Dishing with Stephanie's Dish

Latest Episodes:

Jeremy Messersmith Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

Jeremy Messersmith, an indie pop folk singer-songwriter, joins us this week on Dishing with Stephanie's Dish. Known for his quirky style and engaging performances, Jeremy shares insights from his musical journey and his newfound passion for baking during the pandemic.Get Tickets for the Show and Listen to Fox Coyote by Jeremy Messersmith on SpotifyORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT FOLOWSStephanie Hansen (00:00.728)Hello everybody and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to cool people in the food space. They can be in any spaces. I’m here today with, as my friend Sarah calls you, my boy band crush, Jeremy Messersmith. You are my first musician on the program, friend.Jeremy Messersmith (00:21.41)Well, it’s good to good to be here.Stephanie Hansen (00:21.544)I’m trying to describe you - I mean people would say you’re like an indie pop folk singer songwriter, perhaps.Jeremy Messersmith (00:35.436)Yeah, I think that’s fair. it I describe myself as you I’m basically just another white guy with an acoustic guitar, is mostly what I do. I think what I end up writing to me just seems like very normal songs, but people do describe it as a quirky, let’s say. Yeah, yeah.Stephanie Hansen (00:51.85)Yeah. There is kind of a and I hope you take this as a compliment. There is sort of like a a little bit of a Ben Folds vibe. ButJeremy Messersmith (01:02.526)yeah. I yeah, I I definitely take that. Yeah, I take that as a as a high compliment. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (01:09.066)The first time I think I became aware of you was probably at a New Standards holiday show. And it might have been, well, I honestly, it could have been like 15 years ago that was the first time. And you came out, and since then you’ve appeared many times, sometimes with the ukulele, sometimes just singing fantastical, crazy songs.Jeremy Messersmith (01:16.718)Yeah.Jeremy Messersmith (01:37.175)Yeah. Yeah. That’s true. The New Standards have been quite generous over the years in letting me crash their their holiday show and sometimes it’s a song that I pitch for them and sometimes they want me to to come in and sing a song and I I try to we generally try to shake it up and do something that’s f fairly funny and provocative maybe at the same time.Stephanie Hansen (01:59.584)Well, and I have to say you have also blown up in my mind in the food space a little bit here because you seem to like have made a decision about something. And tell me if you think I’m right. I feel like, okay, COVID was just a hellish time, right? And particularly horrible for musicians because you couldn’t be out on the road doing what you do.And I think it’s fair to say most musicians that tour at all were just going crazy. And you all seem to have like created some self-discovery through the social media channels. And those social media channels for a lot of musicians are like a blessing and a curse at the same time because you need them to sell records. But also many musicians are actually kind of can be introverted and a little quirky and.So putting yourself out there in that way feels so weird. But I feel like I don’t know, like in the last year, have you made a concerted effort to just like throw caution to the wind and get out there?Jeremy Messersmith (03:11.146)Yes, yes I have. And it’s mostly just because I have a a new record out, released in in April. It’s called Fox Coyote and I just play I play all kinds of little games with myself and I realize that Part of my job as a musician, if I care about my my art, my craft, is I need to just go where people are. And that’s something I’ve always tried to do in my career. And if that is social media, then so be it. I will I will pop on there. And so back in April I I had a little challenge with myself and it was I’m going to make like, you know, an Instagram reel every day for like a month or something. And then if if I do that, then I’m gonna go take myself out to eat at a very nice restaurant.You know, like that was my little reward to myself. And it was challenging because, you know, how much of yourself do you really want to share with people? And I found that what was most comfortable to me was usually things based around kind of projects. either, here’s what I was thinking, putting together an outfit for today. And it’s just stuff I would be doing anyway, but just like sharing it with folks. And a lot of that ended up being baking, which is something that started back during the pandemic for me, really. I I’ve always done a little bit of cooking and and been handy around the kitchen, but but during the pandemic we all had kind of different stabs at at sanity, let’s say. And I s for me it was I started baking my way through Sarah Kiefer’s book One Hundred Cookies, and I just baked cookies and I made little videos for for all of them andHad a great time doing that. And it made me very, very popular with my neighbors because I was baking more cookies than any one person could could reasonably eat. And it was just a very fun, fun project. And I’ve still kind of continued it to this day. I still I don’t do them as often, but I usually do a bake about once a week, maybe maybe twice a week, sometimes depending on the audience, and yeah, have a great time.Stephanie Hansen (05:08.938)It’s also Sarah Kiefer was one of the first guests on my show, Taste Buds, in the first year. And I love to tell this story because we went to her house. And, you know, Sarah is extremely successful, but also kind of shy. And we went to record at her house. And we were in this really cool mid-century modern kitchen. And she had pink appliances and Everything was so decked out. And then at some point she was like, I have to get something across the street. And I was like, wait a second, is this a stunt house? And indeed, it is. She has like a whole baking studio. They bought a house. Her her father-in-law lives in the first level. So I mean it’sJeremy Messersmith (05:48.078)Ha ha ha ha ha ha!Jeremy Messersmith (06:01.518)Okay. Yeah, yeah.Stephanie Hansen (06:03.208)A multi generational situation, but I was like, this is the most amazing thing ever. She has a stunthouse.Jeremy Messersmith (06:08.929)God. I love that. I love that. That is that is fantastic. I did not know that. I’ve not seen the stunthouse. I’ve not seen it.Stephanie Hansen (06:17.536)It’s pretty cool. And her books, I mean, the whole banging of the pan really hard for chocolate chip cookies. I feel like we’ve now long since attributed it to Sarah. She was one of the first pan bangers. And just her technique is really delicious with cookies. Where I saw youJeremy Messersmith (06:29.655)Yeah. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (06:38.164)was you were involved with my friend Stephanie March, my radio partner. She did a fundraising event for her salt cure fund and you made lemon bars. Tell me about your lemon bars.Sure. well I went on a bit of a lemon bar quest because you know, it was me contributing some bars to this fundraiser, but you know, I’mI’m just a musician guy. Like I don’t I’m not I’m not a professional chef. I’ve never written a cookbook. I’ve never even developed a recipe. So but I do like to be fairly diligent in what I sign up to do. So I knew I wanted to do lemon bars because they’re just my favorite. They’re just in any time of year. Just a lemon bar is is great. And so I had about I th I wanna say a couple months or six weeks before I had to bake the bars. So I just made so many lemon bars and I combed the internet for recipes for lemon bars and triedjust about every kind of lemon bar that I could get my hands on before I kinda kind of found what to me what I want in a lemon bar, which is like one with that’s got like kind of a like a nice kind of custard like on the like, you know, it’s a little gooey. And I want it to be s so tart and tingly that I can I can barely eat it. You know? Like I want I want all of that. So I I think one of my favorites was was yeah bare barefoot Contessa I ended up loving.The in a garden recipe is is probably close to one of my faves, but there are a bunch of other ones too, and now it’s turned into a thing where something I’ve also done for a lot of years is I play a lot of house shows, backyard shows, and porch, porch concerts, and I would say about 70 to 70 80 percent of them are also potlucks because I am as my manager says, I’m very food.Focused or food oriented. It’s like unless unless there are like snacks there, I’m not really interested in going to whatever event there is. It’s really, it’s really embarrassing. It’s kind of shameful to admit, but that’s like the first thing I’m like, yeah, there’s people just probably cool. Let’s go look at the spread. let’s go, you know, let’s get some food. and so people have started to bring all sorts of lemon bars to the shows, whichI feel like I’m just running a huge scam. Basically, I show up to play some songs and people just arrive with with just cookies and lemon bars and I’m like, This I yeah, I I have no complaints as to the trajectory of my life. It’s been it’s been a really great summer, this one especially.Stephanie Hansen (09:14.942)It’s so great. okay, more reasons why I know you’re my person. Because Ina Garten is the one that you leveled up on and you sat sat there. She tests her recipes like 30 times for each recipe, and then she gives them to another group of recipe testers. You know, I am sadly as a Midwest home cook, also not a chef. I mean, if I can get a recipe made twice.before I’m on to the next one because I’m just sort of like a squirrel with, you know, mental things going through my brain all the time and I’m producing so much content. She’s just like, she’s the master. also you mentioned that when you did your TikToks or your excuse me, your reels, we’ll not call them TikToks, every day for March, that you were going to treat yourself at a nice restaurant. I want to know where you went.Jeremy Messersmith (10:38.291)well, I I have a I have a favorite and I just I just god I got I just got goosebumps thinking about it because I I like the place so much. And it’s funny because I’ve only been there I think twice. And so it’s like I have to kind of save it for special things. But it’s but it’s of course Muriel over in over in St. Paul, which is if you don’t know it, is like it’s like the bestStephanie Hansen (10:27.51)Sure.Jeremy Messersmith (10:38.291)home cooked food that you’ll that you’ll have. It’s like done very well in not a pretentious way and lots of little touches like you’re kind of eating off of these very kind of like grandma ish plates and things and I just I just love it and it’s so cute and and cozy and yeah yeah that’s my that’s my spotStephanie Hansen (10:58.356)It’s you’re also my person because of that, Jeremy, because I have said for probably the last five years, I feel like she was one of the most underrated chefs that we had in the Twin Cities because she’s very regular, she’s very unassuming, she’s got that Midwestern ethos of just kind of doing the work and not necessarily talking about it as much. But when you eat her pie, I mean, and when she talks to you aboutJeremy Messersmith (11:19.447)Yes. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (11:28.108)Dassel Cokato and all the makers there and the, you know, hand picked juniper berries that, you know, she knows from Farmer Jeff and then goes into a whole screed about Farmer Jeff and it it’s like there’s just nothing like it. And I’m so glad that people are starting to see her as a real talent, but also she’s getting some James Beard recognition and people are just really excited about her. So yes.that is on my list of fancy fun places.Jeremy Messersmith (12:01.983)It’s just it’s a wonderful place and she’s also a great watercolor artist as well. I had a fri had a friend go to a a watercolor class that she was teaching there and I almost went and then I was very glad I didn’t when I saw like just the level that everyone was already at. I’m terrible at visual arts, so I like, I’m so glad I did not go to this. So glad. yeah.Stephanie Hansen (12:21.298)I’m trying to become a tea towel embroiderer, and I’ve taken a couple of classes, and it’s just not going well. You know, there’s just things that you want to do, but maybe you’re not great at. I also have this vision that I need to be discovering and throwing pottery so that I can make my own dishes for the show. So I asked a potter friend, and I was like, so like.I don’t know if I signed up for like four classes. Do you think I could get good enough to make dishes for my show? And he was like, Well, if you’re an expert in the field, sure. He was like, Yeah, you’re he’s like, you’re better off just paying a potter to meet with you and make the dishes you want than thinking you’re gonna do it yourself.Jeremy Messersmith (13:09.706)Yeah. it is very fun. And I am a big proponent of really any art that you have an interest in doing, you should do because n not everything needs to be good. Like art is also part of how it changes us and especially pottery, which I I love and I’m terrible at. Terrible. But you know, you don’t even need a wheel. You can just do like pinch pots and they are just so gratifying. And something else I did during the pandemic was making pinch pots, one a pinch pot every day.just to kind of help me, you know, make sense of the time and what was going on. And that was also very, very fun. And then I I I actually I fired a bunch of it and then I threw a a terrible pottery party and then made everyone leave with a piece of my just horrific ceramic work, which was is still still very fun. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (13:57.325)This is great and a lemon bar probably.Jeremy Messersmith (14:00.427)Yeah. I I hadn’t gone on to the l I hadn’t discovered my lemon bar journey yet, but but they certainly left with some cookies for sure.Stephanie Hansen (14:07.98)You know what I love about you is outside of your musical artistry, obviously, and I I am still coming around to this idea that what I probably am is an entrepreneur and a creator. Cause I’ve had a number of businesses. I this is like my sixth career being in food. And I’m sensing kind of I’m hearing some of these vibes from you too about likeThere’s this creativity that’s in you that you have to get out and it comes out in all these weird ways. And I was I’m always a little bit embarrassed about it. It’s like, cause I don’t see myself as really good at anything. I’m just trying lots of things and just kind of crazy and weird and fun. That does that like describe what it feels like to be a musician?Jeremy Messersmith (14:56.01)Yeah, I I think it does. Most musicians that I know, it it’s not like this is our, you know, one thing. Like we you know, we do all kinds of creative work and music is just one part of it. I was just watching an interview where David Bowie was talking about how he did not think of himself as a particularly original thinker.But he was a great synthesizer of like other people’s ideas and things. So I think musicians or at least songwriters, like we’re you know you’re creating something from nothing and to do that you kinda have toTap into whatever you know kind of woo-woo collective unconsciousness thing you have where creativity comes from. And of course that can express itself in many forms. Of course, the most fun thing too is when you are doing something that feels like work, maybe you’re even writing a song that feels a little like work, and then then all of your little side hustles become way more fun to do. And all of a sudden it’s like, now I’m doing this absolutely you know illicit thing I should not be doing by making a pinch pot instead of writing asong this morning and that feels great. So I think for a lot of us and I I wouldn’t speak for for you or for anyone else, but at least for me, the the ADHD runs fairly strong and I try to just embrace it wherever I can I can follow it.Stephanie Hansen (16:15.102)my husband’s a writer and I write cookbooks and the publishing i…

