Princess Kay Of The Milky Way, MN State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
The Minnesota State Fair kicks off this week and it’s time for our annual State Fair post on red Ravine. We’ve covered a lot of history in the past, so this year I’m focusing on one of my favorite attractions at the Minnesota State Fair — the Princess Kay butter sculptures (I fondly call them the Butter Queens). Would you believe it takes 21.8 pounds of whole milk to make a pound of butter? And 90 pounds of butter to create one princess.
Traditions Of Butter Sculpting
Butter sculpting is a long-time tradition at many State Fairs. The first recorded North American sculpture was created by Carolyn Brooks for the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. In 1910, the first Buttercow was created by a sculptor only recorded as Mr. Daniels at the Iowa State Fair. Though the Midwest Dairy Association and its 5000 dairy farmers sponsor butter sculpting at State Fairs in 9 states (including North Dakota), sculpting in front of Fair-goers using a live model is unique to Minnesota (click for slideshow of past butter sculptures from Iowa and Minnesota).
This year marks artist Linda Christensen’s 38th year creating butter sculptures at the Minnesota State Fair. Carving busts from butter is no easy task. The dizzying temperature inside the rotating booth is a cool 40°F (notice the sitting Princess is wearing mittens?). Linda spends 6 to 8 hours on her feet to complete one sculpture. She builds her body of work on a long tradition of American frontier women from the 1800’s who molded and imprinted their homemade butter.
Butter sculptures were first featured at the Minnesota State Fair from 1898 through 1927 to highlight Minnesota’s claim as the “Butter Capital of the Nation.” In 1965, the American Dairy Association of Minnesota began its tradition of having the likeness of the dairy princess sculpted in butter and constructed a booth which was expanded in 2008 for better viewing.
While researching this piece, I also discovered that butter sculpting is a Tibetan tradition that goes back 400 years. Butter sculpture originated from Tibet and was introduced to the Tar 
Monastery, also known as Kumbum Monastery, in the early 17th century. Originally made with pure yak and goat milk butter as the raw material, the sculptures were hand formed and painted with mineral dyes.
They were created as symbols and secret offerings for the Tibetan New Year and other religious celebrations, and sometimes depicted stories about the life of Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), the founder of Buddhism. Today monks create traditional butter sculptures with staples of the Tibetan diet: barley flour, butter (mixed with a little wax) and water.
Dairy Princess Alysha Thompson, Sculptor Linda Christensen At Work, MN State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Princess Kay of the Milky Way Butter Sculptures
The Princess Kay of the Milky Way coronation ceremony at the State Fair band shell on 
August 26th at 8:30 p.m. kicks off this year’s Minnesota State Fair. Reigning Princess Kay Kristy Mussman will pass the crown (don’t you think the winning Princess should be crowned a Queen?).
On opening day, August 27th, the newly crowned Princess Kay will spend up to 8 hours in the rotating butter sculpture booth in the Dairy Building having her likeness carved out of a 90-pound block of butter provided by Associated Milk Producers of New Ulm. 
The 11 other finalists will have their likenesses sculpted in butter throughout the remaining days of the fair.
Princess Kay candidates, and Minnesota’s county dairy princesses, are daughters of dairy farmers, employees of dairy farms, or daughters of dairy farm employees. Each year, over 100 young women from across Minnesota are crowned county dairy princesses, and 12 are selected as finalists to become Princess Kay. Princess Kay acts as goodwill ambassador for the dairy industry and the state’s dairy farmers, but all dairy princesses across the state serve in that capacity in their local areas.
For the first time, Princess Kay will be blogging from the Butter Booth this year! And you can also follow her on Facebook by becoming fans of her new Facebook page (and Midwest Dairy Association) at a kiosk in the Dairy Building, just across from the butter-sculpting booth.
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Frozen Pickle On-A-Stick (Leprechaun Legs in the background!), Wild Rice Corndog On-A-Stick, MN State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
MN State Fair – Foods On-A-Stick
Our Minnesota State Fair post wouldn’t be complete without the annual foods on-a-stick list. Here’s the luscious lineup for 2009 along with a few photos from foods we tried last 
year. If you are looking for the location of specific foods at the Fair, here’s a link to their FoodFinder with a map of the Fair. (Oh, and check out ybonesy’s post on Chinese food on-a-stick.)
The Minnesota State Fair begins this Thursday, August 27th and runs through September 7th. Be sure to stop and enjoy the crop art and the work of Minnesota State Fair commemorative artist Leo Stans. You’ve got one more day to purchase your Blue Ribbon Bargain Book and save a little cash. Enjoy!
