Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens

Batter up! You don’t have to be from the Midwest to feel like a part of the community we’re talking about today—that’s because our beloved Friday night fish fry welcomes people from around the world to sit across the table with each other at parish schools and fellowship halls, to supper clubs, taverns, and community centers to enjoy golden-fried or lightly baked fish alongside classic sides like...

On today’s show, we’re expanding on last week’s theme of incorporating personality into your kitchen as we sit down with expert designer, Carissa Trygstad, about what she’s seeing in kitchen trends and the classics, plus the revival of the scullery, and how it differs from a butler’s pantry.  From cabinets to heated countertops, Carissa covers kitchen work zones, function and organization, floatin...

We're heading into the kitchen with Wendy Doornink, the color services manager at Hirshfield’s , a family-owned paint, wallcoverings and window fashions company headquarted in Minnesota.  Wendy has been painting since she could hold a paint brush, so when Jason and I started talking about painting our kitchen and possibly even our cabinets, I knew I needed professional help. Maybe you can rela...

It’s hockey season and I live in Minnesota, the State of Hockey. And even though my kids played hockey in South Dakota where’s it’s not school-sanctioned, there’s one thing we have in common across the sport—once a hockey mom, always a hockey mom, even after our kids have shot their last puck as a high school player. We may not wear our player’s photo button on our puffy winter coats anymore, but...

We’re going back to school—to the school cafeteria, that is. And although I do ask about good ol’ square school lunch pizza, and the pairing of cinnamon rolls & chili, my guests, Karla Sawvell and Amanda Reilly are spilling the beans on how the Huron South Dakota School District is implementing Farm To School. In addition to being one of the very few public school nutrition programs that cooks...

Today we’re heading to rural Dixon, Iowa to meet Lauren Schroeder and her mom Katie on their family farm, and Lauren’s FFA advisor and ag teacher, Jenna Kingsley.  Lauren is a junior at Calamus-Wheatland High School. She shows sheep and rabbits at county fairs, plays softball and volleyball, she’s the junior class president, and somehow, Lauren, who is a three-time National FFA grant recipient and...

Since I can remember, my mom, Linda Moe, has shared dozens and dozens of delicious goodies at our family’s Christmas gatherings. Today we’re talking about most of them, like vintage treats from her mom like mashed potato candy, cherry bing bars, and fruit salad with a cooked pineapple dressing, and newer recipes she’s added over the years like Ritz cracker cookies, Corn Pops clusters, puppy chow,...

Rural South Dakota friends since kindergarten and K-mart co-workers in high school, Carissa Trygstad and Val Ellens have a bond that even Val’s dense molasses cookies can’t break.  They’re joining me today because I heard that Carissa hosts an annual ranch cracker snack mix tossing party, and to top it off, she weaves in a Christmas cookie exchange and an evening of cocktails and appetizers with t...

For Minnesota native and public relations professional Sarah Peterson, launching her own blog with family recipes helped her find her writing voice. But it didn’t take long for Sarah of  Vintage Dish and Tell  blog to expand her passion for handed-down recipes and the stories behind them by inviting others to share the cherished food and family traditions that are dear to  their  hearts.  We talke...

This episode is dedicated to thanking you , a listener of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens. Plus I share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, like sausage stuffing, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, KAHLÚA pumpkin chocolate cheesecake, cherry crunchobblerumble, and pumpkin bars with maple cream cheese frosting. I'm also sharing ways you can support this podcast and a sneak peek into a f...

Stine Aasland’s dream of creating a Nordic Waffle Wafflelution has come true, and that means we get to delight in sweet and savory, handheld, heart-shaped waffles all day long.  Stine, known as Norway’s Waffle Queen, came to America in 2015 with two suitcases, a waffle recipe, and a dream. On today’s show, Stine and Nordic Waffle’s CEO, Jeremy Ely, talk about everything from selling cozy, soft and...

Tuck a few Kleenex in your sleeve. Everyday living—the highs and lows of everyday life—is exactly what today’s show encompasses. Because whether we, or someone we love, is braving adult or youth mental health battles, our everyday lives continue around us. But how we cope with and support each other makes all the difference in the world. You might cry, laugh, cry again, and then even laugh out lou...

You may have met this week’s podcast guest Stacie Suedkamp, the owner, artist, and cookie engineer behind the South Dakota luxury cookie company, Fig Tales. But how well do you know her? Tune in to Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens S2 E5 to learn: 1. What’s the one word Stacie doesn’t allow people to use? 2. How is Stacie using high-tech engineering tools like a 3D printer and AutoCAD? 3. Why do...

Today you’ll hear from my first Michigan (the Mitten State!) guest, Alicia Wright. We cover a lot of topics in this episode—from mud water and allergen-free chocolate chip cookies, and Alicia’s favorite spots in Holland, to her motivation behind becoming a boutique vacation rental owner in Gulf Shores Alabama, to the Venezuelan arepa recipe her dad brought with him when he came to America with jus...

Danielle Herberg and her 7-year-old daughter, Carly, join me by phone at their home in Browns Valley, Minnesota.  Danielle talks about who influenced her love of baking, what happened when she and her daycare kids experimented growing seeds from a tomato, and she pulls out some of her favorite recipes from her go-to community cookbook and her grandma Ileta’s recipe box.  Plus, she gives the local...

When Gaylen Backus was in his peak popcorn growing season, he was popping out nearly half a million pounds of popcorn seed on his 350 acres of South Dakota farmland near Wentworth. He went from selling most of his crop to wholesalers, to his family popping and packaging his wife Shirley’s homemade caramel corn and selling it at farmers markets and vendor shows.  People loved it and demand exploded...

Calli and Tate Williams' love story began when they met at the South Dakota State Fair. Tate asked Calli to show his heifer. Having grown up on a farm with a small herd of cattle and a love for 4-H, she did it.  And that's all it took to begin their lives together building a family and pouring their hearts and hard work into  TW Angus , their purebred Angus seedstock operation and direct t...

After seven months and 32 episodes, Season 1 has come to an end. But not without a huge thank you to guests, listeners and supporters. What's next? Tune in to find out. Random Sweets: Website:  randomsweets.com Instagram:  @potatoesandmittens Instagram:  @randomsweets Facebook:  Random Sweets Email: staci@randomsweets.com #ourSweetMidwestLife

You are in for a sweet and sticky treat today! Joining me are Adee Honey Farms’ second and third generation family members, Marla Hoyer, and Sarah Hauge. We cover everything from the history of Adee Honey, way back to even before Richard and his brother Stanley purchased the South Dakota honey operation of about 1,000 honeybee colonies in 1957, to how they’ve grown the business to 100,000 colonies...

Many Midwestern towns host annual festivities in celebration of characteristics unique to their community—like the city celebration we’re talking about today—the 32nd annual Honey Days in Bruce,  South Dakota .  Joining me for today’s show are longtime parade emcee, Mary Bjerke, and her husband, Russ, and their daughter, Christianne Beringer. Mary shares the itinerary for the 3-day weekend of even...

I’m talking all things summer gardening with two special guests—Lynn Darnall and her daughter Sarah Alfano, owners of Medary Acres Greenhouse—a 71-year-old, third-generation business in Brookings, South Dakota. We cover a variety of topics, from basics like watering and deadheading, to the value of mulching tomato plants, how to properly cut stems so you can bring the beauty of your flowers indoor...

Today on the show, South Dakota native Sydney Andera talks about who inspired her to make homemade strawberry apricot jam, her favorite flavor of birthday cake since she doesn’t like chocolate, the meal she likes most that her mom, Michelle, makes, her Grandma Naomi’s broiled parmesan potatoes, and a barbecue joint and a doughnut shop she and her boyfriend, Sajen, enjoyed on a recent trip to Color...

On today’s Bake With Me episode, I invite you to bake along with me as I make Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Poppers. With just a few ingredients and a mini muffin tin, you can quickly make a batch of these poppers that all the peanut butter and chocolate lovers in my family like. Since we’re using a peanut butter cookie mix, all we need is the cookie pouch, the ingredients to make the cookies, peanut...

As South Dakotans love to road trip across the state, plus, hundreds of thousands of tourists vacation here throughout the summer, this episode is for anyone who wants to learn more about, and try, 26 iconic dishes and drinks that define the Mount Rushmore state. If you’re from the Midwest, you’ve probably already checked a lot of these foods off your list. And even though I’m mostly talking about...

Do the great outdoors beckon you to the campground all summer long? Today’s guest, Jenn Buse from Tyler, Minnesota, is such a seasoned camper, I knew we’d have fun talking about meals and snacks she shares with family—whether fireside folk singing, watching the sun set over Lake Poinsett, or cozied up in the camper on a rainy day.   Jenn has celebrated nearly all 49 of her birthdays at campgrounds...