Full show notes at the publisher

Crafting Cocktails and Connection with Emily Vikre Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Stephanie Hansen chats with Emily Vikre, owner of Vikre Distillery and author of the new book Cabin Cocktails. Emily shares insights into her journey as a cookbook writer and distiller.The Art of Cocktail CreationEmily’s fourth book, Cabin Cocktails, features 70 seasonal cocktails, including mocktails, that celebrate the beauty of outdoor experiences. She reflects on how intuitive cooking differs from the precision required in cocktail making:“I do find cooking recipes hard to write down for me. Especially because as a cook, I’m very intuitive... I go by those sensory inputs.”Emily emphasizes that while cooking can be forgiving, cocktails require strict adherence to measurements for the best results. “Cocktails can be very unforgiving if you don’t have a good recipe and if you don’t follow it,” she explains.Sense of PlaceThe conversation moves into the heart of what makes Vikre Distillery unique: the water sourced from Lake Superior. Emily discusses how this element influences the flavor and character of her spirits on this week’s “Dishing With Stephanie’s Dish” Podcast.Stephanie Hansen (00:01.038)Hello everybody and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. And today I am here with Emily Vikre. And she is the owner of Vikre Distillery up in Duluth and also makes a whole host of beautiful, beautiful spirits. I’m a big fan. But Emily also is a cookbook writer. And in her case, she has written this is your fourth book, isn’t it?Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Emily (00:31.574)Yes, it is. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (00:33.814)Okay, four books and four cookbooks in particular is pretty amazing. This last book is called Cabin Cocktails, and it has 70 seasonal cocktails for year-round drinks, and there’s mocktails too, I want to point out, because a lot of people are looking for mocktail options. I’m curious, you’ve had so many books. So you I’m just gonna kind of go through your canon here. You have Camp Cocktails, which was a great book and isEmily (00:47.984)Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.Emily (00:59.738)Yeah. Mm-hmm.Stephanie Hansen (01:04.03)still sold all over. It’s usually a lot of places where the True North Cabin cookbook is. We’re right next to each other, which yeah, I love. And then Cabin Cocktails, which is the new book. Then you have On the Trail, which was a new camp cookbook about easy-to-pack meals, kind of more about like taking your family actually camping and how to orchestrate that. And that book was great. And then you have another book called Fireside Warmers that had drinks.Emily (01:09.166)Yes, right. All those outdoorsy places.Emily (01:24.988)Mm. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (01:33.354)Sweets. So you’ve done both cocktails, and you’ve done food books. Is one easier for you than the other?Emily (01:38.811)Yes. Ooh, that’s a great question. both things are things that I think cut like kind of come naturally to me to talk about, to storytell about, to develop recipes for. So in that way, one isn’t necessarily harder than the other. But I will say I do find like cooking recipes hard to write down for me.Especially because as a cook, I’m very like intuitive in my cooking. And when I’m cooking for myself or my family, I don’t measure anything, I don’t time anything. I go by those like sensory inputs. And so it’s hard then when you’re writing a cookbook to really slow yourself down and say, okay, how much did I use here? Check my time, how long did that go for? Give it to other people to test it. and because myCookbooks right now have really been more about outdoor cooking and camping cooking, which isn’t even like the bulk of the cooking I do, but it is something that I enjoy. There is a whole part where you have to give that sensory feedback anyway, because everybody’s fires fires a little bit wild. So you have to learn to work with it. and then conversely for cocktails, I treat it much more like baking, where very precise. I’m measuring everything and so what those ones I have like the recipes kind of already dialed and written in a format that works for a cookbook already more easily. and this most recent book, yeah, just flowed.Stephanie Hansen (03:11.414)It’s funny that your your description of this whole thing is the exact reason why I have a hard time writing cocktails. Cause I feel like it’s so much easier to write a recipe than and you get like, you know, different flavor profiles and you knowEmily (03:20.228)Mm-hmm, interesting.Stephanie Hansen (03:32.042)salt to taste, like okay. But like with cocktails, the level of sweet, the level of acid, the level of sour, the level of bitter feels so much more precise, just like baking to me.Emily (03:43.109)Yes, right. Cocktails can be very unforgiving if you don’t have if you haven’t developed a good recipe and if you don’t follow the recipe for sure. And you know, when people ask like, why didn’t my cocktail turn out? I’m like, well, first question, did you measure? Did you actually shake it when it’s had to shake it? you know, can you can wiggle and you can riff, but but it is. It’s like because cocktail ingredients often are complex.And very multifaceted in and of themselves already. And those are the ingredients I love to work with, but they they are the ones where a little change can make a big difference. I tell people it’s like trying to combine a curry, a stew, and a salad instead of trying to combine a meat, a vegetable, and a spice.Stephanie Hansen (04:27.904)Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And also, I mean, you are, I think, for sure, from a Minnesota standpoint, I think your gins are world class. And I’m a big fan of all of your profile of gins in the Minnesota realm. But also I think your gins stand up to a lot of gins made in America, but also in Europe.And you’re welcome. I I really I’m a big fan. But when you mix different gins, there’s also different flavor profiles. So if you’re gonna make a gin and tonic with, you know, any number of gins, it’s gonna be so different.Emily (04:57.948)Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that is a hard thing to think about when you’re writing a cocktail book for sure. And where you just kind of have to accept that there will be some variability if somebody’s gonna use Tankere or Hendrix or Vikra or The Botanist or Grey Whale, it’s going to be a little bit different. And like our Vikra gins are creative djinns, but I made all of them with the idea and the goal of being a true djinn at theirSo they can work in any recipe that calls for gin and it will go with the other flavors and the proportions there, which can’t be said for all creative gins for sure. but yeah, it is, it is a thing to take into consideration. And in this book, Cavan Cocktails, where it was very much pulling from you know, European cocktail traditions and opera ski and aperitivo hour and things like that.There’s a lot of liqueurs and pairitifs and amari that have very distinct flavor profiles. And so some of these recipes call very specifically for this type of amara or that type of liqueur. And then other ones I say, like you can use any herbal liqueur amongst these, because they all, you know, they’re all unique, but they all play the same violin. Maybe they have the same moves on the dance floor, even though they have their individual style.Stephanie Hansen (06:34.959)That’s a cool way to say that. one of the things I liked about this book, well, all of your books I think really have a sense of place to them, which I really like in a cookbook. It is, I think, what makes your books really appeal to me. But also the way that you position this book is more about.like what the experience is, where you are, what you might be doing, what you might be feeling. And that really does speak to, I think, how you drink and consume alcohol, like what that setting is.Emily (07:15.951)Yeah, right. I think that is you know, h having started a distillery but coming from health, I’m always thinking about like what are the potential unhealthy parts of the culture and then what are the really healthy, beautiful parts of drinking culture that have existed, you know, since humans lived together, and how can we really elevate and highlight those? And so much of that is togetherness andactivities with other people and celebratory rituals and that kind of ritualized thoughtful side of it. And so yeah, this book is very much based around that. Like you’re yeah, you just were skiing all day and you’re coming in to toast to a day on the slopes or you have been out paddling all day and you’re coming back to sit on your dock together. What is the right cocktail for that moment?Stephanie Hansen (08:07.245)I think too when you drink with people that are very much interested in cocktail culture, and I I want to make the distinction between drinking culture and cocktail culture because I think l cocktail friends of mine, and I would put you in that circle, all are thinking about cocktails in the way that a chef is thinking about his meal at his restaurant. You’re thinking about how they’re gonna approach it.when it’s going to be served, what the equipment that are you know, it’s so different than drinking culture, which is just like here, let me hand you something to drink.Emily (08:46.781)Mm-hmm. Yeah, right. It’s kind of yeah, it’s exactly like that, a chef thinking about it. And I think about it sometimes too, about like that difference between going and eating an entire box of like Chips Ahoy cookies for your sugar versus like eating one beautifully, you know, naturally leavened salted butter croissant that somebody spent, you know, 48 hours working on. it it’s yeah.It’s just different.Stephanie Hansen (09:18.071)As someone that owns a distillery and has seen the we’ll call it the sort of rise and then leveling off of alcohol consumption and producing products in the state of Minnesota in that vein. Are you feeling like we’ve kind of gotten to a level that maybe is where we’re gonna be for a while? Because everybody was really excited about all the Minnesota make made distillery products.There was a lot. Now we’re sort of losing some breweries. We’re losing some distillers. And it seems to be settling in. Is that good for you for business?Emily (09:56.338)That’s a great question. I was literally thinking about this in the car today when I was going and picking my kids up from school. Because yeah, I think as in a lot of industries, when like the laws changed and it allowed the industry to open up, there was a big rush into it. you know, anything that becomes trendy is of course gonna see a spike and then a decrease. And I do think generally that’s healthy and has allowed those of us whowent into it from a perspective of like, I’m really here for the creativity, for the quality of the product. I’m not doing it just because it’s local, but also because we want to make something really world class and that really adds to the conversation and people’s experience. you know, it those are the players that continue and stand out versus people who are chasing a trend or but it is also really hard because it does favor people like businessThat were started up really well capitalized from outside investors versus the small players, you know, those of us who are operating really independently, it becomes much harder. and there’s also so many things going on, like on a national scale with regards to imports and exports, with regards to consolidation in distribution changes in different states that privilege certain states over others.That are maybe even bigger players in what’s happening in Minnesota than just how crowded it got. I think that part’s really hard because it negatively impacts Minnesota businesses in ways that people can’t necessarily see if they’re not in the industry. and so that’s challenging. But I do think, you know, there’s comp competition isn’t a bad thing. It’s important. But then also there are like unfair unfair parts of it too. And so it’s important for people to keep.Supporting the small businesses, but it’s also true, like nobody should be required to buy something just because it’s local. You wanna enjoy it too.Stephanie Hansen (11:58.85)Yeah. Is being from Duluth a help or a hindrance for you in how the products come to market?Emily (12:07.741)Well, that’s a deep question, Stephanie. because I would say both. Both because you know, Duluth has a reputation as a great place. It is a unique, beautiful, amazing place and has amazing resources. It’s why we wanted to be here. and it it has these like good associations for people that in some ways make our marketing easier and make the selling easier, makes it easier to stand out.At the same time, we are kind of out state. We’re outside of the more metropolitan hubs where a lot of the resources are or where the distribution is, where you know, it’s hard to get down to like sell into the restaurants and things like that as often. So that is hard. And yeah, so it kind of it kind of goes both ways.Stephanie Hansen (13:00.385)You when when we were together last, I think something you said that has just stuck with me that I never really thought about. But you know, Duluth is on, you know, gorgeous Lake Superior, right? And we don’t think about water probably as often as we should, and maybe we’re thinking about water more now. But you made a comment about the terroir of Lake Superior water and how that impacts your product. AndEmily (13:28.283)Yeah, I think it’s critical.Stephanie Hansen (13:30.507)It was such a cool way to think about it. Can you just talk to me a little bit and help the reader understand and the listener understand why that’s important to you and why that sense of place?Emily (13:43.29)Mm-hmm. this is another thing that’s very multifaceted, right? Because this the sense of place to me is important on a spiritual level because Lake Superior is such a massive presence that orients all of life around it when you’re in Duluth. So there’s that. It is like such a massive source of inspiration, but it also is a critical ingredient. We use it in our fermentation process, and that is why so many breweries inCropped up in Duluth, the water is really great for fermenting. But then when we are distilling, ironically, we’re removing all of that water and creating a distilled spear. When you distill, even for something that winds up being 35-45 proof, you’re distilling it up to, you know, 96% to 98% alcohol, potentially. So then when you are bringing it back to the proof that you want it for the bottle, you are adding water.into it and that water can add a huge amount of character to your spirits. And so you know, some places use reverse osmosis to get the most like completely empty for lack of a better word, water they can. Other places like us just use filtration to try to keep more of the character of the water. And that adds the water that you use adds a lot of the flavor and texture to the final product.And kind of gives it, yeah, some core essence. And there was a really interesting study done. Did I tell you about this? With whiskey from some Scotch whiskey and some Japanese whiskey. They decided to try to study the impacts of the proofing water by having the Scotch distillery send their distillate to Japan, to the Japanese distillery, and the Japanese distillery sent their whiskey distillate to Scotland, and they used each other’s water to proof it down.And suddenly this Japanese whiskey really tasted like it came from Scotland and the Scottish whiskey really tasted like it came from Japan because the water gave it that tear water.Stephanie Hansen (15:46.896)I think about that when I buy your product because I think about you and like your family, and obviously I want to support Minnesota makers, but I also think about like this beautiful resource and this unique place that only can be gotten by the wate…

Full show notes at the publisher

Lisa Steele Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

Lisa Steele, author of 'In Season' and known for her expertise in eggs from her Blog, and first cookbook of the same name Fresh Eggs Daily, and farm-to-table cooking, shares her journey from chicken farming to cookbook author. She discusses her creative process, the challenges of social media, and her upcoming baking book, offering insights for aspiring food creators.Stephanie Hansen (00:00.718)Hello, everybody. Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where I talk to cool people in the food space. I’ve been expanding my repertoire, but I got a cookbook that came across my desk earlier in the season. It is called In Season. It’s by Lisa Steele. She’s the founder of Fresh Eggs Daily. And this is Lisa’s second book. The first book that she has is really all about eggs. Because if you know Lisa, she is a chicken farmer.But she is so much more than that. Lisa, this new book "In Season”, 125 sweet and savory recipes, is gorgeous. Congratulations.Lisa Steele l (00:37.886)thank you. Yeah, it it is a really pretty book. I mean, I know the most important part is that the recipes are delicious, but you know, we do all eat with our eyes. And I feel like if someone’s in a bookstore flipping through the book, you know, they’re just gonna be like, I wanna make that, I wanna make that, that looks so good. I mean, it’s just so because it’s vegetables and fruits and berries, you know. So it was easy to make it like bright and vibrant. You know, my first book, All Eggs, it can get a little dull, you know, eggs are kind of tough to photograph sometimes.Hmm.Stephanie Hansen (01:08.138)Your first book though, okay, so every season I spend a bit good portion of the summer at my cabin. And your book came with me to the cabin this summer because there’s so much to do with eggs and I do a lot of entertaining there. So there’s a lot of brunch ideas. So I use that book a lot.Lisa Steele l (02:19.71)Good. And I mean the second book does have a whole egg chapter. So anyone who does love eggs, I managed to slide in, you know, like a bunch of deviled egg recipes and, you know, some baked dishes that I feel like are, you know, kind of like casseroles that are really good for entertaining, or like you said, if you’re, you know, somewhere that you have a limited, you know, cooking space or whatever. So there are still egg recipes for those people that love eggs.Stephanie Hansen (01:55.47)Can we talk about like obviously after you got done with the first book, y you had more to say and more to say that wasn’t just eggs? I loved that you expanded your repertoire because obviously you’re a cook. you know how to make and put together a book and put dishes together. What was it that kept propelling you forward, or were you just like, I’m gonna stay on this cookbook jag?Lisa Steele l (02:19.71)yeah. So after the first book came out, I mean it was it was brand new. Like you said, I was in the chicken world. I was writing books about raising chickens. I was giving talks about raising chickens and you know, COVID came along and my publisher wanted me to write another chicken book. And I had written like almost a book a year for like six years. And I said to him, I don’t really have anything more to say about chickens. Like I have a blog with a ton of information. I just couldn’t get excited about it, you know. And so I said, I really want to write a cookbook. Like it’s COVID. I feel like this might be the end of the world. You know, I wanna likeCheck things off my bucket list. And he did he wasn’t interested. He he said, No, you’ve got your lane. This is what you do. This is what you do. Well, you need to do it. But he very graciously let me out of my contract. you know, you know, as a cookbook author, you they have like first write a refusal, right? And you’ve got like whatever. He let me out of my contract, wished me well. and I hired an agent and pitched, you know, the egg cookbook to him. He loved it. Jill kind of was so gracious to share with me her agent. and yeah, he loved the idea of an egg cookbook. And he said, you know, it’s the next natural step for you. You know, you’ve got all these people that raise chickens and have a ton of eggs. Let’s do this cookbook. Plus, people who don’t have chickens, you know, so it’s just widening your your universe kind of. so he loved it, got right on board, and it was so much fun. you know.People say cookbooks are hard to write and it wasn’t easy and it took a long time, you know, two years, right? Start to finish pretty much. but I found it so much easier than writing like a nonfiction chicken book because each recipe is like its own little capsule. You know, you’ve got your your title, you’ve got your head notes, you’ve got your recipe and your photo, and then you move on. And like writing a nonfiction book.There’s got to be chapters and there’s got to be paragraphs and you can’t do all run-on sentences and it has to flow. And I I just found the whole cookbook process in my mind was so much easier to like wrap my head around, you know. yeah, and I loved it so much. And the book really, for someone who wasn’t in the food world at all and didn’t know anybody and nobody knew me, it really did well. And so, you know, I did get a second book deal and now I’m working on my third cookbook actually. So I was thrilled becauseJust to kind of leave that chicken world behind, although I still have my foot in it. I’ve had a couple offers to sell my blog. And I’m like, I don’t know. You know, that’s kind of like my bread and butter still. So I I’m still holding on to that part of it. but the food world is so fun. I’ve had so much fun.Stephanie Hansen (04:55.276)So you the first book is egg specific. This second book in season is 125 recipes with eggs, but there are other recipes too, a lot of them. How long did this book take?Lisa Steele l (05:09.813)Yeah, vegetables and berries and stuff. so it’s been four years since my first book. But for the first two years, like every week, I was bugging my agent. I was like, I want to write another cookbook. Let’s write another cookbook. And he said, You can’t. You gotta like get some traction, you gotta get some sales, you know. We can pitch one now, but you’re not gonna get as good deal as if you have like a track record. We gotta give it some time, right? So that was like the first two years. And then I just kept bugging and I was like, you know what? I’m just gonna start writing another egg cookbook.so I I started doing that. I just started creating recipes and testing them and putting them in my little files and stuff. And then finally, you know, they said, okay, we can pitch another book. And I said, okay, great. I’m like, you know, halfway done. And they said, no, no, not another egg cookbook. Like sequels don’t usually do well, whether it’s movies, books, whatever it is. you can’t write another egg cookbook. So I was like, what the heck am I gonna do? Right. So they they suggested farm to table. And I said, I hate that.that was cool like maybe 20 years ago, but it’s like so overdone. Like I just hate that phrase, like the farm to table. Cause I was like, technically everything is farm to table unless you’re growing vegetables in a lab, right? Or meat in a lab, whatever. So I was like, I hate that, but that’s what they pitched and that what was was bought. So me being me, I was like, well I’m just gonna do what I want to do anyway. So I just kept continuing on. I got the whole egg chapter in there. and then okay.You hire professionals because they know what they’re doing. And in the end, I am so glad that they pushed me in that direction because it opened up, like obviously I don’t just cook eggs at home, right? You know, so I was like, well, what else do I make? I make sandwiches, I make soups, I make, you know, so I kind of like went through my files and thought about what I ate as a kid. And like it was so freeing not to like have every recipe have to have eggs in it, you know. So Ihad a lot more fun with it than I thought it would. Like once I started really embracing it and being like, okay, I have to use different ingredients, you know, it was a lot of fun.Stephanie Hansen (07:13.866)As you go into the third book now, are you kind of moving away from egg specifics and what is your third book’s theme? Have you thought of it?So the the my next book is coming out next September. So once I finished my second book, I said, I don’t want to wait another four years. Like we got to keep the ball rolling, we got to keep the momentum going. And they said, Yeah, now you have a track record, you have whatever. So they almost pitched the next book as soon as I finished my second book. So it’s coming out next September, like in a year. so it is done, it is almost on its way to the printer, like working on the cover, like we’re in that part of it. I mean, I spent the last year and a half, pretty much that was my focus. It is a baking book. so going in kind of a completely different direction, there are a lot of eggs in baking, you know, so kind of I guess, you know, you could say for people who have eggs, it’s a great but I was really excited because at heart I’m a baker. I was an accountant.And I think that baking, because it’s so precise and there’s measurements and ratios and numbers and you follow instructions, like for my accounting mind, baking makes so much more sense. And I I just really love to bake. Like I find it really relaxing because I feel like cooking is like being in a jazz band. You know, they’re just like, okay, now you and you’re like, like throw in some of this, some of that. Like I don’t know what I’m doing, you know, whatever.Stephanie Hansen (08:35.723)Yes, yes.Lisa Steele l (08:55.487)But baking is like, okay, like this is a classical piece. Like this is your part and this is what you do every time. And I just find that so relaxing and calming. So I had a blast and it it’s a lot of family recipes. It’s a lot of history. It’s it’s the most personal book to me because it really is going back to like, you know, recipes that I grew up with and, you know, all that kind of stuff. So yep.Stephanie Hansen (09:21.462)I can’t wait for that. you are so interesting to me. Like hearing you describe the baking versus the improvisation of just general cooking. I this is why I really don’t like baking because it’s too regimented for me. I’m kind of a shortcutter. I’m like, well, I don’t have dill today, but I have basil, so let’s just throw that in. And for me, that basil.Baking like gives me just hives because I’m like, it’s so precise. There’s only this box, and I can’t fit in that box.Lisa Steele l (09:51.58)Well, it’s just it’s funny too because I am. I mean, asked my husband. He was in the Navy. He is like the disciplined, regimented one. I am like a total free spirit when it comes to life. I fly by the seat of my pants. I don’t really make plans. Like a brand will come to me and say, Hey, can you fit us into your like posting calendar? I’m like, What calendar? I don’t have a calendar. Or like I just whatever, you know, I wing it. I basically wing life. But I think that’s why baking is so calming for me because it is a place where I don’tlike have to be like all chaotic and crazy. And, you know, I just follow the instructions, which is is good for me. But yeah, it doesn’t appeal to everyone. yeah, and people so many people don’t understand you can’t just like make shortcuts. Like, yes, in a soup, if you don’t have potatoes, you can use sweet potatoes or a salad. If you don’t have pecans, use, you know, walnuts or whatever. but in baking, like like if you don’t have like, you know, brown sugar, you can’t just go adding honey or likeCan’t just make up your own rules, you know.Stephanie Hansen (10:54.232)Can we talk a little bit about reinvention? Because I feel like it’s maybe I don’t want to be impolite, but you are a woman of a certain age, as am I. And I feel really interested in your transition here because you have really created this whole other life that going from accounting you probably didn’t see coming.Lisa Steele l (11:20.649)No, not at all. But I have to say accounting is probably the most boring profession in the world. and I I don’t know what I was thinking, because I am very much a free spirit, you know. So to go to school for accounting, but again, I think it was like a safe space. You know, I was like, I understand what accounting is and what it does. And so, you know, it it kind of like grounded me a little bit. but yeah, great. I mean, accounting, and I worked on Wall Street in the 80s, which was probably the most like exciting type of accounting you could do.But even still, I said, you know, I don’t want to work in a cubicle like my whole life. That just wasn’t me. But now because I do have a brand and a business, I am so thrilled I have an accounting background. Because you like I I I mean, I keep balance sheets and, you know, cost of good soul. And like I I know, you know, profit margins and, you know, finances. And I mean, I don’t do my own taxes anymore. I used to, but you know, I have an accountant now. Cause again, professionals, you know, I don’t have time to keep up with likeall the latest tax codes and stuff. But accounting is a great like I would suggest for everybody, like anyone who wants to be an influencer or creator or do anything entrepreneurial, at least take a basic accounting class. Like if not in college at like a local community college or in high school, like learn the basis of accounting because it’s just it’s so important for so many aspects of life.Stephanie Hansen (12:45.826)That’s a great piece of advice. when we think about being creators, you know, you have to be good at lots of things. So you are good at writing, you are good at recipe development, are you as good at social media? Are you good at video? Are you thinking about expanding your YouTube channel? Substack. Can you walk me through like some of your silos and how you’re getting joy from them and what your strategy?Is or if it’s just all free flowing.Lisa Steele l (13:17.301)Yeah, there is not a ton of strategy. I do have to say I don’t consider myself an influencer. Like I get email constantly from brands, you know, we want to send you our product and we want you to hold it up and talk for 15 seconds and we’ll give you 10% for this code. No, absolutely not. I don’t do that. I’m not an influencer. No desire to work for affiliate income or product. You know, when I started out in 2012, it was so much easier because brands would just put a banner at the bottom of my blog and pay me.Like it was basically passive income. And that was the majority of my income was just put a banner at the bottom of the blog. And now social media has made it so labor intensive. Like I think if I worried about the algorithms of all the platforms and what I was supposed to be doing and how I was supposed to be doing it and when, I think the burnout has got to be insane. Especially for the people who aren’t aren’t earning that much money. You know, I mean, if you’re earning a ton of money, then fine, hire somebody to do it. But likeI it it just I can’t I can’t spend my whole day trying to figure out what Instagram wants or what Facebook wants. Like I was lucky enough to get in early that I have a huge following, but the engagement is terrible. Like the the platforms are saturated and that’s kind of why writing books appealed to me because I want to reach people outside of social media. Like I don’t it’s just too much for me. It’s just too loud and too noisy, and I do it because I have to. If it imploded tomorrow.I would be thrilled, you know. I d I do YouTube, I don’t do as much as I should. I have videos on there from like ages ago and that. And I’ve kind of thought about that. but really it doesn’t, it doesn’t really excite me. I mean, I’m bored with my social media. I probably shouldn’t say that, but I’m bored with it. So how can everyone e…

Full show notes at the publisher

Minnesota State Fair Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

The Minnesota State Fair is more than a 12-day event - it is a full-on lifestyle choice for 12 days, and Alex Lodner knows exactly how to make the most of it. Sunday’s with Stephanie this week will feature my full State Fair Guide with picks, tops and tricks for making the most of the next 12 days at the Minnesota State Fair.Upgrade my subscription now so I don’t miss the State Fair Guide.My goal with this newsletter is to help you discover new recipes and share things I am obsessed with. I also like to create short essays about what I am thinking about from time to time. It’s like the miscellaneous drawer in my kitchen: a little bit of everything, some dribs and drabs—recipes, essays, helpful ideas, occasional interviews, restaurant suggestions, and more.What will I get as a free subscriber?As a free subscriber, you’ll receive a newsletter in your inbox every week on Wednesday with a free recipe. You will be the first to knowabout any new classes or live cooking events I’m teaching, podcast episodes I’m releasing, etc.What else would I get if I paid to subscribe?Great question! First and foremost, you’ll get mygratitude (I appreciate your support!!). I am a freelance creator, which means I work for everyone but no one full-time, so I pay all my own healthcare, buy my own groceries for recipes and shows, and fund my own podcast.You will also get the Sunday Subscriber email in your inbox each week. You will have access to the entire archive of posts, plus exclusive content like extra recipes only for Subscribers (there are 65 currently like this Corn Shrmp and Basil Risotto perfect for Summer), and access to Stephanie’s Dish chat. .This chat lets you join the conversation, comment on posts, and engage with other people and me in the Sunday Subscriber community. I also link all my Taste Buds Episodes, Podcasts and appearance clips on the Jason Show so if you are into what I do - its all here posted each week. Subscribing is $8/month or $60/year.Whether you are a first-time visitor trying not to waste a single bite or a seasoned fairgoer looking to level up your annual plan, this episode will help you experience the fair like an insider. Perfect for anyone counting down to the fair, food lovers chasing the best bites, and Minnesota locals who want to make the most of every precious day on the grounds. Alex reveals the must-try new foods on her list, the classics she returns to every year, and the hidden gems that still make the fair feel magical even after decades of visits. You’ll discover:* Why Tuesday and Wednesday are the smartest fair days for shorter lines* How to approach the new foods list before the most popular items get swarmed* The off-the-beaten-path favorites Alex never skips* Where to find the cleanest bathrooms, quietest rest spots, and easiest shortcuts* Which fair traditions are still worth your time, from the parade to the llama spectacle to the church dining hallsOriginal Episode TranscriptStephanie Hansen (00:00.724)Hello everybody and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to cool people in the food space. And today I’m talking to my friend Alex Lodner. And Alex is someone that I feel like I owe a public thank you to. She would fill in on my radio show a lot in the times when I started going to the cabin quite a bit more and started the garden.And I have become friends with Alex over the years. And Alex is also someone that whenever we think of the Minnesota State Fair, she is someone that comes to mind. She’s a fair aficionado. She really has done a lot to help with the fair foundation. And I just am loving to geek out with a fellow friend that loves the Minnesota State Fair. Thanks to coming on the program, Alex.Alex Lodner (00:37.55)Okay, I’ll take that.Anytime, of course. My favorite subject. You knew that. You knew that when you got me.Stephanie Hansen (00:53.756)I did. I did. So let’s talk a little bit about your love of the fair and how it all started.Alex Lodner (01:01.5)yeah, so you know, the fair is kind of a crazy thing, right? It’s this insane time for twelve days. I always say that I suspend my entire personality during those twelve days because I don’t like crowds, I don’t like fried foods, barn animals, you know, all those things are not something that I normally r seek out. And it just those twelve days are just magic. You just lean in and if you do it right, I think it’s a it’s aan amazing experience. I hear a lot from people who are who go once a year with their, you know, family of five and they they can’t understand why I go an average of eight times. And I always tell them it’s a completely different experience. When you go multiple times, you’re not trying to fit everything into one day. You find your secret rest spots. You find your favorite foods that are maybe a little bit off the beaten path. We always had our sec secret little spaces where we put our blanket down and let the toddler run around andSo it’s a very different experience when you go multiple times.Stephanie Hansen (02:02.629)Yeah, I think so too. There was a couple of years where Steph, my radio partner on Weekly Dish and I recorded a podcast and we would meet out there every day and record the podcast. We got a lot of cool behind-the-scenes stories, and just the pace feels different. The fair is like it’s like a mini city that happens for 12 days in our state. The rest of the state, believe it or not, sort of comes to a silent pause.It has its own police force, it has mm people that sleep out there for weeks. It really is just like this weird microcosm of something that only happens once a year in our state, and it’s actually pretty joyful.Alex Lodner (02:48.458)Exactly. And I used to live a mile away. And so when when my daughter was little, there would be a little parade of strollers of us going back and forth from the fair. We’d go back to the house for a nap. We go back to the fair. And so it really again, when you’re right there, it’s a very different experience. And the only thing I would say is do not try to go to the Target Roseville during the twelve days of the fair. It empties out, there’s no produce.But other than that, it’s just it was always so fun to live in that neighborhood. You’re you’re just in the thick of it. It’s it’s really it’s quite a high.Stephanie Hansen (03:24.741)Yeah, yeah. When we think about the fare, one thing that people talk about a lot and I feel like I just want to address up front is expense, particularly in a year where people aren’t feeling flush with cash. it is an expense. It is an expense to go with your family of four or five. Tickets are, I think, $20 unless you’ve bought them in advance.Alex Lodner (03:47.392)At the door, yeah. Mm-hmm.Stephanie Hansen (03:49.002)And you know, food is gonna be expensive because we’ve seen food costs go up 33% in the last two years. There is a large minimum wage in our state. So yeah, it isn’t necessarily a value proposition. There are good values to be had and there are deals to be had. The blue ribbon book is probably the best thing to do.Alex Lodner (04:12.226)Fantastic deal. Mm-hmm.Stephanie Hansen (04:14.811)you get like a lot of discounts. There’s two for ones and just going on the right days. Like if you’re going on senior day or kids’ day. So without not I don’t want to lay belabor the costs of the fair because I don’t it ruins the experience, but it is a thing.Alex Lodner (04:29.88)But it’s a thing. It’s a definite it’s a definite factor. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. And again, I say we used to go every day. I understand that that’s not an easy task for most. It’s because we live so close. There’s the cost of parking, there’s a cost of just driving there from Elk River or wherever you’re coming from. I have talked to the marketing department off and on in the years about doing a a punch card or a a passport of some sort, but it’s just never really gone through.Stephanie Hansen (04:58.801)Yeah, it’s a great idea. Cause I think it feels like since COVID, the fair has become even more wild because people couldn’t go for the COVID times. And so now it’s like people realize what a treasure it is and they don’t want to miss it. When you plan your state fair, and are you planning yours already for this year?Alex Lodner (05:24.59)Did you really just ask me that? I’m offended. I’m offended. Yes, I’m planning the state fair this year. Well, so here’s a side note. I’ve actually, other than covering the fair for I don’t know, almost 20 years, I’ve also worked off and on for some vendors there. And this year I’m working for a vendor there. It’ll she’ll go unnamed, but I’m working for a vendor there. A friend of mine owns a a new vendor. So I’m going to be there.Stephanie Hansen (05:25.937)I’m just asking.Yeah.Alex Lodner (05:55.519)Seven shifts, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I will, I will. Yes.Stephanie Hansen (05:57.519)gosh, I can’t wait. Okay, you’ll have to tell me off air because I’ll make sure to pop by and see you. I over the years, so once we stopped doing the podcast I started doing the garden. And unfortunately for me, garden season in Ely is the end of August and the first week of September. So I basically front-load all my fair experiences. I’ll be out there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And then I’ll leave Monday evening and head up to Ely. And then that’s sort of the end of my fair time and I start harvesting everything.But I do love kind of having it in that condensed window too, because I get all the early excitement.Alex Lodner (06:37.614)You do. And yeah, you go during the busy days, don’t you? Tuesday and Wednesday are the quietest days. And one of my tips is always to go on a Tuesday and Wednesday, regardless of what deals you get. You’re just gonna have the shorter lines. It’s just not as stressful. But yeah, I I would I do all the things. I go throughout the whole thing. I don’t go on weekends. That’s kind of I believe I have weekend shifts, but I’ll go work and get out.We do not go as patrons during the weekend. That’s we leave that for people who can’t go during the week.Stephanie Hansen (07:13.404)Yes, I think in the restaurant business we would call that the amateurs. I know, because it doesn’t sound very nice and sound sort of elite. Yep. Okay, so day one, you’re heading to the state fair, day one, and you’re there for not reporting, not work, you’re just there for fun. What are like some of your top things to do?Alex Lodner (07:18.528)I was gonna say we call it amateur hour, but I was not going to say that but you did. We always call it nope, that’s amateur hour. Yeah, yeah.That you like to do on day one.Yeah. Such a good question. Last year was my first year as a regular folk going to the state fair on day one. And actually Smart and I talked about that. Like this is just so weird. She she did do her her report, but it’s just very strange to not have the new list and to not make sure you get everything in. I think on day one, I still do try andgo for the new things that I have circled. So you know, the official foods and the non-official foods, if people know that there are some new foods that didn’t make the official cut, but they’re just as exciting, sometimes even better. And I do make sure that I hit those. And the reason that I do that is because once all of our colleagues have reviewed everything, it blows up. And so an example of that is the Amish donuts, Peach’s Amish donuts.We when was that? Twenty twenty-three, I believe was their first year. And all of us rated at number one. So we go as a group. So I go with I went for MSP with Steph, March and you know, Minmo goes and strip goes. And we all including Jason Mathis and we all rated at our number one or in their top three. Well then now you know the lines are an hour long. And so I’m not saying we’re so powerful, but if you can if you candecide what you want to try out of the official and new foods and hit those on day one before the reporters get there and before we release our reviews. That’s your only chance of really getting away from those long lines. We went up to the pizza, to the pickle pizza. We were there when the first year we were there, we walked right up to the to the counter and day two history. Mm-hmm.Stephanie Hansen (09:31.165)Yeah. Now it’s hard. I went, well, I have 14 new fair foods lined up for Jason to try on day one. And then day two, I have 14 beverage things, non-alcoholic and alcoholic things. And we try to really load them up for the first two days so that, you know, he is part of that queue of of influencers, as it were, of people thatAnd I have to say I’ve done a really good job of anticipating, not only because I have to think about like what he’s gonna like, but which ones are gonna hit.Alex Lodner (10:03.427)Which ones will hit?And you do you only use the official foods? Official new foods? Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (10:09.896)I do, I do. And I know that there are a lot of great foods that come out that are on the new but not official food list. Cause each vendor has new items that they’re introducing every year and not all of them make them to the new list. but I try to, I mean, we only have X amount of time, so I try to just load them up with as much as I can. Are thereAlex Lodner (10:30.105)Fourteen is a lot. Uhhuh.Stephanie Hansen (10:31.708)Yeah, I think so. I mean of the I think there were thirty-six new, so we’re getting at least a third of them in one day. are there things on the new list that will you’re excited to try?Alex Lodner (10:35.905)Yes. I actually have it written down because there’s so many of them. So I like the I tend to no I notice when I look at all the new foods that I liked best over the years that I go for the more refreshing things. So I won’t necessarily I rarely go for the heartier, heavier things, although we’ll talk about that in a second. But the mango sticky rice refresher at Chan’s Eatery. Do you know where Chanse Eatery is? It’s it’s in the north end, and not to be confused, there’sAlex Lodner (11:13.561)Chan’s chicken and a stick in the South. Different, different vendor. So they have that. I think it’s like gonna be a drink, but it almost looks like tapioca pudding situation, but with sticky rice. Really excited about that. the the it’s on days two. Yes, so you’re looking at as a drink. Yeah. The strawberry sundae tart with Ube at Sarah’s tipsies. Sarah’s tipsies pies is one of my I always have foods that I repeat.Alex Lodner (11:43.192)I try not to repeat foods ‘cause there’s so many, but I have a handful that I repeat and that’s always her pies. Usually I do her lemon lemon blueberry. But I’m gonna try the strawberry tart with ube. Ube is, you know, that’s the hot thing. It’s been for a while.Stephanie Hansen (11:58.739)It’s very ubiquitous in TikTok land. It’s the purple sweet potato ingredient.Alex Lodner (12:04.191)Ube or Pondan, which is the green. and then the the banana butterscotch barn razor at Farmers Union. Farmers Union can do no wrong in my eyes. Every they just hit out of the park every time. So really excited about trying that. And it’s strange because these are all sweet things, which is not normally my thing, but Greater Tater, which is is it a new vendor this year? Or it might have been last year.They’re sort of blowing up on on the socials as well. And they’re over by the animal barns and I’m curious to try them too. We tr no, we tried it two years ago. It was there’s the really big tater tots and they were d yeah, and they were delicious. Not really my thing normally, butStephanie Hansen (12:45.054)The square ones. And that booth, too, they have a child that has special needs. And yeah. Yeah, he’s great. And they do a good job of employing kids with special needs. So outside of the fact that the taters are good, really good, you know, you have this whole heartwarming story piece that I always like.Yeah, he’s very popular on socials right now. He’s adorable. I pretty much just want to meet…

