2026 State Fair New Foods Preview Part 4- Bucket of Chicharrones through Pumpkin Bar Funnel Cake

 Bucket of Chicharrones by San Felipe Tacos

Freshly deep-fried chicharrones (pork rinds) sprinkled with chili pepper and lime seasoning. Served with a trio of dipping sauces: hot sauce, creamy chipotle sauce, and chamoy.

Sarah’s Thoughts

I like pork rinds. (“Pork rind? Pork rind.” NAME THAT MOVIE!) This is just pork rinds seasoned and with a dipping sauce. I like dipping things. These don’t feel special, though. I can get seasoned pork rinds at the grocery store, 

At the very least hopefully they’re light and airy. That will make a big difference here. But, again, it’s like serving a seasoned potato chip and calling it special.

Though, one of our fav fair foods is literally a giant pile of potato chips so, you know, there’s always room for anything to break out.

I don’t know if we’ve ever had anything from San Felipe Tacos before.

Anne’s Thoughts

Hur Hur Hur.

(insert some sort of food guzzling gif here)

Straight in my mouth. All of them. GET YOUR OWN BUCKET SARAH AND PACKIE.

Ok calm down Anne, you haven’t even read the description yet.

Yeah these look bomb.

But listen- you promised us freshly deep-fried. You said it RIGHT THERE in the description. If these are sitting out getting all hard I'm gonna give you an F. THIS IS MY PROMISE RIGHT NOW. You Promised Fresh, I’m Promising F (if not fresh).

More sauces.

Can sauces be the theme? Is this a normal amount of sauces and I'm just really noticing them this year? Or has there really been an emphasis on the sauces we’re using?

I don’t want/need any of these sauces. But I guess I'll try them. I DO like that they’re giving us all three so we don’t have to choose between something we’ve never tried before. I wish there was a different option here like a lemon or garlic aioli maybe? These are all pepper/spicy profiles, and you already have chili pepper on the chicharrones

Just realized this is our 2nd pork rind option this year.

Give me a year of pork rinds, I tell you what.

Packie’s Thoughts

Hell yeah!  I love pork rinds, and fresh pork rinds are just slammin, no cap.  Is this something crazy out of the box?  Nope, it is just fucking pork rinds, but fuck it, I’m all in for this.  Plus, pork rinds are all airy and light, which I could use a lot more of with all the fair food I gotta eat in one day.  That said, I don’t really want any of those dipping sauces, and I’m sure the twins will back me on that.  But whatever, the nice thing about dipping sauces is if you don’t like em, you stop dipping.  Add another to the HEAT theme and we're at an 8 count.  I’m so burnt out on the heat that I lost count, because that actually makes 11.  Get it together man, we’re like only 2/3rds of the way through this list.  

Sweet Peach Lemonade Sparkler by Quench’d: Lemonade/Bottled Water

Fresh-squeezed lemonade layered with peach syrup and peach sweet cream cold foam. Topped with a sprinkle of popping candy and garnished with a peach slice (Gluten-friendly, Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

I always think it’s fun when we get a drink on the new foods. Because it’s just such a relief. And there are plenty of ways to make a drink fun. More places should lean in on drinks as an option.

So we’ve got a peach lemonade, pretty much. I do love a cold foam. And popping candy is always fun. 

I think this will be good. It’s pretty hard to screw up lemonade unless you make barfonade and that isn’t this so we’re probably safe.

I hope the cold foam makes it creamy and delicious and thirst quenching.

I have no memory of Quench’d though.

Anne’s Thoughts

I was just thinking that I was surprised we haven’t had a beverage offering yet. Especially since one of our guesses for the theme this year was potentially dirty sodas (though hard to do for new FOODS. But I bet we still see some around the fair this year).

I feel like Quench’d is a newer vendor, but I can’t remember about them…

IDK i just scrolled through the last 2 years of posts and didn’t see them. Maybe they were a recent new vendor and we didn’t feel obligated to try them. I’m too lazy to do additional research (and clearly too lazy to update our damn food by vendors list).

I mean this sounds great. No Notes. I’m excited to get this from a vendor other than Loon Lakes because their beverages have no flavor and I really want this peach flavor to shine through. Do right by us here

Packie’s Thoughts

Another thing we could use more of on the list is drinks.  Not sure I’ve seen this vendor on the New Foods list before, so that’s pretty exciting.  I love peach flavor, so getting an ice-cold sweet peach lemonade sounds splendid.  The popping candy garnish isn’t necessary, nor is the peach slice, but the sweet cream cold foam is a nice touch.  Nothing super ground breaking with this one, but if it is quenching and sweet, I’ll give it my full approval.

Elote Tots by Tot Boss

Deep-fried tater tots tossed in Tajin and topped with an elote-style sauce made with roasted corn, diced peppers, cheddar cheese, crema and cream cheese. Finished with cotija cheese and more Tajin (Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

God dammit. Every year the fair makes me and Packie eat elote or esquites. Like, come on.

This year its tots. Which, I would argue this is more esquites than elote but wtf do I know, right?

At least Tot Boss makes good tots. But I don’t like tajin so that’s not going for me. And then all the other stuff that’s usually on elote that I still don’t like.

Will this be enough to finally get me to turn the corner on elote?

All signs point to no.

Anne’s probably tentatively excited for it, though.

Anne’s Thoughts

HAHAHAHAH Oh sucks to be Sarah and Packie.

Dear reader, in case you don’t remember/are new here. Sarah and Packie hate Elote. In fact, here are some pull quotes from when they were forced to try Elote back in 2018 as a new food:

Sarah:

No. OHHHHH NOOOOOOOO. PACKIE. PACKIE WE ARE IN TROUBLE.

