BAKING

Column: A few things touring Bemidji's Taste of the Arts taught me

Sarah Suchoski — Tue, 27 May 2025 20:15:00 GMT

Learning has become an increasingly important part of my life over the years. Especially when I get the chance to learn from others, and this weekend I got the perfect opportunity for that.

As the Bemidji Pioneer’s summer intern, I was tasked with partaking in the second Taste of the Arts tour around the greater Bemidji area.

Being a recent Bemidji State graduate, I haven’t had the chance to experience much of the community outside the campus grounds, so I was excited to venture a little out of my comfort zone and try some new things.

Taste of the Arts was a free event that took place on Saturday, May 24, and Sunday, May 25, consisting of six locations throughout the greater Bemidji area. Each stop offered food samples, viewings and demonstrations of the work from local artisans.

I do not consider myself an art expert by any means, so I was a little anxious heading into the day because I had no idea what to expect. Once I began, though, my anxiety quickly dissipated.

I visited five out of the six locations along the Taste of the Arts tour, and at each stop, I immediately felt welcomed. I found that as eager as I was to discover more about the featured artist's work and what got them into their respective art forms, they were also interested in learning about me.

My first stop was at Wildflower Cottage, a small art oasis run by the Westrum family located on the outskirts of Bemidji. Here they had basket weaving, pottery and fermented ginger honey.

Some of the pottery for sale was created by one of my fellow BSU students, Bridget Westrum, as part of one of her final college projects. She said her inspiration for the project was to bring the BSU community together with the Bemidji community at large.

During Shannon Lucas-Westrum’s basket-weaving presentation, I not only learned about how she got her start, but also that you should not be afraid to try something new because you just might impress yourself.

Next on the tour was the picturesque WildFlower Farm located in Puposky, where Anna Lauer and Alena Hrabcakova set up.

This place reminded me of my northern Minnesota home with the smell of freshly-baked sourdough and pastries lingering in the air from Lauer’s bakery. For sale at the bakery were a variety of baked goods, herb and spice mixes, jams and jellies and more.

One interesting tidbit about this location was that before it was turned into a workspace, it was a milk parlor for the Lake Julia Tuberculosis Sanitorium.

Hrabcakova had her still life paintings and upcycled jackets set up just outside the bakery.

“I will be exhibiting on the border of Ukraine and Slovakia,” Hrabcakova said. “ It’s to create awareness for sovereignty and peace and the beauty of the land, but also the sorrow of the people that have suffered there.”

Just down the road from WildFlower Farm was the Puposky Pearl farm and local artist Mary Therese. At Puposky Pearl, they were serving fermented mushrooms and Korean corn dogs, while Therese was showing off her silk paintings.

There was a lot of laughter and chatter as Therese demonstrated her current silk painting and mushroom tours were going on.

Meanwhile, at Belle Thalia Creative Arts, the next stop on the tour, attendees could hear the rhythmic clacking of artist Carrie Jessen working on a weaving loom, the fizz of kombucha as a flip-top bottle was opened and the sizzles and pops of Al Bellevue’s welding torch coming from the art space.

Jessen said she got into weaving around 30 years ago, but did not have a lot of time for it. She picked it up again 13 years ago to weave for historical reenactors.

Art can be accessible when on a budget, too. Angie Ness said nature weaving allows her to gather natural materials and some yarn to create art. As a nature-lover myself, it was amazing seeing natural elements incorporated into art that can be displayed around the house.

Ness also had homemade kombucha for people to try, and spruce tip soda, which sadly was not ready yet for me to try.

Al Belleveau, of Rock Iron Art, was a hit and those in attendance got to help weld a dragonfly garden decor with scrap metals of their choice. These metals consisted of screwdrivers, forks, metal feathers and so forth.

Tucked away just off of Highway 89, Minam Morris and Jody Johnson could be found giving out kimchi and showing Sámi-inspired embroidery and bracelets with music played by Annalise Aakhas at the next tour stop.

While Morris was handing out kimchi, Johnson was going over the history of the Sámi, who are the only recognized Indigenous group in Europe and they use tin thread for their art.

