State Fair 2024: 2nd Visit - Tom Thumb Mini Donuts

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Next up: Tom Thumb Mini Donuts! One of most favorite fair foods since I was a little kid. They were delicious but I forgot to tell them to not put on extra sugar so they were a little oversweet for my taste. 

State Fair 2022 - Mini-Donuts, Horses, and Cows

Sunday, September 4, 2022

First stop: Tom Thumb Mini Donuts. My favorite. Dale didn't want any so I ate the whole thing. 

On Judson Avenue. We decided to head toward the animal barns. 

Where else in the city are ya gonna see cows on the street? Why, the Minnesota State Fair of course.

We made it to the horse barn and saw some real beauties. 

Alas, It Wasn't Meant to Be This Year

 Labor Day 2020

No Minnesota State Fair this year due to Covid. In a normal year I would have been there by this point once or twice. Damn pandemic. To fill the void I bought some mini-donuts at Kowalski’s. 

Not quite the same but yummy none-the-less. 

State Fair 2018 (First Visit) - Arrival

Saturday, August 25, 2018

I was excited to find myself on the grounds by about 10 a.m. On the way I came across the sunflower patch. This one was above my head but I got a pretty good shot of it anyway:

After being stuck in the car and then walking 8 blocks to the grounds I was in desperate need of a potty break and food. I found a bathroom and then made a beeline for the Tom Thumb mini donut stand. I was so hungry I ate the whole bag. Often times mini donuts are my final food item at the fair so I'm usually not quite able to finish the whole bag.

State Fair 2017 - Tom Thumb Mini Donuts

Friday, September 1, 2017

After the performance at the Grandstand, Dale and I began the walk back to the north parking lot. On the way I stopped for a bag of mini donuts and for the first time in a number of years, I finished the whole bag! I think the key is not eating as much food prior and also having a two hour forty-five minute break that the Minnesota Show allowed.

State Fair 2016 - Mini Donuts

Friday, September 2, 2016

Planned to get some this on the walk back to the car but found I was too stuffed. Guess it's the thought that counts. One of my favorites going WAY back.

Fair 2015 - Tiny Tim Donuts

From a photo taken September 4, 2015

Fair 2015 - Visit #2: Oh, What a Night

Friday, September 4, 2015

Round 2 of the State Fair for 2015 this afternoon. Took Mom to see Prairie Home Companion at the Grandstand for her birthday. I had school today and Mom came by to help in the classroom. We met Dale at the house after school, got Athena taken care of and were off to the Fair by 4:30.

We arrived a little past 5:00. It was 90 degrees out and the radio had just reported a heat index of around 100, which, I believe, made it just about the hottest day of the year. The humidity was nasty. Mom was sore and moving rather slow having just started a new exercise regime earlier in the week. I was a little worried about her but she insisted that she was okay if we didn’t mind moving a little slower than usual and were willing to sit down from time to time. Wasn’t a problem.

We stopped by the John Deere booth to visit with her friend Gary who was volunteering there. We then hit the Pronto Pup stand (for me) and the gyros stand (for Mom and Dale). Yummy stuff. The Pronto Pup wasn’t as substantial as the gyros so I grabbed a slice a pizza from Green Mill.

Our next stop was beer for Mom and Dale. On the way to the Leine Lodge we stopped by the Kemps Cow for a photo taken by Mom. I thought it turned out cute.

Mom and Dale got their beer and we found a bench under the Space Needle. It was a cooling station so water misters above us rained little droplets to keep us comfortable. It wasn’t heavy enough to get us wet. We had a great view of Judson Avenue as it wraps around toward the International Bazaar. Great people watching.

Our next destination was the Corn Roast stand. Mom and I each got an ear drenched in butter. It was very sweet and delicious. Dale said it probably came off the stalk that morning.  My, my that was some tasty stuff.

Next to the Blue Moon Dine-In Theater. I’d convinced Dale that he really needed to try the chilled bread pudding there. I went with the chocolate brownie version again with candied pecans only this time I went with the caramel sauce instead of chocolate. Dale went with the corn muffin bread pudding and, like me, got the caramel sauce with candied pecans. He loved it as I suspected he might.  We found a bench for Mom and Dale to sit down and looked up the street past Andy’s Grille toward the Midway.

Finally it was time to move toward the Grandstand for the Prairie Home Companion show. What a delight that turned out to be. It wasn’t surprising how wonderful the whole experience was since I’ve seen it at the Fair twice before. Mr. Keillor warmed up the crowd by walking through the audience while singing. The guests included Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele who sang, among other things, Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and Proud Mary. The Steep Canyon Rangers, a bluegrass group that I’d never heard of before, played as well. They were great. Garrison Keillor, Sue Scot, and Tim Russell performed a hilarious bit about a son calling home and talking to his passive aggressive mother and distant father. Of course, there was a report from Lake Wobegon and a Guy Noir appearance. It was all fabulous fun. Mom and Dale loved it as well.

Our trek back to the car after the performance was leisurely so as to accommodate Mom. On the way back she convinced me to get an order of Tom Thumb mini-donuts to share. It was all great fun and I’m already looking forward to next year.

State Fair 2012 - First Food Stop

My first food stop? Mini-Donuts, of course! The Tom Thumb brand are my favorite. Photo of crop art found online.

The Fair 2011 (First Visit) Part 6 - Mini Donuts

The mini donuts are my favorite. I can't remember a State Fair where I haven't gotten them although I think this was the first time EVER that I couldn't finish the whole bag!

Minnesota State Fair 2001 - Food

Dale and I had never been to the fair together before. We decided to go in 2001. Shortly before the fair we had started a new diet called Body-for-Life. It was a great diet that focused on eating six small reasonably portioned meals a day that were balanced between protein and carbohydrates. The part of the diet I really liked is that it offered a free day where you could eat as much of anything you wanted including junk foods. That year we made sure that our trip to the fair fell on our free day. We worked out at our downtown Minneapolis gym that morning and then hopped a downtown bus that dropped us off right at the gates of the fair. Just before catching the bus we stopped by a coffee shop and each got a chocolate chocolate chip muffin and a personal sized bottle of orange juice. At the fair we each got the foods we really wanted to eat. I know for sure that I got the Tom Thumb mini-donuts, a corn dog and corn on the cob. I know I got a lot more but that's all I can remember for sure. We stayed until the late afternoon/early evening and took a bus back to our car in downtown Minneapolis. It was quite a day of food and fun.

Mini Donuts 2009 - Yum, Yum, Yum

Along with corn dogs, mini donuts are my favorite State Fair food. I've been getting them since I was a little kid. I loved being able to look through the display window to see them being made. These photos were taken on our 2009 trip to the fair.