Anne has been trying to get Packie and me to try elote for years now. And we’ve always said “NO. NO WE WILL NOT DO THAT.” 

Packie:

Ah hell crap damnit poop ass banana skunk.

“hey, I’d never eat worms, but throw them on a cob and sprinkle with cheese, and you got a real seller there, champ.”

And spoiler, readers- trying elote did not change their minds (they gave it a D despite it being a B)

But we all know they’re wrong

Elote is great.

Tot Boss knows how to make an excellent Tot, so I know that part will be great. I hope this is tasty. It looks tasty. And we really like Tot Boss, but now that they’ve moved into the Fair we hardly get them anymore just because of the sheer amount of other foods we have to try/eat. So I'm glad when they show up on the new foods list so we’re forced to get them.

Packie’s Thoughts

Ah hell, they got us again, Sarah.  Of course someone had to put elote on the list.  Et tu Tot Boss?  Honestly, this looks more like some kind of corn cheese sauce than actual elote, but I guess we’ll see how it tastes when I try it.  At least the tots will be good.  I think I’ll actually reserve judgement on this one, even if I dislike elote.

Caramel Apple Iced Tea by Loon Lake Iced Tea

Black tea brewed with natural tart apple flavor and topped with caramel infused cold foam. Garnished with a Caramel Apple Pops ® lollipop (Gluten-friendly, Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

Another beverage! Yay!

It’s from Loon Lake Iced Tea. Boo.

God I fuckin love Iced Tea. And god does Loon Lake make a weak, watery, unflavored iced tea that always disappoints me.

Like it either needs to take like tea, or sugar. But theirs always taste like water. And I don’t want to pay $8 for a water when I can bring it from home for free.

So we’ve just got a supposed tart apple tea and then cold foam. Plus a lollipop we can’t split. 

There barely looks like any foam on that drink. Especially compared to the peach lemonade. Like, THAT’S a cold foam. This is like some frothy bubbles from pouring the drink.

I think I’m past being disappointed by them and moving into being angry. This year will probably tip it over the edge.

Anne’s Thoughts

Oh here we effing go. This is going to taste like a caramel apple burped across the surface of water. I haven’t even read the description yet and I know in my heart that this will be true.

Ok so it’s like they saw the success of the green apple sucker ice cream last year (one of the best of the year) and they were like we could do that!

But NO YOU CAN’T, LOON LAKE! YOU DON’T GOT NO FLAVOR!

GAAAWWWWWWDDDD

This freaking place.

Every dang time it’s a disappointment.

I’m already angry.

Maybe, MAYBE the cold foam on top will do SOMETHING to help, but I really doubt it.

This would normally be my least anticipated but I don't even want to spare the emotion and attention that would bring. I don’t want to think about them AT ALL.

Prove me wrong, Loon Lake. Prove me wrong. I dare you

In FACT!

If I'm wrong, and this rates a B or an A, I will go back to the counter and pay for the next person’s order!

Gonna put my money where my mouth is (but not really bc this will be trash)

Packie’s Thoughts

This isn’t what I meant when I said we needed more drinks on the list.  Loon Lake has some real watered-down crap for iced tea.  Honestly, the lack of flavor for something that looks so vibrant is astonishing.  I have little doubt this will be any different.  Pour out the drink, keep the lollipop, I say.

Strawberries & Blueberry Creme Parfait by Strawberries ‘N Creme

Fresh whole strawberries layered with blueberry non-dairy whipped topping and garnished with gluten-free waffle chips (Gluten-friendly, Vegan)

Sarah’s Thoughts

Ope, another parfait. It’s just gonna be from the Strawberries and Cream place because it’s so obvious. We pretty much are just taking their usual boring parfait and, what, throwing in some chips and changing the flavor of the cream?

What are we even doing here?

They just change the flavor of their cream and it’s a magical new food?

I call bullshit on that.

I’m sure this will be fine, though honestly, in the past, we’ve been completely underwhelmed by their strawberries and cream, which is funny because it’s literally all they do so you’d think they’d knock it out of the park.

Bet this is like $20 or something.

Anne’s Thoughts

What- is there only like 1 blueberry? Why is strawberries plural but not blueberry?

At least they know how to use an apostrophe.

Ope- it’s because it’s Blueberry Cream. Sorry everyone- I'm still worked up from Loon Lake.

Ok, so here we have an issue that I feel like this vendor has had before: How tf are we supposed to eat this? Clearly the waffle chips are supposed to be the serving accoutrement, but then they gave us whole-ass strawberries. Are we supposed to fit a whole-ass strawberry on the waffle-chip, and then cram that into our mouth in one bite? Like I know you don’t want to cut up strawberries but give us a break- chopped strawberries would’ve worked so much better here.

I assume this will be served with a fork (god I will laugh so hard if they don’t), and then you take a bite of the strawberry and cream (sorry “crreme”) and then followed by a chaser bite of waffle chips

You know what? Could’ve put this on a stick in the cup. Would’ve been much easier to bite

Ok, also what’s going on with our strawberry vendors here?

Apparently there’s the Strawberry Patch which is the OG bc we have foods from them back in 2016 and 2018.
But then we have Strawberries ‘N Creme which was a new vendor in 2019 and got a D for their namesake.

But in 2025 there was a new vendor with chocolate strawberries in a cup, which I just assumed was from SNC, but apparently not if they were a new vendor. But ofc the pic on the blog that year doesn’t actually list the vendor’s name…

OK after extensive digging turns out that vendor is Chocolate Strawberry Cup.

