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Welcome to Funeral Potatoes and Wool Mittens, a show for people who embrace the warm and cozy spirit of everyday living in the northern Midwest. Whether you cook, bake, or have food delivery on speed dial, everyone has a comforting recipe or story to share. We bake cookies for our kids’ hockey teams and bring cheesy hash browns to funerals. Lefse and krumkake are in our DNA. Candy bars and apples make a salad. We'll ditch work for a lake day, drive an hour for an old-fashioned bakery, and do ...
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After seven months and 32 episodes, Season 1 has come to an end. But not without a huge thank you to guests, listeners and supporters. What's next? Tune in to find out. Random Sweets: Website: randomsweets.com Instagram: @potatoesandmittens Instagram: @randomsweets Facebook: Random Sweets Email: staci@randomsweets.com #ourSweetMidwestLife --- Send …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Hive to Jar, The Sweet Story of Adee Honey Farms with Marla Hoyer and Sarah Hauge
1:18:11
1:18:11
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1:18:11
You are in for a sweet and sticky treat today! Joining me are Adee Honey Farms’ second and third generation family members, Marla Hoyer, and Sarah Hauge. We cover everything from the history of Adee Honey, way back to even before Richard and his brother Stanley purchased the South Dakota honey operation of about 1,000 honeybee colonies in 1957, to …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Bruce Honey Days 2023 and Community Cookbook Honey Recipes
42:45
42:45
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42:45
Many Midwestern towns host annual festivities in celebration of characteristics unique to their community—like the city celebration we’re talking about today—the 32nd annual Honey Days in Bruce, South Dakota. Joining me for today’s show are longtime parade emcee, Mary Bjerke, and her husband, Russ, and their daughter, Christianne Beringer. Mary sha…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Gardening, Salsa & Mocktails, A Summer Conversation with Medary Acres Greenhouse
1:19:04
1:19:04
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1:19:04
I’m talking all things summer gardening with two special guests—Lynn Darnall and her daughter Sarah Alfano, owners of Medary Acres Greenhouse—a 71-year-old, third-generation business in Brookings, South Dakota. We cover a variety of topics, from basics like watering and deadheading, to the value of mulching tomato plants, how to properly cut stems …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Homemade Strawberry Apricot Jam and Broiled Parmesan Potatoes with Sydney Andera
51:11
51:11
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51:11
Today on the show, South Dakota native Sydney Andera talks about who inspired her to make homemade strawberry apricot jam, her favorite flavor of birthday cake since she doesn’t like chocolate, the meal she likes most that her mom, Michelle, makes, her Grandma Naomi’s broiled parmesan potatoes, and a barbecue joint and a doughnut shop she and her b…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Bake With Me: Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Poppers
14:34
14:34
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14:34
On today’s Bake With Me episode, I invite you to bake along with me as I make Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Poppers. With just a few ingredients and a mini muffin tin, you can quickly make a batch of these poppers that all the peanut butter and chocolate lovers in my family like. Since we’re using a peanut butter cookie mix, all we need is the cookie p…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Try These 26 Iconic South Dakota Foods, Plus a Few From Neighboring States’ Plates
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49:47
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49:47
As South Dakotans love to road trip across the state, plus, hundreds of thousands of tourists vacation here throughout the summer, this episode is for anyone who wants to learn more about, and try, 26 iconic dishes and drinks that define the Mount Rushmore state. If you’re from the Midwest, you’ve probably already checked a lot of these foods off y…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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18 Camping Meals and Snacks, Plus Jenn Buse’s Favorite Campgrounds in South Dakota and Minnesota
1:19:08
1:19:08
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1:19:08
Do the great outdoors beckon you to the campground all summer long? Today’s guest, Jenn Buse from Tyler, Minnesota, is such a seasoned camper, I knew we’d have fun talking about meals and snacks she shares with family—whether fireside folk singing, watching the sun set over Lake Poinsett, or cozied up in the camper on a rainy day. Jenn has celebrat…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Fudge, Tacos, Fruits, Vegetables, Smoothies, Cocktails, Chicken Alfredo, and All Things Vitamix with Leah Brink
1:02:08
1:02:08
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1:02:08
You are going to love today’s guest—my friend and a true Midwesterner, Leah Brink has lived in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and for nearly 20 years, she’s called Brookings, South Dakota home. She’s the kind of person who brings the fun to a party. It was her idea to start our show making strawberry daiquiris in my kitchen, and I certainly didn’t argue …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Smoking Cheese, Pulled Pork and Ham with Russell Ziegler
43:37
43:37
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43:37
Today my North Dakota brother-in-law, Russell Ziegler, a coal miner and former United States Marine, joins us to talk about cold-smoking cheese, smoking pork butt, and how he turns a plain old pork shoulder into an incredibly flavorful smoked ham that practically shreds itself at the sight of a fork. You'll learn where he uses maple syrup, what’s i…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Eating Kuchen, Mexican Corn, Pickle Dip, and Fried Knoephla & Sauerkraut Pulled Pork and Cruising the River in North Dakota with Betsy Ziegler
50:37
50:37
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50:37
In this episode, my North Dakota sister-in-law Betsy Ziegler joins me to talk about the German dessert, Kuchen, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, beloved maple bacon long johns at Bearscat, and cruising the Missouri River and drinking blood-red cocktail pouches. She shares her recipes, most of them using the “eyeball” method, for a non-mayo-based Ge…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Bake With Me: Tangled Caramel Peanut Butter Corn Chips
14:02
14:02
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14:02
It's a busy week at my house. Our daughter graduates from college and I'm making the food for her party. So come bake with me in my kitchen on this episode as I make tangled caramel peanut butter corn chips, a sweet & salty favorite and one of the most popular recipes on randomsweets.com. It's one of those snacks that's hard to stop eating once you…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Changing a Child’s Story with Ashley Rhodes-Courter and East Central CASA
1:54:53
1:54:53
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1:54:53
Joining us today is Ashley Rhodes-Courter, author of the New York Times and international bestselling memoir, “Three Little Words,” and its sequal, “Three More Words.” She’s an international keynote speaker, licensed clinical social worker, and founder of The Foundation for Sustainable Families. Since her first national keynote at age 14, Ashley ha…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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What Are Funeral Potatoes and Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole?
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43:50
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43:50
It’s time to talk all things funeral potatoes. Cheesy hash brown casserole has more names than any dish I know—funeral potatoes, hash brown casserole, cheesy hash browns, party potatoes, company potatoes, Cracker Barrel potatoes, hash brown baked potatoes, taco potato casserole, hash brown potatoes, company potato casserole, and many others. In add…
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Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, Peanut Buster Bars, and Marie's Beans with Marie Mergenthal
50:14
50:14
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50:14
My mother-in-law, Marie Mergenthal, is giving away her secrets for tangy dill pickle pasta salad, and the calico beans she is so well known for in the family. And if you like a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait, stick around because Marie has a recipe to make it at home in a 9x13 pan. I’ve posted photos and these recipes on randomsweets dot com. Sh…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Our Top 5 Restaurants and More in Gulf Shores Alabama
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55:46
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55:46
Welcome to part 2 of our Gulf of Mexico getaway. This episode is all about the restaurants and delicious food we enjoyed while on vacation in Alabama’s Gulf Shores area this past February. My husband Jason and I share our top five meals and places to eat, like a smoked turkey sandwich, dry aged Delmonico steak, key lime pie, eggs Benedict atop a wa…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Taking a Break from Midwest Winter in Gulf Shores Alabama with Jason Mergenthal
48:07
48:07
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48:07
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 o…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Quick and Easy Recipes and Pantry Items to Satisfy Your Sweet Cravings
21:24
21:24
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21:24
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,…
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Snickurtle Pie, French Toast Casserole and Love of the Midwest with Jill Coene
29:41
29:41
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29:41
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 cheesec…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Food and Fun in Phoenix, Plus 9 Trader Joe’s Products We Discovered
54:03
54:03
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54:03
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 …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Vintage Snow Frosting and Cocoa Birthday Cake with My Mom Linda Moe
42:57
42:57
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42:57
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 …
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Childhood Favorite Comfort Food Meals With My Son Sajen Perry
40:44
40:44
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40:44
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 th…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Game Day Appetizers with My Sisters Heidi Thomssen and Kalli Reisetter
47:39
47:39
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47:39
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 di…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Vodka Pasta Recipe, Cossetta in St. Paul and 7 Sioux Falls Restaurants with My Daughter Kalani Perry
45:44
45:44
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45:44
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 resta…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Mary's Meatloaf and Beverly's Mac and Cheese with Christianne Beringer
52:27
52:27
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52:27
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, emoti…
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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…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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Nearly 60 Years of Homemade Birthday Ice Cream with My Dad Ron Perry
25:25
25:25
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25:25
December birthdays can be hard. On this episode, I sit down with my dad in South Dakota, while he shares how he started his homemade ice cream birthday tradition, how, as the youngest of the family, he would get his brothers to turn the crank on the ice cream maker at his party, why my sister thought the ice cream would maybe taste like slough wate…
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Hiking, Funeral Potatoes, BBQ and a Bakery in Bemidji Minnesota
36:50
36:50
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36:50
Visiting Bemidji Minnesota and wondering where to eat, stay and get in a little shopping and hiking? My husband, Jason, joins us on this episode as we reminice about our October trip to Bemidji for hockey, dining, hiking, shopping and lakeside lodging. From a hearty meal at Fozzie's Smokin Bar-B-Q, gourmet hot dogs at Lucky Dogs, to whipped honeymo…
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Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens
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26 Bakeries You Should Know About in Minnesota and South Dakota
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34:10
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There are hundreds of bakeries across the Midwest. Come along with me as we explore 26 of them in Minnesota and South Dakota. From chocolate croissants and kouign-amann at Red Bench Bakery in Chaska and Excelsior Minnesota, and the famous and trademarked Zebra doughnuts in Centerville, South Dakota to a surprise menu item at Taste of Scandinavia, I…
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What do you make for breakfast when you have overnight houseguests? In this episode, I share recipes for two meat, egg, and cheese breakfast casseroles, plus my favorite recipes for muffins, butterscotch monkey bread, mini cinnamon sugar doughnuts (much easier than you think), coffee cakes, amaretto pistachio Bundt cake with booze, and cake batter …
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As I’m wrapping up my Christmas shopping, I’m thinking about how much I like to give and receive cookbooks as gifts. I’d like to hear from you which cookbooks you’d give as presents so I thought I’d share a few of my favorites. It turns out, it’s like trying to pick a favorite child, which is impossible. So on this episode of Funeral Potatoes & Woo…
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On today’s episode, we’re talking about why I started this podcast and where the name came from, what you can expect, and a personal look into my history of baking. My funny and talented friend Jen Miller joins me with all kinds of questions, and you’ll learn what happened the first time I brought homemade cheesecake to a food day at work and why I…
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How do you make contest-winning caramel brownies? Smoke Cheez-It crackers? Where is the best bakery in Minnesota to get a glazed blueberry doughnut? Staci Perry Mergenthal, writer and baker of Random Sweets, talks to people who embrace the cozy spirit of everyday living and comfort food in the northern Midwest. Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens launc…
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