Gastrointestinal Review

Welcome to my Minnesota State Fair 2009 Gastrointestinal Review! The tradition continues with the Johnston's and the Willegalle's, including the new little shooter at his first fair - Griffin. Grab your bottle of Tums and hang on:

We started out this year with Martina's favorite, shocker, fried cheese on a stick! So yummy and creamy. It really tastes like a grilled cheese sandwich. We then headed over to Juanita's Fajitas for a breakfast burrito. Daddy said it was just "OK" but I loved it. (See photo above). We washed it all down with a little German Root beer (think Barq's without the bite) and headed straight on over to the Mini Donuts! This is where Griffin really got to shine!

Next was the only new thing we tried this year, yes, we're growing a bit lame in our old age: Pickle Dog. Its pastrami and cream cheese wrapped around a pickle spear. It was good, but how about if it was SALAMI?! Mom got her favorite soft pretzel dipped in mustard next, and it was off to every body's favorite Turkey To Go. Brian couldn't keep his mouth off that one!

After a brief intermission of Palmer and I saying we wanted to go on rides, and then actually really not going on rides, well I didn't anyway, we headed back over to the food. Mom tried the Shaved Hawaiian Ice, pretty good, but really sweet. The day was then rounded out with fried pickles, a quite large pickle on a stick, and the always yummy caramel apple. We really had another great day at the fair this year! Thanks again to the Mitsch's for the best parking spot in town!

Burp,
HAJ

We Were FINE!

Tune in next week for a gastrointestinal recap of the Minnesota State Fair!

HAJ

The Sounds Of Cows Birthing

Interspersed between all of the food booths that we visited, we stopped to see a few of the other sights at the fair. We were very lucky to get into the Miracle of Birth Center. This is where all the animal babies are born, and usually it so jam packed with people you can't even get it. We were just early enough. Palmer and I checked out the turkeys, and the chicks, and the horsies, and this cow was ready to give birth at any second. You should've heard her moo...it was quite frightening.

Then we headed off to the pig barn to see Minnesota's largest boar (and I don't mean Daddy!) This guy is huge and as grody as ever. Mom and Martina got pig ears!

On the way out we went to me and Palmer's favorite spot....the John Deere tractor display. We got to ride tractors, and lawn mowers, and gators like Papa Jim's. We had the best time there and it was hard to leave.

We're looking forward to next year's fair. Too bad it only comes around once a year.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,

HAJ

Eating Our Way Across the Midway

Over the weekend we honored the holiday by doing absolutely no labor what-so-ever! We actually indulged in our once a year tradition of eating our way across the midway. Yes, it was the MN State Fair, and we hit it hard! The usual guests were there including me, my mom, my dad, my uncle Derek and auntie Chris, my pal Palmer, and his mom and dad too. Get ready to grab your Rolaids....here's what we ate:

The morning started out with corn fritters with a little honey butter to dip 'em in. Who knew how great these were? We then had to try the pork chop on a stick, and it was also fabulous. We regretfully didn't buy the seasoning for them, so have to wait a full year for one more bite! PMan's parents were hunkering for fried cheese on a stick, so we had to fulfill them. That was amazing, kind of like grilled cheese. Daddy was eyein' a big glass of fresh squeezed lemonade to wash down the pork chop, mean while uncle D grabbed a breakfast burrito. This was yummy, and so much better than last years version.

Next we headed to the Turkey To Go stand for a TURKEY SANDWICH! This was the most amazing sandwich ever, and we NEED the recipe. There's no way to wait a year. On the way to the pretzel stand, we saw horsie poop. Wouldn't be the fair with out it. Palmer seemed to like the cupcakes too. Speaking of tradition, the fair would be nothing without Sweet Martha's cookies or the famous french fries. One of the new and odd foods at the fair was called a pig licker. Bacon dipped in chocolate. Don't knock it, you'd be surprised...not too shabby.

The trip was rounded out with fried pickles and ranch, a Reuben on a stick, and to wash it all down a nice cold bottle of water! We had a great time, as usual. I want to thank auntie Chris' mom and dad for letting us park in their lawn, and for all the snacks! We'll be back next year! Tune in tomorrow for more fun at the fair!

Dirtier than a farmer's clod hoppers,

HAJ

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Yesterday we spent the day at the Minnesota State Fair. Wow. I've never seen so many people, or seen so much food on a stick in my life! What a day. I'm going to give you the run down on the sites and a study in all foods fried.

We went with Palmer and his parents, uncle Derek, and New Auntie. As a side note: please remember we didn't eat all of this food individually. We shared each item. Between 8 people. Promise.

Starting out, Mom pulled out the big guns with her daring inquiry into fried alligator curds. They were yummy believe it or not. Tasted like chicken. Next came the breakfast burrito and the mini donuts. The burrito wasn't the best, but the donuts were light and fluffy. Uncle Derek grabbed the next interesting item called the Scotch Egg. Its a hard boiled egg, wrapped in sausage and deep fried! This was amazing and will be eaten again next year. We rounded up this session with the hand rolled pretzels, the best in the biz.

Next we wandered over to the pig barn. On the way, we saw the fire hydrant that a run away bull ran into the day before and killed himself. Then WE ran into a little trouble too! Finally, when we got there we saw the fair's largest hog. And let's just say he was large in every aspect. I don't even know what that means.

Next on the agenda was the Baby Walk put on by one of the local am radio stations. About 40 or so babies lined up with their parents, and they had to say the baby's name to these two old guys. If they approved of your name, you were allowed through with no problem. If not, they fog horned you. Palmer got fog horned. So funny! I made it through fine considering those guys are big sports fans, but they didn't let me go without making a few comments about how I should be a linebacker. I'll figure out how to down load the podcast so you guys can hear it. We ended up with free Twins tickets, so not a bad deal at all.

After that, we decided to do some more eating. New Auntie got fried fruit on a stick, which was rich and tasted like cobbler. (forgot to get a shot of it.) Daddy headed right on over to the Spam booth and had fried Spam curds. Not bad dipped in a little ranch dressing. Then we stopped at the WCCO booth, my Mom is a sucker for those news anchors, so we pretended we were Don Shelby and Amelia Santinello.

The day ended on fried pickles and fried macaroni and cheese on a stick. Both amazingly great. See, I told you there was fried food galore. And we just touched the tip of the ice berg. There's always next year. Although I think I just might skip the whole thing and stay with New Auntie's parents and park cars in their front yard. Somebody's gotta pay for all this food!

The much fatter and happier,
HAJ