Just…just calm down everyone. None of you are special or niche

Packie’s Thoughts

Um…this looks exactly like what they already offer, which is a cup with whipped topping and whole strawberries.  Oh, sorry, they added blueberry flavor and I guess some waffle chips.  Seems like they barely put any effort into making something new.  How this made the list, I don’t know.  Not sure if we’ve actually tried this vendor before.  We might have when it was first new, which was a few years back now.  Oh wait, it was seven years ago, in the distant time of 2019.  And yup, the item was strawberries and cream, and we gave it a D.  This is probably what kicked off the pandemic.

Dockside Poppers by Summer Lakes Boat House

Seasoned cream cheese, bacon, artichoke hearts and jalapeno peppers combined, breaded and lightly fried. Served with a side of homemade tomato chili jam (New Vendor)

Sarah’s Thoughts

Wait wait wait. Is this a food vendor from Summer Lakes Beverages? Omg I hope it is! WE LOVE THEIR DRINKS!

Seriously! You should all go buy their drinks and their mixes. They are so good and they’re a wonderful local company and they are genuinely so appreciative. And, seriously, their drinks are bomb.

So, I hope this a branch off for them.

We’ve got some jalapeno poppers here, looks like. I mean, I like poppers, but jalapeno poppers don’t do anything for me. I always want to like them, though, so hopefully these will be the ones that change my mind.

I hope they are. I always want new vendors to blow my mind.

Anne’s Thoughts

Woah woah woah. Did Summer Lakes Beverages move into the food realm? Like this is them right? The beverage place? 

Hmm the location on the map seems a little off, but maybe they moved? Or maybe their food stand is separate? But it’s not listed as a new vendor…

What’s happening here?

Ok so they ARE a new vendor, just with a new official food so busted out of the new vendor list

Well it’s a shame that this is just jalapeno poppers that I don’t want. Right? Like am I missing something? I don’t eat jalapeno poppers so maybe i don’t understand what is making these unique or special? Is it the tomato chili jam?

Oh- is the theme chilis/chili sauces?

Idk. Pretty disappointed from the inaugural food offering from our favorite beverage vendor.

Packie’s Thoughts

For half a second I was shocked to find out that Summer Lakes Beverages made a food item, but then my excitement was crushed when I realized I misread the name.  This has to be a new vendor, right?  It is.  Hmm, I’m not sure about this.  Honestly, doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.  Maybe it is some kind of jalapeno popper?  Not quite the same thing, but similar maybe?  Tomato chili jam?  Sounds weird.  Well, this is probably at least a little spicy, so chuck it up on the heat board for number 12.  I wonder what else they serve at this vendor?  Guess I’ll find out below.

Mango Sticky Rice Refresher by Chan’s Eatery

Coconut milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, mango flavoring and half and half poured over ice and topped with fresh and dried mango. Finished with a dried mango sugar rim. Inspired by the flavors of mango sticky rice (Gluten-Friendly, Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

I immediately like that it’s called a refresher because I know I will want to be refreshed.

Ironically, even though we eat a ton of various Asian foods, I actually don’t think I’ve ever had mango sticky rice before. I’ve just usually gotten something else. So I’m excited I’ll finally get to try it. Or, well, a drink version of it.

Again, usually pretty excited about a drink and this looks really good. I love mango so a mango drink? Yeah, sign me up.

I don’t think there’s anything in this I don’t want. Honestly, I’m pretty excited about this. I hope this drink blows me away and I want to get it every time.

I don’t know that we’ve ever gotten anything from Chan’s Eatery before. I’m not even sure I can picture it. Well, it’s good when we try new places so yay on that, too!

Anne’s Thoughts

Helloooo what’s going on here?

Chan’s Eatery- I feel like they’re a newish vendor? Yes- new in 2024 with Korean Corndogs. We haven’t tried them, so it’s nice to get them on the official new list to give them a go

And this looks fun and unique.

Oh wait- so there’s no actual rice in this?

Awww

Well that’s sort of disappointing. I was looking forward to this like dessert rice concoction but I guess it’s just a drink.

I mean it looks really tasty and I hope it is. I just wish I hadn't assumed there would be rice in it based on the fact that they put rice in the title.

Womp womp

Is the theme disappointment this year?

Packie’s Thoughts

Is this a new vendor too?  No?  I don’t see it from previous years either.  Hmm.  Anywho, holy shit, this looks like, uh, something!  Is it a drink, a dessert?  I’m not entirely sure.  It looks pretty interesting and exciting, though.  I do love mango flavors, and a sweet milk drink/dessert sounds like a nice break from all the damn HEAT!  Really excited to give this one a try.

Strawberry Crunch Mini Donuts by Solem’s Mini Donuts

Strawberry donuts dusted with vanilla sugar, drizzled with vanilla icing and topped with homemade strawberry streusel crunch. Served in a bucket rimmed with vanilla icing and more streusel crunch (Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

Of course there’s a giant bucket of mini-donuts on here because there always is. I don’t know why we have to get a whole fucking bucket from Solem’s. Why can’t they give us a cup option? I don’t want a whole bucket.

So we’ll each take a donut, eat it, and then find some people hanging around and offer the rest of the bucket to them, RIP our money.

On the plus side, usually the donuts are pretty good. I think there was one year where they weren’t but that was the outlier. Maybe. I could be wrong.

