In deep-fried trouble!

Each year our department designs shirts to sell at the Star Tribune booth at the Minnesota State Fair. "I'm Fried" was one of the selected concepts. You can see some of last year's shirts here. Seems simple. But maybe not. First you need to find the perfect corndog off-season. These were not bad for frozen. They look like a work of art:

After consulting with Rick Nelson, Star Tribune's food critic, we discovered that you could find fresh ones in town. Martha found these bacon wrapped dogs at a bar downtown. Hefty price @ $8 a piece, but the bacon made them lumpy and the sticks were too short. Not ideal for a photo, but they sure tasted good!

Next problem to solve: the mustard writing. Will we need to thicken with cornstarch? Will the Plochman's bottle write like a pen? And what about frosting in a can from my favorite company? Will that make a better pen?

The mustard barrel bottle was the winner! Perfect consistancy and color and easy to write with. Well, it got easier with practice. And the fonts got more personality with time.

You can see the frosting was more yellow and was not the right thing to use. How unfortunate that I did not need it. Wonder what happened to it?

Fellow staffer Tom W. shot the photos. We cleaned up the mess. When I got back to my desk I realized I forgot to draw smiley faces. A letter "D" and some periods saved the day.  After a little work in Photoshop, it all came together: