Let's chill out at the Great Minnesota Get-Together

Fairgrounds hall of fame

A fairgrounds rite of passage for the lactose-tolerant set has long been a soft-serve malt ($6) or sundae ($5) at the Dairy Goodness Bar. The portion size remains impressive, and the appealing flavor options run from chocolate and vanilla to rhubarb-strawberry and apple-caramel (the strawberries and apples hail from Pine Tree Orchard in White Bear Lake). I'm happy to report that the $3 soft-serve cone remains one of the fair's better bargains. One caveat: the line. At first glance, the sheer size of it can be daunting, but it moves quickly (if you're a fair first-timer, here's a tip: choose the one on the right, which snakes past another must-see, dairy princesses being immortalized in 90-pound blocks of New Ulm, Minn.-made butter). There's a fun Minnesota-minded novelty this year, a vanilla sundae with caramel sauce and crispy, slightly salty, melt-in-your-mouth Puff-Corn snacks from Roseville-based Old Dutch.

Dairy Building

No lines, no waiting

Don't want to wait? Check out the thick soft-serve treats at the low-key Kiwanis Club Malts, a fair fixture since 1969. There are far fewer options (just vanilla, chocolate, strawberry) than the frenzy that is the Dairy Building, and they're smaller than their Dairy Goodness Bar counterparts, but also cheaper: $5. Another bonus? The friendly all-volunteer booth donates its profits to worthy causes.

Cosgrove St. and Wright Av.

Inside the Food Building

Food Building

Clean and tangy

My favorite fro-yo is at Starberi Frozen Yogurt, where the pristine "original" flavor ($6, $8) has a crisply pronounced sour bite, and the low-fat formula still leaves a little room for lusciousness over its nonfat counterparts. Toppings include honest-to-goodness fresh fruit (pineapple, kiwi fruit, berries) as well as sugarcoated goodies (crushed Oreos, Gummi Bears, Fruity Pebbles cereal), and a single-serving size starts at 120 calories. Which is, apparently, information worth sharing. "My favorite is when people have a turkey leg in one hand and a bucket of cookies in the other and they ask, 'How many calories is in a serving?' " said owner Chuck Lee with a laugh. "I mean, really, they care?"

Liggett St. and W. Dan Patch Av.

Floats fit for a Prince

West End Market

Fruit (and cream) on-a-stick

They're not exactly ice cream — the company's unofficial lingo is "smoothie on a stick" — but Minnesota-made JonnyPops ($4) cover all the requirements: creamy, cold, comforting, with the bonus of having the requisite State Fair on-a-stick portability. The fruit versions (strawberry-rhubarb, raspberry-blueberry) are 48 percent fruit by weight, a flavor-busting formula that pops out in every chilly bite. From there, it's just cream, simple syrup and a pinch of salt. That's it. The coffee-chocolate version is particularly dreamy, made with a smooth, 18-hour cold press coffee. Do not, under any circumstances, skip the Chocolate-Dipped Cherry on-a-Spoon ($5), a dark chocolate-coated cherry homage to the Walker Art Center's Instagrammed-to-death "Spoonbridge and Cherry" sculpture.

West End Market

Luxury goods at the fair

Dan Patch Av. and Chambers St.

A honey of an ice cream

It's true: honey lovers tend to swarm Minnesota Honey Producers, many to get a crack at the mellow yet distinctive honey-sunflower and honey-almond fudge ice creams ($4.50 to $6), served in cones and cups. Go all in and order a simple sundae ($6.50), just scoops of ice cream liberally blanketed in golden Minnesota-made honey.

Agriculture Horticulture

Sweet corn stunner

Carnes Av. and Chambers St.

A Minnesota classic

Of all the scoop stands on the fairgrounds, this native Minnesotan naturally gravitates to Bridgeman's for a heaping helping of the good old days. There are cones ($5 and $6), in seven flavors, including one I hadn't encountered since roughly 1974: "Butter Brittle." Oh, and the mint chocolate chip — in that glaring bright green — that locals have long labeled "Peppermint Bon Bon." Sundaes and old-fashioned sodas, too.

Liggett St. and Judson Av.

Your show of shows

Food Building

Cranking it out

Less high-tech but nearly as entertaining is the putt-putting, gas engine-cranked ice cream-making apparatus at R&R Ice Cream. Skip the novelty flavors and opt directly for the vanilla ($5), so creamy it almost qualifies as soft-serve.

Randall Av. and Underwood St.

Nordic berries

Underwood St. and Carnes Av.

On-a-stick classics

I've been extolling the virtues of the espresso-laced Frozen Mocha on-a-Stick at Minnesota Farmers Union for a decade, and my enthusiasm hasn't wavered. This Fudgsicle-for-grownups is produced at St. Paul's Grand Ole Creamery, which is also responsible for several other chilly on-a-stick goodies (mango, chai) at the Farmers Union that rate fairly high. New this year: A boffo ice cream sandwich ($5), made with crisp chocolate crinkle cookies (baked at the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis) and a thick slab of Grand Ole Creamery's unadorned sweet cream ice cream. What a winning combination.

Dan Patch Av. and Cosgrove St.

A perfect partnership

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