We’ve got strawberry donuts here, with a streusel (excellent) and that’s kind of it I guess. And then of course the bucket that they decided “let’s coat it with more sticky food because people love to hold a bucket that’s covered in sauce and shit. Obviously they’ll just lick that bucket later.”

This will be fine. It will take them hours before they’re ready to serve any, though.

Anne’s Thoughts

Well here’s another messy bucket of mini donuts from Solem that we don’t need but will probably actually be excellent but also there will be 100 of them and we really just need like 3-6.

Strawberry streusel crunch- that’s gotta be like the stuff from the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream bars, right? That stuff slaps.

This will be good. I don’t know what else to say about it

Packie’s Thoughts

HAH!  They’re back again and with their same old antics.  First, real talk, stop fucking rimming your damn buckets with icing and whatever!  It makes it a mess to eat and come on; it is not a fucking cocktail.  I don’t want to lick the rim of the damn bucket.  Ok, that said, Solem’s greatest strength is that they make damn fine mini donuts.  So even if you go nuts with…whatever the hell this is, you know at least those donuts are going to hit right where you want ‘em.  In your donut hole.  That’s your mouth, don’t be gross.  Is all the extra fluff, flavor, and mess necessary, probably not, but it’ll probably be pretty good regardless.  Plus, strawberry streusel?  Hell yes, put that on my mini donuts.  This will be a messy, ooey gooey goodness that I’m happy to try, I just wish it wasn’t a whole fucking bucket!  Gonna have to eat a few of these and then hope someone will take the rest off of us so we don’t have to waste food.  It is ok, stranger, you can trust us!  Now open wide and shove this in your donut hole.  Seriously, don’t be gross.

Pumpkin Bar Funnel Cake by Taulelle’s Jurassic Corn Dogs

Real pumpkin, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla blended with original funnel cake batter, then deep-fried. Lightly brushed with melted butter and topped with homemade cinnamon cream cheese frosting (Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

God I love a funnel cake. I’m surprised we actually don’t get more funnel cakes on the new foods lists. It seems like such an easy fair staple you could add twists too. Like, where are the savory funnel cakes? Where are the funnel cakes made into a hand cone and served with ice cream? Funnel cake tacos? Come on, people! Give me what I want!

So this is a pumpkin funnel cake. I’m not angry at that, though sometimes I feel flavored funnel cake effs up the batter and they end up having weird texture. 

Cinnamon cheese cream frosting, though, is a great choice for this.

Okay, I’m excited for. It may be the dessert I’m most excited for. I think it will be unless something else comes up and blows my mind away.

Oh…this is from a corn dog place? And not a funnel cake place? Now I’m a bit more worried. I don’t know that we’ve ever had anything from here. We may also need to try a corn dog to judge that as well. I was pretty sure we had tried all the corn dogs at the fair.

Anne’s Thoughts

Is this a new vendor? I just assumed this was going to be at Funnel Cakes but apparently not? I feel like we’ve tried many/most of the corndogs at the fair but this one is not ringing a bell?

Well daaaaaaamn this sounds good. I am very excited that they used real pumpkin in their batter and not just pumpkin spice. Like fancy funnel cakes always seem fun and good but I never branch out so this will be fun to try! But the funnel cakes at Funnel Cakes are excellent, so they’ve got that to compete with.

That frosting also sounds excellent and a perfect pairing with pumpkin funnel cakes.

Don’t let me down, Taulelle (whomever you are)

Packie’s Thoughts

At first glance, I thought someone just put a funnel cake on the New Foods list, and I was like, the absolute gall!  But ok, it is a special funnel cake, and come on Packie, you should have known better.  It’s special.  So we got a pumpkin bar turned into a funnel cake.  I approve that they did the cream cheese frosting for this, because that’s what you need on a pumpkin bar.  Also, I’m generally a funnel cake purist.  I don’t think you really need to, or should mess with that recipe.  That said, as long as this isn’t like soggy, too heavy, or just doesn’t eat like a funnel cake, then yeah…maybe this could be good.  I mean, it ain’t spicy, so there is that!

2026 State Fair New Foods Preview Part 3- Jamaican Jerk Chicken Loaded Fries through Banana Butterscotch Barnraiser

 Jamaican Jerk Chicken Loaded Fries by MGM Irie Jamaican Express

Battered french fries topped with Jamaican jerk chicken, melted cheese and green onions. Drizzled with ranch jerk sauce.

Sarah’s Thoughts

Ugh, okay. This is one of the split offerings. We will never not be annoyed by this because the thing is, we pretty much never get the new food that’s offered the second half of the fair. And we’re completionists and that sucks but sometimes we just don’t even make it back to the fair for the second half (we tend to hit it more in the early days.) And if we do, we don’t always want to go back into the Bazaar cuz it’s packed. 

Looks like this is the one we will be getting, though. I mean, 9 times out of 10, no matter who is in the shared space and no matter what they make, it’s subpar. The place has, like, a curse or something

This is just loaded fries. Loaded fries are great, generally and depending on what they’re loaded with, but they’re not special. I honestly feel like we had loaded jerk something from this place last year, too. If I wasn’t busy (and, tbh honest, too lazy to be bothered) I’d go look it up. But there’s a decent chance Anne did or Packie remembers so I’ll just wait until they tell me.

So, yeah. Not excited, really. Could be great but even if they are, would that even really matter since we could probably get something similar at a restaurant?

IDK. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood or something. I’m gonna take a break and go eat something.

Anne’s Thoughts

*insert obligatory bitching about MGM’s stupid split-vendor booth*

Ok I guess I better read about it.

Did we try Irie Jamaican Express last year? Was it another fry offering?

