Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens

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Taking a Break from Midwest Winter in Gulf Shores Alabama with Jason Mergenthal Mar 26, 2023

Show notes

Yearn for a sugary soft, white sand beach vacation, but prefer a destination within the United States? You’ll find unforgettable spring break fun, romantic getaways, activities with the kiddos or teens, snowbird adventures, or time away with your friends in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama. Located on a 32-mile stretch of beach along the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, Gulf Shores and Orange beach Alabama straddle Florida at Perido Key. Southern hospitality is in season all year long, while pine and palm trees wave in the salty sea air.

In this episode, you’ll learn about a few fun places to go to, the ferry you’ll want to take for a quicker trip to Mobile, four iconic bars to drink at and the Airbnb where we stayed. After listening to this episode, you’ll know which town we want to move to, and why I will forever refer to the Waldforf Astoria as the Waldorf Hysteria. And although we leave our top five favorite Gulf Shores dining experiences to the next episode (Episode 17), Jason reveals where he ate the best banana pudding, even though it was in Florida.

Show Notes

I'm working on an episode for April and I want your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe. Please email it to staci@randomsweets.com. Thank you!

Website: randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets

Quick and Easy Recipes and Pantry Items to Satisfy Your Sweet Cravings Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

Imagine, it’s Saturday afternoon and you’re craving something sweet and homemade. But you want something quick and easy, and you don’t feel like running to the store.

I’m sharing the ingredients I keep on hand for a few fast and simple recipes that you can bake (or no-bake) on a whim.

From sweet and savory caramel corn chips for a night of Netflix, popcorn and a cozy blanket, a giant chocolate chip skillet cookie you’ll eat hot out of the pan, to Reese’s peanut butter cup poppers that start with a cookie pouch mix, to starting your Sunday morning with fresh-baked butterscotch muffins or pistachio cake with a sweet glaze, get all the recipes in today's episode onrandomsweets.com.

Show notes:

Get all the recipes in today's episode on randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets

Snickurtle Pie, French Toast Casserole and Love of the Midwest with Jill Coene Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

My friend Jill Coene joins me on this episode to share her love of the Midwest, the three restaurants she's sure to eat at when she's back in Brookings, South Dakota, her family’s favorite recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers galette, French toast casserole, and snickurtle pie (a mash-up that tastes like Snickers candy bars and no-bake turtle cheesecake), plus, what she’s discovered about macaroni salad living on the East Coast. All recipes available on Randomsweets.com.

Show Notes

Mail your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe on a 3x5 recipe or index card. By sending it to me, you agree that I can use the recipe and your name on an upcoming episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens.

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

Website: randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets

Food and Fun in Phoenix, Plus 9 Trader Joe’s Products We Discovered Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

My husband Jason joins me in this episode as we share a few of our favorite experiences in the Phoenix and Tempe Arizona area this past January.

From the strawberry cocktail on our hotel rooftop bar and the biggest breakfast burrito I've ever seen, to memorable Mexican food in Scottsdale, to the buffalo wings Jason has been talking about for years and the burgers at a place he assumed was long ago swallowed up by redevelopment around the ASU campus—we talk about it all.

Even the place with amazing philly cheesesteak sandwiches and shuffleboard, and this isn't your Love Boat shuffleboard.

Stick around for the last five minutes or so because we share the nine (new to us) products we discovered when we went to two Trader Joe's in one day for hotel snacks. My new favorite everyday wine is included on this list.

Show Notes

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

Cartel Roasting Company

The Chuck Box

Daily Jam

Desert Botanical Garden

Devil’s Advocate (formerly Maloney’s on Campus)

Hyatt House Tempe

Los Sombreros

Mullett Arena

Papago Park (Hole in the Rock)

Philly’s Sports Grill

Piestewa Peak

Postino Annex

Romancing the Bean Coffeehouse Café

Six40rty

Snooze An A.M. Eatery

Sol Diablo Cantina (Rooftop bar at Hyatt House Tempe)

Sun Devil Stadium Tours

The Vine Tavern & Eatery

Website: randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets

Vintage Snow Frosting and Cocoa Birthday Cake with My Mom Linda Moe Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

Because my favorite birthday cake frosting is a recipe my mom has made for many of my 50 birthdays, I asked her to share her cocoa fudge cake and snow frosting, also known as 7-minute frosting, recipes. I was surprised to learn that both recipes came from her mom, my grandma Janet, when my mom and dad got married in 1969. We walk through the steps to making snow frosting, and how humidity affects the outcome. And it was never a birthday party without my mom's barbecue meat on white buns. Since there isn't a written recipe, she had to write it on a sticky-note for me.