As my time on the tour drew to an end, I reflected on how amazing it was meeting and talking with so many new people throughout the weekend. Community is such an important part of the Bemidji area and it was a joy being able to become a part of it.

As I continue my internship this summer, I am excited to see new adventures Bemidji has in store for me.

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Get a real Taste of the Arts this weekend

Dennis Doeden — Tue, 20 May 2025 15:19:51 GMT

PUPOSKY — Art lovers who are also foodies will get another chance to combine their interests when the second Taste of the Arts tour takes place this weekend.

The free event will run from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, and from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 25. Participants can visit six locations to sample food, watch demonstrations and see artists at work.

The inaugural Taste of the Arts tour in 2023 included 10 locations, but organizer Cate Belleveau said some participants found it difficult to visit all of them. This year, one site is on Bemidji’s north end, four are clustered in the Puposky area and one is east of town in Turtle River Township.

“We’re responding to people who said they spent so much time conversing with the artists that they ran out of time,” Belleveau said. “We brought it down to six (sites) with the hopes that we would make it easier for people to attend a few more.”

This year’s event is being held in memory of François Fouquerel, a Concordia Language Villages dean and baker who demonstrated sourdough breadmaking two years ago at Swamp Hill Carpentry in Turtle River Township. Fouquerel died suddenly in October 2024 at the age of 59.

“Most people loved and knew François from the language camps and his French presence in our community,” Belleveau said. “So in honor of François, Concordia Language Villages stepped up and they said they are going to make sourdough bread and have samples and recipes.”

Here’s a look at the six locations:

Wildflower Cottage, 4905 Bemidji Ave. N., Bemidji. Basket making demonstration by Shannon Lucas-Westrum, pottery demo by Bridget Westrum. Ginger honey will be the fermented food sample. Swamp Hill Carpentry, 6714 Parkers Lake Road NE, Turtle River Township. Wood turning demos by Robb Carothers with bowls for sale. Wine samples from Jeff Ness of Split Oak Farms. Sourdough bread available for purchase from Concordia Language Villages. WildFlower Farm, 580 Great Divide Road NW, Puposky. Anna Lauer will have sourdough bread and other baked goods for sale on her farm. Art therapist, visual and literary artist Donna Alena Hrabcakova will help guests paint a still life of baked goods. Puposky Pearl mushroom farm, 2233 Great Divide Road NW, Puposky. Fermented mushroom samples. A food truck with Korean pronto pups will be on site. Artist Mary Therese will demonstrate her silk batik work. Minam Morris home, 9644 Linwood Court NW, Puposky (off Highway 89). Minam, a well-known Korean food entrepreneur, will offer samples of traditional Korean kimchi. Live music by Annalise Aakhus. A make-your-own puppet station will be available for kids. Belle Thalia Creative Arts Space, 24011 Highway 89 NW, Puposky. Kombucha demo by Angie Ness of Split Oak Farms. Loom weaving demo by Carrie Jessen. Sculptor Al Belleveau will help guests weld garden art.

Those interested in attending Taste of the Arts are encouraged to pick up a brochure that includes a map and demonstration schedule at Sunrise Foods, 802 Paul Bunyan Drive SE or at Wildflower Cottage. Information is also available on Facebook by searching for Belle Thalia Creative Arts Space.

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Harmony Co-op to hold pork egg roll making class

Pioneer Staff Report — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:57:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — Pauli Meinecke, former deli manager at Harmony Co-op, will teach participants how to make their own pork egg rolls at home at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14, at the co-op’s community kitchen, 302 Irvine Ave. NW.

"This delicious, deli favorite, dairy-free egg roll includes so many great flavors," a release said. "Niman Ranch pork meets fresh veggies, rice noodles, and all the right spices in a classic wrapper."

The class cost is $16.50 per person. All materials are included in the cost. Space is limited and classes fill up quickly, register in-store or online at harmonyfoods.coop/classes-events.

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Harmony Co-op to hold homemade donut class

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 01:17:24 GMT

BEMIDJI — Instructor Debbie Rentz will teach participants how to make their own fried donuts at home at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, at the co-op’s community kitchen, 302 Irvine Ave. NW.

"The flavor of Norwegian old-fashioned donuts is sweet and mildly spiced, making them a beloved treat," a release said.

The class cost is $15 per person. Space is limited and classes fill up quickly, register in-store or online at harmonyfoods.coop/classes-events. Reservations are not guaranteed until class payment is made.

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar features Rother’s Just Desserts at 'Minnesota Mornings'

Pioneer Staff Report — Fri, 17 Mar 2023 15:31:27 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s “Minnesota Mornings” event at her Senate office in Washington, D.C. featured baked goods from Rother’s Just Desserts in Bemidji on Thursday.

Klobuchar showcases Minnesota specialties weekly at these morning coffee gatherings.

“Locally owned shops and restaurants like Rother’s Just Desserts continue to strengthen our economy,” Klobuchar said in a release. “I was happy to bring a taste of Bemidji to Washington.”

Rother’s Just Desserts owner, Lisa Rother, was born and raised in northern Minnesota and has always had a passion for baking.

Rother’s Just Desserts, located at 419 Beltrami Ave. NW, Suite 2, offers cookies, pastries, cupcakes, specialty cakes, gourmet desserts and more. The store’s business hours are 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Klobuchar hosts “Minnesota Mornings” every Thursday when the Senate is in session and invites all Minnesotans who are visiting Washington, D.C.

Visitors can hear first-hand accounts of Klobuchar’s work in the Senate, mingle with fellow Minnesotans visiting Washington, meet the Senator’s staff, and take photographs with the Senator.

To find more information regarding “Minnesota Mornings,’’ visit Senator Klobuchar’s website at klobuchar.senate.gov or call her office at (202) 224-3244.

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Coming soon to a kitchen near you: my mom

Tammy Swift — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 16:00:00 GMT

THE BLACK HILLS, S.D. — Picture this.

Our family is all staying at a cabin in the Black Hills where we’ve decided to take turns making meals.

Niece Sara and her husband are making biscuits and sausage gravy when Sara hollers out to my mother: “Can we substitute whipped cream for half-and-half?”

Without needing to pause or think about it, my mother responds: “Of course. Just add a little milk to it.”

Later that week, we are sampling caramel rolls from a local eatery. We are all raving about them — except for Mom. She is dissecting the sweet roll’s anatomy like some kind of board-certified surgeon of bakeology. Maybe a carb-iologist.

“The sugar in the caramel hasn’t been cooked enough,” she says. “You can still feel the slight grittiness in the texture. And the dough is a little heavy. It needed more time to rise.”

We all look at each other. My mom is no longer young or spry enough to single-handedly whip together a feast. But the knowledge in her brain is indispensable. With her cooking know-how, she could save countless newlyweds from disastrous Thanksgivings or non-cooking singles from living solely off Pop-Tarts and ramen noodles. She is like Julia Child, Alton Brown and Google all rolled into one.

What if every kitchen in America could have an elderly grandmother — a woman who could tell if pie crust was homemade at 75 paces — who popped up virtually in their kitchen to offer sage kitchen wisdom?

She could appear via hologram, I suggested.

“We could call her the Hologrammy,” sister Mabel quipped.

Imagine the possibilities. So all the in-laws are lined up at the table for Thanksgiving dinner but the gravy isn’t thickening? Don’t bother with Siri or Alexa, who are only good at ordering takeout. Call Hologrammy, who will not only show you how to make the proper “cornstarch slurry” to thicken the gravy but will inform you what ratio of drippings and seasonings to add for maximum flavor.

Is your whipped cream failing? Hologrammy can show up to look at the overwhipped mess and tsk: “Are you trying to make butter?” Then she can direct you, step by step, on the proper way to whip, sweeten, flavor and stabilize cream.

She could advise you to test-bake only one cookie if you’re concerned the dough seems a little thin or how to add potatoes if you’re oversalted the soup. She could tell you that the perfect amount of time to soften butter in the microwave is with the power level reduced to “7” and the timer set to 23 seconds per stick.