Full show notes at the publisher

Potluck Kitchenware in Ely Minnesota Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

Kelsey Lee, owner of Potluck Kitchenware Store in Ely, Minnesota, shares how her business navigated the challenges of wildfires, the unique culinary traditions of the Northwoods, and the importance of community and learning. Discover her insights on store curation, local culture, and must-have kitchen tools.A few items mentioned in the Podcast available at POTLUCKPierogi Love and The Elements of BakingVisit Ely, Minnesota for fun things to do year-round! Whether you are looking for a place to stay, a delicious meal, a hiking trail, or an immersion experience, we have businesses ready to meet your needs.Original Transcript Follows:Stephanie Hansen (00:01.176)Hello everybody, welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. And today I’m with Kelsey Lee. She is the owner of Potluck Kitchenware Store. And Potluck is in Ely, Minnesota, which is my second home. And I’ve been doing a little mini-series to help people get familiar with some of the businesses that have been impacted by the wildfires this summer. The wildfires, as we currently stand, are in a high form of containment.Smoke in the town has been virtually non existent and people are coming back to Ely, but it has been a dramatic turn in what was looking to be a great summer. Welcome to the program, Kelsey.Kelsey Lee (00:41.088)Thank you so much for having me on.Stephanie Hansen (00:44.2)What does it feel like when, you know, you’re starting out on your summer and July fourth has just happened and something that you couldn’t have predicted as a business owner, like a wildfire comes into town?Kelsey Lee (00:50.389)it feels like such a jolt and especially with wildfire there’s a there’s this sense of kind of unknown danger known but unknown danger and i this was the first summer of wildfires that were quite close to town during my time of owning the business the last time we had any a wildfire anywhere near potluck or elite largeI was an employee of Potluck. I wasn’t the owner. So I was making, I was sort of executing on decisions as opposed to making them myself. So, you know, your first thought is about air quality and evacuation zones and all of that. And then sort of secondarily you wonder if it means the end of the season. And for me this year, that was an especially weighty question because what I’ve seen over the last couple of years is that our what whatis commonly known as our summer season, actually extends quite far into the fall. I’ve seen growing sales numbers in September and October over the last couple of years. And so you really don’t want to see your season kind of come to a close when really it’s like just getting started. But I’m really happy to say that what I’ve seen is very much to the contrary. This so two weekends ago on what would have been our blueberry art festivalI saw huge numbers of people in town. I had amazing sales. I’ve talked to other business owners who had a similar experience. So it feels like our kind of recurring visitors and also our seasonal residents have really rallied to support Ely. and I personally am just so grateful for all of the messaging around Ely is open for business, like conditions here are safe, we welcome you, we encourage you to do your Christmas shopping. all of thatfor in my case and the case of many of the retailers I’ve spoken to has just been incredibly successful.Stephanie Hansen (02:59.584)It’s kind of funny because I am a person that does a reverse commute. I my husband lives in Ely in the summer and I usually head there on Saturday in the afternoon and come home on like a Monday or a Tuesday. And the air quality in the Twin Cities has actually been worse than in Ely. So it’s it’s been a kind of a strange summer.How hard is it? So you have a great selection of cookbooks. You really do a great job of curating. You’ve got all the cast iron things that one would expect at a kitchen store in the Northwoods, but you’ve also got beautiful dishware, some small appliances, all the cute funny towels and napkins and cocktail and entertaining things that you might use at the cabin. How do you curate the store?With such a big percentage of folks being summer residents, does it change?Think it’s a really interesting challenge. I actually love doing the buying for the store. I do it all myself because my market really exists as like three segments. And over the years of working here and then being an owner-operator, I’ve really gotten to know those segments by their general characteristics, but also individuals, right? So I’m getting feedback and product requests and things all the time. and so I think of my customer market as being comprised of seasonal residents. So people who come up for the summer, like you you have a s you have a second home, you have a second kitchen, you’re hosting, you’re cooking, you are really looking for anything you would be looking for at your main home in your kitchen, right? So like I’m I’m stocking a lot of the supplies that series cooks and bakers need on a regular basis. And then my second market are what I would say what I would call are are kind of like pass-through visitors orAre guests of the seasonal residents. So these people, they’re looking for souvenirs, they’re looking for hostess gifts. For those folks, the size and weight of items is very, very important. People are looking for something to tuck into their luggage, or they’re looking for like a last-minute gadget or something to use on a boundary waters trip. So that’s maybe the most varied kind of use case scenario in that second group.and then my third segment are my year-round residents. and their needs vary quite a bit as well. they comprise just a huge percentage of my holiday market, which has been great that we’ve brought in more holiday specific things, both decor, but really mainly all of the specialty holiday baking over the last few years. and the local market has just grown and grown as I’ve learned what people are making. and what they need in the kitchen around that time of year.Stephanie Hansen (05:55.673)What do you find are people making? Is it different than what you expected? Like are you, you know, is it bunt pans and cast iron or is it sourdough accessories andKelsey Lee (06:09.55)Yeah, huge. I sell huge numbers of Benettons and LOMS and proofing containers and all of that for sourdough. Sourdough is big year-round, I think is really exciting to say. but what I find most exciting is that especially around the holidays, the cultural culinary traditions of this area really come alive. So people are asking for things for lefsa orSandbuckles or I’m sure I didn’t say that quite right. or petitsa, of course. and so it’s fun to try to as I’m accommodating those requests, learn about which families have which culinary heritage, you know, and over time you sort of learn like, yes, this family, they make leftsa on Black Friday or the Saturday or whatever. So we really have a surprisingrange of not only wants, but really needs, you know, because many people in this area are making all of their bread from scratch. They’re making all of their yogurt. They are participating in, you know, a CSA or they’re taking like a butchering class at the folk school. And so the needs really vary, which just makes it exciting from a buying standpoint.Stephanie Hansen (07:24.78)I’ve been going to Ely for 35 years. and I can say that the culinary world there has expanded and changed, with the folk school certainly offering more classes, but also I think during COVID, a whole new type of person moved into Ely, younger folks, more families.I have seen a lot more people coming from either coasts and coming for the water, the nature, and just the lovely changing of the seasons in Ely. Has that changed things for you or made it more interesting?Kelsey Lee (08:03.153)Yes, much more interesting.And over the last year I’ve really solidified a partnership with the folk school in terms of not only sponsoring all of their nourishment program areas, but just increased communication with them about upcoming cooking classes. and this last spring we collaborated on a pie dough making workshop at one of the like spring women’s retreats at YMCA Camp du Nord up here. so I II see the folk school as being really a critical kind of partner for people, for me to grow awareness of my business, but also as far as preserving and sharing the culinary traditions of this area.Stephanie Hansen (08:52.471)The director of the folk school, Lucy, is my daughter’s WIDJI sister. They went on a a long camping adventure together and have been friends ever since, you know, when you are in the Arctic for 30 some days with someone, you really form a bond. And it’s been fun to watch Lucy and that folk school grow. And also the Duluth folk school is also growing. So just getting that awareness of, you know, that there’s a lot of things to do in the North Woods, even if you’re not a paddler necessarily.Kelsey Lee (09:23.896)Yes. Yes, absolutely. And I see the folk school as being like, you know, if if you’re gonna connect with one touch point for activities and and even community events in the Northwoods, I think the folk school is it. Absolutely. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (09:38.325)It’s interesting too. You know, I’m part of the pickleball club in Ely that’s fairly new. There’s also the folk school. There are a ton of events that are happening through Ely Connect, which is geared more towards new residents. I really am impressed and excited about the future of Ely just for myself as I spend more time there. And maybe, you know, at some point I’llI don’t know, am I ever gonna retire? Probably not, but the ideas in my mind that I could and that there is a place that has such a rich learning path is really kind of fun.Kelsey Lee (10:11.699)Yes. my friends and collaborators at Boundary Waters Connect do a bunch of things. They connect with perspective and new residents. They host the Tuesday group series in town and theyvery accurately characterize Ely as a super curious community. This is a place where people are very skilled. They’re sometimes quiet about the skills that they hold. But if you show genuine interest, people are more than happy to share with you the skills that they have acquired on their own, skills they learned through their family. It’s a place that is very fertile ground for non-competitive and intergenerational learning, which is really beautiful.Stephanie Hansen (11:03.747)There’s also a lot of diverse political beliefs in Ely that seem to exist side by side in a way that I’ve never seen anywhere else. You have people that have very intense passions about the boundary waters and wanting to prevent mining from going into the boundary waters. And then you also have a very robust community of people that believe that the prosperity of the town historically and potentially in the future is based on mining. And these two things seem to be able to coexist in this really small town of mutual respect and understanding for the most part. it it makes I think Ely so unique in that, you know, you could go and learn how to build a birch bark canoe next to someone that might be completely different than you ideologically.But yet also your neighbor. And I love that that is how this community is fostering growth in learning and growth in how the town is growing. Are you have you experienced that as new people have come in?Kelsey Lee (12:10.818)Yes, absolutely. and I think that comes from it feels a little a little like old-fashioned neighborliness, which can sometimes swing in sort of a gossipy direction when we think about, you know, that small town living. And there’s always gonna be an element of that there. But really it comes in my experience, the respect and tolerance comes from a deep understanding that we all need each other.Because of where we live, because of the seasonality of our economy, because our winters and even our summers can be very harsh in certain ways. we have a reliance on our neighbors. And we need those relationships, you know, to look out for not only ourselves but also our community. yeah.Stephanie Hansen (13:00.373)Yeah. I you do get that sense of, you know, like I’ve been there w in the wintertime when, you know, you get a foot and a half of snow and you need your neighbor to plow you out and you’re standing at the end of the driveway as someone comes by with a plow and you’re like, Hey, can you help me out? Or your car gets stranded orKelsey Lee (13:17.949)Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And people are more than willing to help. It is this is the first place I have lived with that kind ofthat kind of neighborliness and it is I’ll be honest it can be a little foreign and a little like suspicious at first. so a story I like to tell is when my husband and I moved to Ely as we were and I don’t know how this came about at all. To this day I have no idea. But I have a lovely neighbor named Alana. She somehow found out not onlythe day that we were arriving, like moving into our house, but also roughly the time that we were arriving. And as we pulled into our garage, she was standing in the yard with the neighbor from the other side and they were there ready to greet us. and if you’re moving from a big city or you’ve never experienced that before, it feels really odd and it feels like people are surveilling you or you’re you know whatever. but really it comes from that kind of old fashioned spirit of like we want to welcome you, we want to know who you are, because we want to immediately have this sort of neighborly relationship with you. so that that stories like that prevail all over town.Stephanie Hansen (14:40.599)Yeah, I would agree with that. All right. So since you’re the kitchen expert, I have to ask you some kitchenware things. could you tell me three things that you’re excited about in the store for cooks?Kelsey Lee (14:55.008)Yes, absolutely. I actually have I have a little cart here of products that I really want to show. so the first and this one is geared a little towards people who like are in a cabin, are on the go, you know, s have are space limited in their house. I’m really proud to say that as of a couple of months ago, Potla Kitchenware is a retailer for Vitamix, which is a fantastic brand, of course.This is their five-speed immersion blender. What I love about this is this will blend ice for you. This will do anything that a normal blender will do. It’s not just for soups, it’s not just for mashed potatoes. this is a workhorse in the kitchen and it it weighs quite a bit for an immersion blender, but it takes up virtually no room compared to your standard kind of countertop blender. so the the larger point I want to make with this is that.to get the power that you need, you don’t always need the appliance with the biggest footprint. Especially when you’re when you’re looking at a quality brand like Vitamix. So this one I love. Absolutely, yes. And that’s part of my something I’m managing always is either somebody is in one of the many houses in Ely with teeny tiny kitchens or they’re in a cabin or they’re in a travel trailer or whatever. So space is always at a premium for my customers here at the store. Yeah, and in a small space.Stephanie Hansen (16:21.251)Right, so that’s a great recommendation. I didn’t even know they had an immersion blender.Kelsey Lee (16:24.988)It’s fantastic. Yes, yes, yes. another thing that I love is this, which is a really odd. This is an odd looking thing. this is one of many high-functioning, colorful, bizarre looking tools from a company called Dream Farm. They are based in Australia. They are next level when it comes to the functionality of kitchen tools.They all have weird names and they all look really weird, but they’re fantastic. So this is their chopping spatula. The flexibility here is wonderful. This is what you want to use to get under eggs, under pancakes. it’s designed to sit on the counter like this, so it’s never gonna g…