Show Notes

Staci Mergenthal

1614 130th Street

Verdi, MN 56164

Randomsweets.com

Watkins clear vanilla

Website: randomsweets.com

Instagram: @potatoesandmittens

Instagram: @randomsweets

Facebook: Random Sweets

Childhood Favorite Comfort Food Meals With My Son Sajen Perry Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Do you have childhood favorite meals? In this episode, my son, Sajen Perry, shares a few of his favorite childhood comfort meals like beer chili spaghetti, hot dog casserole with potato chips, Chicken In A Biskit chicken strips, pepperoni pasta bake, and chip and mint ice cream brownie dessert with hot fudge…and, he tells me a little story about the butterscotch muffins and breakfast egg bake that he and his hockey team liked so much. NOTES FROM THIS EPISODE Mail your funeral potatoes or cheesy hash brown casserole recipe on a 3x5 recipe or index card. By sending it to me, you agree that I can use the recipe and your name on an upcoming episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens. Staci Mergenthal 1614 130th Street Verdi, MN 56164 Randomsweets.com Sausage and Cheddar Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole Baked Spaghetti Marinara with Tiny Pepperoni Chip and Mint Ice Cream Brownie Birthday Treat The T Boys Hot Dog Casserole Chicken In A Biskit Chicken Strips Beer Chili Spaghetti Full Send/Nelk Boys Podcast on Spotify Kowalski’s North Woods Grill Seasoning Grinder (I use the traditional North Woods Grill Seasoning, not the grinder) Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets

Game Day Appetizers with My Sisters Heidi Thomssen and Kalli Reisetter Feb 11, 2023

Show notes

This episode is all about appetizers. We’re sharing a few of our go-to game day recipes – whether for tailgating, a house party, or watching the big game on TV with our families. We talk about South Dakota sushi, slow cooker cowboy beans, buffalo chicken dip, cream cheese wrapped olives, baked cheesy bacon dip, and our different versions of taco dip. Plus, you’ll hear what books my sisters are reading—from fiction to nonfiction, and a new Midwest cookbook. Show Notes & Links https://randomsweets.com/game-day-appetizers-for-tailgating-or-the-couch/ Trader Joe’s Corn and Chile Tomato-less Salsa Presto Slow Cooker (great for traveling) Full Circle Organic Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips TW Angus Beef (South Dakota, where Kalli gets her beef) Dakota Butcher (where Josh picked up the bacon) Dakota Martini Primal Kitchen Barbecue Sauce The Sisters of Sugarcreek by Cathy Liggett It’s Murder Dontcha Know: A Quirky Murder Mystery with Recipes by Jeanne Cooney Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life by Carrie Underwood Home is Where the Eggs Are by Molly Yeh Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets

Vodka Pasta Recipe, Cossetta in St. Paul and 7 Sioux Falls Restaurants with My Daughter Kalani Perry Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

My daughter Kalani Perry joins me to share our spicy vodka pasta with chicken recipe, and she gives us a suggestion for how to use up that carton of heavy cream you need to make it, what it’s like to experience Cossetta, an Italian restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota, especially what she likes most to eat there, and she gives us a list of seven restaurants in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that she likes. Randomsweets.com Cossetta PAve Josiah’s Coffeehouse, Café & Bakery All Day Café MacKenzie River Blarney Stone Pub JL Beers Oshima Sushi Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets

Mary's Meatloaf and Beverly's Mac and Cheese with Christianne Beringer Jan 28, 2023

Show notes

Christianne Beringer shares her family recipes for two quintessential comfort foods—her mom’s meatloaf and her grandma’s macaroni and cheese. You'll learn how to elevate your classic meatloaf by topping it with a sweet and savory brown sugar sauce that caramelizes as it bakes. Whether you like meatloaf or not, if you have ties to the Midwest, emotions of nostalgia will drench over you like ketchup just thinking about it. Join us for a conversation about Midwest comfort food, the story behind Christianne's family’s meatloaf recipe, how to make her Grandma Beverly’s mac & cheese without a written recipe, who she got her love of cooking from, her version of funeral potatoes, how many books she read in 2022 and who her favorite author is at the moment. Bonus, Christianne shares something on the podcast about Velveeta cheese that I did not know. View photos and the recipe here: https://randomsweets.com/marys-meatloaf-and-beverlys-mac-and-cheese/ Author Fredrik Backman Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets

Cheesecake Baking 101 Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

After more than 20 years, the most common questions I get are about baking cheesecakes—like how to know when it’s ready to come out of the oven, what causes cheesecake to crack, how to remove it from the springform pan, how to store it, and how long it should thaw before serving it. In this episode, I share my tips for making cheesecake at home—from the casual and easy ways of making it in a cake pan, mason jars, and cupcake papers to the fancier springform pan for elegant slices, and mini cheesecake pans for adorable individual desserts. If you are already a cheesecake baker, hopefully you’ll hear a suggestion or two that are helpful. If you’ve been too intimidated to try making cheesecake, I hope this episode will give you the confidence to give it a try. Because it’s pretty simple, and unless the cheesecake comes out runny, you can always scoop it into balls, dip them in chocolate, and impress people with cheesecake pops! And for those of you who don’t bake, it would be fun if you listen anyway because you never know when you might have an opportunity to impress someone with your in-depth knowledge of cheesecake making. Show Notes https://randomsweets.com/category/cheesecake/ https://randomsweets.com/you-can-make-your-own-new-york-vanilla-cheesecake-with-fresh-strawberry-sauce/ https://randomsweets.com/there-may-be-andes-mints-under-my-pillow/ https://randomsweets.com/bring-your-fork-to-the-table-white-chocolate-raspberry-cheesecake/ Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets

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