Hologrammy would have OI (olfactory intelligence), so she could alert you when that sheet cake smells perfectly done so you don’t have to waste toothpicks. She also could inform you if that only-slightly-expired sour cream may be a tad too sour or if the origin of that strange smell in your refrigerator can be traced to a furry cucumber that somehow got wedged between the crisper drawer and the back of the fridge.

For an extra $299, Hologrammy could be upgraded to include customized info for your particular family. If you asked how many potatoes are needed to feed mashed potatoes for six, she could respond that you’ll need a half-pound of taters per person, plus 3 pounds for son-in-law Rufus because he “never knows when to quit.”

Or, if you’re used to a “tough love” kind of grandma, you could opt for the model that will criticize how you cook the rice, chastise you for burning sugar on the stove burner and announce loudly to guests that the lasagna was made with spaghetti sauce out of a can.

We’ll call that one the Holocrabby.

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The key to great Key lime pie? Hold the Key limes

Tammy Swift — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 18:00:00 GMT

FARGO — I used to view Key lime pie as the “grandma candy” of the dessert world.

It was fine if it was the only pie left on the menu, but it couldn’t hold a candle to real, solid, church-goin’, parade-attendin’, state fair-winnin' pies like Dutch apple or lemon meringue or French silk.

Then again, to be honest, I think I judged this pie solely on its name, envisioning it as a tart filled with whole, unpeeled limes and crumbled piano keys.

That all changed when my sister, Mabel, moved to Florida and introduced her Midwestern siblings to a pie so revered by Floridians that they’ve made it their official state pie.

This made perfect sense after sampling the dessert’s one-two punch of creamy sweetness and citrussy tartness.

It's a pie so light and tangy that you actually crave it in hot weather.

Even more impressive is the recipe, consisting of just a handful of ingredients.

How could something so tasty be so simple? This particular recipe only called for the juice of those aromatic Barbie-sized limes, egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and a graham cracker crust.

Key limes, native to Malaysia, were probably brought to the Florida Keys by the Spanish as far back as the 1500s.

These Lilliputian limes are a major pain to juice or zest, as they are as tiny and thin-skinned as Joe Pesci's Tommy DeVito. But foodies believe they are worth the elbow grease, with their slightly floral aroma and a tart but less acidic taste than the common Persian lime.

I would argue otherwise. In the 1920s, a major hurricane wiped out most of Florida’s commercially raised Key lime trees, so most of the Key limes you buy today come from faraway locales like India, Egypt and Mexico.

Considering the distance these teensy fruits travel, they usually resemble tasteless marbles by the time they hit our produce sections in the Upper Midwest. More than once, I've bought a whole bag of those tiny, rock-hard limes from the grocery store and attempted to juice and zest them.

After going through the whole bag, I only succeeded in zesting my knuckles and producing enough lime juice to make a mojito for an ant.

So unless you have access to fresh Key limes, don’t bother with them.

Of course, shoppers have the option to buy the bottled Key lime juice, although that can be corrosively strong.

For this recipe, I took the advice of Once Upon a Chef blogger Jenn Segal and used Persian limes. These limes produce plenty of juice, are easy to zest and still impart the pie with an intriguing tartness which I’ll argue is comparable to the flavor created by their tiny cousins.

The following recipe is a mashup of Segal’s recipe and the most popular Key lime recipe on Allrecipes.com.

Both versions replace eggs with either Greek yogurt or sour cream, which creates an incredibly smooth, silky texture.

The result is a dessert which more than deserves its moment in the pie world’s limelight.

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:

1½ cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 12 whole crackers)

⅓ cup packed light brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup (2% or whole milk) Greek yogurt OR 1 cup full-fat sour cream

1 tablespoon grated lime zest

¾ cup fresh lime juice

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon grated lime zest (for topping)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon almond extract

8 to 10 thin lime slices

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set oven rack in middle position. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter; stir with a fork first, and then your hands until the mixture is well-combined. Using your fingers and the bottom of a glass or dry measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly into the bottom and up the sides of a deep-dish 9-inch pie pan. The crust should be about ¼-inch thick. (Tip: do the sides first.)