Full show notes at the publisher

Dishing With @StephaniesDish Jul 31, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, host Stephanie Hansen speaks with Jordyn Stocks from Paragis Outfitters Bookstore about the impact of recent wildfires on the Ely community, the role of the bookstore in supporting local culture, and the hidden gems of Ely. They discuss the diverse offerings of the bookstore, including popular book recommendations and the importance of community support during challenging times.Visit Ely, Minnesota for fun things to do year-round! Whether you are looking for a place to stay, a delicious meal, a hiking trail, or an immersion experience, we have businesses ready to meet your needs.Stephanie Hansen (00:00.824)Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space, but I also talk to other people too. And I’ve been doing a little mini-series here for VisitElyMN.com to help you get to know some of the cool Ely businesses. Ely is my second home. It is the place where I wrote the True North Cabin cookbook, and it’s very near and dear to my heart. And you may have heard that theyHave experienced some wildfires in the Boundary Waters Canoe area and around that area this summer. As of this recording, I think the fires are about 40 to 50% contained. Some of the evacuation areas have been lifted. And the town has just really done a great job of keeping people informed and safe. And I’m here today with Jordan Stocks. She is from Piragis Outfitters.And she particularly runs the bookstore that opened gosh, it was last summer already, wasn’t it, Jordyn?Jordyn Stocks (00:59.77)Yes, yeah. So in the new space, we’ve been there since last May, but the bookstore itself has been around in some version for over 20 years now. So it’sStephanie Hansen (01:11.286)So what happened is is there was in the Piragis store, there was the bookstore on the second level, and they used to have another building down the street that they did some surplus kind of sales, and they’ve merged a lot of that together inside this building. And then you guys have paddle boards and canoes also across the street. Piragis sort of owns this corner that has a lot of fun stuff going on in Ely andI know that with the boundary waters permits being canceled and just opening up more recently to daytime. And I imagine we’ll get some more areas that’ll open up here as the summer progresses. Has it been a hard time for you guys at the store?Jordyn Stocks (01:54.437)It’s it’s yeah, it’s been a little bit different. It’s been a little quieter as you can imagine, in outfitting particularly without having the boundary waters open. We’ve definitely seen some slowdown in traffic there.Stephanie Hansen (02:07.315)And when you think about the bookstore, yeah. WhatJordyn Stocks (02:11.732)Yeah, the bookstore and the store have maintained like we’ve still been busy. We’ve still seen traffic. you know, not as busy as it would normally be. Blueberry festival would have been this weekend, as you know. that didn’t happen. But yeah, overall it’s still been we’re hanging in there. It’s still been still been a good weekend, but yeah, quieter.Stephanie Hansen (02:35.286)It’s a good example of how smart it is for businesses to kind of silo to. Like, you know, you start with one thing that maybe is your core competency, but then to support the business through non-trip times, you know, you’ve got the clothing store and then you add the bookstore, which is kind of a year-round service business for the town in and of itself. It’s cool to have so many different facets. And I know you guys sell online too and have a pretty big online following.Jordyn Stocks (02:43.473)Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it it it does help that we have a few different things going on with the the clothing and the gifts and the gear and the books and the online presence. So that is that’s been nice to have all of that going on. And we’ve definitely seen an uptick in in online sales and phone sales. So we’re still shipping things out all over the country. We’re still selling things to, you know, fire crews that are here, local folks that are out and about.People coming up for their cabins. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (03:37.612)What is your history with Paragas and how did you get started and land in the bookstore component?Jordyn Stocks (03:41.76)well I’ve been here. This is my third no 14th summer here. So I started out just kind of part-time evening shifts in the retail store. And then the bookstore manager at the time, she was she was moving on to I think she was going back home to Chicago or somewhere. So I was excited about the prospect of working with the books and here I am.Thirteen years later. Stephanie Hansen (04:13.856)And you are an Ely resident. Are there some features about Ely in particular or locations that you feel are like hidden gems?Jordyn Stocks (04:23.909)Yeah, so I was actually born and raised here. So I don’t know, growing up I kind of kind of probably took a lot of it for granted, but now you know seeing it with fresh eyes, I guess through people who were coming here for the first time and you know coming here repeatedly year after year. one of one of my favorite things is the the Ely Witten Historical Society. They have this cute little museum in the Vermillion Community College.It’s it’s free, they just feel like goodwill donations, it’s self guided. But there’s a lot of really interesting historical things there. They have a lot of a lot of books that were written by local folks about history and like very specific history, like the Birdside River or Winton and the lumber industry. So that’s pretty fun local history. I love the sedan mine. It’s it’s open now for underground tours again, which I’m excited to do this summer. I haven’t goneYears. Yeah, we just went.Stephanie Hansen (05:19.384)I’m trying to think.I did go to the Sedan Underground mine tour. It’s super cool. I think I went, gosh, probably when I first started coming to Ely. So maybe, you know, like gosh, 20 years ago, but it was so cool to be taken underground and through the mine system. And you went with a original miner. So they would talk about like what their day was like. That seems like a uniqueaspect of being in northeast Minnesota because mining was such a pillar of what was happening here at the time. And just like being underground and the constant temperature, that was one of the highlights of one of the things I’ve done in town.Jordyn Stocks (06:04.049)Yeah, yeah, it’s a it’s a very cool experience. I’d highly recommend doing that. but yeah, other than that, we’ve got a lot of great hiking trails, places to canoe and paddle and swim and do all those things. Berry picking. there’s always something to do. We’ve got a great yeah, we’ve got a great you know, local art scene with the theater and art shows, we’ve got the movie theater.It’s just a lot of fun stuff to do, always always something.Stephanie Hansen (06:38.12)Absolutely. And I know you guys for such a smallish town, your bookstore has like a big footprint. You guys have sold a ton of the True North Cabin cookbooks for me, so thank you. Also, the Moon Tav the Moon Tavern.Jordyn Stocks (06:49.271)Yeah. Yeah, of course. Thanks for coming and Yeah. Yeah, the the new one’s been popular.Stephanie Hansen (06:58.964)And also Kurt’s book, The Barrens, the Canoe Book has still done well too. So I wanna thank you for that. And I know you guys have a lot of artists that come through and authors that come through. When you’re stocking the bookstore, like who would you say is your ideal customer that you’re stocking for? Because you have like such a great romance section, a good kid section.Jordyn Stocks (07:21.126)Gosh, that that’s a tough one. and it changes, I feel. a lot of people are just are looking for a book to take out on trip with them. Something something that’s gonna like be engaging right away, something that’s engrossing. they don’t want a lot of heavy reading necessarily. But we’ve also got people who want, you know, the latest best sellers, the things they’re seeing on on book talk or theYou know, Reese’s book picks or all those things. but also a lot of people looking for local history, things about the area, just something to kind of you know put them in the mindset of being here in the woods. Yeah. A lot of lot of different customers, a lot of variety.Stephanie Hansen (08:07.916) I imagine maybe that changes as you get into the winter months too and it’s more of the regular town folk versus the though you have a big visitors that come in the winter too, ‘cause we come and go snowmobiling, we cross country ski.Jordyn Stocks (08:19.792)Yeah. Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, there’s definitely people coming all year round. It’s it’s of course, you know, a little a little more mellow in the winter, not as much foot traffic. But yeah, definitely a lot of locals will they’ll special order things, you know, they heard about on the radio or they read about in the paper, or you know, they’ve gottheir favorite Minnesota authors having a new book come out and they want to pre-order that. So yeah.Stephanie Hansen (08:49.877)Yes. I love that. if you could pick three books that you think are kind of buzzy right now that you see that people are excited about, we’ll we’ll throw them out there because I think I’m always looking for new reads.Jordyn Stocks (09:05.333)Yeah, so people right now are looking for Theo of Golden. I’m blanking on the author’s name, but they’re also looking for the correspondent and Calamity Club. And then the newest William Kent Krueger book, which won’t be out tillAugust, but you know, they’re always looking for his latest. Stephanie Hansen (09:29.815)I think I’m the only one in the world that didn’t love that Theo of Golden Book, but you know, everybody’s got their own vibes.Jordyn Stocks (09:34.01)I haven’t read it, but I’ve definitely that seems like a book that people are either loving or they’re hating. There’s no in-between on that, as far as I’m hearing.Stephanie Hansen (09:51.192)I feel like that’s also what is the name of the book? And I bought it at your store about the social media influencer who gets dropped into the eighteen hundreds.Jordyn Stocks (10:00.429)Yesteryear. That one’s been really popular too. Yeah, that’s another love it or hate it one. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (10:02.347)Yes. Another book that I yes, like I totally hate read that book and read the whole thing and hated it, but kept going. It it was, you know how sometimes you don’t love a book, but it’s compelling enough to keep reading and sort of see what happens at the end.it’s fascinating, I think, that that book got so much traction. But I don’t know, like I I love the diversity of what you guys offer there. You have a ton of local too, like Abby Yaminez. I know you have a large section for her romance books. And romance is a big seller.Jordyn Stocks (10:36.246)We do. Yep. It is. We never used to carry much of it or like have much of a demand for it, but it’s been like flying off the shelves lately. I I don’t I don’t know what it is, but and and that’s not a genre that I typically read. So I I’ve been relying a lot on like s like coworker and customer recommendations, which has been fun. .Stephanie Hansen (11:09.793)It for your personal life, like you probably have to read a lot of books. Like how many books do you think you read in a month?Jordyn Stocks (11:17.462)And I I don’t know. I also listen to a lot of books, but I don’t know how many I read in a month. Probably like half a dozen, maybe. I don’t I don’t really know. I doStephanie Hansen (11:31.064)That’s a lot. I listen to people talk about, you know, is listening to a book the same as reading or does it count? It’s like who’s keeping score number one? And yes, it counts. when you can think of a book that is narrated by someone that really makes it come alive, like I just listened to Whistler by Ann Patchett, which I don’t know if I would have liked that book as much if she hadn’t read it.Jordyn Stocks (11:58.966)Yeah, I totally get that. I I listen to more nonfiction, more memoirs and things, and I especially love when the author reads it. Like David Sederis will read his own, like Nick Offerman reads his own. They’re both really great to listen to. And it’s just I don’t know, it it I think it brings a lot more to it in that circumstance. So but yeah. before we break here, I do want to mention that you guys have the catalog. And in the catalog are you have a lot of books in the catalog, a lot of the cookbooks, the seasonal books, there’s also gear.Jordyn Stocks (13:16.393)We do. We do, yeah, and we have the website as well that’s fully shoppable, the Boundary Waters catalog website. there’s I mean certainly more than what was in the catalog, but not not as much as in the store. But there is quite a variety there and I’m I’m always happy to special order things too if someone’s looking for something that they’re not seeing in the store oron the website that’s happy to look for things. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen (13:43.949)That’s good to know. That’s good to know because I know there’s been a lot of interest in supporting Ely in particular. I’m going to link there’s a fund that’s been established that the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota is putting together and there’s three pillars that you can donate to. One is nonprofits, one is Ely specific small business, which I appreciate. And also there is an opportunity to donate to the Wildfire Fund. SoI will put that in the show notes. Anything you want people to know specifically about Ely before we break?Jordyn Stocks (14:15.351)Great.gosh. it’s just it’s just such a great place to to live and to visit. There’s you know great people here. Just the way you know you’ve mentioned people have been showing up for one another and supporting people during this just weird, uncertain wildfire time. It’s it’s been really cool. It’s just a great place to be. Lots, yeah.Stephanie Hansen (14:42.423)I think so too. We’re lucky. And we’re lucky to have you, Jordan, be such a good supporter of books and reading. And I appreciate everything Piragis has done for our books. And I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. I always pop in to sign books and I’ll see you, I’m sure, in the next week.Jordyn Stocks (14:59.62)Yeah, sorry I missed you yesterday. Hopefully we’ll see you soon. All right. Wonderful. You too. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Bye.Stephanie Hansen (15:02.34)Yeah. you will, you will. It’s good to see you again, Jordan, and thanks for being a guest. Okay, bye-bye. Mm-hmm.Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Full show notes at the publisher

Dishing With @StephaniesDish Jul 24, 2026

Show notes

Visit Ely, Minnesota for fun things to do year-round! Whether you are looking for a place to stay, a delicious meal, a hiking trail, or an immersion experience, we have businesses ready to meet your needs.

Stephanie Hansen (00:00:00)

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space typically, but also in the wellness spaces and all the beautiful spaces. I’m here today with Kate Kalan and she is with Etoile du Nord, which is a new spa that is located in Ely, Minnesota. And many of you know Ely is my second home. it is the home of the True North Cabin Cookbook where I wrote the books. And also I have a cabin here.

And it’s been kind of a summer. So I typically go back and forth between the twin cities and here. And Kate, you and I have never met, but I’m really excited about your new spa. You guys opened, was it last summer?

Kate (00:00:43)

Last spring, yeah, Earth Day we opened. So we’re on summer number two now. ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:00:46)

So so Kate, tell me about how you found yourself in Ely.

Kate (00:01:40)

So I was born and raised here. ⁓ I left to go to school, work in the cities for many, many years. ⁓ and then COVID happened ⁓ and I decided to come home. ⁓ So ⁓ I work remotely ⁓ up here ⁓ and I don’t know, I think it was about a year ⁓ working remotely that I ⁓

Don’t know Stephanie decided to do something different. ⁓ And ⁓ it was yeah, it was one summer my mom and I were were I was trying to get us a pedicure appointment and it was impossible. So ⁓ I was like, I I don’t know, let’s do this. I don’t know what sparked it. I think you know, my parents ran small businesses here when I grew up and

Stephanie Hansen (00:02:10)

Ha ha ha ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:02:32)

Yeah.

Kate (00:02:35)

I think I had just been talking to like a lot of entrepreneurs at the time. I don’t I don’t even know, but ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:02:40)

It it it makes sense though, because ⁓ what I noticed during COVID, we would come up in the winter and stay ⁓ we actually spent kind of a lot of time up here that winter ⁓ of the first year of COVID, just probably out of boredom more than anything else. ⁓ And we had free time. So, you know, the Northwoods was so gorgeous and so beautiful. I think that a lot of people came to this area.

Kate (00:02:48)

Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen (00:03:08)

In the COVID times, people came from other parts of the country. There were a lot of houses that were purchased. A lot of entrepreneurs came in. And for a town like Ely that has so much of its historical roots in mining, it was pretty neat to see all these entrepreneurs coming to town. So I when you opened your spa, I was like, hooray. And at that time too, another spa, the pebble spa, that was here closed. So people really, I think, appreciated that. opportunity to ⁓ welcome you in. And it started just primarily as nails, but I’ve noticed you’re doing more things now.

Kate (00:03:45)

Yeah. ⁓ we do manicures, pedicures. ⁓ this summer we brought on an esthetician. So she’s doing facials and like light chemical peels. ⁓ and then just recently this month we welcomed ⁓ massage therapists. So Jessie Brooks massage is working out of our our cozy little space. ⁓ so yeah, people are people are excited and so that makes me excited.

Stephanie Hansen (00:04:12)

So in the summer the population here swells, ⁓ up to like six thousand people. So it grows by like six to sevenfold really. ⁓ is ⁓ like if you and you’ve only been doing this this is your second year, I would imagine summer is a big part of the business or not.

Kate (00:04:25)

yeah. ⁓ we made it through ⁓ the winter, ⁓ but summer’s a completely different animal. I mean, the girls are are pretty booked and it’s wonderful. You know, we have so many seasonal people, just even from last summer who are excited to come back, which is ⁓ awesome to see. ⁓ you know, and then just the regular tourists and visitors, obviously this summer’s a little bit different. ⁓ but happy to say we’re we’re pretty steady, which has been awesome.

Stephanie Hansen (00:04:59)

It’s pretty interesting. I mean, I feel like the city of Ely and the folks in Ely have done a lot to spur winter tourism. I mean, snowmobiling is a big thing. We’ve got great cross-country ski trails. I mean, there’s things like Beard Fest ⁓ and they have the movie festival now. There’s also a winter festival, ⁓ ice sculptures, snow sculptures. ⁓ What do you think it would take in your opinion to get more people interested in Ely in the winter?

