Davydd

Correct! Not really porcupine but it gets your attention. It is mostly Elk burger. Here is the description from the menu.

A Great Day at the 2007 Minnesota State Fair The great Minnesota get together 2007 State Fair was in its third day of twelve and it was our day to go along with probably a record horde of people. Friday's crowd was over 129,000. Today's crowd (Saturday) on about as perfect of a day you could imagine had to best that by a wide margin. Knowing from experience it would be a busy day we decided to go early. We arrived just after 8 AM and already the lots were filling up. We decided to try breakfast at one of the many church dining halls. We chose the Hamline Church Dining Hall and had their "Hamline Egger" of scrambled eggs, ham & cheese on toasted english muffin along with hash browns and a bottomless mug of coffee. We then proceeded over to the animal barn area hoping to visit the Miracle of Birth Center before it got too crowded. Yep, too crowded. They had several flat screen TV monitors so you could watch and most were focused on a cow ready to give birth which gave us a chance to slide in a see this just born little piglet. We proceeded on to the Swine Barn to see the traditional largest boar. This one weighed in at 1,200 pounds. There was all kinds of 4H animal judging going on including dairy cows in the Coliseum, and rabbits in the sheep and poultry barn but this one got our attention. Young ladies with lambs were being judged along with the wool derived outfits they made. After further walks through the Cattle Barn and the Horse Barn we ventured over to Heritage Square, a kind of country arts and crafts place. There we found the Cheesecake on a stick food stand. This is cheesecake drizzled with Coca Cola syrup, an interesting concoction that actually works. We shared this one anticipating more food to come. Outside Heritage Square is the Sky Ride gondola that traverses east and west. There is another called the Sky Glider that takes you north and south on the fair grounds. The Sky Ride took us to the Agriculture Building where Minnesota food products were featured. Crop Art is one of the most popular features in that building and this blue ribbon winner seems appropriate for this topic. We started venturing west again and the crowd had started to grow. We made it to the Empire Commons Building to check out the ongoing Princess Kay of the Milky Way busts butter sculptures. The Princess and 11 other finalist each have a day spending 6-8 hours of sitting. The next stop was the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources one of our favorite places. First off is the ever popular pool of fish. We collected our share of DNR handouts on controlling buckthorn, planting prairie grasses and trees, and camping and trails. We then climbed the 65 ft. fire tower to get a bead on our next stop - the Grandstand. Below the seating area are two levels of vendor exhibits featuring beef jerky, clothing, signs, shoes, furniture, gourmet cookware, you name it, and this. Which reminded us we were here for the food and lots of food on a stick. Outside the Grandstand even fried fruit on a stick (sorry no picture of the actual food). We decided it was time for lunch so we headed back east to the Food Building. On our way I shot photos of Sweet Martha's Cookies, a very popular choice, and a tray of the Original Cheese Curds (since 1975) other attendees so graciously volunteered since we had our minds set on other fare and had both in the past. When we got to the Food Building we found it wall to wall with people and long lines. Regardless, I had to find the Walleye on a Stick for an appetizer and managed to get one without too much trouble. We then headed north to our food destinations. We walked but, after about 5 hours, we kind of wished we had this transportation even if we had to pedal. Nancy went to the Gizmo stand and got the Gizmo sandwich of ground beef and Italian sausage with special sauce and seasonings, covered with melted mozzarella cheese and served on a toasted Italian roll. Andrew Zimmern (Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods) on a talk radio show said this was the best sandwich at the fair. My favorite place is Giggle's Campfire Grille where they serve Walleye Cakes, Walleye Fries, Chicken Sticks, Porcupine Meatballs, Smoked Salmon on a Stick, Smoked Chicken Wings, Foot Long Walleye Sandwiches, Big Game Bratwurst and Elk Burgers (my choice for the day) along with a cool draft of Summit Extra Pale Ale. By that time we were exhausted and half-heartedly walked through the Fine Arts, 4H and Education Buildings and then headed out after 8 hours to meet the owners of Roadhouse Bar-B-Que Sauce, and what else but to go to dinner.

