September 12, 2025

Upon entering the fair, my Mom and I pose in front of the
Iowa State Fair sign.

 

…………….Mission Impossible

Good Morning, Ms. Annette,

Your mission, Annette, should you choose to accept it, …
is to compare and contrast the fabulous,
Iowa State Fair
with the equally fabulous,
Minnesota State Fair,
happily eating your way throughout.

As always, should you, or any of your IM Force be caught,
the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.
Good luck, Annette.

Obviously, my “assignment” did not have the gravity of the situations featured in the 1960’s TV series, Mission Impossible, (that ran for seven seasons),
but I took my task seriously (sort of).

I invite you to follow along with my photo montage, from my attendance both the
Iowa State Fair, and the Minnesota State Fair within the month of August, even visiting the Minnesota State Fair twice!

For a taste of Mission Impossible nostalgia, from 1969 (S3, ep 13), take a look at the beginning of this program, here.

The Tastes
View all of the options, here.

First snack stop is for a batch of yummy cheese curds.

I enjoy a delicious corndog at the fair.

Corndogs have long been a staple at the Iowa State Fair.
As a teen, with my friends, it was “a must” to partake in a corndog,
along with freshly squeezed lemonade, on our visits to the fair.

For my homemade lemonade recipe, click here.

Fair food offerings have changed over the years.
This year’s winner for new Iowa State Fair food was the
Bacon Chicken Ranch Eggroll.
I liked it.
I enjoyed the Crab Rangoon even more.

A runner-up in the new food category was
The Scotcheroo Shake.
Although, I am a Scotcheroo fan from way back,
this shake proved to be too much of a good thing.
The sweetness of this shake would have been more appropriate
for a shot glass-sized treat.

For my recipe for Scotcheroos, click here.

The large sign for Josephines Doughnuts, from Indiana, was hard to miss.
They are new to the Iowa State Fair this year,
replacing the popular Amish Doughnuts of Peachey’s Baking Company  ,     from previous years.

Peachey’s, of Florida, is scaling back on their fair visits in favor of their
“brick and mortar” shops.
(They were at the Minnesota State Fair, however.)

 

These doughnuts were large enough to share.

This doughnut was my favorite taste treat at the
Iowa State Fair.

A popular fair food was Barksdale’s State Fair Cookies.

Warm chocolate chip cookies are fresh from the oven.

Barksdale Cookies was gifted to the Iowa State Fair by its founders.

For my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, click here.

To view all of the Iowa State Fair food offerings from 2025,
click here.

The Sounds

Being silly for the camera as the band warms up,
prior to the
Herman Hermit’s concert with Peter Noone.

Herman Hermit’s are known for such 1960’s hits as,
“Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter”,
“I’m Henry VIII, I Am”,
and “There’s a Kind of Hush“.

Herman’s Hermits photo from the Ohio State Fair, 1968.
This fair’s concert was broadcast as a television special, 
“In Concert:With Herman’s Hermits“.
Photo via public domain

Peter Noone (age 77) and his Herman Hermits put on a great show!

Peter Noone playfully “steals” my backpack during the concert.

My friend was gifted this CD, while in the audience.
She already has one, so happily she gifted it to me!
Thank you, friend!!!

 

The Minnesota State Fair

I enjoyed going to the Minnesota State Fair twice during the week.
On the first visit, I posed with a stand-up of the fair mascot,
the gopher, Fairchild.

The Sights

Linus and Me
Charles Shultz, from Minnesota, created the Charlie Brown comic strip.

Crowds grew larger as the day(s) got longer.

The Skyride glides above the crowd.

The Great Wheel/ferris wheel was an imposing sight.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Holstein dairy cows,
and I was excited to spot this display in the dairy barn.

Meet Teddy Bear, Minnesota’s fair winner for the largest boar,
weighing in at 902 pounds.

Yes, that is a massive pile of poo behind me!
This educational exhibit about waste water treatment
was called, “Oh, Poo_”. 

 

We had fun watching the dogs in the frisbee competition.

Being from Iowa, I just had to take a photo of this ear of corn!

Butter statues of the dairy princesses was a popular exhibit.

The Science Museum of Minnesota, along with NASA, had a
“Journey to Space” exhibit at the fair.

A father and son watch a short film on a space walk.

    

What a treat to see the iconic Oscar Meyer Wienermoblie!

The Tastes
View all of the options, here.

My Two Favorites Foods at the Fair

 

One of my favorite Minnesota State Fair treats is the delicious
“Big Fat Bacon”!
It is a thick slice of perfectly seasoned, and maple-glazed bacon,
served on a stick.
Their slogan? They call it meat candy.
I would agree!

These delectable milk shakes were an item that was new to me,
and stood out as another winner.
Found at the Gopher Dairy Barn,
this booth is operated as a fundraiser by students from
the University of Minnesota’s Gopher Dairy Club,
a University of Minnesota student group.

These milk shakes are like no other.
Smooth, creamy, thick, and frothy,
these unique shakes begin with a soft-serve ice cream base made by the University of Minnesota, using the freshest ingredients,
and mixed by a special machine made by TSBL.

Other Offerings

Too many foods, too little time!
Other items that my fellow fair goers enjoyed.

Loon Lake Iced Tea

Dill Pickle Iced Tea-left
Cotton Candy Iced Tea-right

Croffle Cloud

A croissant pressed in a waffle iron,
with whipped cream, a drizzle of fruit puree and a cloud of cotton candy.

 

Maybe Next Year?

These Lines Were Too Long, and/or I Ran Out of Time!

I have yet to try the famous Pronto Pup, a hot dog dipped in a pancake batter.
The lines were long!

Minnesota’s official state grain is wild rice.
I ran out of time to try the raved-about rice burger
(hamburger mixed with wild rice) located in the food building.

My favorite food item on previous visits was the Amish Doughnuts of Peachey’s Baking Company, but the long lines had me saying,
Maybe next year.

Unique to Minnesota?

Spam is made in Austin, Minnesota.

Hot Dish is Minnesota’s state’s unofficial state cuisine or national dish. 

Adam Turman‘s Hot Dish Girl greets visitors to the fair.

To view all of the Minnesota State Fair food offerings from 2025,
click here.

 

Thank you!

I enjoyed both fairs, sharing the experiences with family and friends!
Thank you for joining me on my photo state fair “tour”.

A great big thank you to my friends and family (You know who you are!)
who contributed several of the awesome photos featured in this post!

The program times,
(Times, below, are listed in Eastern Standard Time),
and how to listen, are below.

Tuesdays and Thursdays-8:30 pm
Fridays-10 pm
Saturdays-8:30 am
Sundays-3:30 pm
All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time.

Use the free app Live 365,
or go to the website.
https://live365.com/station/WSJF-LP-a06008