Kate (00:05:31)

I mean, I keep saying they should film a Hallmark movie up here. Like ⁓ it’s so, you know, it’s so cozy in the winter and it’s such ⁓ a special place to spend Christmas. ⁓ I just I always say this town has Hallmark vibes and so I really think they should come up here. But ⁓ you know, like you said, there’s stuff going on throughout the year. Fall is a beautiful time to visit. We’ll have the harvest moon hopefully this year, which will hopefully be bigger than ever. ⁓ they’ll have the art walk during that time. Like you said, we have the winter festival, the film festival. We have a new dark sky festival. I mean, they’re, you know, we’re really trying to get people up here year round. ⁓ obviously it’s beautiful right now and and wonderful. So I hope people still ⁓ you know, with respect to the firefighters and everything. ⁓ Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen (00:06:20)

Yeah, let’s talk about that for a second because this will air in the next couple of weeks. And ⁓ on July, what was it, 7th, I believe, ⁓ there was a reignition of an older fire that had started through lightning called the campfire. But also concurrently, there were 14 other fires that were going in the Boundary Waters Canoe area has been really impacted. The small business in particular, they closed the boundary waters for it looks like it’ll be a minimum of two weeks and probably a little bit longer. They are starting to open for single day permits near kind of the Tofty Lutzen area, which is ⁓ pretty far from us, about 90 minutes. ⁓ when it it’s so hard to balance because I know you live here. I have a home here we have people that are friends we have that are evacuated and then are waiting to get back to their cabin spaces. And yet it’s like you’re living in this weird universe because I look outside. It’s a gorgeous, beautiful day. It feels fine. This is supposed to be the start of the blueberry festival. But I also as I promoted art festivals myself for 25 years. And I know, you know, to bring 40,000 people to town during this whole crisis when you’ve got 850 fire people on the line trying to protect the town could be seen as irresponsible. It’s a very mixed soup of feelings. What are your feelings as we’re going into week two of this? ⁓ basically evacuation all around the town of Ely.

Kate (00:07:58)

Yeah, it’s hard. Like you said, I mean, there were a few days where it has never felt like that here with the smoke and ⁓ it it was eerie. ⁓ but it it’s beautiful now. The sky is clear. That’s not to say we don’t still have wildfires happening up there. Like you said, there’s like 800 firefighters in town. We have to respect their space, ⁓ we have to respect, you know, the officials’ orders.

⁓ we have to make sure they have lodging and all of that. And it’s it’s a shame that Blueberry had to be canceled. But, you know, like you said, bringing thirty, forty thousand people into town on top of that. ⁓ just I understand why that decision was made. ⁓ I just hope we can make up for it, you know, like like you can visit Ely now. ⁓ I mean, the town the town is welcoming you very much so. ⁓And and I hope like I said in the fall and just when things calm down a little bit, ⁓ people will kind of make more of an effort and and think to to come up here and enjoy the leaves and ⁓ and plan some fall activities up here.

Stephanie Hansen (00:09:13)

We’re getting good vibes, I think, from the city folks and the people in the surrounding areas. A lot of people wanna know what they can do to help. Is there something specific to you and your business that people could do to help?

Kate (00:09:26)

Come visit us, come make appointments. ⁓ yeah, our nail girls are are booking out and we’re trying to fill up our esthetician schedule. ⁓ but yeah, we’re lucky to have a lot of local clients ⁓ who are very loyal and and just summer visitors who haven’t had to evacuate, thankfully. ⁓ but there’s a lot of stuff going on in town. The Ely Community Response has a growing list of ways to help. I just saw right before we hopped on actually, ⁓ there’s like a fund that that people are working on United Way, I think. ⁓ Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen (00:10:03)

Yeah, the United Way of the Northeast has established a fund that is accepting donations. I’ll put a link to it in the show notes. There’s three kind of pillars, and you can ⁓ sp specify your donation to go to one of the pillars, one being the small businesses in Ely, one being ⁓ nonprofits, and then the other one to wildfire fighting in the area. So that’s pretty cool that they’ve established a line directly to small businesses.

I know a lot of people are ⁓ encouraging gift cards. Do you have gift cards that people can purchase too?

Kate (00:10:34)

Yep. Yep. Yep. Online a lot of businesses do.

Stephanie Hansen (00:10:38)

Can you tell me three businesses ⁓ in Ely that you feel like you’d like people to know about?

Kate (00:10:47)

man, Stephanie, that’s hard. ⁓ shoot. ⁓ let’s see. I I love Insula. I I that’s yeah, I figured you would. ⁓ I love Burnside Lodge. I think you would probably love that too. ⁓ I yes.

Stephanie Hansen (00:10:48)

⁓ I know it’s like saying here, pick three of your friends.

Stephanie Hansen (00:10:57)

I do too.

Stephanie Hansen (00:11:05)

I do. Burntside Lodge is a historic lodge and you can eat there for dinner. They have a walk in bar area, gifts, and you can lodge there. It’s historic lodges, they’re very beautiful. Insula is a restaurant right in town.

Kate (00:11:20)

Yeah. ⁓ I have a friend who owns Five Pines Candle Company. She just moved into the new carbonation Ely space, which was the old pebble space. ⁓ I love this. ⁓ They are they have like arcade games, they have a co-working space, they are eventually gonna have, I think, like dirty sodas, which are all the rage. ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:11:32)

What is carbonation ely?

Kate (00:11:45)

The state theater I love. That’s newly renovated. We have current movies playing, you know. I mean, just take a walk down Sheridan and Chapman Street. Like we’re open and and everyone would be very thrilled ⁓ to see you. ⁓ So ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:12:00)

Yeah.

Well, I’m looking forward to see you. If I showed you my ⁓ toenails or my nails right now, you’d be horrified. ⁓

Kate (00:12:10)

No. Me too. I tell my girls like I am a horrible spokesperson because I’m I talk like this. ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:12:17)

Yeah, ⁓ same. Like, please do not look. And I have a TV show that I do and I’m holding food all the time. So I really have to have my nails done. So like in this two week reprieve where I haven’t had to do it, it’s like, ⁓ it’s so great. But they just look terrible. So ⁓ I appreciate you. And I also appreciate massage. ⁓ I am someone that really believes in the power of massage. I get massage every week when I’m home.

And I just feel for like lymphatic purposes and just overall stress and well being it’s really important. ⁓ And so I’m looking forward to visit with Jesse at some point.

Kate (00:12:55)

Yes, yes. And same with facials. I just, ⁓ you know, and I don’t we try and take a really just kind of like holistic self-care approach. Like all of our products are non toxic, cruelty free, nearly everything is vegan. ⁓

Our space is just like cozy and welcoming. Like we just want people to take a little bit of time for themselves. Obviously, there’s crazy, crazy things going on in the world. And it’s just like you said, that is ⁓ really important ⁓ just to kind of level set and and take an hour for yourself or whatever it may be. So yeah. ⁓

Stephanie Hansen (00:13:33)

Yeah, I love it. Well, I am a huge fan of what you’re doing. I’m a huge fan of Ely and all the new small businesses that have opened up in the last five years since COVID. Can you believe it? ⁓ and there’s just so many there’s so many great things about Ely. I’m a I’m a big supporter and I’m hopeful that I in some ways I wonder if kind of looking at the positive side of things, that all of this wildfire activity will sign will bring a shine a light.on the community and how amazing it’s been, how supportive of the firefighters, how the Ely community’s response really mobilized. There what impressed me about them so much is everybody talks about like, let me know what I can do or how can we help. And they just like got a Google spreadsheet, got a substack going, got a Facebook page, like people just started matching literal needs with people that needed them. So if someone needed a place to stay, they found it. If someone needed a mattress for the back of a truck, because that’s where they were going to be, they found it. They really talked about how you can build an inexpensive air filter for your home. It it was so just impressive how fast and how real the response and help was.

Kate (00:14:50)

Yeah, and social media, man, our WhatsApp Ely Facebook group is like ⁓ it’s a godsend in in some ways, you know. ⁓ but yeah, so there’s there’s a lot available for people to do in town right now. And and I think that’s important for for everyone to know. Yeah.

Stephanie Hansen (00:15:10)

Yeah, come visit Ely. There’s whether you come spring, summer, winter, or fall, outside of there’s beautiful lakes, ⁓ lots of lodging. ⁓ there’s pickleball, there’s gonna be a new brewery in town, there’s entertainment in the park, ⁓ there is the big festivals, there’s just so much happening all the time. So thanks for talking to me, Kate. I will come in and see you soon next time I swing through town. Okay.

Kate (00:14:50)

Thank you, it was great to finally meet you. Okay. Okay. Bye.

Stephanie Hansen (00:15:39)

Yes, you too, and we’ll talk soon. Okay. Bye bye.

Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

Dishing With Stephanies Dish Jul 10, 2026

Show notes

My guest is Kurt Johnson Co-author of The Moon Tavern, A Culinary Love Story With Recipes. The Moon Tavern takes the reader on a romantic and culinary journey through the Islands of Croatia, where dark family secrets are revealed, quirky friends and relatives are found, and love is discovered.Vesna, or Ves, is a cookbook writer from Minneapolis who travels to the remote, exotic island of Lastovo off Croatia's Mediterranean coast to reconnect with her biological grandmother. She'd been adopted as a young child after her parents died in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Ves is also fleeing a frayed relationship with her live-in partner, Reed.In Lastovo, she meets Dinko, a single, handsome, and wealthy vineyard owner, and his cute daughter Mia. With his help with the translation, Ves discovers her biological family's history and the dark secrets of what happened during the war. Romance, travel, and cooking ensue. She ultimately learns what matters most to her: simplicity in life, closeness with family, and someone to share love with. And, of course, food!Stephanie [00:00:00]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and other spaces. All the spaces of all the fun things. Kurt is my spouse, Kurt Johnson, and also the co author of the Moon Tavern, a culinary romance with recipes. It is a fiction book that is available on your bookshelf now. Welcome to the podcast, Kurt.Kurt Johnson [00:00:22]:Hi, thanks for having me.Stephanie [00:00:24]:Thanks for having us. The idea that we should work on a book together. I am, as many of you listening know, a cookbook writer and my husband is a fiction writer. And somewhere along the way, we decided that maybe it would be good to collaborate together. Kurt, was it you or me that had the idea first? I think it was you.Kurt Johnson [00:00:42]:Yeah, probably. I was kind of done with my past book writing about Las Vegas and looking for something different. And we’d been traveling a lot, so going to Croatia, going to Italy, going out west, going to Turkey. So I wanted to incorporate travel with a novel, and I also wanted to incorporate food. And so I thought this would be a lot of fun. Since we’re traveling together, we have those shared experiences and you have the food experience and the food writing experience. So I thought it’d be a fun collaboration. And I’ve always liked the idea of love stories.Kurt Johnson [00:01:18]:Even my thriller books in Las Vegas had kind of a love story element. And it adds a dimension to a novel that, I don’t know, makes it cohesive, makes it pull together in an emotional arc that’s kind of fulfilling in the end.Stephanie [00:01:33]:Do you think you’re a romantic at heart, or what is it about romances that are fun to write for you?Kurt Johnson [00:01:39]:Maybe I’m a romance at heart. I may be more stoic than that, though. I just. I like the idea of seeing people get together, seeing people enjoy the same interests and finding people that can fall in love. Of course, that’s always the fun part. The hard part is once you get married and move on from there and have to deal with kids and daily life and work and all the other things that go with living life. And that’s not that much fun to write.Stephanie [00:02:07]:Yeah, exactly. We as a couple, I think I can speak for me and you maybe on this one. We’ve always had great experiences traveling. We are good traveling companions. We like the spirit of adventure. Did you know that Croatia would be the spot for the first fiction endeavor?Kurt Johnson [00:02:24]:Yeah, that was a given since we’d been there five times and four times running a sailboat and visiting the islands. And as you know, Stephanie, I’m just enamored with those islands, I think they’re so beautiful. And there was one island we discovered out there, Lastovo, which is the furthest island out. So a lot of the sailors and tourists just never get there. They stay closer to shore. So, you know, going out there the first time, this beautiful bay of Zachlopedia, where, you know, it’s a, it’s a protective cove which is beautiful turquoise water. And then taking the dinghy in, and then you walk up this path, I think it’s about a two mile hike. And then you go over this ridge and this 16th, 15th century town opens up.Kurt Johnson [00:03:10]:You know, at one point maybe it had 10,000 residents. And, and it, it, when we first saw it, I don’t know, 10, 15 years ago, it was abandoned. So it was a ghost town of 15th century buildings and churches and apartments in this beautiful valley of lush green foliage. So that’s very picturesque. We had an incredible meal there of just simple anchovies and blitfa. And for you, for you people out there that don’t know, blitfa is ubiquitous in Croatia. And it’s, it’s just spring potatoes with Swiss chard, but it’s served with everything.Stephanie [00:03:52]:It is served with everything. And they sometimes have spinach, sometimes have like another type of green, but it’s sort of like the potatoes are cooked till they’re pretty soft, and then it’s kind of mashed in a little bit. So it’s not fully a mashed potato and it’s not fully a roasted potato. It’s sort of a combination of both. But it is good.Kurt Johnson [00:04:12]:Yeah, so, yeah, that’s so, you know, it seemed such an exotic place, the island of Lastovo in Croatia, that it was a natural to place it there.Stephanie [00:04:23]:Can you tell a little bit of just an introduction of the story, like what people will find when they crack open the book?Kurt Johnson [00:04:30]:Sure. It’s about Vesna, who is. Has a breakup with her live in boyfriend, and they’d had a restaurant. She was a chef, a cookbook authority, and had a restaurant, not unlike my dear wife Stephanie. And she has a breakup and she leaves Minneapolis to go to Croatia to uncover her. Her heritage. She had been adopted from Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, when her parents died in the Serb bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991. So she was adopted out of there and raised in Minnesota.Kurt Johnson [00:05:05]:So then she goes to Croatia and rediscovers her dark family secrets and meets Dinko Radek, who is a winery owner, and, you know, romance ensues. But she has a life still back in Minneapolis that she has to go back to and resolve.Stephanie [00:05:24]:When we talked about putting this first concept together, you know, I see the world through food. Like, literally everything in sort of my life is framed by a meal, an experience, just the way that I see the world. It’s always around food, celebrations. And so did you know that that would work for this Croatia book? Because I didn’t. When you first brought it up, I was like, I can’t be a Croatian grandma here. And writing recipes about what at the time I perceived as, like, dumplings.Kurt Johnson [00:05:53]:Yeah, I wasn’t sure either, frankly. You know, so each chapter, there’s 25 chapters, and each chapter in it has a description of cooking. And it’s all Croatia cooking, Croatia recipes. You know, all food we at over the years where we were there. And then the idea of tagging on recipes was just kind of bringing it home. Like, here’s the Croatia experience. Now here’s how Stephanie would bring that back to the real world, which is here in the United States.Stephanie [00:06:21]:We have talked about doing a series of books. What is it about this genre that you think lends itself to other titles and other characters?Kurt Johnson [00:06:29]:Well, you know, it’s an adventure book on one level, and there’s always new places to visit. So the next book is based in Panza, Italy, where we’ve been a couple times. And it’s this beautiful island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean. And, you know, Italian food. You go to Italy and what you remember is the pizza in Naples or the. The pasta in Rome and. And the busteca up in the hills. So, you know, a way to experience a place is.Kurt Johnson [00:07:04]:Is through food. And I like writing about new settings. You know, it. It’s not as interesting writing about Minnesota,Stephanie [00:07:11]:but you’ve written a lot about Las Vegas. You’ve had how many books about Las Vegas? Three.Kurt Johnson [00:07:16]:Yeah, three. You know, two of the. Of kind of a thriller in. Two thrillers in a series, and then a book about RVing that ends up in. In Las Vegas. And Las Vegas is a interesting place, and I lived there for five years running nightclubs and restaurants. And so two of the books are Underbelly of Las Vegas, which I was a part of in the nightclub scene back in the late 80s. So that’s just flat out fun to write about.Kurt Johnson [00:07:39]:And Las Vegas is such a weirdo place that it’s fun to bring that to life.Stephanie [00:07:45]:It’s interesting to hear you talk about that. The way you choose your stories is about place, because the first book, the Barrens, that you wrote with our Daughter Ellie, inspired by her experiences as a canoe camper in the tundra. That’s also based in Place, too. Place is sort of what starts you on these journeys. It seems like, yeah, you know something,Kurt Johnson [00:08:07]:you threw me a curveball because I never really thought about it. But you’re exactly right.Stephanie [00:08:12]:All.Kurt Johnson [00:08:12]:All these books start off with a setting, with a place, and then, you know, the plots revolve around. Around that. And there’s just so many. So many different. There’s a finite number of, really, plots you can choose from. It’s kind of like a piano keyboard has all the. The notes that you want to make up a. A music piece the same way with plot structures.Kurt Johnson [00:08:34]:And so to take it to the next level, you really have to search out characters, and the characters are in a setting, so those two are inexplicably, Inextricably. Inextricably linked. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the two go hand in hand. So character and place really can set a novel apart.Stephanie [00:08:59]:Can you think of other books that you’ve written or. Excuse me. No, not that you’ve written, that you’ve read. Where Place sort of started you off on this adventure?Kurt Johnson [00:09:07]:Yeah, probably. I really love Beautiful Ruins.Stephanie [00:09:11]:Jess Walters.Kurt Johnson [00:09:13]:Walters, yeah. And that starts off in Italy, kind of near Cinque de Terre. And it’s kind of the poor version of Cinque de Terre, where the tourists don’t go. And it was such a fascinating story. And then they bring that all back to Hollywood in America, and it just works so well. But what really captures your imagination is the description of this little seaside community. Before the whole plot takes over, IStephanie [00:09:41]:kind of think about that book. The Embarrassment of Mangoes.Kurt Johnson [00:09:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:09:44]:When you and I first started sailing and going on these adventures, we read that book. It was about a couple that buys a boat and sails through the Caribbean, and she is discovering spices and fruits and vegetables and things that she’s never eaten before. And I just loved that book. It was really what got me into sailing and thinking about how to make that our life and whether or not, you know, we could buy a boat and do that. And that boat really had a huge setting of place. Can you think of, like. I don’t know. When I think of other books, there’s very few books that I think about character first.Stephanie [00:10:19]:I usually always think about the place. Maybe that’s just something.Kurt Johnson [00:10:22]:Or the plot, too. Yeah, they’re all just linked together. And you don’t think about. Well, you were saying you don’t think about character as much.Stephanie [00:10:31]:Not really.Kurt Johnson [00:10:32]:Yeah, it’s funny. I think, you know, the best books people say are character driven, but they’re inexplicable. What’s the word again?Stephanie [00:10:41]:Inextricably.Kurt Johnson [00:10:43]:Inextricably. Trouble with that. Linked. So, you know, you pick a place and you pick a plot and then you build these characters. The characters have to build around that plot and so they kind of naturally flow. And, and I, I think they, if they’re well written and honest, you shouldn’t think of them. You know, they’re interesting characters and you’ll say, you know, this is Rabbit and the Rabbit series. And you’ll know, but you won’t say, oh, that’s just a great character.Kurt Johnson [00:11:10]:I, I, I don’t know that I certainly, you know, I’m probably deep into it and I look at the craft a lot so I can see where somebody has really spent some time to develop an honest character or where, you know, the narrative voice comes through and, and a character comes to life through this first person narrative voice. So I see that a lot moreStephanie [00:11:30]:people have a real, like they can’t believe you can write a book. Like the idea of the literal act of sitting down and writing and how that works. People fantasize about writing it, but then very few people do. What was it that got you over the hump from thinking about writing it to actually sitting down and doing it?Kurt Johnson [00:11:47]:Well, selling our business and all of a sudden being able to free up time. Because for me, novel writing and I think was it Chrisham talked about, you know, writing at 5 in the morning before he goes to work at 7. I just couldn’t do that. You know, I just, I’m very focused on one thing and, and so I needed to free up my time from work in order to get going. And then it was, can you put together, you know, a thousand or fifteen hundred words every day so that it links up into a novel and have that, not only that, that discipline, but also have the creative juices to produce scenes almost every day because, you know, like a, a good novel is created from 50 scenes. So I went from, you know, writing a memoir that I probably won’t publish just to see if I can get, you know, a thousand words every day and put this together to then writing Las Vegas turnaround. And there I, I, I really just copied a lot of plot structures that I saw that I liked. And so it was easier for me to set up main characters, set up tertiary characters, subplots, because I had a blueprint from somebody else.Kurt Johnson [00:12:56]:And then, and then once, you know, you Keep writing. You get muscle memory for it and it becomes more, more natural and actually more fun because it becomes more organic. You’ll follow characters through a town and they’ll meet somebody and all of a sudden that person becomes a character in their universe and they say something and all of a sudden that takes off and you have to follow it. Now, you know, the woman’s gonna fall in love with a guy at the end. But getting there is the fun part. And now I can do that a lot more organically.Stephanie [00:13:27]:If you are talking to any aspiring novel writers, what kind of advice do you have for them to get started?Kurt Johnson [00:13:34]:Well, you know, you gotta lower your expectations just because publishing is so hard, you know.Stephanie [00:13:39]:Can you elaborate on that?Kurt Johnson [00:13:41]:Well, you know, there’s maybe two or three or 400 agents, most of them in New York City and they’re all trying to make a buck. And it’s hard to make a buck off a debut writer. It helps if you’re MFA and you’re writing in a genre because, you know, let’s say 70% of the books are read by women and 70% of those are romances. And then men, the other 30%, probably 80% of what they read are, you know, thrillers or mysteries. So if you can pick a genre, that always helps. But yeah, it, you have to be more thoughtful about it. And I think, I think so many first time writers, you know, once they get the discipline and put, put the, the words on a page, they write that first personal novel, you know, and I wrote my memoir and it’s, it’s really 90% of those, they, you know, people have the, they aspire for the great American novel and it’s too personal, it’s too close to home. They can’t…

