Great Minnesota Get Together! Part 1: Fairchild*

Well here it is! My snapshot of the Minnesota State Fair or the Great Minnesota Get Together! I was lucky enough to have a free entry because I volunteered with Land O' Lakes in the 'Moo Booth' (Minus 1 of the day, forgetting to grab a Moo Booth T-Shirt! I got a pin though) After working the "how clean are your hands" (ew) station for 3 hours, I was able to explore! (Minus 2 for the day, I kept getting lost over and over again)
Beginning in 1859, a year after Minnesota was granted statehood, the State Fair has grown to a 12 day affair, bringing in individuals from not only Minnesota but from surrounding states like Iowa and Wisconsin as well. (Which judging by the ironic T-Shirts I saw yesterday are the butt of a ton of jokes 'round these parts) As of Saturday (the 30th) there were 252, 092 people in attendance, just on Saturday alone! Apparently thats a new record or something. Everyone knows the fair is famous for its fried foods and yums on a stick but there are some tried and true vendors that stand the test of time and rake in big bucks every year! Based on last years earnings  Sweet Martha's Cookies Cookies made almost $2.5 million dollars. That's a ton of cookie buckets! (Hoards of people toting around plastic tubs literally overflowing with chocolate chip cookies; and yes, that is an appropriate use of literally). Enough with the knowledge! Heres the fair!

Grand Supreme Dairy Cow! You go, Girl!

Some Horses

Those are all people. When they say Get Together..they really mean Get Together

I can never get away!

Isn't this just the cutest!

Theres two whole rooms dedicated to Dahlias and it was easy to see why. There were all so beautiful!

Oh Agriculture, sometimes you're so cute

One of the skyways that was just so cute that I had to....

...take a ride! I saw tons of people, tractors and....

underwear, because apparently that's what you're suppose to do on the Skyway thing.

More things from up above..

ALL OF THE PEOPLE! I repeat..Get-To-Gether.

One of the top selling vendors at the fair probably because you can literally get a whole bucket of fries.

Brought to you by Land O' Lakes, life sized sculptures of the fair's princesses. They literally sit in a rotating cold box and a lady carves their face into a slab of butter. (Don't worry, I took a video)

Get-To-Gether. When more than 240,000 people get together and it's about 80 degrees outside with 80+% humidity this great get together gets a litttttle stinky, just saying. 

In the Sam's Club building, they had a live animal surgery happening. Uh Wut?

I just like dogs a lot. 

A staple at the fair, the giant slide!

Bye State Fair, you've been entertaining, to say the least.

So "Part 1: Fairchild" was just things I saw. "Part 2: Fairborn" will consist of what I ate, and what I should have eaten. And if you were wondering, I had a bowl of cantaloupe and a side of carrots, tomatoes and snap peas for dinner after the fair.

Nap Time...
Stay tuned! Stay hungry!


*uhh Taryn..why the "Part 1: Fairchild*" in the title? Fairchild is the original mascot of the Minnesota State Fair. He is a Gopher, who dons a stripe coat and straw hat to make him look like an old time'y mascot. Now you know! 

MinneSo' Well Spoken

This weekend Minneapolis hosted their first Chipotle Cultivate Festival. We went in hopes of finding some burrito bowls and guac. We did find some burrito bowls and guac but I personally think I found something more. After we wandered through the booths, visiting with some avocado farmers and some tabasco pepper farmers we decided to sit in their Chef's Tent to watch Chef Andrew Zimmern make a beautiful tongue dish. After having watched his show for years I was expecting an entertaining demo of something tasty but something even better happened. He described in a few sentences exactly how I feel about food, exactly how I feel about the power of food. I don't think I could have described this any better. 

Thank you, Chef.

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!
-Taryn Julia

MinneSo' Much Flour!

As promised....

I finally made it back to the Mill City Museum! Dead smack on the Mississippi River, looking out onto St. Anthony's Fall, the Mill City Museum is a huge part in representing the thriving milling industry that once occupied the river's banks (once the Flour Milling Capital of the World!). Providing a snap shot of the once booming milling society, the Mill City Museum is situated on the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill. Built in 1874, the Washburn Mill was supposedly the biggest mill in the whole world. One of more than two dozen mills posted on the river's bank, the Washburn Mill Experienced a HUGE explosion in 1878, killing 18 workers. This huge mill was powered by the rushing water from St. Anthony's falls, as were most of the mills along the river.

When you first arrive for the tour, they send to you to this AWESOME elevator, where you are taken on a historical, 'real' life experience of how the mill used to function, with actual voice overs from workers who worked at the mill. After bouncing through about 8 floors of history you exit onto their outlook, which gives a wondrous view of the river, the falls and the stone arch bridge. Check it out!

 From the 8th floor, I think, looking up from their ruins courtyard 

I think this is one of the coolest signs ever!

Another view from the 8th floor, a look at the stone arch bridge

Looking down onto the Washburn 'A' Mill Ruins (FYI, you can have weddings here apparently! Word to the wise, if you're planning on having a wedding during the summer, either bring body spray and extra deodorant, or plan for a fall wedding.)

More of the falls just cause its so cool. Based one of the first details of the falls, from a missionary, the falls is currently not in it's original location. Over a hundred years ago, there was an cement "apron" that was built right under where it spills. Cool fact, they used to dump the left over flour dust from the mills into water....which eventually turned the river into mush. One smarty pants noticed however, that the fish in the river were HUGE! He then began a fish feed company, using said left over gunk from the mills. What a smarty, I tell'ya.

