ST. PAUL — Mark Klabunde came to the Minnesota State Fair with a few jars and a batch of baked goods, and left with two blue ribbons and a red.
The KAXE volunteer entered ketchup, shortbreads, sauerkraut, sweet breads and a cardamom roll in the fair’s Creative Activities competitions. His cardamom roll took first place in a category with 40 entries, while his homemade ketchup also earned a blue ribbon.
He stopped by the AMPERS booth, where KAXE was broadcasting live Friday, Aug. 28. Klabunde is from St. Paul, but also has a cabin near Deer River. He is an on-air volunteer DJ for both On The River and KAXE After Dark.
"I've made a tomato jam before, and I was looking over the rules and it's got to be a USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture] kind of approved recipe, so that it cans properly. So I looked at ketchup and found a recipe and made some adjustments to it, based on this tomato jam that I have," Klabunde said.
"It's a great way to get rid of a lot of tomatoes in a hurry."
This was not Klabunde's first foray into State Fair competition. He has been submitting his grandma's ginger snap recipe for many years, even though it has never won a ribbon. He received a second place ribbon a few years ago for red pepper jelly.
Klabunde's family also submits items to the fair. His son won a blue ribbon for sauerkraut last year, and his wife creates floral designs, which are displayed in the Horticulture Building.
Listen to our full conversation above to hear more about how to deal with a lot of tomatoes and how long the line was to get items submitted in the Creative Activities building before the fair.
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