As for southern Minnesota, we will now be making frequent trips to La Crosse, WI and probably will get to know it intimately and places in between on the river now that our daughter-in-law is starting her professorship at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. At one time we were planning a camping trip to southern Minnesota at either Whitewater SP or a mini B-van rally near Lanesboro at a private campground for this month. Kind of glad those plans fell through. In the past year we have bypassed southern Minnesota foraging for Iowa pork tenderloin sandwiches in Wellsburg and St. Olaf, Iowa. Our next immediate trip is Washington DC and everything in between. Then back to northern Minnesota and then Indiana in October. My fall color imprinted roots are in Brown County, IN. That will culminate over 10,000 miles of camper van travel this season. We try to hit nothing but independent establishments for meals.

Thanks! Great suggestions Steve and Susan. Russ Kendall's and Art's Cafe sound great. Just the kind of places we are looking for. We have as I said a fall trip sometime in late September planned with our camper van and probably a winter trip but not in our camper van. We have stayed at the Naniboujou Lodge several times outside the summer season. Sparrowgrass, the mushroom was high up and well out of reach. Even so we would not have picked it in a public park. Little things like that should be enjoyed by all hikers. I am only comfortable with puffballs and morels out in the woods, both of which I can find in my own wooded lot.

Earlier this summer in June we went "up nort to da lake". Minnesotans go "up to the lake", no name, just to the lake, or any one of 15,000 actual or 10,000 license plate count - no name, just the lake. In this instance it was Bear Head Lake in Bear Head State Park near Ely, Minnesota and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. So the ritual goes like this... First you get up early to beat the crowd. So about halfway up to Duluth, the springboard to the North Shore or the BWCA, you need coffee. Hinckley is that halfway spot and Tobies is the place... Tobies is a restaurant and a bakery and their trademark is the sticky roll. In this instance though we did not need it we ordered a caramel pecan roll... Then I finished with a croissant, cream sauce and scrambled eggs with ham... That was enough to last the day. We arrived at the park and set up camp expecting no-seeums, black flies and mosquitos, so we put up a screen room. Surprisingly and for June they were not a problem and we sat outside around the fire pit. Supper was simple. We grilled corn on the cob in the husks inside aluminum foil and a couple of rubbed chicken breast over a birch wood fire along with micro-waved in our camper van baked beans - a combination of traditional and decadent modern in the woods. The next day was a long walk in the woods in the morning for about three hours and then topped in the afternoon canoeing about the lake pretending we were in the Boundary Waters but knowing we would have a comfy camper van bed waiting for us. While walking in the woods we came upon the "Lion King" of all shelf mushrooms high up in a tree... It looked like a lion to me. That night's supper was a repeat with the substitution of hamburgers for the chicken. The next morning we broke camp early, not to beat the crowd this time, but to drive into Ely and find a good breakfast. By chance, and the first place we spotted was the Chocolate Moose... The Chocolate Moose was a cozy north woods log structure adjacent to one of the canoe outfitters. The coffee was outstanding. The orange juice tasted fresh squeezed. The breakfasts were also very good. Nancy had the Huevo Rancheros with corn bread and I had the Northern Scrambler. Note the nice touch on the cranberry toast. After breakfast we explored a bit. We staked out the Fall Lake campground east of Ely for a future foray and then went to the end of the road to Lake One to watch canoeist launch and come in from the Boundary Waters. This picture is of a Boy Scout troop from Kearny, Nebraska heading out for a 5 day trip. We went back and explored around Ely some more and stopped at the Dorothy Molter Museum - a restoration of her cabin that was on an island 19 miles from the nearest road and reachable only by canoe in the BWCA. Dorothy was the last person allowed to live in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area primitive wilderness. She was famous for serving home made root beer to canoeist. We had a sample of her original recipe now brewed by the James Page Brewery in the Twin Cities. We then headed down Highway 1 to the North Shore of Lake Superior then down Highway 61 heading toward home. Out of tradition we stopped at Betty's Pies outside of Two Harbors, Minnesota... Betty's Pies is not the original place or the original owner but it carries on the tradition. But first, before the pie, I had a fried walleye sandwich on a wild rice hoagie bun. It was one of the biggest walleye sandwiches I've had and it was delicious. Now for the pies. Nancy had the straight blueberry but I went for the Great Lakes Crunch made of apple, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and rhubarb with vanilla ice cream of course. After that it was a straight drive home without stopping at Tobies. We continued our road food and camping tour in July. we got up Monday morning