A Real Turkey

     In the June issue of the Nutrition Action Newsletter published by the Center For Science in the Public Interest there is an opinion piece on the back page under the catagory of FOOD PORN.  It is refering to the Applebee's franchise new menu item of Fried Green Tomatoes & Turkey Club sandwich.

      "Shaved turkey breast served warm on toasted 9-grain bread with melted cheddar cheese, basil pesto mayo and Applewood smoked bacon" is the way the sandwich is described, with "Slices of southern-fried green tomatoes (to) give it an extra crunch."   While one may have reservations about the fried tomatoes and the bacon, certainly the turkey breast and 9-grain bread and basil sound healthy enough.  Wrong!

   The Turkey Club sandwich contains a whopping 1,210 calories and 19 grams (an entire day's worth) of saturated fat, to say nothing of the 3,980 milligrams of sodium (over 2.5 days worth).  And those numbers don't include the fries that come with it, so says the article.  But after all, what's another 390 calories and 720 mg of sodium?

     Is that what Applebee's means by "eating good in the neighborhood?"

Hail Britannia!

   A few days ago I extolled the wonderful British scone.  It wasn't long before I received a response from my English cousin, Rita, concerning the various kinds baked there.  She was also kind enough to send along the recipe for Devonshire scones from Mary Berry, "The Queen of Baking."  So now I pass it along to you for your enjoyment and experimentation.

  

     Mary Berry's Devonshire scones recipe

The definitive recipe for traditional scones from the queen of baking

Mary Berry's Devonshire scones Photo: JEAN CAZALS

 

By Mary Berry

7:00AM BST 11 Sep 2011

 

Makes eight to 10

The secret to good scones is not to handle them too much before baking, and to make the mixture on the wet, sticky side.

450g (1lb) self-raising flour
2 rounded tsp baking powder
75g (3oz) butter
50g (2oz) caster sugar
2 large eggs
about 225ml (8fl oz) milk

      Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. Lightly grease two baking-sheets.

Put the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Beat the eggs together and make up to 300ml (10fl oz) with the milk, then put about 2 tbsp aside in a cup for later. Gradually add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring it in until you have a soft dough. It is far better that the scone mixture is on the wet side, sticking to your fingers, as the scones will rise better.
Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and flatten it to a thickness of 1-2cm (½-1in). Use a 5cm (2in) fluted cutter to stamp out the scones by pushing it straight down into the dough (as opposed to twisting it), then lifting it straight out. This ensures that they rise evenly. Gently push the remaining dough together, knead lightly, reroll and cut out more.
Arrange on the prepared baking-sheets and brush the tops with the reserved beaten egg mixture to glaze. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until well risen and golden, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool, covered with a clean tea towel to keep them moist.

Serve as fresh as possible, cut in half and spread generously with strawberry jam. Top with a good spoonful of thick cream as well, if you like.

From 'My Kitchen Table: 100 Cakes and Bakes' (BBC, £7.99), by Mary Berry

Sounds jolly good!

V.G.

 

 

 

Braising by the numbers

     Recently Kitchen Kapers distributed an e-mail outlining the braising process.  So here is braising by the numbers:

     Braising is a cooking method that is especially useful for less tender, less expensive cuts of meat resulting in fork tender food deeply imbued with rich, complex flavors.  Meats that fall into this category are:
     1. Top blade roast
     2. Chuck eye roast
     3. Ribs
     4. Brisket
     5. Shanks
     6. Short ribs

Braised meats gain their personality during the long, slow cooking due to 5 factors:
     1. The meat itself
     2. The initial browning of its surface
     3. The concentration of flavors with applied heat
     4. The braising liquid
     5. Aromatics and spices

A simple equation to keep in mind is this:  Braising=heat+time+moisture. 
Braising utilizes low cooking temperatures and accomplishes two things:
     1. The collagen proteins that comprise the connective tissue between the muscle strands melt and break down into gelatin while the meat's proteins cook and contract.
     2. The spaces between the muscle strands left by the dissolved collagen are now free to wick up moisture from the braising liquid and accumulate flavor throughout the meat.