Bake for 10 minutes, until slightly browned. Let crust cool slightly. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk, yogurt or sour cream, lime zest and lime juice. Pour into warm crust. Bake 15 minutes until the filling is almost set; it should wobble a bit. Cool to room temperature for 30 minutes, then chill thoroughly in fridge (about 30 minutes).

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch (which will help the cream stabilize), powdered sugar and almond extract; beat until medium peaks form. Top the pie with whipped cream. Decorate with the lime zest and lime slices. Keep refrigerated and serve cold.

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Mom would approve: Mother's Day Tres Leches is made from cake mix

Tammy Swift — Fri, 06 May 2022 16:00:00 GMT

FARGO — The one thing I’ve always appreciated about my Mom is that she can rock a cooking shortcut.

Let's be clear: Marge definitely knows how to bake breads, pies and cakes from scratch. But as she has gotten older — and less enthusiastic about spending all day in the kitchen — she has learned to unashamedly embrace the time-saving beauty of Rhodes frozen bread dough or an Our Family pie crust.

One hack I've learned from her is that a few homespun ingredients can cleverly camouflage any "cheater" mixes or shortcuts. No one even knows that cake is from Betty Crocker's kitchen if you switch out the vegetable oil for butter, add a dash of pure vanilla extract to the batter and ultimately frost it with a homemade buttercream.

The devil's food is in the details.

So I’m not embarrassed to admit that when I bake a cake for Mother’s Day this year, it will be lovingly baked with the Pillsbury Doughboy nodding approvingly over my shoulder. I’ve found a recipe for “shortcut” Tres Leches Cake, the ultra-moist, not-too-sweet cake soaked with three different types of milk.

Many sources link the cake’s origins to Nicaragua, although its delicious roots have also been traced to Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and even Albania (mostly because Albanians make a caramel-topped version of the dessert called trilece).

It’s worth noting that the earliest versions of the Albanian cake were said to be made with goat milk, cow's milk and buffalo milk. As much as I love sweets, it makes me glad that today’s version no longer requires milking a 1,200-pound animal that clocks in at 35 mph while wielding horns that could eviscerate Thor.

Nope, for Mom’s big day, I’m perfectly happy to rely on the more modern version of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and cow's milk (or coconut milk, if that's more your jam).

This cake is incredibly easy, especially when compared to the traditional version, which requires creating a sponge cake by whipping egg whites, folding ingredients and basically filling the sink with dirty dishes.

It checks all the boxes:

It’s baked in the 9-by-13-inch cake pan, which is the unpretentious and always-reliable Ford Focus of cake pans. No need for leveling of cakes, preparing of fillings or methodically stacking of cakes. Anyone who has ever attended a church potluck knows that a dessert served in a 9-by-13 is a badge of honor (extra points if it comes with a metal lid with your name engraved on it). It’s a “poke” cake, meaning you get to take out your frustrations by stabbing it all over with a skewer and then drenching it in milky goodness. It’s not “too sweet,” which is one of my Mom’s most frequent complaints about my more elaborate desserts.

So here’s the recipe, as adapted from the Taste of Home website. I made a few modifications, switching out the heavy cream suggested in the milk bath with whole milk, adding almond extract and adding cream of tartar to the whipped cream frosting to stabilize it.

Shortcut Tres Leches Cake

Ingredients:

1 package butter recipe golden cake or yellow cake mix

3 large eggs, room temperature

⅔ cup milk

½ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk (or coconut milk)

1 cup heavy whipping cream (for frosting)

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, milk, softened butter and vanilla; beat on low speed 30 seconds. Then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. (Cake should still be slightly warm for next step.)

In a 4-cup measuring cup, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and 1 cup whole milk until well-combined. Using a skewer, generously poke holes in top of cake. Pour milk mixture slowly over cake, filling holes and being sure to also soak edges of cake. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, 4 hours or overnight.

In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cream of tartar. In a larger, chilled bowl, pour cream and beat until it starts to thicken. Stir in sugar mixture and extracts; beat until firm peaks just start to form. Spread over cake. Keep refrigerated.

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More German than ever at this central Minnesota restaurant

Michael Johnson — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 16:14:00 GMT

WADENA, Minn. — There's something unusual about Oma's Restaurant and Bakery that is absolutely refreshing.