Ok! Yes we DID try them last year, but it was because they offered oxtail and we really wanted to try it. Looks like they nabbed a C for the oxtail but a B for the accompanying Festival Bread.

But also it was expensive AND they added on taxes ($16.34 total wtf).

I mean honestly, I’m sort of maybe be looking forward to this? I am a little worried about how spicy the jerk chicken and sauce is.

Packie’s Thoughts

Oh boy, here we go again.  MGM with their split venue times, keeping us from trying every new food on the first day.  Well…this one is running at the start of the fair, so maybe we’ll luck out and the later vendor won’t be on the new food list.  Not typically the case, but one can hope.  I’m not a big fan of jerk chicken, though battered French fries are probably my numero uno choice when it comes to fried potatoes.  This not being super creative for a new food item, paired with the fact that I believe MGM usually puts out sub-par new foods, makes me think I’ll find this year’s entry to likewise be disappointing.

When Pig’s Fly by Sausage Sister & Me

Flight of pork sausages wrapped in puff pastry and served on-a-stick. Varieties include: Chorizo Sausage with chimichurri, Texas Two-Step Sausage with sweet pepper coleslaw; Oktoberfest Sausage with melted cheddar and chili crunch; and Porketta Italian Sausage with pickle aioli

Sarah’s Thoughts

I mean, who doesn’t love a flight? I don’t even care what it’s a flight of, I want it and will order it. Flight of beer? Sure! Do I even like or drink beer? Nope! Salsa flight? Jah. Sake? Sure thing. 

So you BETTER BELIEVE I’m excited about a sausage flight. But let’s actually look at it closer here.

Oh. They’re served on a stick. I don’t…that feels less like a flight to me? IDK. Just sort of rubs me the wrong way. Maybe just because I know we’ll have to pull them off the stick for us to taste them all so then what’s the point? 

And we’re starting with chorizo again, a crap sausage imop cuz it’s dry and I’m not big on the flavor. Don’t know what a two-step sausage is but I’m intrigued. And the rest look good. It’s fun that they all have their own little sauce or accoutrement to go with them. Though I wonder if those will fall off easily because of the stick handling.

Sausage Sister & Me can be hit or miss, but their sausage is usually good and when they miss it’s often just nbd as opposed to actually bad, so I think this will be fine. When you’ve got 4 options though, even if one of them knocks it out of the park, the other 3 could still tank the rating. (This is just how it goes. Top Chef rules and all that.)

But they’re wrapped in puff pastry so that’s good. I think any of these have a chance of being great (lol probably not the chorizo) or could be a dud. So we’ll see where it all lands in the end.

Anne’s Thoughts

Aww, I love trying new foods from Sausage Sisters. They’re not always successful for us, but I'm still always looking forward to them for some reason.

HAHAHAHA Flight of Sausages! And on a stick no less!

More sauces.

Aww- chorizo. boo.

What’s Texas Two-Step Sausage? Ok looks like it’s usually a beef sausage paired with coleslaw (OR it’s a new food at the MN State Fair lol).

Well, honestly I can't say I'm super excited about any of these sausages- each of them has something that brings it down for me. But I think the idea is really fun and at least we get multiple tries to find a successful one

Packie’s Thoughts

Heheh, I read the name of the food and my first thought was “is this Sausage Sisters?”  Yes indeed it is!  Flights are a wonderful thing, because who doesn’t want a little sampling of variety of something?  In this case, we have a flight of pork sausages.  Why hasn’t this been a thing before now?  Oh my god, they’re like little pigs in a blanket, only with different variety sausages and toppings.  I hope each sample is big enough for us each to take a bite, and honestly it’ll be nice not to have an overabundance of food in a day where I’m already eating 36 different foods.  Each of these sounds delightful, I can’t wait to try them all, and Sausage Sister’s makes some mean sausage, so I’m sure they’ll be great.  Adorable idea.  All hail the flight!

The Fried and the Furious: Cubano Drift by Herbivorous Butcher

Deep-fried Cubano-style sandwich made with a crunchy tortilla filled with vegan Cuban pork, vegan Swiss cheese, dill pickle relish, vegan garlic mayo and mustard. Served with a side of jalapeno citrus sauce (vegan).

Sarah’s Thoughts

Okay so this has a movie title which means it’s from Herbivorous Butcher. So, yeah. 

Last year they had a really great entry. But in pretty much every other year their entry has been very bad. I know some people love HB, and I’m happy for them, but we often find the texture and flavor of their “meat” is really off putting.

I love a Cubano. Pretty much ever since Anne and I went to go see Chef in theaters and then that night went out to buy a pressure cooker so we could make Cubanos when we got home (pressure cooker would speed up the time.)

This…does not look like a Cubano to me. 

The meat looks not good. I can tell just by looking at it that the texture is going to really bother me. And since they have to add seasonings to try and make it taste like pork, I suspect we won’t have much Cubano flavor at all. And for something supposedly deep-fried, that crunchy tortilla doesn’t look it. 

Listen. I hope I’m wrong. I WANT to eat a deep-fried Cubano and love it, whether it’s vegan or not. I just doubt this will be that.

I am dreading trying this, just because I’m pretty sure that meat is going to taste like much of the meat we’ve had from them before (and at least once we had to spit things out.)

I do love the color of that sauce, though!

Anne’s Thoughts

Well here we go with the “schmeat” again that is 90% bad and 10% good for us.

Here’s the thing. I love Cubano. And everything on this sammich sounds good. It just all comes down to the texture and flavor of the “meat”. Their fake bacon last year was excellent, so maybe because this is pork it will also be good?