Using a slow cooker is a form of braising   Meats are often seared on the stovetop over higher heat, then placed in the slow cooker for a long slow cooking process.  To braise foods and coax them into tenderness, follow this 7 step process:
     1. Trim and prepare the roast, pat dry all surfaces.
     2. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper.  This helps to draw out the meat's moisture.
     3. Heat a quarter inch of oil in an oven-safe pot on the stovetop to med-high heat.  Sear the seasoned meat on all sides until the surfaces are nicely browned.
     4. Remove the meat from the pot.  Pour out the excess oil.  With just a thin film of fat left, saute any aromatics (onions, shallots, carrots, celery, etc.) and other herbs and spices until softened.
     5. Place the meat back in the hot stovetop pot.  Add braising liquid, such as wine, stock, or water, and submerge the meat by half.
     6. Cover the pot, place in the oven and cook at a low heat for several hours until the meat is completely tender.  The meat should reach an internal temperature of 210F.  Continue cooking for an additional hour.
     7. Braising naturally produces some terrific sauces.  The braising liquid may be strained, skimmed of fat, and then simmered to reduce the volume and concentrate the flavors.

Examples of foods from different cultures and cuisines that employ the braising method include:
     1. Pot roast
     2. Swiss steak
     3. Chicken cacciatore
     4. Carbonade flamande
     5. Coq au vin
     6. Sauerbraten
     7. Beef bourguignon
     8. Goulash
     9. Tajines

Simply Scones

     In a cook book of the same name as today's title, co-authors Leslie Weiner & Barbara Albright provide recipes for over six dozen different scones.  A traditional breakfast treat or accompaniment for afternoon tea in the British Isles, there are many regional variations on the scone theme.  They go by a variety of interesting monikers such as Singing Hinnies, Fat Rascals and Rock Cakes.  And it seems that each household has its own specialty.

     It's difficult to describe the perfect scone, since they can vary so widely in texture, shape, size and flavor.  They should be neither too dry nor too moist.  Scones can vary from cookie-like to cake-like in texture, and from savory to sweet in flavor.  So in the final estimation the ones that are "the best" are the ones you like to eat.

     Making scones is similar to making biscuits.  They can be rolled, shaped, or dropped.  they should be baked in a fully preheated oven for the specified time and cooled as directed.  They, of course, are best consumed right away but can be successfully stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

    
     Here is my favorite recipe from the Simply Scones cookbook:

GINGERBREAD SCONES

 

2 cups all-purpose flour                                    1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar       1/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled

2 teaspoons baking powder                              1 large egg

1/8 teaspoon baking soda                                 3 tablespoons molasses

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger                             3 tablespoons whole milk

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon                      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves                             1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

     Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly butter a 10" diameter circle in the center of a baking sheet.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.  Cut the butter into 1/2" cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture.  With a pastry blender or two knives used scissor fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  In a small bowl, stir together the egg, molasses, milk and vanilla.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine.  The dough will be sticky.  Stir in the raisins, if desired.

 

     With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into an 8" diameter circle in the center of the prepared baking sheet.  With a serrated knife, cut into 8 wedges.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.   Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.  Using a spatula, transfer the scones to the wire rack to cool.  Re-cut the wedges, if necessary.  Serve warm.
 



From near and far

     One of the highlights of my trip to the nation's seat was a visit to The Eastern Market in the Capital Hill neighborhood.  For over 136 years it has been providing farm fresh produce and handmade arts and crafts to the public.  In fact, it is DC's oldest continually operated fresh food public market, established in 1873 and rebuilt in 2009 after a devastating fire.  I visited on Saturday when the local vendors from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia were selling the bounty of their harvest, from sweet peaches to juicy ripe tomatoes.
 

It was glorious!

     And of course the keynote of any farmers' market is the local produce.  But as I strolled the aisles in the market I noted that some of the items weren't from around there.  Upon closer inspection I saw some things on sale that were produced closer to where I lived north of the Mason-Dixon line.  Keller's Butter and Hatfield pork products were just two items I could have gotten back home (at about half the price!)

And then there was the imported chitterlings that came from Denmark.  Really?  At a farmers' market?

Fall into Autumn

     Tomorrow is the Autumnal Equinox when the sun is directly over the equator and daylight and darkness will be of equal proportion.  There are already signs of Fall's arrival.  The robins are beginning to gather in our back field as they prepare to migrate south for the Winter.  Spiders have spun their webs in places that invariably catch us in the face.  And of course school buses slow traffic morning and evening as they pick up and discharge students.

     I particularly enjoy this time of year.  The crisp morning air is exhilarating and the colors are nothing short of breath taking.  It is also a time to amend the menu for the dinner table. Gone are the summer salads in favor of more hearty, nourishing meals.  So this coming week I am planning to prepare turkey chili and beef stew and also to experiment with the pork and apple pie that I mentioned in a previous post.  And I think I will attempt a variation of clam chowder from Rhode Island that is also new to me.  Putting my cast iron skillet to use I may even try a German pear pancake one night.

     Savor the wonders of Autumn and think of ways to celebrate the season with warming meals!

A Proper Breakfast, Y'all

     In the never ending quest to come up with new fair foods, The French Meadow Bakery at the Minnesota State Fair combined two iconic breakfast meals.  And in so doing created a clash of cultures, taking, as one colleague stated, "Two perfectly good foods and by combining them, ruining both."  But having downed the meal for breakfast one morning at the fair, I would disagree.  It was an intriguing amalgam of flavors never achieved before.  So let's examine the components:

     Sausage gravy is a traditional Southern breakfast meal.  After loose pork sausage is cooked in a pan and removed, a roux (see VinnyPost "Roux  Who?" June 4, 2012) is formed by browning flour in the residual fat.  Milk and seasonings, like salt and pepper, are added to create a moderately thick cream colored gravy to which the sausage is then re-introduced.  It is often served over freshly baked biscuits.

     Scones are a small British quick bread traditionally made from wheat, barley or oatmeal.  They were originally cooked on a griddle.  But then with the advent of baking powder were oven baked and well leavened.  They come in a variety of shapes from triangles and squares to rounds.  Some are lightly sweetened but can also be savoury and can include raisins, currants or dates.  In Scotland tattie scones are baked using potato flour.

     But combining these two cultural favorites?  Perhaps it is an acquired taste, but I did enjoy closing my eyes and transporting my psyche to rural Georgia and listening to bagpipes!



Beets Me

     Beets are perhaps one of the most under rated vegetables in the garden.  But this unsung hero in the root family should not be disregarded simply because it tends to stain both the counter top and the hands with it's red juice.

     Beta vulgaris is a native of the Mediterranean and has been around since prehistory.  The Greek Theophrastus reported in 300 BC that beets were pleasant enough to eat raw.  Table beets are about 3% sugar which may account for his observation.

     And beets are healthy as well.  They contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains.  Two of the best known in this category are betanin and vulgaxanthan that provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.  Beets are a great source of vitamin C, folic acid and potassium. 

     The bulb of the beet can be enjoyed raw or cooked.  In addition the top greens can also be eaten like any other dark leafy vegetable.  Here is a quick and easy salad to try:

No Cook Beet Orange Salad



     Whisk 2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard in a bowl.  Whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Using a mandoline, thinly slice 1 1/2 pounds peeled beets.  Toss with the vinaigrette, segments from 2 oranges, 2 cups fresh parsley and 1/2 cup torn mint.  Top with chopped almonds and crumbled goat cheese.


    

Forbidden Fruit?

     The apple has been around since the dawn of time.  The origin of humankind is inextricably linked to the apple and Paradise is equated to a garden of cultivated fruit, its sensual irresistibility and the consequential calamity of its seduction.  We are all familiar with the story of Adam and Eve.  Other stories tell a similar tale: the Teutonic Iduno, Greek Hesperides and the Celtic Avalon all include references to apples.  Throughout history apples have been associated with love, beauty, luck, health, comfort, pleasure, wisdom, temptation, sensuality, virility and fertility.

 But did you know that there are more than 7,500 varieties of apples worldwide?  Some sources claim there are over 10,000 known varieties, 2,500 in the United States alone.  Even though our nation commercially produces 100 of them, only the lowly crab apple is a native species.  The rest are imports that have taken root across our land thanks in part to Jonathan Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed.

     Some of the better known apple varieties include:  Baldwin, Cortland, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gravenstein, Jonathan, Macoun, McIntosh, Red Delicious, Rome Beauty, Stayman and Winesap.  And it is the University of Minnesota that has the distinction of developing the sweetest apple of them all, the honey crisp.  For a complete listing click on the Orange Pippen website.

     Perhaps one reason why apples are so universally popular is their ability to pair well (no pun intended) with other ingredients.  Yesterday's post acknowledged their compatibility with pork. They also compliment a number of other foods, too.  Food Network Magazine in its most recent issue provided a supplement entitled, "50 Things to Make with Apples."  Here is a sampling of the apple combinations they recommend:

Apple Salmon Crostini            Wine Poached Apples            Apple Braised Cabbage
Bacon Apple Dates                   Apple Pork Burgers                Sausage Apple Skewers
Apple Sauerkraut                     Potato Apple Pancakes          Apple Horseradish Sauce
Apple Brie Polenta                   Apple Mustard Chicken        Apple Stuffing
Apple Cheddar Fondue          Waldorf Salad                          Creamy Apple Slaw
Caramel Apple Galette            Nutty Baked Apples                Apple Popcorn Balls

So we are only limited by our own imagination as to how to use this once forbidden fruit.  This is the season to yield to the temptation of including apples in your Fall menu.


        

From across the pond

     In Friday's VinnyPost I mentioned a dish from the UK, Pork and Apple Pie.  Over the weekend I conducted an unofficial poll and discovered that it is virtually unknown in the United States.  Writing to my British cousin, Rita, I asked if she was familiar with such a pie and she promptly sent me a recipe.  It called for things like Bramley apples and castor sugar, things we are don't normally find in American cook books.  And all the measurements were  metric.  It made my head hurt attempting to make the conversions.

     But upon further research I found several differing recipes for the pie that unites two flavors that go well together on the dinner plate.  Some have a crust on both the top and bottom, some just the top, and one eliminated the pastry crust altogether in favor of a mashed potato crown, much like a shepherd's pie.  And the pork filling varied as well.  Ground pork, shredded pork shoulder and cubed pork loin were all acceptable as a part of the pie.

 

   Historically, today's pork and apple pie descends from an eighteenth-century workingman's lunch called the Bedfordshire Clanger--a hand held pie filled with meat on one end and jam on the other.  It was a compact way to serve lunch and dessert at the same time.

 

     And being frugal as the British are, this pie is an excellent way to make use of the left over meat from a Sunday roast.  As stated in "The English Kitchen" blog one roast on Sunday could last most of the following week.  Monday it would be sliced and served cold with the leftover root vegetables, Tuesday it became pot pie, Wednesday it was made into soup and Thursday it was a partner in the apple pie.

 

     For a recipe to try, click on the following from Yankee Magazine. 

 

Pomology

     Pomology is the science of apple growing.  And right now is prime time for orchard keepers to be harvesting the popular and healthy fruit.  Until the 21st Century the Red Delicious accounted for over half of all the apples grown and sold in the world.  It is a large apple with a dark red color.  Unfortunately these cosmetic characteristics were developed to the detriment of taste.  Today it had been reduced to less than a quarter of the market share due to the popularity of other varieties like the Braeburn and the Honey Crisp.  Newer Pacific varieties have also gained fame, like the Gala from New Zealand and the Fuji from Japan.

 Apples are a main ingredient in literally thousands of recipes with the ever popular American symbol, the apple pie, leading all others. But few cooks are aware of a simple tip to enhance their baking prowess.  By pre-cooking the apples until not quite tender and then permitting them to cool before adding to the pie crust, the shrinkage that occurs will permit more apples per cubic inch and produce a pie with more fruit and less juice.  An interesting British twist on our American favorite is to combine the flavors of pork and apple into a layered pie.  It is great fare for an Autumn dinner meal.



          Here are some interesting apple statistics:


80 calories in 1 apple 50 tree leaves are required to support a single apple 500 trees are in an acre of an orchard
45 pounds of apples are consumed annually by the average American

36 apples are squeezed to make 1 gallon of cider

5 grams of fiber are in 1 apple (20% of the daily recommended amount)

50 states grow apples, but it is not native to the United States

60% is the portion of the apple crop that is consumed as fresh fruit

.25% is the amount of air by volume in an apple, explaining why they float

Highest apple producing states:  1. Washington   2. New York   3. Michigan

          statistics courtesy of Orange Pippin's Apple Fun Facts 

And one final note from the New York Apple Association:
     Store your recently purchased apples in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Be sure to separate them from other vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cucumber and leafy greens as the ethelyne gas emitted by the apples can do damage.  However that same gas will retard sprouting in potatoes if an apple is stored with the spuds in a paper bag and placed in a cool, dark location.  