packed and ready to go in our camper van. We headed out after the rush hour traffic this day so the traditional morning breakfast midway to Duluth to beat the vacation rush up north was out and unnecessary as I will point out in a moment. Instead we took the opportunity to arrive in Duluth at lunch time and took in the Fitger's Brewery. Fitger's was once a commercial brewery. The building now houses a hotel, several shops along with the old brew house museum. The restaurant is a brew pub. I had the tuna steak sandwich along with a Northern Waters Smoked Lager and Nancy had the Smoked Lake Trout Wrap with an Apricot Wheat beer. We traveled on up Highway 61 the North Shore Scenic Route and stopped at the Temperance River State Park campground on the shore of Lake Superior. Typical of the state parks and waysides on the North Shore they are generally centered on a river with falls coming down the steep hillsides on the North Shore. This is typical. That evening we drove on up to Grand Marais for dinner. We dined at the Angry Trout Cafe, right on the harbor, one of our favorite stops. The Angry Trout Cafe is big on organic foods and sustainability. They make every effort to conserve, buy locally and buy organic. Fish would normally be my logical choice but to my surprise I discovered they had a grilled pork tenderloin sandwich on the menu. I could not resist. Later that night back at the campsite we had our planned ceremony--the retirement burn. That is the reason we can now vacation during the week and not battle the North Shore horde on the weekends. I worked at the Target Corporation headquarters in Minneapolis where business casual with tie or sport coat was the rule. The other option sans tie, suit or sport coat was to wear the store uniform of khaki trousers and red shirt. Thus symbolically no more red shirts or ties. The next morning we resumed our tour and drove back up to Grand Marais for breakfast prior to heading up the Gunflint Trail. We tried the Wild Onion Cafe this time. One menu item stood out and we both ordered it--The Wild One consisting of homemade venison sausage, apple wood smoked bacon, wild rice, crimini mushrooms, roasted red bell peppers & Swiss cheese scrambled with fresh eggs served with fruit & toast. You can't beat this... We did our obligatory poking around the shops in Grand Marais and lamented we only had so many chow stops to try everything. There will be other trips. We then drove 60 miles up the Gunflint Trail all the way to the end that terminates into the National Forest Service's Trails End Campground. On the weekend you would need a reservation for one of the 32 sites. During the week we had our pick and chose site 13 that was fairly isolated and overlooked the Sea Gull River outlet flowing into Gull Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It was also a singed site on the edge of the Ham Lake fire that burned last May. There is a beauty in nature and forest rebirth after a fire. For dinner we walked up to the Trails End Cafe. What else would I have but a walleye sandwich? This was the real thing in the heart of the BWCA canoe launch area. We normally take our kayaks to the North Shore and Gunflint Trail area but we have not figured out a solution putting them on top of a nine foot high van. We are thinking about buying folding or inflating kayaks to make our trips more fun. Hiking it would have to be on this trip. We managed to get in about four miles each day. For breakfast we cooked over the campfire ring. I cooked the Johnsonville brats and nancy made pancakes on the Coleman stove. My brats and to my relief no one rushed to us like in the Johnsonville brat TV commercials. We broke camp and headed back down the trail and stopped at the Magnetic Rock Hiking Trail, part of the Border Route Hiking Trail that skirts through the BWCA for landlubbers. At the Magnetic Rock your compass goes haywire and becomes useless. As you can see the fire did some serious damage. We first hiked this trail about 15 years ago. Back then it was a dense forest and you could not see Magnetic Rock until you practically walked into it. We hiked it again after the 1999 straight wind blow down. It was still green and forested but less dense. This time it was burned completely but you can see after only two months the beginning of the reforestation. So after two night we headed back to the Twin Cities. This time we sought out the competition to Betty's Pies on the North Shore. Our destination was the Rustic Inn Cafe in Castle Danger. Nancy had a Po Boy version of a walleye sandwich... Wow! and to my surprise and totally unexpected the Rustic Inn Cafe had a traditional fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. I never expected to find one on the North Shore or anywhere beyond the farm belt in Minnesota. It was also very good. We can't end our journey without pie. Nancy had the Blueberry Crunch and I had the Strawberry Rhubarb. And that's the end our our journey. Our next trip will be this fall most likely in September and we may venture up the Sawbill Trail for our camping destination and we will continue seeking out interesting places to eat. Suggestions are welcome. Some Culinary References: A Taste of the Gunflint Trail http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Gunflint-Trail...87654385&sr=8-7 Betty's Pies Favorite Recipes http://www.amazon.com/Bettys-Favorite-Reci...87654530&sr=1-1

