The Minnesota State Fair and brunch with Myrna

With my face somewhat
less swollen I braved a
9 hour day at the MN
State Fair with my niece,
nephew and brother.

We had a blast. The
Fair is one of the things
about this state that I
Enjoy. I find the food
on a stick, (most of it
deep fried) to be interesting
if to my standards largely
inedible. I love the baked
goods that win awards,
the farmer's produce,
the quilts, the bands,
and the rides. Even the
rides that make me dizzy.

Jordan and Linnea have grown up SO VERY much this past year they were delightful companions. I share interests with both of them. I love to play softball and bike. I am outdoors a lot just like Linnea and I am a big fan of the theatre which seems to be a natural calling for Jordan. We had plenty to talk about. I have interesting relative whom I like to be with...how cool is that.

Foodies beware of the State Fair food, even those things you might recognize as food are not what they claim to be. Deep fried turkey is actually steamed and largely flavorless, pot stickers are deep fried dumplings and the Chinese restaurant that sells them is completely unaware that the name is a cooking method. A malt in the dairy building isn't a malt at all, but soft serve ice cream covered in syrup. A malt and a sundae are essentially the same things. Fresh squeezed lemonade will either be a stand where they squeeze it and shake it to order (delicious) OR a stand where they sell pre-fab crap that tastes like syrup, not lemons. In other words there is NO truth in advertising so buyer beware. Ask questions or risk eating some pretty nasty stuff.

With still limited jaw ability I had to forgo my usual apple from the farmers and settle for fresh pressed cider, which tasted pretty good. I did have an order of onion rings and still feel a bit guilty about that. I managed soft food, but not truly healthy.

Today was brunch with MYRNA and several others from Northfield Minnesota including Myrna's husband. I know people from e-mail and comments on the site and I had a completely wrong picture of Myrna. She is a pretty young Blondie, with a tattoo. For some reason I never expected a tattoo. She also makes a mean chocolate torte and she has promised to share the recipe, which I will then share with all of you. It's like a super rich brownie with a creamy center. MMM.

My brother and sister in law put this shindig together so I got to taste a LOT of food, most of which I didn't cook and all of it soft enough to not challenge my jaw. It was as tasty as it was high calorie and I did have a second helping of these wonderful creamy potatoes with a lot of shallot. I'm full.

No recipe today...we will be back to our scheduled programming later in the week. Stitches out on Thursday and my chewing capacity should be fully restored soon enough. My face may even begin to look normal again.