The Sage of Discovery

While I was hanging out with some friends from Minnesota over the weekend, the topic of the Minnesota Dairy Princess came up. Dairy princess? What a concept!

Apparently, the annual crowning of state dairy princesses in Minnesota, as well as those in Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota, are sponsored by the  Midwest Dairy Association (MDA). The MDA  is a “non-profit organization that is financed and directed by…dairy producers,” which, “implements programs that help increase sales and demand for dairy products and dairy ingredients and help improve the economic well-being of Midwest dairy producers.” The MDA is run by dairy producers in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Oklahoma.

The princesses, who serve as official ambassadors for the MDA, are generally elected at their respective state fairs and are thus titled the Iowa Dairy Princess, the North Dakota Dairy Princess, The South Dakota Dairy Princes…and Princess Kay of the Milky Way! Huh?

This crazy moniker is by far the most intriguing and it’s not the only funky tradition Minnesotans associate with their dairy royalty. Princess Kay’s first order of business, along with her court’s, is sitting in a temperature controlled room (i.e. a 38 degree cooler) to have her likeness carved into a 90 pound block of butter! (see photo below). For the remainder of the year, Princess Kay participates in dairy promotion: visiting schools, attending events, and giving speeches and interviews.

Princess Kay by jpellgen on Flickr

So how is Princess Kay chosen? First, 12 finalists are selected from over 100 Minnesota County Dairy Princesses. These finalist will make up Princess Kay and her court. Each year’s Kay comes from a dairy family (dairy farmers or dairy workers) and is chosen based on her communication skills, knowledge of the dairy industry, personality, and commitment to dairy promotion. She must be unmarried and under 24 years old.

The first Princess Kay was crowned in 1954. The reigning princess is Elizabeth Olsen, a 19-year-old college student from McLeod county.

So why the quirky title? “Princess Kay of the Milky Way” was selected from among 10,000 entries in a 1954 contest to put a name to the honor.

So Good posts an ad that features buttered burgers. It’s pretty comical and pretty gross at the same time; I like a little fat on my burger, but this is going too far.

There’s a lot of buzz about the new calorie labels to appear on Coca Cola products, but Fooducate asks, are they a good thing?

In the past I’ve had the intention to send out creative Holiday Cards, but this food-filled, homemade idea by Heart’s Delight Cards may be the inspiration I need to actually do it.

I’d like to see more evidence, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the rate of smoking in the food business is greater than in any other profession; a whopping 44.7 of workers fessing up to smoking during last month. My past experience as the only non-smoking waitress in a chain restaurant gives me an inkling this might be true. [via The Food Section].

Smoking, 1902, from bobster855 on Flickr

Lastly, Joe Pastry gets festive with these colorful, iced cookies in the spirit of Fall (he goes through the process, for the home cook, on previous posts).