Minnesota State Fair

My husband loves the fair so we go every year.  This year I was actually excited to go as well.  I heard rumors of mini donut flavored beer... what can I say, I was intrigued.  We went with our friends, also beer enthusiasts, and it was a fun night.  We foraged for food and were actually really impressed by some of the things we found.

Fried pickles:  The pickle slices were about 1/4 inch thick so you can actually taste the pickle, not just the fried breading.  They come in three flavors - cream cheese, cajun, and one other that I can't seem to remember.  The dipping sauce was a nice touch, but not necessary.  I had a cream cheese one and really it.  I also liked that they weren't greasy at all.  Nice and crispy outside with a juicy pickle inside.

Cheese curds:  I am partial to the cheese curds in the food barn.  They are greasy but amazingly tasty.  The cheese is nice and gooey, not congealed.

Mini donut beer:  You can find this at the Ball Park Cafe.  Seriously, it tastes like a mini donut.  My highlight of the evening for sure.  This would definitely pair well with Sweet Martha's Cookies.  Oh and did I mention it is served with a cinnamon/sugar rim? 

Sweet Martha's Cookies:  A fair staple.  It's really more of an art form.  This style of serving makes it impossible to just eat one.  These also pair well with the $1 milk in the milk barn.

S'mores beer:  You can find these beer at Giggles' Campfire Grill by the lumberjack show.  This was a good beer, but not quite as spot-on as the mini donut beer.  The graham cracker rim and marshmallow definitely garner creativity points.

Walleye Cakes:  Also at Giggles', these cakes were fantastic.  Lightly breaded with several different fish flakes packed with wild rice made this a perfect appetizer.

Apple dumplings:  This is one of my husband's favorites.  For $6, you get a huge apple dumpling with caramel cinnamon sauce and 2 big scoops of ice cream.  Served warm and delicious.

Deep fried candy bar:  I was quite reluctant to try this, but it was actually good.  The snickers was nice and gooey, and the texture was more normal than I expected.  I hate to admit that it was good.  But for sure a half bite was enough.  Just looking at the whole thing was liable to give me a stomach ache.

Oatmeal stout gelato:  I was really excited for this but definitely underwhelmed.  The bitterness of the beer came through, but not the flavor of the stout (which does pair extremely well with ice cream by the way.  Love me some porter or stout floats.)  Maybe it would have been better with chocolate chips or chocolate sauce, but that really defeats the purpose anyway since I wanted to taste the beer.

Prime rib taco and walleye taco:  The prime rib was highly rated by Star Tribune, but it was just okay.  I didn't care for the cheese sauce.  I had the walleye taco which was a little spicy.  It was good but not amazing.   These were from Lulu's in the west market. 

Apple cider popsicle:  This is always good on a hot day.  Not super flavorful, but good.  I would probably opt for the cup of cider or the apple rollover, also from the ag barn. 

What we should have tried:  The chicken in a waffle is getting rave reviews.  I am in love with key lime pie so I maybe should have tried key lime pie on a stick.  The salted nut rolls are usually pretty epic as well.  I decided to ditch the sweet corn since I've had pretty fantastic sweet corn from farmers markets lately.  We are so bummed we missed the Grain Belt blueberry beer!!!!  They sold out :(.  Gluten-free beer battered brat probably would have been pretty tasty.  But seriously, I can't believe the list I just typed out!!!!  Thankfully the fair only happens once a year.