Full show notes at the publisher

South Africa on Safari is our next group trip Destination Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

Original Episode Transcript FollowsStephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. And also today, we’re going to talk travel, because whenever I travel, food’s always a big part of it. I’m here with my friend Michael Kenny, and he owns the travel agency Defined Destinations. And Michael and I met and have gone on a number of trips. We’ve gone to Croatia together. We’re just about to embark on Turkey. We are also planning a new trip that we just launched, that is a trip to South Africa. And a lot of times the best way to get people excited about these trips is to talk about them.And Michael does more than that. He scouts them out for me first. So, Michael, you went to this trip?Michael Kenney:I did. I’m your personal scout, but I love it. There’s not a. There’s not a better deal than being able to do that and then going on with you and Kurt and with everybody else. So we’ve had some fun adventures. But, yes, I recently got back with my family. We went scouted this South Africa trip out, or Southern Africa, I should say that we visit four different countries. And it was.I’ve been on a safari before, but it was in. In Kenya, which was fabulous as well. But this is a whole different experience. So I brought my wife and my two kids, and we had one of the best experiences, from seeing Cape Town to Johannesburg and then all the wildlife, different lodges and on boats. So we do all these different sorts of transportation and see four different countries. And it was unbelievable. I came back really, really excited. I was excited in the beginning, but having gone on it and then really first experiencing it firsthand was phenomenal.And. And I knew you and Kurt would love it. And of course, everyone that follows you as well. It was just. It’s really a trip of a lifetime.Stephanie Hansen:So we put the trip out there. It is a more expensive trip, and we had a limited number of seats we had that could join the trip. And, you know, I’ve never done a trip that is on the higher end like that in terms of expense. And you’re just. You have a lot of in flight situations within the country. You have a lot of different lodging situations. There’s a boat, like, in order to do all the things we wanted to do, there were a lot of moving parts.Michael Kenney:Yep.Stephanie Hansen:So we put the trip out there and it sold out, like, right away. Right. So then Michael was like, okay, do we want to try and do another one? And of course we do, because I want you guys to have as many of these experiences as we can put together. Because I think traveling this way is great. I love traveling in a group for destinations that maybe I’m not comfortable in fully by myself. So Michael has secured another trip, a second round that is the same itinerary, but they leave. I think it’s a day later.Michael Kenney:Yes. And let me just touch on that. You hit some good points in there. Yeah. One reason the trip, it’s, it’s. It’s definitely at the highest price point we’ve ever offered a trip. But I think if you’re going out there and you’re shopping in African safari, you see that as well. So the value is there with all the different.Essentially all the meals are included where we’re at on, on this trip, the inner flights inside the countries as well. From a couple smaller bush planes to the larger flights that go from Cape Town to Johannesburg, Johannesburg up towards Victoria Falls, etc. Those are already included in all the transfers. And this is a different trip too, Stephanie, because it’s not like a typical motor coach group that you’re going with all these big lodges and motor coaches coming in. This trip is. Can only take 16 people. It’s not because we design it that way, it’s the ship only handles 16 people. So if you go on our website, you take a look at it, you’ll see this small intimate cruiser on this river slash lake, Lake Kariba, which is part of the Zambezi.Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Michael Kenney:And in the game lodge that we stayed at too for four nights as well there, there’s only eight cabins for 16 people. So it’s a real intimate experience and it will only be for our group. Same thing for your departure on May 8 and the 1 that we still have, there’s only. We just sold one another cabin online just, just now. So there’s four cabins left May 9th through the 25th of 2027. Same thing is gonna be true for that. It’s only gonna be our group as well. So there’s no other groups going to be in, on, on the ship and then in the lodge too.Michael Kenney:So it’s a real small intimate experience and it’s just real, real lovely.Stephanie Hansen:Can you walk us through like some of the high points having done this trip?Michael Kenney:Yeah. Oh, what do you start? I think this is just. Sometimes you use the word potpourri too much, but it’s, it’s really a bit of different. You know, you think you go to Africa just for the safari itself, but we go in and we visit Cape Town and Cape Town blew me away. It was one of the most beautiful cities and I’m not necessarily a city person, but it was just beautiful sitting under Table Mountain. We’ll go up to Table Mountain, we’ll go visit the areas around it, we’ll go visit some vineyards. South African wine is to die for. We’ll visit that.We have a wine tasting included. We get to see penguins on this penguin beach in South Africa, which I didn’t know there was penguins in, in South Africa. So we’re actually good to go see those. And you actually get up pretty close too, so that was a real highlight. Nelson Mandela’s home in the prison, we’re going to go visit that. So we have a cultural experience as well. But then we fly into Johannesburg. We’ll get to hear the history in Johannesburg for a night.And then we fly further north and we go into the. Our game lodge. We spend for four days right on the Zambezi River. You’ll absolutely love this place. You’re. You’re really well taken care of. You eat really well and you see the wildlife all around you right from your lodge. You sit in your plunge pool and there could be hippos down below you.It’s incredible. It’s just a real amazing experience. And then we fly to Lake Kariba, we get on the boat itself and we have four nights again. There’s just 16 of us total. And it’s. This is where it’s really different. You glide up into shore and there can be elephants, giraffes, lions feeding in the water itself. It’s.This isn’t a zoo. This is incredible. You are right there with it. That a real slow experience. You’re really able to take it in. So I invite, you know, anybody that’s watching this to go online. Just take a look at our photos. It’s free to do that and we pride ourselves.The majority of all the photos on it were taken while on the trip, especially with me and my family. So you’ll get to really see what it really was, was like. So say you’ve done a trip to Tanzania or Kenya and have done a safari. This is. This is different. You see four different countries. It’s a slower pace, smaller groups. It lovely.So those are really the experiences that I enjoyed the most, were the penguins seeing around Cape Town. Of course, the different game drives all the different wildlife. Victoria Falls, which is one of the most stunning waterfalls you’ll ever see. It was. It was really enlightening and it was fabulous and everything’s taken care of for you. So to Be able to do something on this on your own. To do the same trip would be really difficult. Putting all the flights together, the meals, what are we going to do? We’ve taken care of all of that.All you have to do essentially is register for the trip and then we can help you with getting international airfare when it does come available later in the summer for this May 9th through the 25th, 2027 trip. So it, it was just an amazing experience.Stephanie Hansen:So can you talk a little bit about the food? Because I have no idea what African food is going to be like.Michael Kenney:Yeah, I, I think this, it’s not like we’re out eating street food, you know, in some of the villages we’re not doing that. It’s all in a controlled environment from the salads to things like that because you want to drink bottled water. We never got sick while on the trip itself, but it’s, it’s real, it’s westernized, let’s say that. So a lot of meat and potatoes and fish and different things like that. So there won’t be anything a little bit, I think outside of your comfort zone. So I, we really, really. Well, like lots of beef, chicken, sometimes there’d be lamb, but you can have choices too. So they’re really great with diets with that.But again, the food was really safe. Nothing too exotic. You have a chance. Maybe you want to try ostrich or something like that. You can do that. But it’s a real, it’s really high level too. Especially at the lodges and the boats itself. All sit down plated meals.Really, really nice. But again it’s, it’s, it’s safer on the meat and potato side on that. But it’s, it’s really nice high end food which you’ll, I think I, I know you’ll enjoy.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. And was there different fruit?Michael Kenney:Yeah, some of the fruits, I can’t remember. You’d be like, well, what is that? I don’t know. Honestly, I wish I had the list on there. Like, well, what is that? Well, let’s, let’s try it. If you’re in the markets and things like that. But they, they do, especially in the mornings they’ll bring some fruits on, on the plate and you’ll have, you’re like, well what? And you just try it. So yeah, I’m not really good to help you on that. I’m sorry.No, but it’s there exotic fruits wheneverStephanie Hansen:we’re traveling because we went to Thailand together. We’ve been to Vietnam, Cambodia, whenever we’re Traveling in these countries, there’s always fruits that I’ve never, I don’t even know what they are like. I’m just always amazed by how many fruits there are in the world.Michael Kenney:Yeah, it’s crazy. Like I said, you go through and you’re like, what is that? Especially on our Vietnam, Cambodia trip here, it’s, that’s, that’s really exotic with the food. This is a little bit different, but yeah, we’re in the southern hemisphere, right down to the Cape of Good Hope, which you’ll actually see too. So you see different, different foods for sure, so they’ll point that out too. But it’s. The main course is definitely not exotic, but you’ll see some really neat, neat, different fruits, things like that.Stephanie Hansen:We talked about South African wines, so I’m glad we’re doing that because that was a blast. So this second itinerary leaves a day later. Will there ever be an opportunity where I will overlap and interact with the second? It’s kind of hard to tell at this point.Michael Kenney:Yeah, it, it really is. And we’ll know a little bit more later on because we’re in, in contact because we’ll have they. The ships. We have two different ships on it and it’s just a day apart, like you said. But we’re in the lodge for four days. Our lodges are different, they’re close by. But we’re working on trying to see maybe if we get a couple game drives together, maybe maybe a meal somewhere that we could see each other once or twice during, or maybe even three times with Cape Town too, that we could run into each other as well. So if you decide to book, because you won’t be on the second trip, the second departure, we’re hoping two or three times we’ll be able to, to, to run in each other.But again, it’s not guaranteed. But we’re very hopeful because both of the ships are completely ours. So I’m sure we can, we can do a little overlapping in our two lodge stays. They’re relatively close, but they’re, they’re different from each other. So we might be able to pop in and visit each other maybe for a happy hour on one of our boats, because each lodge has got like its own beautiful pontoon to go out and go look at the wildlife and we might run into that too, but. Yeah, but other than that, and you’re not being on the second one, their tenders are the same, just different lodges. And they’re both very, very amazing, high quality lodges. And again, if you go Online, you can see both the different boats and the lodges too, which you’ll absolutely love.Stephanie Hansen:I love too, Michael, that you actually took these trips. When I travel with you, you’re very upfront about what, you know, what, you don’t know. We get in country guides if we need more expertise, and a lot of times you want that because you want a local person to share with you the local feel of the place and to give you information based on their perspective of living there or being familiar with the country.Michael Kenney:Yeah, I think that that’s, that’s, that’s really important. People want to not just get the information to make sure it’s correct, but just like what’s life like being you’re from Namibia or Zimbabwe or South Africa and we have these local guides. We have, you know, the folks with us in the lodge and when we’re doing the game drives a professional that will tell you, you know, what you’re seeing, how they, you know, migration or whatever they’re doing and what they consume, all of that. So you’ve got that, that credibility too. So we have that throughout, from our city guides to our, our on land folks as well. You’ll really get that expertise. So you’ll, you’ll come back feeling, you know, about the people itself, which there’s. We could have different podcast talking about that.I loved it. And then, you know, the animals that you’re going to sing like, oh, I didn’t know. It’s, it’s a really educational but rewarding, relaxing trip as well, which you, you, I know you’ll, you’ll enjoy.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And people say that the African people are like just fabulous.Michael Kenney:They are it. And again, I’ve been to Africa a few times not, not to, to these parts. The people are wonderful. And I don’t know if you’re going to bring it up, but the languages. So revisiting different four countries and, and they, they speak different dialects of in. In the different countries and different languages as well, from English to African and wherever, you know, from where their group is from. But they use English as kind of the common language. So you’ll.If we have a little overlap with some of our guides from Namibia to Botswana, they’re going to speak English with each other, which was. I was like, oh, wow. I didn’t, you know, really realize that. So the language is never a problem. Everything’s in English. Even in. Through all of the countries visited. You would see the road signs.It’s all in English, which was like, oh, wow, that’s interesting. But then you get to hear them speaking with each other, their languages and they’ll talk about that too. But I was, I was really surprised about the whole language situation being it really a lot of English.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, I’m excited about that. Okay, so when we say expensive, can you just say on the podcast how much the trip is? Because I don’t want people not to explore it.Michael Kenney:Oh yeah.Stephanie Hansen:You get so many things and a lot of people that are, you know, TV hosts and that sort of thing are hosting week long trips places and they cost more than this trip costs.Michael Kenney:So yeah, for the, for the land only per person It’s $12,000. And so you, other than that you just need to get your international airfare to and from South Africa. And we have that all written down if you want to look at and for it yourself. But like I mentioned earlier, rates don’t come out availability about 10 months prior to departure. So it’ll be sometime later this summer, maybe in July that you’ll start seeing what rates would be to fly into to Cape Town with that. But again the value is really there. It’s typically double the price that we usually…

