Como

What is the difference between the RNC and the Minnesota State Fair? For starters, the Great Minnesota Get-Together is open to everyone, no security passes required. At the State Fair, the winners are still being picked, offering suspense as judges decide on the best of everything from llamas to pickles. Food choices range from A to Z, alligator to zeppoles. (The alligator, and at least a hundred other choices, come on a stick—not sure about the zeppoles.) Ready to go? Here are some useful tips on getting to the fair. MORE »

Joe Radaich, owner of the newly dubbed Sporty’s, says that when customers try his food for the first time, they often comment: “I can’t believe this is so good.” MORE »

At the age of 22, Dan Fessenden took a fateful drive down University Avenue in St. Paul, looking for a job. Initially his plan was to present himself to an employment agency and offer up a share of his wages in return for a job. But at his wife’s suggestion, Fessenden stopped first at the Waldorf Company, the paper recycling plant that had loomed large in the city’s Midway district since 1908. MORE »

From Highland Little League to the Saints team, Pat Gavin and Brian Whinnery have been lifelong friends. Now they are playing on the same team, as partners in a chocolate chip cookie business. Last year Gavin, now an accountant, and St. Paul Saints pitcher Brian Whinnery started selling chocolate chip cookies at the concession stands at the Saint Paul Saints games at Midway Stadium. With the success of that first season behind them, the two are now going big time, continuing to sell at Saints games and taking their cookies to the Metrodome for selected Minnesota Twins and Vikings games and Gopher football games. MORE »