Thoughts on Minnesota Food

I'm sorry I have been away for so long! Life has been interesting, and at times chaotic since I last posted, and the bottom line is that I haven't been reading much. First it was travel back east for Thanksgiving, then Christmas preparations, then five days with no power after the storm, and two days after the power came back on we were on a plane on the way to Christmas in Minnesota with my dad.

I received a book for Christmas from my good friend Bonnie (who always gives me a book relating to Minnesota) that got me reading again. It is A Cook's Tour of Minnesota, written by Ann L. Burckhardt. What a trip down memory lane! It brought home to me once again how so many of our memories are anchored by the foods we eat.

Burckhardt divides the book into sections on Celebrations and Festivals, Savory Specialties, Memorable Places and North Star Cooks. Each chapter contains both a narrative about the subject and recipes.

I was intrigued by the chapter on the Minnesota State Fair in the Celebrations section. I haven't been to the fair in years, but I have indelible memories from my childhood of attending it, and eating Pronto Pups (AKA corn dogs), mini donuts (served hot and sprinkled with sugar in a waxed paper bag), strawberry shortcake, and chicken or turkey dinners served in the huge dining halls run by various churches. Burckhardt's chapter focuses on the Epiphany Church Country Diner, one of those dining halls. Reading her description, I could almost smell the tantalizing scent of turkey and gravy wafting out of the pages of the book.

The savory specialties section also caught my attention. There were some obvious Minnesota foods included in this section: SPAM, Betty Crocker cake mixes, Land o' Lakes butter, Schwan's ice cream, and wild rice, including the yummy wild rice soup recipe from the Byerly's upscale supermarket chain--I can't wait to try it! There were some more surprising additions: barbecue sauce, blueberries and turkey (Minnesota leads the nation in turkey production).

The places section of the book took me to places I had visited, such as the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, and several that I haven't visited but maybe will someday. I would love to take a summertime vacation and go to Kavanaugh's resort on Sylvan Lake or Schumachers Hotel in New Prague. The walleye pike almondine and the Wiener Schnitzel sound incredible!

The North Star Cooks section featured several people I had heard of, including the host of The Splendid Table, Lynne Rosetto Kasper. Those I had never heard of were just as interesting, especially the woman who has been judging canned fruits and vegetables and jams and jellies at the state fair for many years. Can you imagine tasting as many as 150 jars of jam in a day?

All in all, this was a really fun read. After all of the holiday goodies, it is probably a good idea to start the new year off with reading about sinful food rather than eating it!