It was Minnesota State Fair time, circa 1985, and Taste was recommending the Salem Lutheran Church dining hall for a fairgrounds breakfast, where volunteers were serving up inexpensive mountains of bacon and eggs, pancakes, French toast, oatmeal and hash browns.
Here's how Star and Tribune staff writer George Monaghan described a morning meal at the cozy, screen-porched stand, a staple at Cosgrove Street and Randall Avenue since 1949 and still going strong: "One of the most unforgettable experiences at the Minnesota State Fair."
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That's quite an endorsement. Then, as now, the stand's marquee draw was its famous -- some might say infamous -- Swedish egg coffee. "They'll walk clear across the fairgrounds to get a couple of cups of it," said longtime volunteer Olive Hughes. "Even before they eat, they'll drink two or three cups."
Twenty-five summers ago, a bottomless cup ran 25 cents; this year, the price is $1. The north Minneapolis congregation didn't share its recipe -- Monaghan found one in the 1954 edition of "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book" -- but Taste readers learned the secret behind making Swedish egg coffee: There really isn't a secret.
"It's basically a matter of mixing the eggs in a bowl and pouring enough mixed eggs on the coffee grounds to get them wet," wrote Monaghan. "The wet coffee grounds are boiled into a froth. When the froth goes away, the coffee is ready."
RICK NELSON
