MN State Fair

Last night I went to a Twins game. It was a cold, gray evening with a brisk wind and temps hovering just south of 60 degrees, a perfect evening for indoor baseball at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. On the way, I called my friend Minnesota Steve--a resident of Worcester, MA and expert on all things MN--to ask him what I should eat in lieu of a Dome Dog. The Dome Dog goes down smooth, but about 5 innings later you are hating your life. It's the hot dog version of eating at Taco Bell or Toxic Hell.
Anyway, MN said, "Don't eat anything at the Metrodome. It's all awful." This from a man so valued as a customer at Soulvaki's Mediterranean Garden in Athens that Mr. Souvlaki spent the first months after Steve's departure gazing into the middle distance, hoping Steve would return. On the rare times MN returns to Athens, Mr. Souvlaki treats him like a prodigal son, "Hey! Big Guy! Good to see you!"
Steve also told me in that phone call that the only reason he read my blog was for the MN references. Well, hold on Steve, here they come...
Anders is doing really well again today. We saw him in the morning, but took a day off from holding him. We were getting pretty uptight and not out of sight with the relentless visits.
Today was for the fair.
We drove by, unable to find a place to park. We drove back here and then took the bus from Southdale. Never drive to the Great MN Get Together on the weekend.
I had a firm food agenda. We started with the Deluxe Pickle: pickle with cream cheese wrapped in pastrami. Then we waited in the mammoth line for the new pot roast sundae aka "Sunday Dinner in a Bowl: two scoops of mashed potatoes, fresh made pot roast, corn, and a cherry tomato on top. Then it was the Pickle Sampler: Cajun deep fried pickle chips, regular deep fried pickle chips, and deluxe pickle chips--2 pickles glued together by cream cheese (sensing a cream cheese theme?). Then we washed it down with some 1919 Root Beer from Spring Grove, MN. This treat reminded me of Decorah since we would have that with pizza at Mabe's. Anna had some pineapple Dolewhip along with way too, but that stuff is an abomination I would rather not discuss.
I finished off with a deep fried Snickers bar sprinkled in powdered sugar. This dessert was probably one of the five best things I've eaten in my life. I will be returning to that booth when we see "A Prairie Home Companion" on Friday.
There go you Steve, more on Anders tomorrow.