That first building, right above the parking lot, was an old mill and now it has been converted to apartments. How cool!

Downstairs, theres a museum with cool things like GIGANTIC Bisquick boxes, old commercials, example water installations to show the power of the falls and even a test kitchen that makes bread daily (that was based off of an old Pilsbury kitchen!

The biggest recipe box I've ever done seen!

Thanks!

Also in the museum, theres a video you can watch called Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat, its so informative and doesn't even seem like 19 minutes!! So worth watching! Heres a little preview!

I'm so glad I finally made it back to the museum! I've taken a little break in exploring these past few weeks, my apologies. Its been a rough time for me here in Minnesota, a combination of anxiety and frustration, or as I like to call it 'Ferklumpedness.' (It feels exactly how it sounds) I only have a four more weeks here in MN so I'll try to get back on that optimistic horse and explore more for yawl! Until then..

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia 

MinneSo' In Love With This Dog (and Dumplings)

*Intermission before I get back to the Mill City Museum!*

If you remember my first Minnesota update post I had pictures of two, four legged fur balls, Harlee and Cheyenne. Heres a little video of Cheyenne I caught the other night during one of our cuddlefests. Can you say... "Paw'kward"? 

I heart this little pup so much. So many of my frustrating days here have been smoothed out by her unconditional smothering constant need for affection, like a little reminder that something appreciates that you're here in the world. 

Oh this little smooshball of goofiness, if I could, I would bring her back to California with me so fast!!!

Oh food blog..right.. uhhh here! Food! 

Dumplings that my house mate Ruxin and her boyfriend Lei made! I have more pictures of them, have no fear...Also have no fear that I ate like 3 dozen dumplings...all by myself! I love dumplings as much as I love Cheyenne, and thats a lot!

Hope that you're filled with warm (see: dumplings) fuzzies (see:dogs) now!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

MinneSo' Fun State of A'Fair's!

How was that last nom bomb for you?! Back to the Minnesota stuff.
For the past two weeks I've spent my weekends at county fairs. There are 87 counties in the state of Minnesota. I would like to say that each county has a fair, but thats probably not true. I also like to say that all of these county fairs are practice for the the Great Minnesota Get Together!
Anywhose... on the first weekend we went to the Anoka county fair. Anoka county is the fourth most populated county in Minnesota. Anoka comes from the Dakota word anokatanhan which means "on both sides," a toss to its location on the Rum River. Bleck, less info, more pictures, ammorite!?

Fireman Challenge.

Little Lamby!

PUPPIES!

Apparently you can show Alapacas....

One of my favorite past times...looking at fantastic 4-H projects

Really prime stuff here..

Really, some really excellent showmanship

Despite how many times I've seen Grease, you could never get me into one of these things

I 100% do not trust fair rides. #statement

Especially when the weather looks like this...no thanks

This was almost cute enough to ride, then I stopped myself

Rachel spending a good 45 minutes at winning tokens...Brian being badger'y as usual

See? Look how cute those colors are! So tempting

This...is a funnel cake...

These guys....

From the parking lot..."Fun"...oh sure...

Also, DEMOLITION DERBY! Now I've only been to one Demo Derby prior to this but *spoiler alert* I LOVE DEMO DERBY'S! 

The second weekend we hung out at the Washington County fair. Heres a fun fact: Washington County was named after George Washington! (Thats all I got for you!)

This is a real thing..,

No really, it's a real thing...

I would give this entry Grand Supreme, Overall Champion!

Almost cute enough to make me forget that I hate birds

Hey! Wallaby my friend!?

This guy had a little mohawk going on...still not cool enough to get me to like birds

I WON A ROUND OF BINGO! I won a whole 2 dollars. After a 1 dollar buy in for 7 cards, I would say that that is a major win! And on the left there are corn dogs with mini bratwurst instead of hot dogs. Also a major win!

And then it started pouring. The only downside of Minnesota is the weather (though I've heard that it is also one of their crowning achievements as well...weird place I tell ya) During the downpour I hid under a tent and ate a little pie. It was awesome! I think it is safe to say that I am going to take a little break from fairs until the Great Minnesota Get Together.

Up next...A Revisit to the Mill City Museum (finally!)

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

Nom Bomb! Lomi-Lomi Edition!

Well hello there! (Or should I say Aloha!) Here's a quick Nom Bomb to tie you over till I can organize my latest Minnesota adventures! Ready?

 Lomi Lomi is a favorite of mine because I'm a sucker for salmon and tomatoes. Introduced to the islands by western sailors, this hawaiian yum is similar to a salsa and usually consist of: salmon, tomatoes, sweet onions and some sea salt. Its' been hot here in Minnesota, too hot to cook. Luckily I (somehow) had a version of all of these ingredients in my fridge! So here we go!

Ingredients: cherry tomatoes, salmon, yellow onions and salt!

First! Cut tomatoes into quarters. You can use any tomatoes really, but these were just the ones I had!

Then! Chop up some onions and toss it in!

And then! Toss in some left over salmon. This salmon is from Trader Joes. I made it the night before, it was pre-marinated and baked at 375 for 15 minutes (It was yum then too, more on that later!)

Then you... Toss it all together!

Finally. Add some salt to taste and throw that yum yum into the fridge to chill out! 

Well there you go! Usually the crew and I like to eat it with some tortilla chips. I had maybe two bites with chips but then I just ended up eating it solo. For some reason, Lomi Lomi feels like comfort food to me, don't know why, it just does! Mahalo!!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia