Guest Blog: Minnesota State Fair

As close associates of the SnackManiac, we--the Snacking Sibling and his cohort, the Snackster from South Dakota--are honored to blog about the snacks present at the "Great Minnesota Get-Together"(!), aka the Minnesota State Fair.

The air was rich and smoky as we arrived at the Fair Grounds in St. Paul. The smell of charbroiled pork chops wafted over the "Miracle of Life Center," where adorable baby farm animals were birthed. Our goal was quite the opposite: to consume snacks which may very well end our lives.

After surveying the extraordinary plethora of available treats, most of them on a stick, and all of them fried, we decided to begin with the quintessential Minnesotan delight: the "Hot Dish On A Stick." How is such a snack possible, you might ask?

Take meatballs and tater-tots, place them in alternating order on a stick, fry in corndog batter, and, oh yeah, add a little bit of love. And also a cream of mushroom/hamburger dipping sauce.

Expectations for this snack were particularly high, as the " H.D.O.A.S." was dubbed the "Best Food at the Fair" by the Travel Channel. (Yes, this a a SnackManiac exclusive(!)) It was indeed delicious, pleasing to the palette in both texture and taste.

The chefs themselves heartily agreed, shoveling the piping-hot treat into their own mouths while encouraging passers-by to partake. Despite the comfort food, we were soon to be faced with an epic decision: Was our next choice to be deep fried pickle slices or cheese curds? After discussing at length the merits of both, the pickles won out.


These crispy morsels were red hot in temperature and adorned with a spicy ranch dipping sauce. The batter was extra crunchy and left our fingers glistening. A worthy follow up to the hot dish. Now that we had satisfied the bulk of the food pyramid, we decided to indulge in the tippy-top of that fabled mountain: Sweets.

There was only one snack which would satiate our need for both saturated fat and diabetic shock: The deep-fat fried candy bar on a stick. We had a mouth-watering trifecta of options: Three Musketeers, Milky Way, or Snickers. We decided on the Milky Way, a fortuitous decision as the 16-year old who manned the both had just doused the treat in 1/2 lbs. of powdered sugar. The first bite was taken by the Snackster from South Dakota, who momentarily disappeared in an avalanche of powdered sugar.

Emerging from the haze, wide-eyed and resembling Pablo Escobar, she declared the snack to be everything she thought it could be. The candy bar was cocooned in a sweet, donut-like batter that allowed it to melt down to its gooey essence. The viscous choco-carmel complex served as an excellent foil to the cakey, fried-dough shell. We finished the snack sitting down in order
to allow our pancreas to pump at full volume.




Overall the Minnesota State Fair offered snacks in Bacchanalian proportions. If we only had the time and gastro-intestinal fortitude to sample everything...