Full show notes at the publisher

Cookbook Author Sarah Peterson, "Vintage Dish and Tell" and I talk sandwich loaf and the keepers of family recipes Apr 11, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to "Dishing with Stephanie's Dish," the show where we dive into the stories of people passionate about food, family traditions, and the recipes that connect us all. I'm your host, Stephanie Hansen, and today, I'm thrilled to sit down with cookbook author Sarah Peterson, whose new book, Dish and Tell: Recipes from the Heart, celebrates the beauty of vintage family recipes and the memories shared around the table. Dish and Tell: Recipes from the Heart highlights celebrated dishes from Peterson’s recipe box—and collects stories from other passionate home cooks who opened their kitchens to share their own tried-and-true recipes. Peterson takes readers along as she visits, cooks, and bakes with friends old and new to present a smorgasbord of family favorites. She serves up stories about the people behind the dishes and offers special tips and tricks from the keepers of these recipes.Whether you're an avid home cook, a lover of kitchen nostalgia, or just here for some culinary inspiration, get ready to hear heartfelt stories, tips on cookbook writing, and a delicious conversation that will leave you hungry for more!Original Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie Hansen [00:00:02]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish podcast, where we talk to people in the food space who are as obsessed about food as we are. And today we’re talking to the cookbook author Sarah Peterson. She is the author of Dish and Tell Recipes from the Heart. I’m going to hold up her book so that you guys can see it. It looks so cute. It’s pink. Sarah, I am really excited to talk to you because I don’t normally get to know people sort of along the whole journey of them writing a book and then seeing it released into the world. But that did happen with you and I.Sarah Peterson [00:00:37]:Yes, it did. We’ve known each other a little while, or at least I’ve known you. I’ve followed your career, and so it’s been really great to have you to consult with a little bit, and you’ve really been a mentor to me throughout this process.Stephanie Hansen [00:00:50]:Well, and I think for you, coming from the PR world, which was where your background was, and then taking it into a cookbook, I’m seeing so many, like, similarities of how you’re approaching things, and I think it’s just super smart, and I can’t wait to talk to you. So can you just give the viewer, the listener, a little bit of backstory about the book and why you wrote it and why it’s special to you?Sarah Peterson [00:01:17]:Yes.Stephanie Hansen [00:01:18]:So.Sarah Peterson [00:01:18]:So about five years ago, maybe more, I started thinking about what I wanted to do with my career. I’d been in PR a long time, telling other people’s stories, writing in the voice of other people. I wanted to do something of my own. I had this love of everything vintage. I’m very nostalgic. I love any opportunity to, like, go back to my grandma’s kitchens in my mind and, like, imagine them in their homes. And so this idea started brewing about, you know, what if I blogged about family recipes and shared some of these handwritten recipe cards, recipe boxes, my love of vintage. So I started with Instagram first, and I was posting a little bit, and then I.Sarah Peterson [00:02:00]:That kind of evolved into a blog, and that just really grew and grew, and it was just not my own family’s recipes, but other people’s families, too. Like, I started to just talk to my friends and my neighbors and ask them what are the recipes in their families that I’ve been handing down through the generations that are really close, you know, to their hearts, and started to share those stories on the blog and then thought, well, this could be a book. A book is daunting as you know, to write, but I had some encouragement from my dad and some other people and just pitched it to the Historical Society, and I’m just so grateful that they decided to publish it.Stephanie Hansen [00:02:37]:And what we’re seeing in terms of trends for cookbooks is cookbooks that are AI proof, In other words, cookbooks that have a real narrative point of view on a story. And this book seems like it is exactly that and more. Did you feel uncomfortable or were you nervous about, like, being the keeper, the seed keeper, as it were, or the storykeeper of these stories and how you would translate them into an actual book?Sarah Peterson [00:03:07]:Yes. You mean for, like, other families? Yeah, absolutely. And I think what gave me maybe a little bit of confidence is that something that I had done in my career as a PR person and in one particular project for a client, I was tasked with shining the spotlight on small independent restaurants and the special role that they play in their communities. And so I had this chance to really interview them and tell their stories and talk about how they were making a difference in their communities. And so I was thinking about what I wanted to do with recipes and family stories, kind of drawing on that past experience of the storytelling, the type of storytelling I had done for restaurants and, like, small restaurant owners. And I think that helped give me some confidence. I think just seeing the difference it makes in someone’s life, too, when they see a story printed about them. And I also love to shine the spotlight on, like, the underdogs.Sarah Peterson [00:04:03]:And I feel like home cooks don’t get a lot of time in the sun, you know, So I wanted to do that. But, yeah, I do think there’s a lot of responsibility you carry when you’re telling somebody else’s story. And it’s not something I take lightly. So when I approach a story, I really, you know, lean on my journalistic background. I have a degree in journalism, try to get all the facts straight, run things by people, do fact checking, that kind of thing, too.Stephanie Hansen [00:04:33]:So you assembled all these stories and put them into a book along with your own family stories. And how has the book been received? Because it’s really beautiful. It’s super charming. There’s lots of photos, recipe cards. It’s very stylized in a sweet way.Sarah Peterson [00:04:51]:Thank you. I think it’s been received really well. It’s fun to see. Like, I’ve done a couple of events where people come up and they’re just like, oh, this book is just so sweet. It reminds me of my grandma, and I can’t wait to go look through her recipe box. That’s like, the biggest compliment I can get. The Star Tribune editor, Nicole, she said she’s the editor of Taste. She said it was like opening the book is like getting a big hug.Sarah Peterson [00:05:15]:And I think that’s just so sweet, too. Like, I really wanted people to, of course, love the recipes and the stories, but I think, like, the imagery of vintage dishes, of recipe boxes, of grandmas and aprons, I mean, that’s just like, so me. And I love all that, and I’m happy that other people seem to really love that as well.Stephanie Hansen [00:05:34]:I know it’s hard to answer this question so soon after having the book come out, but this really does feel like it could continue on and be a series and continue to live on in your Instagram. Could even be like, audio, you know, version, or you could do television things with it because there’s so much historical narrative in there. Has that occurred to you at all?Sarah Peterson [00:06:00]:Not so much yet. I mean, I’m trying to figure that all out now. Like, what do I want to do next? And I think, like, I would love to do more storytelling, more sharing of recipes, maybe more on my sub stack and my Instagram. But yeah, I mean, it could, there could be future editions of the book. But that’s just so ambitious for me right now. Just kind of in the thick of it. Maybe I’ll have to tap you for some more knowledge later on. But I mean, I do have, like, in talking to these families that I interviewed for the book, other stories would come up that they’re, you know, other recipes.Sarah Peterson [00:06:34]:And certainly people that I’ve been meeting, doing events are telling me about their recipes. I had this woman come to see me at a book event at Kowalski’s last weekend, and she brought her family cookbook that she had made, you know, just something that she had pieced together but was sharing with her family. And so it was really sweet, and I love seeing that, too. And I think, you know, sharing some of the recipes that other people share with me at events, but also talking about how they’re recording their family recipes. Like, I think, if anything, I’d love to be an inspiration for other people or give people an inspiration to collect those recipes and show some of the formats that other families are using to share those with with their extended family.Stephanie Hansen [00:07:15]:As we talk about the nuts and bolts of making a cookbook, what was the hardest part for you in putting this book together?Sarah Peterson [00:07:25]:I think it was. It seemed so massive in the beginning, like, the organization of a cookbook. I’ve learned a lot in the process and, like, Have a rockin spreadsheet now. But that was very daunting in the beginning. Then I got into the thick of it, and I think toward the end, like, the editing. Oh, my gosh, that was really something because you don’t know exactly when it’s going to hit. Like, when are you going to have to look through this whole thing? Like, after. Even before it was in layout, like, just getting the manuscript and after the editor had done a first pass, and then you have to reread it all again, and you just have to, like, carve out a bunch of time and just get into it.Sarah Peterson [00:08:07]:And I thought that was really hard. It reminded me of being back in college when you’re cramming for a final.Stephanie Hansen [00:08:11]:Yeah.Sarah Peterson [00:08:13]:So I didn’t, like, love that. But, I mean, it’s just part of the process.Stephanie Hansen [00:08:18]:Yeah. Because the manuscript comes back and you don’t know when. And then all of a sudden, like, your entire life is put on hold for however long it takes you to get through it.Sarah Peterson [00:08:25]:And for me, it was like a summer weekend. Like, oh, okay. I guess I’m gonna just be doing this for the next two weekend. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen [00:08:33]:How did you feel about the photographing of the book? Because that can be a challenging part that stops people.Sarah Peterson [00:08:40]:I’m glad you asked about that because as you know, we have the same publisher. And it’s really like, they were so great. They’re like, sarah, just take photos like you’re, you know, doing on your Instagram. These will be great. We’ll make it work. Well, yes, but I just was, like, feeling I’m not a food stylist. You know, I do my thing and I take pictures in the moment when I’m making food, but I’m like, I don’t know if these are cookbook worthy. And I do everything on my iPhone.Sarah Peterson [00:09:08]:I’m not gonna get a fancy camera. So as I got further along the process, pretty late in the process, I’m like, I just need some help, because I want somebody to help me get a really pretty shot for the COVID Help me shoot some of the things. Like, meat is so hard to take a pretty picture.Stephanie Hansen [00:09:24]:Yeah, for sure.Sarah Peterson [00:09:25]:Meatball. Or, you know, like, just. Oh. I was just really struggling, and I listened to your podcast and I know that you interviewed Rachel White of Set the Table Photography, who happens to be a food stylist as well. And I’d been following her on Instagram and really liked her style. So I reached out to her after hearing her on your podcast, and we met, and I just told her what I was doing. I said, I don’t have a lot of money, but here’s a few shots that I’d like to get. And she also took some headshots of me.Sarah Peterson [00:09:52]:But she came to my house for a few days, and we just banged out as much as we could. Not even like three full days. Like, two and a half days. I just was, like, cooking up a storm. We did headshots and lifestyle shots one morning, and then just a bunch of recipes and then, like, a bunch. A brunch spread one day, too.Stephanie Hansen [00:10:10]:So what that translated to me when looking at the book was we’ll call them, like, some hero shots.Sarah Peterson [00:10:16]:Exactly.Stephanie Hansen [00:10:18]:That were. They were. It was funny because I couldn’t necessarily tell when I was looking at the book, but I could see, like, just from the perspective of the stylized nature of the background and the more complete shot. Like, let’s see if I can just find one that I can hold up.Sarah Peterson [00:10:44]:Yeah, A lot of the shots in, you know, the chapter intros.Stephanie Hansen [00:10:49]:Yeah, it’s like, that one maybe.Sarah Peterson [00:10:52]:Yes, yes.Stephanie Hansen [00:10:53]:And I thought maybe that one.Sarah Peterson [00:10:56]:I took that one, actually. But I think just having Rachel, like, in. In the end, too, I was like, well, people are gonna. Is this gonna be weird to have a mix of really good professional pictures than my pictures? And then it was really important for me to have pictures that the families submitted, so candids and snapshots. And I know feature a lot of those in your cookbook, too. And I think those are so important, and I think they all came together. I hope so. Yeah, I did that one, too.Stephanie Hansen [00:11:28]:Oh, see, look at.Sarah Peterson [00:11:30]:I can’t even tell if you look in the back. We credit which pages are definitely her pictures. But, you know, she did the COVIDStephanie Hansen [00:11:37]:shot, and that’s this one. Yeah. No, I. I knew you had worked with her, but when I looked through the book, I thought I could tell, but I couldn’t, so. Good for you.Sarah Peterson [00:11:49]:She helped me do the. The Dutch pancake.Stephanie Hansen [00:11:52]:Yep. Those are so hard to get because they deflate.Sarah Peterson [00:11:58]:I know. And the day that we did it, I just made the most gigantic one ever in my largest lodge skillet. And it worked. And, like, screaming in excitement that it came out so beautiful. And then it did deflate, but we made it look pretty with berries and powder. Powdered sugar. I did that one, too. That one.Sarah Peterson [00:12:16]:Handballs. But, like, she did these really pretty pictures of my recipe cards and recipe boxes, and she took pictures of me with my grandma’s dishes. So she got a lot of shots, too, that obviously I Couldn’t take because I was in them. Yeah, it was really nice. And I’ve been using her photos like crazy and all of my Instagram and marketing efforts, so I’m just so grateful that I had her. I wish I could have hired her for the whole thing. But I think, too, when you’re making a cookbook, I don’t know about you, but I like to eat what I make. And I’m, like, photographing it in the moment.Stephanie Hansen [00:12:49]:Yes.Sarah Peterson [00:12:50]:And I do like those kind of pictures too, so I’m really glad I have a mix.Stephanie Hansen [00:12:54]:I. I feel like, for me, if I’m not living that life or I’m not like, that is the life I live. So the intention is that it’s happening in real time. I’m. I felt like this. Making this thing today, when I made it, this is what it looked like. This is how I ate it. This is how it.Stephanie Hansen [00:13:14]:The dishes I served it in. To me, that’s what makes this food life fun. So when it becomes like a complete chore or a list or a job, that’s when I find I don’t like it as much.Sarah Peterson [00:13:26]:Right. And I do think that people resonate to real life pictures.Stephanie Hansen [00:13:31]:Yeah. We’re lucky in that way, because if we would have been doing this during the fussy Instagram, first coming alive and everything being blown out white, beautiful shots,Sarah Peterson [00:13:42]:I don’t know that we have to do that. And especially with AI now, you want things to look a little imperfect.Stephanie Hansen [00:13:47]:Tell me about how you scheduled your book…

Full show notes at the publisher

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected