Minnesota State Fair: A Guide to the Fun!

Our State Fair is a great state fair! Don't miss it, don't even be late.

Maybe the lyrics to that song don't mean anything to you, but it means that it is the time of year where crazy fun happens. :) Now, I've posted about the Minnesota State Fair before (2011, 2010), so this year I decided to provide you with a utterly non-comprehensive guide to my favorite event of the year.

The State Fair ends on Labor Day, so you still have five more days to experience this wonderful event! I've gone three days and have three more days that I plan to attend. Excited doesn't even begin to cover it.

Since this is a food blog, let's start with the food. I've been trying to eat super healthy lately, so you can see from these pictures how well mediocre I'm doing. The key to eating at the State Fair is to share as much food as possible. Portions and calories are out of control, so most of the food I shared.

My Day 1 Food:

Blazing Salad

Deep Fried Veggies on a Stick

Deep Fried Ravioli - Artichoke and Spinach

French Fries and Cheese Pizza

Hands down, my favorite out of this bunch is the Blazing Salad. I get one every year. It is simply a whole wheat pita stiffed with lettuce mix (from a bag) slathered in their mouth watering dressing. Maybe because it is so anti-fried, it tastes perfect. This is located in the Gyro booth across the street from the Culligan Water stand.

My Day 2 Food:

Scone from French Meadow

Island Noodles! Soba Noodles Stir Fried with Veggies

Cold Press Coffee from French Meadow

Curry Chickpea Roti

Cheese Quesedilla with Guacamole, Salsa, and Corona

This year, my husband and I rediscovered Harry Singh's Caribbean Restaurant in the food building. Their Curry Chickpea Roti is mildly spicy and soul warming. 

My Day 3 Food:

Luigi Fries

Red Velvet Funnel Cake

Cheese Pizza from Vescio's (not pictured)

Red Velvet Funnel Cake is new to the State Fair this year. I am a huge fan of red velvet cakes. I love how dense they are and yet aren't as cloyingly sweet as typical chocolate cake. The funnel cake misses the texture of a typical red velvet cake - not surprisingly - but this is so delicious I really don't care. I brought some extra to work the next day and it was still delicious! It's located in the stand next to the Giant Sing Along and the Pet Center.

So now that your hunger is satiated, what is there to do at the fair? I admit, the State Fair can be overwhelming. So, it is important to pace yourself. Once you arrive, find an Information Booth and grab one of the daily schedules. This handy guide will give you all the details for when animal shows, performances, parades, and demonstrations happen throughout the day. 

I like to pick out a few events and make a point to attend. They key in attending is to find a place to sit. Taking time to sit is just as important as taking time to eat and drink water. Here are some of my favorite State Fair events:

4-H State Arts-In Show. Both my husband and I performed in this show back in the day, so we have a lot of nostalgia associated with it. However, the 30 minute show will help you regain your confidence in today's youth in an extremely cheesy, yet fabulous, way. Do not miss this. 

Food Demonstrations. The Eco Building and the Horticulture Building have fun food demonstrations. And in the Horticulture Building, you can sample some really unique honey afterwards. I must buy some sage honey for my cheddar cheese. Now.

Animal Shows. Horse shows are daily in the Colosseum. Sheep, rabbit, goat, cow, and poultry shows vary a little more. The Pet Center does dog training demonstrations. The Miracle of Birth Center, despite the perpetual crowd, is my favorite place to sit and relax. I love watching the faces of little children as they see a cow give birth. I never know what they'll say! I even saw a rabbit agility demonstration in the 4-H building! I love how the bunny has neon green vest on!

Radio Station Special Events. Nearly every radio station has a booth and a robust schedule of events. Find your favorite station and check out their schedule. Their special guests are usually willing to take questions from the audience too!

Musical Performances. The Bandshell, the Bazaar, the Beer Garden, and the DNR stage are just four of the places that offer free concerts throughout the day. The grandstand shows are also fun, although they do cost extra to attend. 

Site Seeing. One of my favorite things of the State Fair (Ok, I'll admit that I have a lot of favorite things!), is that I never know what I'll see as I'm wandering from one event to another. For example, I saw kids taking a bubble bath one day:

I discovered this crop art that looks just like my cat Oreo:

And I saw tomatoes as big as the watermelon I got in my CSA box a couple of weeks ago:

Of course, there is much more to see and do at the State Fair (I didn't even talk about the rides and games!). If you go, let me know your must-see, must-do, or must-eat!

Roasted Eggplant with Goat Cheese Lentils

So we got some eggplant the other day and our CSA box and I decided not to bring it with me on vacation. So the day before I left on vacation I new something had to be done with eggplant. However I wasn't quite sure what I was going to make with it even after I started.

I started by simply roasting eggplant. I am kind of into herb salt lately and so I sprinkled some of that on the eggplant before roasting. I had been listening to Lynn Rosetto Kasper on the Splendid Table the other weekend and she had a recipe about herb salt on her show that inspired me to try it. I'm now in love with herb salt.

Instead of serving eggplant over some rice or other kind of grain I decided I wanted to serve it over lentils. And seeing that I had some delicious homemade goat cheese from our CSA box just two days ago I had to add that this recipe.

This recipe is super simple and very quick plus it's really easy to clean up and simply delicious.

I brought most of our CSA box up with me to the lake resort that I'm staying at all week long. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of cooking while I'm vacation.

One dish I've made already is a Hemp Seed Power Salad from Oh She Glows. I love the salad dressing and surprisingly there is no oil in the salad! The only fat comes from the avocado and hemp seed so it's super healthy. However I do recommend just calling this a Power Salad instead of mentioning that there is hemp seed in it. I'm still hearing jokes about hemp seed from my family members that I served this to.

One last note before I give you the recipe: I'm trying to blog using just my iPhone this week so the look of my blog might appear a little bit different than usual since the formatting features are limited and I'm still getting used to this new way of blogging.

Roasted Eggplant with Goat Cheese Lentils
2 servings, 40 minutes

2 Japanese eggplant, small
1/2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon herb salt (garlic, thyme, salt)
1/4 cup black lentils
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
1 tablespoon minced mint
1/2 cup tomato, finally diced
1 tablespoon (1 ounce) goat cheese

1. Cut eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly brush with oil on both sides and sprinkle herb salt on top. Roast at 400°F oven for about 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Rinse lentils. Add water and bouillon and lentils to a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes or until lentils are tender but not falling apart. Drain.
3. Adamant and tomatoes to the lentils. Stir and let sit covered for about a minute or two. Stir in goat cheese.
4. To serve place lentils in a bowl, then top with eggplant slices. If slices are large cut to be no bigger than 1 inch in diameter. Enjoy!

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