“This is the only place in the world and this is the only time of the year you can enjoy this great fair food!”
The Sausage Sisters at the State Fair
The Great Minnesota Get Together
What Do the Sausage Sisters Have To Say about Being at the Minnesota State Fair?
It is a tilt-a-whirl ride! You know that feeling when it slams you back in your seat, has you spinning wildly wishing it would be over or sure youll spin out of control only to be dumped out dizzy and incoherent into the real world. That pretty much describes the State Fair experience. For the hearty-born sausage sisters of good German stock, it is almost too hot, too noisy, too many bright lights and too many long days. But just like the tilt-a-whirl ride, the 12 days are over and you soon say, "WOW" Let's do it again!
2002
Just about 2 years into The Sausage Sister business and we find ourselves in a booth in the Food building schlepping sausages. It is not just any booth. It is not just any old sausages.
With 100 applicants for the 33 booths in the All New Food Building. We submitted a plan with the pizzazz of theater lights on the marquee introducing The Twisted Sister brought to you by The Sausage Sisters. Our mother would say, "Be careful of what you want, you might get it." And that is what happened.
Meet The Twisted Sister. We put the Italian Porketta Marie sausage on a stick (what else), starting at one end, we spiral on bread stick dough, give it a little egg wash, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Bake it in the oven and there you have it: The Twisted Sister. It was voted in the Minneapolis StarTribune as Best New Fair Food of 2002. Can you imagine selling along at 400-500 per day, then getting the award and selling 2,400 the next day?
2005
The Twisted Sister was joined in 2005 with Puff Daddy-on-a-Stick. We use our Asian inspired sausage, Thai One On, wrap it in a rectangle of puff pastry dough, cut it in 1 inch slices, skewer it helter skelter and bake it in the oven. Puff Daddy is served with a spicy Thai Peanut Sauce. We sold record numbers of this sausage and were again named in the Best New Fair Food Award.
2006
Nacho Sistazzzz were introduced. You guessed it, this is a chorizo flavored sausage, wrapped in bread stick dough, sliced and baked in little rounds. This is served in a nacho tray with a side of nacho cheese sauce.
2007
Aother year and another new sausage the Uff Da Brat and Uff Da Brat/the works to the Minnesota State Fair. No doubt, this would get the attention of all the white haired Anderson's, Olson's and Johnson's. It also got the attention of Andrew Zimmern and was featured on his travel show, Bizarre Foods. Although we do not use the bizarre food, lutefisk, the connection with lefse caught his attention. Do you know lefse is not on spell check?
The Uff Da Brat is based on a Scandinavian after school snack tradition of wrapping a sausage in lefse and munching away. We make a sausage with all those wonderful Scandinavian spices of mace, ginger and cardamom. The sausage is grilled and rolled up in a triangle of lefse. It is served with a side of spicy brown mustard or our special Lingonberry ketchup. (Lingonberry is not on spell check either).
The recipe Tunnbrod Rulle became the inspiration for Uff Da Brat/the works; a hearty adult version. The grilled Scandinavian sausage is placed on the narrow end of the lefse triangle along with a scoop of warm mashed potatoes, a sprinkle of sauerkraut and chopped onions. The Works is then rolled to wide end holding all the ingredients in place. Tackle that one with some Lingonberry ketchup and the spicy brown mustard. Don't get those Swedes started on their fondness for lefse. If you'd like, The Sausage Sisters will share their secrets of making lefse. You, too could do this at home.
Did we say we were running out of ideas? When Sausage Sisters sleep, they dream of New Fair Foods. This is really true. Merry had a dream about Great Balls of Fire. It came from wanting to add some Caribbean kick to the State Fair menu. We like to see a little sweat break out on the brow of a Swede.