maybe I'll recreate this at home just to satisfy my curiosity.

It's good to be back in the land of pop.

I finally settled on some local lunch fair fare, meatballs on a stick made with elk, wild rice and wild mushrooms and a portobello mushroom gravy. Washed down with a cup of Leinie’s, it made for a perfect fair feast.

As the saying goes, everyone loves a parade. Lunchtime entertainment came to me by way of a marching band.

This parade even had a rolling band!

After lunch, my visit took on a special sense of purpose, tracking down prize winning embroidery entries submitted by Michelle’s mom. They are amazing, I was literally pressing my nose up against the glass display trying to get a closer look at the detailed stitching. Check out the best pics here.

My last stop was to pay tribute to Princess Kay of the Milky Way butter busts.

I was lucky to see a sculpting session in progress. I learned that a sitting can take 6-8 hours inside the 38 degree refrigerated. It made me glad to be on the outer side of the glass on a warm September day!

The newly crowned Princess Kay was shown sporting her tiara on top of her buttery, sculpted coif.

Many contestants host sweet corn parties in their communities following the fair. Everyone uses the butter busts to butter their corn! Click for more stories about the post-fair lives of the butter sculptures.