Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens

By: Staci Perry Mergenthal
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to Funeral Potatoes and Wool Mittens, a show for people who embrace the warm and cozy spirit of everyday living in the northern Midwest. Whether you cook, bake, or have food delivery on speed dial, everyone has a comforting recipe or story to share. We bake cookies for our kids’ hockey teams and bring cheesy hash browns to funerals. Lefse and krumkake are in our DNA. Candy bars and apples make a salad. We'll ditch work for a lake day, drive an hour for an old-fashioned bakery, and don wool mittens at 20 below and shorts once it’s 50. Tune in with Staci from Random Sweets in Minnesota. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potatoesandmittens/support
    Staci Perry Mergenthal
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Episodes
  • Frosting the Heart: For Goodness Cakes Twin Cities Chapter

    Frosting the Heart: For Goodness Cakes Twin Cities Chapter
    Sep 21 2024

    Today’s story is a reminder that not all kids have the luxury of celebrating their birthday with a fun cake, but it’s also a reminder that just one small act of kindness, and a little frosting and sprinkles, can light up a child’s special day, showing them that people care about them and they are not forgotten.

    Meet ⁠For Goodness Cakes Twin Cities⁠ co-chapter leads Carolyn McGovern and Katie Lipe, plus five sprinkle squad volunteer bakers—Audrey Hyatt, Kenzie Taylor, Tiffane Gayle, Tom McGovern, and Emily Beckmann, and Chris Bernard from Jeremiah Program and Melissa Westphal from Missions Inc.'s Home Free Shelter, two agencies served by the nonprofit.

    ⁠For Goodness Cakes⁠ is a nationwide non-profit organization that gives underprivileged youth the chance to have a birthday celebration by matching volunteers to bake special cakes just for them. To date, there are nearly 30 U.S. chapters and they have hand-delivered more than 32,000 cakes.


    For Goodness Cakes® is an officially recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.Tax ID # 81-10383832118 Wilshire Blvd #826Santa Monica, CA 90403

    ⁠⁠https://www.forgoodnesscakes.org⁠⁠

    Instagram: @forgoodnesscakestwincities

    Jeremiah Program ⁠https://jeremiahprogram.org⁠

    Home Free Shelter, Missions Inc. ⁠https://www.missionsinc.org⁠

    Lynn’s Cake, Candy & Chocolate Supplies, ⁠https://lynnscakeandcandy.com⁠

    Kenzie Taylor on Instagram ⁠⁠@kenziespastries⁠⁠

    Host, Staci Mergenthal

    ⁠RandomSweets.com⁠

    #ourSweetMidwestLife

    Website ⁠randomsweets.com⁠

    Instagram ⁠@potatoesandmittens⁠

    Instagram ⁠@randomsweets⁠

    Facebook ⁠Random Sweets⁠

    Pinterest ⁠@staciperry⁠

    Email: ⁠staci@randomsweets.com⁠

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potatoesandmittens/support
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    1 hr and 28 mins
  • Recipes, Rhubarb Muffins, Roseville Restaurants and Mississippi River Road Trips with Shannon Thomasser

    Recipes, Rhubarb Muffins, Roseville Restaurants and Mississippi River Road Trips with Shannon Thomasser
    Aug 28 2024

    This is a classic story of two Midwesterners becoming friends over a grandma's handed-down rhubarb muffin recipe.

    Growing up in New Richmond, Wisconsin, Shannon's grandmothers, aunts and mom were great Midwestern cooks. Even so, she didn't watch or pay attention to how they worked their culinary magic in the kitchen or with recipes. Her job was to set the table and clean up after dinner.

    Eventually, they rubbed off on her.

    Get the recipes, photos and links https://randomsweets.com

    What we talk about in this episode:

    • Growing up and living in Wisconsin
    • Why Shannon didn't own a pair of jeans until eighth grade
    • Entering and winning ribbons at the Pierce County Fair
    • How she organizes her recipes, especially the ones from the internet
    • Ho Ho cake, roasted spaghetti sauce, potato and ham soup, everyday sandwich bread, Jen G.'s cheesy potatoes, rhubarb muffins, and pumpkin bars
    • Is it hot dish or casserole?
    • Gardening and canning—her husband planted 800 sweetcorn seeds this year
    • She's not really a crazy chicken lady
    • Cocktails and maple syrup
    • Where to eat the best coney dogs in St. Paul
    • Roseville, Minnesota restaurant and bakery recommendations from bread and pastries to Mexican and Vietnamese
    • Day trip itineraries along the Mississippi River highways in Wisconsin

    Shannon lives on an acreage near Prescott, Wisconsin and works just across the Mississippi River in Minnesota as the Director of Sales at ⁠Visit Roseville⁠.

    Connect with Shannon:

    Instagram: @shanphotos17

    Email: sthomasser@visitroseville.com

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonthomasser/

    Staci Mergenthal

    RandomSweets.com

    #ourSweetMidwestLife

    Website randomsweets.com

    Instagram @potatoesandmittens

    Instagram @randomsweets

    Facebook Random Sweets

    Pinterest @staciperry

    Email: staci@randomsweets.com

    --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potatoesandmittens/support
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Fresh Pickings with Jan Sanderson of Sanderson Gardens

    Fresh Pickings with Jan Sanderson of Sanderson Gardens
    Jul 23 2024
    He had a self-checkout long before Walmart and Target and he still updates his telephone hotline with garden patch conditions and produce availability. Just call 605-693-4871. Meet Sanderson Gardens owner Jan Sanderson, the Rhubarb King and developer of the Sanderson Red rhubarb variety. A visit to Sanderson Gardens on the I-29 corridor just four miles east of Brookings, South Dakota, can mean a quick stop for a pail of strawberries, or hours long in the pumpkin patch letting the kids find the perfect jack-o-lantern and play on the playgrounds, taking fall family photos and enjoying a picnic in the cool fall air. For nearly five decades, generations of families have come to Sanderson Gardens for asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, raspberries, aronia berries, pumpkins and more. It's a mostly U-pick commercial garden, but they try to make some pre-picked produce available in the mornings. We talk about how technology has changed the way he gets the word out about what's available and how you can best pick/harvest strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus, raspberries, pumpkins, and aronia berries. Sanderson Gardens supplies fruit to a handful of local wineries and rhubarb roots and horseradish to most seed catalog companies in the country, like Gurney's Seed and Nursery. You'll learn what Jan's dad and an experimental rhubarb patch being plowed up at South Dakota State University had to do with the beginning of Sanderson Gardens. He also shares an interesting story about how he expanded his rhubarb crop in a way that people in a 3-state area had a hand in—in what is now one of the largest rhubarb patches (5-6 acres) in the Midwest. Jan is a three-time state champion high school wrestler who earned a full-ride scholarship to University of Iowa. He was coached by NCAA national champion, world gold medalist and Olympic gold medalist, Dan Gable. Jan was a team co-captain and a two-time all-American and two-time Big Ten individual champion. After graduating, he went on to coach wrestling and teach special education in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. So why did Mr. Sanderson trade the wrestling mat and his classroom to run his own South Dakota, mostly U-pick, commercial gardens 47 years ago? You’re about to find out. Learn more about Sanderson Gardens on their ⁠website⁠ and follow them on Facebook. I also posted a rhubarb custard pie recipe from Jan and photos on ⁠randomsweets.com⁠. Jan Sanderson, Owner, Sanderson Gardens, 47657 US Highway 14, Aurora SD, 57002 ⁠https://sandersongardens.com⁠ Hotline: 605-693-4871 Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/SandersonGardens⁠ “The Johnson Family” story that Jan wrote: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/share/p/VMEpzBU5JcU86rFp/⁠ Facebook Video of the tiny stalk on rhubarb: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Cekkea4DREDTcozP/⁠ Facebook video of Jan picking rhubarb: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/share/v/sQaoCJBiyxrEXhwQ/⁠ Facebook video of Jan’s brother Dell picking asparagus: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/share/v/Tz9cQMotrAg9v8kC/⁠ #ag #agriculture #garden #gardening #farmer #farmtotable #produce #vegetablegarden #rural #ruralSD #midwest #oursweetmidwestlife #podcast #foodpodcast #southdakota #midwestAg Staci Mergenthal, Host ⁠RandomSweets.com⁠ #ourSweetMidwestLife Website ⁠randomsweets.com⁠ Instagram ⁠@potatoesandmittens⁠ Instagram ⁠@randomsweets⁠ Facebook ⁠Random Sweets⁠ Pinterest ⁠@staciperry⁠ Email: ⁠staci@randomsweets.com⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/potatoesandmittens/support
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    1 hr and 37 mins
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Profile Image for Elizabeth M.

AWESOME SAUCE!!

very educational and interesting, keeps you wanting more. Host is knowledgeable and uses enthusiasm to keep you on the edge of your seat.

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