In our fast-paced corner of the world where schedules are packed and relationships are more digital than ever, this restaurant and bakery asks visitors to slow down. Enjoy the good things in life. Eat, drink and be merry.

A fine example recently was a group of hungry travelers from St. Cloud, who stopped for a meal at Oma's after having heard of the traditional German food they prepare and serve there.

They dined, conversed, drank coffee from cups that rarely ran low, ate dessert, enjoyed the quiet calm environment and truly enjoyed themselves for over three hours.

“I think that’s what we want,” the newest member of Oma’s team, Martin Jr. Schmidlin said.

The customers eventually left happy, "and full," according to Yvonne Strom, head baker and reason this family of Germans made the move to America. Never was there any attempt to move the customers on their way and that's the goal at Oma's — get people in the doors and let them stay and enjoy the food and family restaurant in a “no rush” atmosphere.

Oma’s has progressed over the years from Annette Schmidlin (Oma) and her daughter Yvonne Strom first selling baked goods at farmers markets to opening a bakery and restaurant. It’s now an established cornerstone of the community with an expanded building and food offerings.

The most recent progress made here was the move of Martin Jr. Schmidlin and his family to Minnesota from Germany. Martin is the son of Annette and Martin Sr., and the brother of Yvonne.

Getting him to America seemed impossible at times. It started four years ago during a previous administration which squeezed down on immigration into the country.

“I think it was bad timing,” Martin Jr. said. Not only were politics playing a role, but then the coronavirus stopped anyone from going anywhere for a time.

At times Martin and his family were packed up and ready, just waiting for the call saying “it’s time.” The longer that took the more they thought maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

“It was like God doesn’t want me to move,” Martin thought. “It was really depressing.”

Endless piles of paperwork and conversations over the years and the Schmidlins were finally able to come over legally and prepared to go to work with the family. They arrived in early winter 2021.

Martin Jr. told his wife even before they married that he’d like to move to America to move closer to his family. Family is just too important to consider staying in Germany.

“You need your family to handle some things,” Martin Jr. said. “You just need family.”

His family includes his wife, Miriam, and three kids (two boys 8 and 3 and daughter age 5). Miriam helps in the restaurant and the kids are doing well in school. The family had visited Minnesota several times, but only in the winter as that was the only time he could make time to visit. They look forward to experiencing a Minnesota summer – as do the rest of us.

Cooking professionally has been a part of the Schmidlin family for many years. It’s a field that Martin Jr. said he is content with as everyday is different.

“It never gets boring, because in case I get bored, I just buy other ingredients,” he said.

Switching up the menu makes it fun for him and those visiting the restaurant. Customers can expect traditional German cooking in a relaxing atmosphere.

“Don’t just have a 20 minute meal,” Strom said. “Take your time, sit down, bring your loved ones.”

In this kitchen you may have to wait 20 minutes for your meal, but that’s because it’s being handcrafted by one chef.

“I take my time that is needed for each plate and that’s what everyone should know,” Martin Jr. said.

You can visualize that if you order the pork schnitzel. When he’s started your meal, you’ll hear him pounding your pork into the thin, tender morsel you deserve. Listen closely and you may even hear it sizzle as it hits the pan. It’s fresh off the fire when it lands in front of you. It’s worth the wait.

“Just sit and relax and enjoy,” Martin explains of their expectations for those visiting.

The relaxing part is possibly made easiest by Martin Sr. and the staff that wait tables. They are highly attentive to each table making sure your needs are met. They are not about turning tables.

With Annette continuing to cook earlier in the day, people can still expect to enjoy what she has helped create and Martin Jr. brings his expertise to the evening meals. Strom keeps the displays full of fresh breads, cakes and confections. Her brother is thoroughly impressed with the business his family has created and welcomed him into. Now he just hopes to keep moving it ahead.

“It’s really impressive what she’s (Oma) made, and I just don’t want to mess it up,” he said with a laugh.

From what customers are saying far and wide, things are moving ever in the right direction at Oma’s.