Canada invades Minnesota

     Several new foods were debuted at the Minnesota State Fair this year.  One was an import from Canada, Quebec to be exact.  I had never heard of the comfort food Poutine previously and was not familiar with the dish whose name is Acadian slang for "mushy mess."

     So I eagerly plunked down my cash and shared a cup of this new fair food with my daughter, wondering what exactly poutine really tasted like.  We were handed a cup full of frites (fries to those of us in the lower 48), a thin greasy gravy, and some sort of cheese.  It did not look very appealing, and tasted only marginally better.

     Upon further research I discovered that this fair food was vastly different from the food invented in 1957 by restaurateur Fernand Lachance in Warwick, Quebec.  To create an authentic poutine you must first begin with fries that are hand cut and very fresh and then fried in pure lard.  And the gravy cannot come from a jar but is lovingly slowly simmered.  It should be very flavorful, peppery with hints of vinegar and thick enough for a spoon to stand up in it.  And it needs to be steaming hot.  The cheese should be fresh white cheddar curds, so fresh that they squeak in your teeth as you bite into them.  The curds are then placed on the fries and the hot gravy is simply poured on top.  When prepared this way, poutine is far different from the (un)fair food that I purchased.

      Annual poutine festivals are held throughout Canada from British Columbia to Quebec to celebrate the food that many of our neighbors to the north want to see become their national snack.   

Cookie Dough

     
     The Minnesota State Fair is big business.  Consider the nearly 1.7 million people who passed through the gates this year each paying $12 admission ($9 in advance).  Then there are the over 1,200 business licenses granted for the 12 day event.  Vendors pony up to rent space based on front footage.  For example, if a booth is ten feet wide facing a sidewalk or walkway they are assessed for 10 front feet.  And if they are on a corner lot they pay for both sides.  Institutional groups pay $70/ff, exhibits $90/ff and concessions $105/ff.

     Food vendors, nearly 250 of them, pay a straight 15% commission, with beer and wine vendors paying a little more at 18.5%.  And everyone is also billed separately for water, sewer and electricity.  The Fair Commission receives $5-6 million on food and beer commissions and an equal amount comes into their coffers from frontage fees.

     So who are the top food vendors?  According to Jason DeRusha of CBS affiliate WCCO-TV in Minneapolis in 2011 the winner was Sweet Martha's Cookies.  Their gross revenue for selling hot out of the oven freshly baked chocolate chip cookies was $2.5 million.

     That's a lot of dough!

     At a distant second was the Mouth Trap selling 2 tons of fried cheese curds a day ringing up a mere $862,262.  And Cafe Caribe sold $780,000 of suds to wash down all the fair food like the 200,000 ears of corn sold by Corn Roast for $675,931.

     The bottom line for vendors is the 25% of the total revenue that they pocket as profit.  You can do the math.  Not a bad take for 12 days of sales.

Food as Art

     Sometimes food becomes the medium for a work of art.  That is certainly the case in the Dairy Building at the Minnesota State Fair.  Each year a Dairy Queen is named, along with her court of Princesses.  Tradition has it that for the 12 days of the fair they assume the title of "Princess Kay of the Milky Way." 

 

     And another long standing tradition is that their likenesses are carved from a 90 pound block of butter.  The "butterheads" are carved by an artist in public view in a rotating studio with a brisk interior temperature of 40 degrees to prevent the butter from melting. 

 

It is a daunting challenge for both the artist and the subject as they are bundled up to keep warm while the sculpture takes shape.  It is always a major attraction as thousands of fair goers stop by to view the work in progress.

 

    









The finished works are then displayed around the perimeter of the interior of the cold storage rotating studio.  Take a look at the hometown of one of this year's Dairy Princesses!



Mushroom Festival: KSQ

ed. note:  I am making a brief departure from my reporting on the Minnesota State Fair to assess the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival held this past weekend.