IDK- I do not have my hopes up at all, but maybe, JUST MAYBE, we’ll get lucky 2 years in a row here

Packie’s Thoughts

Well, for better or worse, they’re back.  Alright, last year was the first time this vendor made something that wasn’t worth spitting out.  For the record, I never spit out food, it’s just undignified and rude, but we’ve all got regrets.  I’m gonna say it.  They got lucky last year.  Something worked out for them and their deep-fried faux bacon hit nicely, but I think it was a fluke.  I still think their brand of vegan meat just isn’t up to snuff.  It tastes funny and has a weird texture.  Given how ‘pork’ forward this Cubano looks, I think it is going to make me sad I had Cubanos ruined for me.  Besides, Cubanos don’t have mayo on them, so why go to the effort of adding vegan mayo?  But hey, let’s throw another hot element in with some jalapeno citrus sauce to make the twins happy, amiright?

Strawberry Ube Sundae Tart by Sara’s Tipsy Pies

Swirled strawberry and ube marshmallow cream mixed with chocolate chips, chilled and scooped into a fudge-filled gluten-friendly shortbread crust. Topped with whipped cream, strawberry sauce and edible glitter sprinkles (Gluten-friendly)

Sarah’s Thoughts

I really do love how many places now have GF options for people.

Sara’s Tipsy pies are generally good. Sometimes they’re nbd, but they have also knocked it out of the park more than once, so I look forward to them now (vs in the past when I gave them a lot of crap for a lot of reasons.)

I like ube. Strawberry is fine. Haven’t had them together so we’ll see how that goes. Oh a marshmallow cream! Okay! Packie is excited I’m sure. The pie is a fudge pie. I hope the GF crust has the shortbread texture I want from an SB crust. 

I think this will be fun! At the very least it LOOKS fun and that’s good. But I know this is probably going to come down to the texture of that crust. If it’s good, this could be a winner for sure.

Also it’s chilled, so that will be nice because it’ll for sure be frickin hot, judging how this summer is going. Or storming.

Anne’s Thoughts

YUSSSSS SARA!

BRINGING NEW PIES TO THE FAIR!

Ube does not get enough love around here so I’m all for this.

HOLY CRAP

The more I read about this the more excited I got.

IT’S UBE MARSHMALLOW CREAM (mallow, baby. Marshmallow) (iykyk)

Also chocolate chips for some cronch texture. Shortbread crust? FUDGE FILLED?!

THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT I JUST KNOW IT!!!!

(Also- because this isn’t alphabetical I have NO IDEA how far I am on this list! Am I half way? More?? LESS?? WHERE AM I???)

(I checked- this was #20- I'm more than half way, BABY!)

Packie’s Thoughts

You had me at marshmallow cream.  I like Sara’s Tipsy Pies, and this looks like a fun pie sundae they’ve whipped up here.  You got the fudge-filled pie, the marshmallow cream, and some whipped cream to top it all off, sounds perfect.  All it’s missing is a cherry on top.

Peri-Peri Bowl by Afro Deli & Grill

Fried peri-peri hot chicken, seasoned with African Bird’s Eye chili peppers, garlic, lemon and herbs. Combined with mini beef sambusas and fried sweet plantains, all topped with peri-peri sauce and choice of: basbaas (spicy Somali green chili pepper sauce) or spicy red chili sauce.

Sarah’s Thoughts

Uuuugh. We so so so want to love Afro Deli. And they always let us down. But every time I’m hopeful because I want them to be amazing and successful. 

We’ve got peri-peri chicken, which I don’t know what that is so I’m already tentatively excited, though worried about the “hot” description, since it’s seasoned with chili peppers and Sarah has a baby mouth. I’m not bonkers about sambusas. They’re fine, but just generally don’t do much for me. Honestly of all the sort of dumplings out there, I mostly just like Asian ones. Other dumps just leave me feeling meh.

I DO love fried sweet plantains! Especially if they’re actually sweet (I have been tricked before). Oh. Both sauces are spicy though. That’s kind of a bummer. So eat a spicy thing and here are two choices to make them even spicier.

Well. I suspect I will probably not like this at all which is a bummer. Packie might so I’m sure he’ll be the deciding vote on if it’s good or not.

Anne’s Thoughts

Ok what do we have here? Looking like some sort of maybe fried sambusa or something? Holy shit my mouth is on FIRE just reading this. Is every element spicy??

Ok apparently peri-peri sauce is a famous zesty sauce. I DO like the idea of trying a famous zesty sauce. But again- how zest??

I feel like in this picture I'm only seeing the sambusas? Looks like maybe the plantains are on the bottom? Where’s the chicken- is it in meatball form right in the middle?

2 sauces, each as spicy as the other (I’m guessing- I don’t actually know). Are both sauces in this picture?

Afro Deli is a vendor that is so nice and helpful, but for whatever reason their food has just not been for us, despite wanting to really like it. I’m expecting similar this year- and probably just way too spicy for us.

Packie’s Thoughts

I want to like Afro Deli, but I feel like I haven’t really liked much of anything they’ve put out.  Last year they had those dry as hell bean balls served on a bed of greens, which pictured two pieces of lettuce, and the final result had no greens at all.  And here this year we have a heaping bowl of HEAT!  Seriously, the chicken is spicy, and then it’s topped with a spicy sauce.  Hell at this point, I’m worried MY palette is going to be blown out after all these spicy foods.  I don’t think even the sweet plantains are going to save this one.  I’ll try it, because I have to, but I’m not happy about it.  This makes like, what, 10 spicy foods?  We’re approaching a third of the food items this year having some HEAT!

