"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Friday, August 22, 2008

2008 Stick Quest

Press release:

8/21/2008

Steve "The Stick Man" Quick has successfully eaten every food on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair - in one day. Quick, a 46-year-old from Maplewood, managed to eat his way through tens of thousands of calories from nearly 100 vendors, spending hundreds of dollars just to collect dozens of different wooden sticks.

This was his third attempt in as many years. His first attempt was thwarted by the Epiphany Diner serving a pancake-wrapped sausage on a stick only early in the morning. His second attempt ended when he could not finish a 9 inch all-day sucker before the fair closed. This year, neither of those items were for sale, but Quick was surprised by seven vendors selling kabobs for the first time.

His favorite and least favorite foods? "I'm tempted to say my favorite was the first corn dog of the day and least favorite was the twelfth corndog, but the salmon was memorably good and the frozen coffee just seemed wrong." Did he eat anything else? "All that salty food and candy caused me to buy a lot to drink. But I did skip the mini-doughnuts, as tempting as they are."

Quick, a slender man, does not look like a champion eater. "I didn't gain any weight from all the food. I burned off a lot of the calories walking at the Fair, but I think I lost a lot of fluid sweating. It was a hot one today."

Would he do it again? "No. I did lose my Lamb Shoppe stick on the way home, so I may return to the Fair for that, but I can't imagine eating that much again."
.....................................................
What did he eat? In the list below, apples are either caramel or candied. If a food isn't listed, it's apparent from the vendor name.

Andre's Watermelon- fruit and cheese kabob
Axel's - mac & cheese, tater tots (the "Red Bull on a stick" is in a plastic sleeve)
Bayou Bob - alligator sausage
Big Fat Bacon
Boulevard - pickle
Calzone - pizza
Candy factory - apple
Caramel Apple Sncones
Caribbean Fruit Smoothie - fruit kabob
Cheese on a Stick
Chicken-n-Chops
Chinatown Minn - lemon chicken, pot stickers, ostrich teriyaki
Colonial Nut Roll
Corndogs-Lemonade - 6", 12", Dogzilla
Cotton Candy
Deep Fried Candy Bars
Demitri's - kabob
Dino's Gyros - Greek meatball
Epiphany Diner - sausage
Falafel King
Fish & Chips - shrimp, scallops
French Meadow - Scone
Fried Fruit
Giant Slide/Lemonade - cheese
Giggles - porcupine meatballs (elk), salmon
Granny's cheesecakes - cheesecake, banana, strawberries, ice cream
Granny's Kitchen - Fudge Puppy
Green Mill - foot long pizza
Heritage Square Nut and Candy - rock candy, blow pop
Holyland Deli - kabobs
Isabel Burke's Taffy - taffy pop
Juicy's Outlaw Grill - steak
Kathie's Cotton Candy
Lamb Shoppe
Luigi Fries - hot dago
McLellan's Grilled Shrimp
Minnekabobs
Mike's Hamburgers - hot dog wrap
MN Farmer's Union - frozen coffee, mocha, espresso
Netterfield's - cheese, kabob
O'gara's - reuben, corned beef
Ole and Lena's - tater tot hot dish
Oodles of Noodles - spaghetti and meatballs, smores
Peter's Hot Dogs
Pickle Dog
Poncho Dog
Pork Chops and Turkey Legs
Potato Skins - Spudster
Preferred Pickle
Pronto Pups - 6", 10"
Ragin' Cajun - blackened steak
Rainbow Ice Cream - apple, bomb pop
Roadhouse - popcorn chicken
Root Beer Hut - apple, twirl pop, round-up sucker
Sabino's Pies - pickle, cotton candy
St. Martins - olives
Sausage Sister and Me - "Puff Daddy," "Thai One On," "Jerk on a stick"
Schumacher's - pork chop
Scotch Eggs - Scotch egg, meatball, butterscotch cake
Snack House - corn dog, pickle, round-up sucker
SnoCones - cotton candy, apple
Spaghetti Eddie's - chicken
Steichen's - Tootsie Pop, DumDum
Super Dogs - 6", 12", 18"
Sweet Trails - apple
Sweets & Treats - apple, cotton candy
Tropical Flavored Cotton Candy
Ultimate Confections - smores, cheesecake, marshmallow
Veggie Pie - grapes, cherries
Vegie Fries - vegetable kabob
Vescio's - ice cream
Walleye On a Stick - walleye, catfish
West Indies Soul Cafe - jerked pork chop
Wings N' Things - pickle

13 comments:

SteveQ said...

In case you're wondering, this is for real!

wildknits said...

we are in awe...

and trying to explain the Minnesota State Fair and food on a stick to Montanians :->

Diane said...

Wow... that's amazing!

Did you have each and every deep fried candy bar, or just one as representative of the deep fried candy bar kiosk? Did you do anything besides eat?

I have half a mind to try to match you, but I don't have the money--I'd need a sponsor!

Kel said...

You forgot the chocolate covered bacon and the deep fried Coke.

Anonymous said...

I'm still waiting for someone to sell pickled cow's tongue on a stick.

Pete Anderson

keith said...

I'd be using one of those souvenir sticks to go bulimic on myself if I ate all of that.

Sounds like a fantastic day at the fair!

WynnMan said...

screw CR's and running races. This gastronomical achievement should be worthy of something! The State Fair Reps should at least name a stick food under your name similar to celebrities and their sandwiches. At the very least you should have your bust carved out of butter.

This is quite an achievement. What will you do with all of those sticks?

and I thought my buddy eating a pound of maple fudge in 20 minutes was impressive. Your pronto prowess is the stuff of legends.

Still trying to wrap my mind around everything you consumed.

WynnMan said...

How did you overcome the feeling of fullness regarding everything you ate? I know your past few attempts were the demise of unsettling choices or time restraint. How did you keep an empty stomach? How did you pace yourself? Did you carry TUMS with you? If your stomach could talk and willing for comment, what do you think it would say about this?

Matthew Patten said...

who is this "laboratory technician from Maplewood?"

I did not realize meth labs were so highly esteemed.

Did this reporter have the insight to ask "and what exactly is in your lab?"

hope you enjoyed the treat I left on your car today. I was going to decorate it real nice.

SteveQ said...

It's been a couple of days now and I'm not feeling as queasy.

Kel, the chocolate covered bacon and the deep fried coke were not on sticks. I checked. Twice.

Wynn, I was thinking of making some sort of sculpture with the sticks and the cholesterol screening results I had done at the fair. I've only kept one of each sized stick, so there's only 32 to work with. There are a lot of tricks I learned to keep going, but stomach fullness wasn't a problem - I can hold two liters of water in my stomach - spending the day eating and in the restrooms was a challenge. And not puking: that was tough.

Diane, I only had the one deep-fried candy bar (Snickers, as I needed the peanut roughage). Ya gotta draw the line somewhere! What else did I do? Anything that burned calories!

Matt! Shhh! Cops read this! And the 90 degree Vitamin Energy needed more taurine.

GRIMEYRUNNER said...

You're the stuff legends are made of...and it has nothing to do with the fair.
I'm going to have to go with Matt on this one...."laboratory tech"...really?

Diane said...

I sent my friend to Juicy Outlaw's Grill to get the steak on a stick (the only food item he really wanted at the fair). He got there and the rude counter guy simply said, "we ain't got any". No explanation. Did they run out? Did they stop selling? We have no clue.

The Triathlon Rx said...

Holy JEEEZ Steve!! Did you have to eat the whole thing, or just try it?