Transcript

MN90 Intro: Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds. 1979, Martha Rossini Olson pitched an idea for a vendor booth to the Minnesota State Fair. What about soft serve frozen yogurt? This lower-calorie ice cream alternative was all the rage in the health-conscious late ‘70s, when people were squeezing into short shorts or matching track suits and learning to love jogging and pumping iron at the gym. But, nope, the State Fair passed on her idea. It already had a frozen yogurt vendor. Bummer. But Martha put in another pitch and that one was a go. Only trouble was she and her partners only had three weeks until the fair opened. Their idea? Chocolate chip cookies. Martha sampled several recipes, took the best ideas and came up with a soft, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth cookie served in a paper cone. It became the food hit of that year’s fair. Sweet Martha’s Cookies, now also served in an overflowing bucket, has become the fair’s biggest selling vendor and a Minnesota summertime tradition. MN90 Outro: MN90 is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at mn90.org.