I hosted a dinner at Sam's Grill & Seafood restaurant in San Francisco also about 15 years ago. It was supposed to be a small appreciation gathering of Mac Graphics Forum volunteer staffers at the MacWorld Expo. I figured maybe about 5 people and we had an enclosed booth. Well, staffers came with friends and word also got around to other Mac graphics forum regular members. I think the group finally grew to around 16 people crowded into a booth that probably could hold 8. I knew my staffers at the time. The rest were just screen names or strangers. I picked up the tab.

I was there in 1968. It's been a while.

Besygee, Since you brought up burgers I guess I can interject my level into the discussion here. I pursue pork tenderloin sandwiches throughout the country but being Twin Cities based I've sampled them in over 19 Twin Cities restaurants. Pictures and comments are in my websites. I am always looking for new suggestions.

I'm an accidental blogger. It started a little over a year ago experimenting with the Macintosh iWeb software to see how easy and how fast I could create a website. That was basically my iPhoto photo gallery of vacations and grandchildren for my relatives. Then I got the wild idea to post a gallery of breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches that I had been taking pictures of for posting in another forum's message thread that had been kept alive since 2003. I was just part of a gang perpetuating a message thread. One particular breaded pork tenderloin sandwich caught the eye of the Minneapolis StarTribune WebSearch writer, Randy Salas. He said once he saw it (World's largest at the St. Olaf Tap, IA) he knew he had to feature it. He did but also mentioned that I did not comment on them. That comment of his was a challenge. Also, hits and emails from Salas' feature exploded. I'm not a writer and god knows I've had emails correcting my grammar, I blogged anyway simply to chronicle all the questions and requests that were coming in about the photo gallery. Blogging has connected me with cousins and relatives whom I've had no contact in over 40 years. It garners me email from all over the country especially from Midwesterners who moved away to the south or the coasts. It has been fun. I get tips. I get requests to visit. I've used it as an ice breaker at work as you can read in my last two blogs. People seem to get into it because it is so unusual. After all it is not hamburgers and pizza that everyone knows about. It is also a vehicle for studying the dynamics of the web from a personal standpoint so I do unabashedly promote it to see what effects result in hits, email and links. When the Super Bowl came around interest exploded again. Newspaper food editors around the country knew Chicago hot dogs and deep dish pizza but were puzzled by what food represented Indianapolis. They soon zeroed in on the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich and Googling led right to me. The Minneapolis StarTribune feature probably boosted me to the top of the relavence list. I filled many a request for information and got cited several times. With all the calls and emails I decided to help it along and invented the mini-tenderloin Super Bowl snacks and blogged it the week before. Hits increased again to the point Apple was going to shut down my site because I would exceed my .mac bandwidth allowance of 10 GB per month. I gambled not paying extra money and it ended at 9.91 GB. Oh yes, people actually made those mini-tenderloins for the Super Bowl and let me know. It's calmed down again. It's just a sandwich few ever heard about. I'll pick it up again in May when I blitz Indiana on vacation. I don't expect this to last forever. There are only so many sandwiches you can eat. But it has been a blast and it is strictly a hobby.

It is not stupid and it is a brilliant marketing ploy. Who cares how it tastes or who is going to purchase one. This story is all over the internet and being discussed everywhere. Nino's Bellisima couldn't buy that kind of publicity that fast for any price. It is called creating a "buzz", a common marketing trick companies do. There will be lots of people going there with no intention to pay $1,000 for a pizza but to maybe get a look at one or just to say they been there. The best of all is someone may buy one and I bet there is a lot of profit margin in it.

doc do you always ask permission when taking photos? I have found that I generally don't unless someone is looking at me rather particularly....and I always wonder about professional bloggers, if they ask or not. ← I can't say that I always ask, but if I am in an in-your-face position I will definitely ask. If I am really hoping to catch a candid shot and I am not in a position of being rude (i.e.subtle), I don't necessarily ask. I will never, however, take a photo of someone who refuses to be in one such as the frog lady. Depending on the situation I will often show the subject the photo and/or offer a small tip (if warranted and not a situation to seem condescending). Most people are happy to oblige and while some expect a tip, most do not, though it is generally appreciated. Some obviously touristic situations require a tip. ← You quickly learn that if people show up outside your hotel and other stops in full colorful National Geographic photo opportunity regalia that they are there for your photos and a tip. Most of the places from Cusco to Machu Picchu are for tourist and photographers are everywhere and they are used to it.

Cochabamba... I was born there! In Bolivia, they know cochabambinos as the ones who really enjoy eating. There's typical food to be had at virtualy every hour of the day!. And the pacha mama stuff, I still do it, spilling a bit of my beer on the floor. Sorry, this was a bit off topic... ← godito, and I have a Cochabambino grandson. Born there but of American parents. So now Bolivia is kind of an adopted country of interest to me. We need to get Doc to tour Bolivia now. He would do it great justice.

Johnny V's Classic Cafe, West Allis, WI McGarry's Irish Pub, Maple Plain, MN Lyon's Pub on Sixth, Minneapolis, MN

Doc, Your pictures are fantastic. You have a great eye for capturing a scene. I'm thoroughly enjoying them and getting a fill in for many of the things I missed.

Doc, We had similar experiences in Machu Picchu staying at that beautiful resort hotel in town. In Cusco we ate most of our meals right in the hotel we were staying. Nothing memorable either. The one night we did venture out we couldn't resist an Irish Pub just around the corner from our hotel called O'Grady's mainly because our daughter-in-law's mothers maiden name was O'Grady. We probably should have ventured further. They didn't even have Guinness. Every sandwich imaginable was deep fried like a Monte Cristo. In Lima we stayed in Mira Flores and walked down to the sea to a small shopping center hanging on the cliffs for drinks and snacks. The hotel itself enticed us in with free Pisco sours before dinner. Our week in Peru was an arranged travel agent tour. It was OK, the food was good, but not memorable. Our week in Cochabamba, Bolivia was totally self-guided. Our eating experiences there were truly authentic. We visited a chicheria in a small Andean village, Pocona, that was not a tourist stop, and on a native Andean farm outside of Sipe Sipe. We sampled chicha in two countries in 5 locations. I would not say it is a drink to pursue. The alcoholic content was not great but when they drink it at festivals they don't stop all day. We drank ours out of a shared gourd in Pocona and Sipe Sipe. That seemed kind of dangerous. No one in our party particularly liked chicha but we accepted with grace from our hosts. To drink chicha you first spill a little on the floor to the earth mother, Pachu Momma, before drinking. The two chicherias in the Andean villages had dirt floors. We had dinner at a private home of a well to do attorney and we spilled it there as well on beautiful marble floors. I thought the trip to South America was a fabulous experience. Our whole family went down there to see our new Bolivian born grandson. Our son and daughter-in-law had been there a year living in a farm house near Sipe Sipe for her graduate studies. We took our two adult daughters, the same that gave us grief on cultural trips when they were the age of yours. They've changed. I hope yours enjoyed your trip. Their memories will grow.

On the Travel Channel Bizarre Foods Monday night they showed cuy being slow cooked on a stick in Ecuador.

We stopped at that very same chicheria in Peru shown in this photo gallery. http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/Peru.html Our more primitive chicha experience in Bolivia can be found here. http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/Incallajta.html and here. http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/Cochabamba.html Great pictures you have posted so far in this thread. We too made a vacation of it in Bolivia and Peru but with our adult family of two daughters, son, daughter-in-law, grandson (born in Bolivia) and two sisters-in-law. Our daughter-in-law, a cultural anthropoligist, could speak the native Quechuan indian language. That helped us get around a great deal in unguided tours.

What bugs me about the show is his clothes. Does he ever change out of that salmon colored polo and white shorts? Do only Americans wear shorts? When he goes to South America I hope he doesn't.

Drinking an August Schell Pale Ale as I browse eGullet right now. August Schell is the second oldest brewery in the United States in New Ulm, MN.

I experienced Chicha first hand, first time in Pocono, Bolivia, a small village in the Andes Mountains. We had a private tour to Incallajta Inca Ruins far off the beaten path and stopped in Pocono on our return to Cochabamba. We first visited a chicha bar, an adobe stuccoed building with thatched roof and dirt floors. A bench was continuous around the outer wall. The room was lit only by the entry and a couple of small windows. Native Andeans sat quietly on the benches. In the corner the corn was on the floor fermenting. The chicha bar keeper was an indian woman in traditional Andean dress. She would dip a glass pitcher into a barrel of chicha and then hand you a gourd you would hold with both hands and she would fill it. You would first spill a bit on the floor to the earth mother, Pachu Momma. Then you would chug the gourd and pass it to the next person in the line. When celebrating they do not like to stop and even though I judge the alcoholic content rather low you can get drunk if you keep it up as they urge you on. We followed up with a visit to the woman a few doors down that actually brewed the chicha. Since my daughter-in-law could speak Quechua, the native Andean Inca language, I was able to compare notes with the woman. It is much like home brewing but the brew is not bottled and is completely flat. That trip with a gallery of photos and slide show can be viewed here. They are about 2/3rds the way down. http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/Incallajta.html We also had chicha at a native indian farm residence along with a home cooked meal of machu pique. Same routine with the gourd. And then another chicha session in a well-to-do attorney's home only we spilled on beautiful marble floors. Finally we had chicha twice in Peru, at a market and at a bar. Both those places were out of glasses with no spilling. Did we like it? No one 'fessed to that. It really did not taste that good and the taste did vary widely in the different places. We had a processional to carry the Virgin of Guadaloupe statue to the village church in preparation for an upcoming festival and we passed yet another chicha bar. They came out to us with a bucket of chicha. It is a celebratory drink and you partake in that spirit. You will find more of what I mentioned here... http://web.mac.com/davydd/iWeb/Site/Cochabamba.html

Thursday night I had a Boulevard Pale Ale on tap at Jack Stack BBQ in Kansas City.

War-Time Recipes compiled by John Wanamaker with an introduction by President Woodrow Wilson. Yes, the Great War, WWI. It consist of recipes to save on wheat, milk, meat, fats, and sugar. Also save on fuel, and use perishable foods and local supplies. General rules: Buy less; serve smaller portions Preach the "Gospel of the Clean Plate" Don't eat a fourth meal Don't limit the plain food to growing children Watch out for the wastes in the community Full garbage pails in America mean empty dinner pains in America and Europe EVERYBODY SAVING 2 cents on each meal every day for a year would save to America a sum equal to the first Liberty Loan issue - more than two billion dollars. EVERYBODY SAVING a single pound of bread weekly would increase America's wheat exports 100,000,000 bushels for a year. Lot's of corn meal recipes so we can send the wheat to Europe and our troops.

Schell's Twin Cities Ale on tap at the Dakotah in Minneapolis.

I haven't had boiled chicken and dumplings in a pot since the 50s. That was generally our Sunday afternoon dinner my mother made and my grandmother made.

I made my definitive stand on the signature dish of Indianapolis particularly for the Super Bowl. You can find it here on eGullet... http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...4entry1349444