- Alligator Sausage on-a-stick
- Bacon (Fried) on-a-stick
- Bananas (chocolate covered) on-a-stick
- Beef Kabobs on-a-stick
- Beer Battered Brats on-a-stick
- Bomb Pops on-a-stick
- Butterscotch Cake on-a-stick
- Candy Apples on-a-stick
- Candy Bars (deep fried) on-a-stick
- Caramel Apples on-a-stick
- Catfish on-a-stick
- Cheese on-a-stick
- Cheese (fried) on-a-stick
- Cheesecake (chocolate covered) on-a-stick
- Chicken on-a-stick
- Chicken Bites on-a-stick
- Coffee (frozen) on-a-stick
- Corndogs on-a-stick
- Corned Beef and Cabbage on-a-stick
- Cotton Candy on-a-stick
- Dessert Pizza on-a-stick
- Dixie Wings on-a-stick
- Espresso (frozen) on-a-stick
- Fiddlestix (chocolate-dipped ice cream) on-a-stick
- Fruit (fresh) on-a-stick
- Fruit (fried) on-a-stick
- Fry Dog on-a-stick
- Fudge Puppies on-a-stick
- Hot Dago on-a-stick
- Hot Dish on-a-stick
- Hot Dogs (wrap) on-a-stick
- Key Lime Pie Dipped in Chocolate (frozen) on-a-stick
- Lamb (leg of) on-a-stick
- Macaroni & Cheese on-a-stick
- Marshmallows (Chocolate-dipped) on-a-stick
- Meatballs (porcupine wild rice & ground pork) on-a-stick
- Meatballs (Scotch) on-a-stick
- Meat Kabobs on-a-stick
- Nut Roll (chocolate-dipped) on-a-stick
- Pickles on-a-stick
- Pickles (deep fried) on-a-stick
- Pizza on-a-stick
- Poncho Dogs on-a-stick
- Pork Cheeks on-a-stick
- Pork Chops on-a-stick
- Pronto Pups on-a-stick
- Rueben on-a-stick
- Sausage on-a-stick
- Scotch Eggs on-a-stick
- Shrimp on-a-stick
- Shrimp (grilled) on-a-stick
- S’mores on-a-stick
- S’mores (deep-fried) on-a-stick
- Spaghetti & Meatballs on-a-stick
- Spudsters on-a-stick
- Steak on-a-stick
- Taffy Pops on-a-stick
- Tater Tots (deep-fried) on-a-stick
- Texas Steak Dinner on-a-stick
- Texas Tater Dog on-a-stick
- Tornado Potato on-a-stick
- Turkey Tenderloin (bacon-wrapped) on-a-stick
- Vegie Fries on-a-stick
- Vegetable Kabobs on-a-stick
- Waffle (Belgian) on-a-stick
- Walleye on-a-stick
- Wild Rice Corndog on-a-stick
Total Number of Foods-On-A-Stick: 67*
Catfish Cajun Style, Bull Bites, MN State Fair, St. Paul,
Minnesota, August 2008, photos © 2008-2009 by
QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
New Minnesota State Fair Foods In 2009
(including *4 new foods on-a-stick not on list above)
- • Beignets (Sweet, fried dough)
@Ragin Cajun, located inside The Garden
• Brat Burger (Ground bratwurst in a grilled patty served on a pretzel roll)
@Ball Park Cafe, located between The Garden and the Food Building
• Breakfast Spam Sandwich (Spam, egg, cheese)
@Spam Burgers, located on Cosgrove St. across from the Creative Activities Building
• Deep Fried Norwegian Banana Split (Banana rolled in lefse, deep fried, topped off with ice cream and all the toppings)
@Ole & Lena’s, located on Liggett Street at Carnes Avenue
• Fiddlestix (Premium vanilla ice cream hand sliced, skewered, dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped nuts)
@Wells Concessions, located inside the Mighty Midway
• Foot-long Dessert Pizza on-a-stick (Pizza dough, sweet cream cheese, cinnamon and sugar on-a-stick)
@Green Mill, located in Baldwin Park
• Fry Dog (French fry encrusted deep-fried hot dog on-a-stick)
@Blue Moon Dine In Theater, located on corner of Carnes Avenue and Chambers Street
• Funnel Cake Fries (Funnel cake formed like French fries, served with chocolate dipping sauce)
@Apple Lil’s, located just inside Heritage Square
• Krumkake (Thin, crisp pastry made fresh, rolled into a horn shape, filled with whipped cream and topped with fresh fruit)
@Ole & Lena’s, located on Liggett Street at Carnes Avenue
• Open-faced Grilled Spam Sandwich
@Spam Burgers, located on Cosgrove St. across from the Creative Activities Building
•Peach Glazed Pig Cheeks (Pork cheeks marinated in garlic, herbs, spices and honey, served on-a-stick and grilled with peach chipotle glaze)
@Famous Dave’s, located on Dan Patch Avenue at Liggett Street
• Pot Roast Sundae (scoop of mashed potatoes covered with roast beef, gravy, corn and a cherry tomato)
@Main Street Butcher Block, located on the corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Liggett Street
• Sunfish (Sunfish filets served in a boat)
@Giggle’s Campfire Grill, located on Cooper Street and Lee Avenue
• Swedish Meatballs and Gravy
@Lynn’s Lefse, located inside the Food Building
• Tornado Potato (spiral cut potato on-a-stick)
@Sunny’s Spiral Potatoes, located inside the Food Building
Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner On-A-Stick, Fried Fruit On-A-Stick, Macaroni & Cheese On-A-Stick, Bull Bites, Deep Fried Tater Tots On-A-Stick, Grilled Shrimp On-A-Stick, Vintage Kids & Fair Food!, Leprechaun Legs, MN State Fair, St. Paul, Minnesota, August 2008, all photos © 2008-2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
State Fair photos on Flickr.
-posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
-related to posts: MN State Fair On-A-Stick (Happy B’Day MN!), On-The-Go List Of Must-Haves (MN State Fair), Nightshot – Carousel, MN State Fair On-A-Stick II – Video & Stats, food on-a-stick haiku
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