 

     The 27th Annual Mushroom Festival held in Kennett Square, PA this weekend is a big deal.  Unfortunately it has very little to do with mushrooms, however.  I motored down on my chrome pony in the brisk morning air to take in the event and upon arrival was assaulted by a six block long phalanx of vendors hawking everything from dragon lithographs to toe rings and virtually everything in between, including basement makeovers, subscriptions to the New York Times, and car insurance.  It was a challenge to actually find something even remotely related to Chester County's cash crop.

 

     There was no shortage of food booths eagerly selling food from cuisines all over the globe: Italian, Polish, Mexican, western Mediterranean, Greek, Spanish, French, Moroccan, and Eastern Pacific Rim.  And several regions of our own country were represented as well: authentic Wisconsin cheese curds, Eastern Shore crab cakes, New Orleans po'boys and boardwalk kettle corn.  Oh yes, and there was even a pet bakery selling snacks for Fido or Cuddles.  And if you wanted a cure-all elixir you could throw back a free shot of a vinegar garlic potient.

 

     But there were a few bold vendors that did actually offer mushroom related fare.  You could purchase a grow your own mushroom kit and take home a hand painted mushroom stool for your yard.  I did manage to find some food vendors that had mushrooms on their menu and did enjoy a cup of breaded fried mushrooms, although the taste was more breaded than mushroom, to my dismay.

 

     There was an exhibit tent that did address the event's theme and did have a variety of mushrooms on display, but it was on a side street and not a main event. 

 

One of the festival's major attractions was the mushroom soup cook-off.  So I paid my $10 for the right to sip and vote for my favorite.  I was somewhat surprised to discover that only 6 eateries had taken up the challenge.  And I was even more surprised when I sampled the tiny portions and learned that most of the soups had been doctored to enhance their flavor.  To me mushroom soup should taste like mushrooms, plain and simple, not polluted with heavy cream, truffle oil, rice pancakes,  deep fried shallots & green onions,  or butternut squash.  So only one soup passed muster in my estimation.

 

     Apparently people come out to the Mushroom Festival for things other than to venerate the lowly fungi that is the mainstay of the local economy.  And I didn't even get to meet the festival's mascot, Fun Guy.

Food on a Stick

     I must admit that the folks selling food on a stick are very creative.  They have come up with some unique ways to promote their products.  Here are a few more morsels skewered for consumption:

 

Next time:  Some long standing favorites at the Minnesota State Fair...

Fair Food

     It is nearly impossible to describe the Minnesota State Fair to someone who has not attended the 12 day event.  It is a dizzying composite of exhibits, displays, agriculture, husbandry, retail, politics, parades, and of course, food!  And the perennial theme is, as always, food on a stick.  I even purchased a T-shirt listing all the fair food available served on a stick that provides the wearer with the opportunity to check each offering consumed. 

So in the coming posts I will include photos of some of the signs at the fair that advertise food on a stick specialties.  I'll begin with these:

 

 

     Think you've seen it all?  Just wait for tomorrow's post!

State Fair Burnout

     After 3 straight 6+ hour days at the Minnesota State Fair I'm ready to return home.  I have what the musical cowboy trio, Riders in the Sky, would call State Fair Burnout.  I witnessed more food on a stick than I can recall, everything from the mundane salad on a stick to the exotic ostrich and alligator versions.  I consumed far more than my fair share of garlic fries and Tom Thumb mini doughnuts and really did enjoy a sausage gravy covered scone for breakfast one day.  The bacon ice cream did not live up to expectations but at the dairy building where the 90 pound carved in butter likenesses of Princess Kay and the Milky Way are on display I really enjoyed a chocolate and raspberry sundae.

     Sweet Martha's Cookies were tantalizing as they always are, gooey fresh out of the oven chocolate chip delights that go down so quickly with a cool glass of all you can drink milk for sale from the Midwest Dairy Association.  And of course no trip to the fair would be complete without a fresh roasted ear of corn on the cob dipped in melted butter and generously seasoned with salt and pepper.  I did manage to get the rest of our entourage to sample some fried SPAM curds and even purchased a can of their newest incarnation to take home, Jalapeno SPAM.  But I chose to pass up a massive hunk of thick fat laden bacon on a stick.  My intestinal track would have never forgiven me for such a transgression.  In it's place I ingested a healthy (?) fried walleye sandwich with sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce on a bun.

     When I get back to my own keyboard I will report on more gustatory episodes from this year's visit to the "Great Minnesota Get Together."  Photos included!