Minnesota Roots
Minnesota Roots - A Cookbook
-200 pages
My dad raised wheat, barley, corn and sugar beets on our farmland. In the early years before I came along, he also raised pigs, cows, chickens and even a few ducks. It was hard work with seemingly unending days in late summer and fall.
From spring plant through the fall harvest Mom was the chief cook and baker. She ensured there was a hearty lunch for dad, afternoon treats to keep his energy up on those long days and dinner on the table for the family each night.
Baking on the farm was not just for special occasions, it was a daily or weekly activity with an important purpose. Cookies, bars and cakes provided extra energy for my dad for those extended days in the tractor. My mom would deliver treats to the field if it was going to be a particularly long day. On other days, my dad would swing back to the farmhouse for a much needed break - just enough time for a cup of coffee and a sweet treat.
I first learned my way around the kitchen through baking. I now realize that I was quite fortunate to learn to cook and
bake from scratch. Until I went to college, I thought that was just how everyone grew up.
Some of my friends in college baked, but when pressed for a recipe, I learned it was out of a box. Box cake definitely serves a purpose in a pinch; however, it doesn’t take that much more time to bake from scratch. If you give a recipe or two from this collection a try, I think you will agree that results are worth the minimal extra effort.
In the summer months after school was out, baking provided a creative outlet for me. I had two childhood friends from our church who lived on neighboring farms. Though they were our “neighbors,” their farms were not even close enough to visit by bicycle! Instead, we had weekly “play dates” arranged at one house or the other.
The other six days a week, I had to find ways to entertain myself in the summer. I read, went for bicycle rides, explored the woods surrounding the farm and I loved to bake.
Baking was a chemistry experiment with potential for a delicious outcome. It kept me fascinated. The dessert recipes included in this collection are just a few classic farmhouse favorites from back in the day that I loved to bake then, and still bake now. We have so many of these recipes in our family that we could have created a collection of just sweet treats and desserts!
As I grew older, baking evolved into a passion for cooking. When I became a young wife and mother to my own daughter, Megan, I adapted and developed my own style in the kitchen. My Minnesota Roots provided a foundation to expand upon. I’d like to believe that I handed this foundation down to Megan.
Megan has become a brilliant and talented home chef with a passion for gardening. Her interest in learning more about our family’s kitchen heritage was the spark of inspiration for this collaborative collection of recipes, memories and photographs. Megan is also an accomplished photographer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her talent shows through in every photo she lovingly took of the recipes in Minnesota Roots.