Please forgive me for putting in a plug for the state I currently call home, but I just had to share. Yelp recently ranked state fairs on the quality of their food, and the Minnesota State Fair comes out on top. With over 500 food vendors, there is no shortage of choices. I'm up for all of it, especially the fried options, because there are few foods that aren't better when deep fried. And while I know I'm in the minority on this one, I do steer clear of the tub o' cookies. In my opinion, there are so many better options.

Speaking of cookies, Tuesday, August 4 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and to celebrate, many retailers and restaurants are offering deals on cookies. Chips Ahoy! is launching a limited-edition "mystery" cookie, available online at first, and on August 10, at major retailers. DoubleTree by Hilton hotels are offering free cookies to anyone who stops by the hotel (they usually only offer the cookies to guests). To celebrate, I will make my favorite recipe, the The $250 cookie [Barbara Whitaker, Neiman Marcus Cafe] from Cookies - The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat by Vaughn Vreeland and New York Times Cooking.

Would you like to make homemade pasta but are wary of having a bad experience where the dough rips and falls apart as you are cranking it through the machine? Two chefs provide their best pasta-making advice in the Kitchen aide column of The Guardian. The chefs explain the variables that might contribute to the pasta dough being 'rippy': using the wrong kind of flour, trying to roll the dough when it's cold, and not using enough egg. The last piece of advice is to have patience: you should put the dough through the machine on its thickest setting, folding the dough in half each time, at least a dozen times before attempting to roll it thinner.

Sometimes making small changes in your kitchen routine can make a big difference. That's what Taste of Home's Hayley Schueneman discovered when she shifted the time at which she started her dishwasher. Instead of running the dishes overnight and having to put them all away before she could start loading again, she now runs it immediately after dinner. That way when she wakes up, both her sink and dishwasher are ready for dirty plates and they don't pile up in the sink.

A trip down memory lane or a nightmare grocery shopping experience? Depending on your age, that's what you will find over at Chowhound. They put together a list of 14 ingredients that used to dominate the kitchens of Baby Boomers. You'll see a lot of cans and boxes on the list (think Lipton Onion Soup Mix and Campbell's soups). The house where I grew up had all of these items, but I only have two in my kitchen now (mayonnaise and powdered milk).