Sligo Slider Bites On-A-Stick by O’Gara’s at the Fair

Handmade dumplings stuffed with a cheeseburger blend made of beef, cheddar, pickle and onion. Skewered on-a-stick and deep-fried. Served with homemade Thousand Island dressing

Sarah’s Thoughts

What the hell is a Sligo? Am I supposed to know what that is? Usually I’d just let Anne look it up and tell me but I really want to know right now. 

Oh. It’s just a town name I guess. Not sure how many people will know that but I guess it works cuz O’Gara’s. But it feels like they were like, let’s just pick a name that sort of goes with Slider.

Anyway, O’Gara’s is almost always mediocre at best. I think there was one time where they made something that we actually finished eating and I can’t even really remember what it was so that’s saying something.

We’ve got another dump, but their dump offering last year was not good at all (ours were for sure undercooked. They also always serve things that don’t really match the photo, which is sus.)

So more or less we’ve got a deep-fried slider on a stick.

I’m trying to think if anyone has done something like this before. It seems like an obvious thing to make but I can’t recall any.

On the surface I like this idea, but even in the photo they look underwhelming and maybe undercooked and I’m pretty sure O’Gara’s will just be something mediocre at best, once again.

Anne’s Thoughts

Ok what’s a Sligo Slider?

Ok Sligo is a town in Ireland, so I guess a local dumpling from there? Or did they just need to “make it Irish” and tagged on a random town name?

I will give it to O’Gara’s- they know how to serve up a fair food. Also I like the look of how many they’ve crammed onto this stick. 2nd year in a row with dumplings for them. Thousand Island dressing as a dip feels a little uninspired, but idk- maybe they pair beautifully.

Honestly these look pretty good. I hope they pay off- O’Gara’s can sometimes pull it off on occasion.

Packie’s Thoughts

Sometimes I think that maybe O’Gara’s will just take a year off and think about what they’ve done.  But no, instead they keep putting out the grade C food items they’re well known for at this point.  Honestly, at first glance, I thought this was the same damn food they put out last year, only on a stick.  But no, instead of potatoes stuffed in a dry-ass dumping, it’s hamburgers, or something?  Look at those and tell me they look appetizing?  If you didn’t know what was in them, would you think they looked good?  No, they don’t.  Plus, thousand island dressing for the dip?  Gross.  F.

Brandy Old Fashioned Cookie Dough by Kora & Mila’s Cookie Dough

Edible cookie dough infused with nonalcoholic brandy flavor and combined with orange zest, cinnamon, dark chocolate chips and tart dried cherries. Served on-a-stick, hand dipped in brandy-flavored bittersweet chocolate, and rolled in Biscoff ® cookie crumbs (Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

I was excited at first cuz I thought this was ice cream, but no. It’s cookie dough. Boo.

Packie might be excited for it. I’m just not a huge cookie dough fan. It doesn’t really do anything for me, and I DEFINITELY don’t like big portions of it. 

I like how they start by making sure we know the cookie dough is edible. So that’s good. And we have a brandy flavor which could be good or could just taste artificial. I love dark chocolate, especially combined with orange. Don’t really care about tart chraisins (lol is that even a word??) Biscoff is fine, good but maybe overdone.

IDK. This seems like a LOT. There are like 8 different flavors/elements on this thing which feels like probably too much. I worry that all the different flavors are meant to try to compensate for something. Also I worry that this will be huge. Or that it will be an okay, normal size but still hella expensive.

This cookie dough place, Kora & Mila’s was new recently, I think. Maybe. I can’t remember if we’ve had something from them before but maybe? And we didn’t like it? IDK. There’s a dog chasing a squirrel outside my window and that’s more interesting than going to look it up right now.

OMG I just scrolled down the list and there are still SO MANY left!

Anne’s Thoughts

Well isn’t this a pretty looking confection! Girl, you gorg.

Is this from that cookie dough place? Honestly it looks too pretty for them?

Ope- it is from them. Apologies ladies- you’ve done nice visual work here.

Ok let’s see what we’re dealing with here.

I mean, I'm not usually a fan of the cookie dough, but this sounds pretty great for the cookie dough?  I like all the elements in there- chocolate chips and cherries sound like some nice texture and pops of different flavors. Obviously biscoff always slaps.

We might get tripped up on the “Brandy Flavor”. Because what does that taste like? Is it going to be too fake/chemically?

Visually this just looks so appealing so I am looking forward to this one! I hope it pans out.

Packie’s Thoughts

You know, I love raw cookie dough, but I’ve never been a fan of it at the fair.  First off, it is rich as fuuuuuck, so who the hell can eat that much in one sitting.  Doesn’t matter what flavor or fillings you include, it is just a lot to commit to.  Would I be excited for this outside the fair, knowing I didn’t have a feast worth of other foods to consume?  Meh.  Honestly, I think it is too much.  It needs a couple less elements.  None of them on their own are bad or offensive, but I don’t want aaaaaall that on such a rich ass dessert.  Pass.

Apple Donut Ham Grinder by MN Farmers Union Coffee Shop

First Kiss ® apples from Pleasant Valley Orchard, sliced into rings, battered, deep-fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar. Stacked sliced with uncured ham from Hidden Stream Farm, dressed arugula and drizzled with Crybaby Craig’s Hot Honey, made with honey from Boltin Bees. Served with herb-whipped ricotta spread on a toasted hoagie roll from Emma Krumbee’s bakery

Sarah’s Thoughts

I could tell right away this was Farmer’s Union. It just has their sort of vibe. Looking at the pic, though, I hope that’s some sort of cutlet in this sammich because they did a great job with their pork cutlet two years ago. 

Ooh! I very much enjoy a First Kiss apple! I know everyone loves a Honeycrisp, but man, there are so many excellent apples at there. 

Ohhhh though. I just realized that cutlet is actually a deep-fried apple slice. I don’t…I don’t know about that. I really wanted it to be meat.

I mean, there IS meat on the sammy, but deli ham is my least fav of the deli sliced meats, though apples and pork obvs work together. Do love arugula and ricotta, though.

Okay. I am tentatively excited for this. The apple could be weird. And this could also just end up being an expensive sammich. But maybe it will be interesting and good. I hope it is. 

Also I hope it’s not huge but I bet it will be.

Also also, what are the chances that we get there pretty much right at open on Day 1 and they tell us they’re sold out? Because they’ve definitely done that to us before.

Anne’s Thoughts

I knew who this was from just by appearance alone.

This is our 2nd grinder option this year.

Looks like we got some ham, some sort of sauce, arugula…

Is…Is the apple the fried patty in the middle?

Oh shit I didn’t read the title close enough- apple DONUT??

Ok but that still doesn’t look like a donut?

Ok that’s because it isn’t a donut- it’s just a battered and fried apple ring. That’s a preeeettty loosey goosey interpretation of what makes a donut.

BOOM- another Hot Honey.

I don’t need hot honey on this- because outside of that I'm actually pretty excited for this? It seems unique. I love ricotta. I like some sweet with my ham.

My biggest concern here is will it be sold out before we even get to try it? 

Because that was a problem last year MNFUCS- you sold out of Apple Glaze Patisserie Sweets by 10AM on Day 1, and we never got to try it.

I don’t know if your lines are so ridiculous because you’re the closest coffee to the main entrance, or what. But we need you to have better control of your inventory this year (at least PROBABLY a sammich isn’t gonna sell out during brekkie like a pastry would. Probably…)

Anyway

No thanks on the hot honey but otherwise I bet this is good. And costs $20

Packie’s Thoughts

God dammit, and here I was hoping that maybe they wouldn’t make the list this year.  Well, eff me I guess.  Of course they threw hot honey in this.  It seems like such an afterthought, like they feel obligated to latch onto the hype that was already getting old last year, just for hype sake.  God, you know, if this was made by anyone else, I’d say it was very creative and interesting, but I’ve fallen for it enough times with MN Farmer’s Union to not trust this will be good.  Hey, sometimes they pull out a surprise and it works, but I’m a real pessimist when it comes to them at this point.  I think all these elements actually look and sound like they’d play well together, but I’m just too jaded to give them credit.

Banana Butterscotch Barnraiser by MN Farmers Union Coffee Shop

Vanilla poundcake layered with roasted bananas, butterscotch sauce and caramelized croissant croutons made by Patisserie 46. Topped with whipped cream from Stony Creek Dairy and garnished with nut-free cereal mix made with Corn Chex ®, Biscoff ® cookie butter, chocolate chips, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt (Vegetarian).

Sarah’s Thoughts

We really don’t have a ton of desserts on this list so far. I want some more ice cream, please.

So this feels a lot like things that are done pretty much every year. A pound cake. A fruit. Some sort of sweetener and something to zazz it up and make it feel special.

This just feels like another version of that. We’ve got Biscoff, which, whatever. I absolutely love a roasted banana and butterscotch, though. Interested in those crouts. 

I think this will be fine. I suspect it will taste good, maybe even great, but it won’t feel special because it’s a bit same ‘ol same ‘ol.

Oh it’s Farmer’s Union again. That explains the Dairy branding. Well, at least we can get this and the sammy at the same time, so that’s good.

Anne’s Thoughts

OOOOOOOOOHHHH HELLOOOOOOOOO

Guuuuuuuuurl, whachoo bringing to the table??

Oh- a 2nd offering from MNFUCS. IDK why I’m always surprised by that- they almost always have more than 1 new official food (and if there’s only 1 then they usually have some unofficial new offerings as well)

OMG

Is this list alphabetical by VENDOR??

Ok no. never mind.

Back to the food.

What’s that crunchy bed we’re sitting on here? And is that whipped cream or some other delicious treat? Obvs we’ve got some puppy chow here (how has puppy chow not done more at the fair considering its midwest heritage?)

Oh these puppy chows are biscoff puppy chows. Neat!

Ok so the cronchy bits are croissant crouts. I wish I could see more of the inside, like the roasted bananas and pound cake that are apparently under there. Looks like there’s not enough space to fit all of that?

Packie crying into his beard right now about the roasted bananas. What a banana baby.

This is also going to be $20

And maybe sold out (this feels more brekkie-aligned so we might actually be in trouble here. GAAAWWWDDD do we need to make a bee-line straight to the main entrance right at open?? INCONVENIENT).

ANYWAY

Get In My Mouth.

Packie’s Thoughts

OH GOD DAMMIT!  Two?!  Again?!  They can’t keep getting away with this!!  Seriously, each vendor should be limited to one new food, hard stop.  It is made only worse when that vendor sucks and they get two.  Uggggh, after my angry rant I am particularly pissed that I have to admit this looks great.  Again, it is MN Farmer’s Union, so it might just shit the bed no matter how great it sounds, but…all that just sounds great.  I don’t really even like bananas, but sometimes I do I guess, and this...man, it all just sounds wonderful.  Throw that apple donut sub in the trash and just do this.  Whatever.