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Muriel Kingery turns baking hobby into a business with Sundog Handmade

Dennis Doeden — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 12:30:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — Linda Kingery says her daughter Muriel has always been interested in baking. Now that little girl has turned that passion into a side job that is growing in popularity.

“She’s been a helper in the kitchen for most of her life,” Linda said, “and I think she’s adding a lot of creativity to it. I really admire how she has developed her creative skills, especially in the decorating side of things.”

Muriel, 38, started her Sundog Handmade business last year after receiving her Minnesota Cottage Food Producers Association certification. She works full-time at Bemidji State University as associate director of Hobson Memorial Union.

After work, she gets busy in her home kitchen, creating a variety of baked goods that are sold on her website. Her most popular items are sugar cookies, which she intricately decorates for all occasions.

It makes for a busy life, with support (and dishwashing) from her husband, Bryan McCoy. But Muriel says she has figured out how to handle both jobs.

“One of the things I really like about the work I do at BSU is that I have a very flexible schedule,” she said. “I am the advisor to the Campus Activities Board. Some nights I work later into the evening. I try to plan out ahead of time."

She added that if she has too much BSU work in a week she makes sure to not take on too many orders, because it’s not fun if she is doing too much of both.

“I know when I take the order what the needs are," she explained. "So some orders I can just bake them and package them up and have them ready to go for the next day.

"If I’m doing some pretty intricate cookie work, for example, that’s usually a two- or three-day process. I bake them one night, then put on a base coat and then do the detailing later. I’m trying to be really good at planning in time to photograph them before I send them out the door. I’ve gotten a lot better at it after a year.”

Family inspiration

Muriel’s introduction to baking began when she was a preschooler at the family’s home in Puposky. She also learned from her grandmothers when she visited them.

“I was really privileged to have two really wonderful baking grandmas, and my mom is an incredible homemaker of all sorts,” Muriel said. “Both of my grandmothers and my mom were really strong women and really good inspirations for me.”

Muriel graduated from BSU with a degree in creative and professional writing and earned a master’s in public administration at the University of North Dakota. She worked for the UND Foundation for two years before the couple moved to Bemidji in 2018.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the BSU campus during the winter of 2020-21, and Muriel was working from her downtown Bemidji home, she made the decision to apply for the Cottage Food Producers certification and to start Sundog Handmade.

With a marketing plan that included mostly social media and word of mouth, she made her first sales during the first week of February 2021. She launched her website, sundoghandmade.com, a few months later.

“I’m really thankful to some of my first customers who shared with some of their people and kind of helped spread the word,” she said. “So it was pretty organic in the beginning. It’s been working really well, and because this is something I do on the side I can’t take every order.

"Occasionally I do have to turn people away. And occasionally they ask for something that I just can’t do. I can’t do a four-tier wedding cake. If you want little stacked cakes I can do that.”

High standards

Muriel recently joined the Minnesota Cottage Food Producers Association board of directors.

She explained that the MCFPA certification is not a license, but an exemption from a license.

“We have some really strict labeling rules,” she said. “Everything we produce needs to have a label that says this is from my home kitchen and it’s not inspected. It has to include your address or cottage foods registration number. We really hold ourselves to the same food safety standards.”

Feedback from customers has been especially rewarding. Many Sundog Handmade sales are for special occasions like birthdays.

“I think it’s so fun to be a part of people’s special celebrations,” Muriel said. “Many of them send me a picture of their loved one holding the cake or the cookies. There’s nothing better than getting that picture of little kids holding their very best cookie.”

She’s up for just about anything, like the woman who wanted a German chocolate cake for her mother’s 80th birthday.

“That was one of the later nights where I asked, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ The coconut pecan filling was just giving me a little bit of trouble and I really believe that my Grandma Georgie was watching down on me from heaven. She made the best German chocolate cake. I think she would have approved of this one.”

Muriel also has started doing cookie decorating classes. The first one was held on March 12, and the next two are planned for April 9 and April 30. Details are available on her website.

From that early start at her mom’s knee, Muriel has turned a hobby into a budding business.

“We did a lot of baking together," Linda said. "But none of it was as fancy and as creative as what she’s doing now.”

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