Michele in Minnesota

Michele in Minnesota Life in Minnesota, lived from scratch. Making food, a home, a life...and a little bit of magic.

08/19/2026

🍓🥝 Time Capsule Tuesday!

It all started because I needed a dessert for a work meeting.

I pulled out my thrifted Dayton's employee cookbook and found a kiwi dessert that sounded too good not to try. There was just one problem…

I needed a Mary Ann pan.

So naturally, before I could thrift the recipe, I had to thrift the PAN for the recipe. 😂

Pan acquired. ✔️

Things did not go entirely according to plan. 😬 I don't think I greased my newly thrifted pan quite well enough, my beautiful little cake crust didn't want to leave it.

Did it look like crap? Yep.
Was I quitting? Absolutely not. 😂

And THANK GOD I kept going because this dessert is SO GOOD.

Think fruit pizza…but elevated. A soft, spongey cake base topped with a cream cheese filling with fresh kiwi and strawberries and finished with that orange glaze. 🍊🥝🍓

That ugly little crust completely redeemed itself.

Another old recipe brought back to life—and another piece of vintage kitchenware I apparently needed in my collection. 😂

08/18/2026

WHEN WINTER NEEDS A LITTLE SUMMER 🥬

🥬 Michele's Sweet Pepper Slaw

This is one of those jars I appreciate MOST in the dead of a Minnesota winter—when the garden is buried, everything outside is gray, and you're begging for a little taste of summer. ☀️

Old church and Amish cookbooks may call it pickled cabbage slaw. Around here? It's coleslaw. 😂

Sweet, tangy, crunchy cabbage with carrot, red pepper and onion, preserved right at the height of the season. Eat it straight from the jar as a pickled slaw OR turn it into creamy coleslaw when you're ready to serve it.

MICHELE'S SWEET PEPPER SLAW
Canned Coleslaw — AKA Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Vegetables
🥬 1 medium head cabbage
🥕 1 large carrot
🫑 1 red pepper
🧅 1 small onion
🧂 1 tsp canning/pickling salt

Syrup
1 cup vinegar
¼ cup water
2 cups sugar
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed

Directions

Shred the vegetables together. Add the salt, toss well and let stand for 1 hour.

Drain the liquid from the vegetables, rinse, then drain again.

Combine the syrup ingredients and boil for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool slightly, then pour over the vegetables and mix well.

Pack into jars and process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.

It can also be frozen instead of canned.

Want creamy coleslaw later?

Drain a pint of the preserved slaw REALLY well—I give it about 5–10 minutes in a colander. Don't rinse it. You want some of that sweet-tangy flavor left behind.

Start with about 2 Tbsp mayo, toss and let it sit for 5–10 minutes. The little bit of vinegar syrup still clinging to the vegetables loosens the mayo and becomes your dressing.

Taste before adding anything else. Add another tablespoon of mayo if you want it creamier, some fresh black pepper, or—if your slaw is particularly sweet—a tiny spoonful of Dijon to balance it out.

Straight from the jar or creamy…either way, January-you is going to be VERY happy that August-you made this. 😂🥬

08/15/2026

🚤 Well… we decided to test the waters this morning. And yes, I meant that literally. 😂

Dan FINALLY got his boat, again. 😊 We found this little 14-foot Lund on Marketplace, but what made us fall in love with it wasn't just the boat—it was the story behind it.

The gentleman who owned it had completely restored it for his grandkids. New carpet, built-in compartments and rod storage, new seats, motors, electronics…he put so much time, money and care into bringing this little fishing boat back to life.

Sadly, he passed away before he ever got to see his grandkids enjoy it. The boat sat for the next few years, and eventually his family decided it was time for someone else to use it.

And now somehow, that someone is us. ❤️

So this morning we filled the coffee thermos, put her in the water and finally let that little boat do what somebody worked so hard to make her ready to do.

We're pretty darn proud to be the next people who get to enjoy her, take care of her, make some memories—and hopefully catch a fish or two along the way. 🎣

Here's to giving old things another chapter.

08/13/2026

Started out running errands… got a little distracted along the way. 😂

A stop. A couple pit stops. The necessary Costco run. And yes, the...SQUIRREL! 🐿️

But listen, sometimes the thrift gods reward a little lack of focus. 😂 I came home with one of those hard-to-find 24 oz Mason jars, a nesting mixing bowl set, a KitchenAid immersion blender AND the Dash egg cooker I've been hunting for for TWO MONTHS.

So technically… I'd call this a very productive errand run. 🤷‍♀️😂

08/12/2026

🍋 One of those little things I always love having in the refrigerator… homemade lemon curd.

I realized I've shared this before on TikTok, but I don't think I've ever shared it with my Facebook friends—and this one deserves a spot over here too!

This morning, after my walk and before heading into the bar, I whipped up a batch. We love it spooned over homemade yogurt with fresh berries. It turns an ordinary bowl of yogurt into something that feels suspiciously like dessert. 😂🍓🍋

And homemade lemon curd is SO much easier than people think.

My Homemade Lemon Curd

🥚 2 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks, room temperature
🧈 80 g butter (about ⅓ cup)
🍬 160 g sugar (about ¾ cup)
🍋 Zest + juice of 2 lemons

Directions

Wash and zest the lemons, keeping the zest in a bowl.

Add the sugar to the lemon zest and massage them together with your fingers. This releases those beautiful lemon oils into the sugar—and smells incredible.

Juice the lemons and set the juice aside.

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the lemon sugar, lemon juice, eggs and yolks.

Cook low and slow, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens and becomes smooth and glossy. I cook mine to about 170°F.

Remove from the heat and let cool, then transfer to a clean container and refrigerate.

It will continue to thicken as it chills.

Stored covered in the refrigerator, homemade lemon curd is generally best used within about 1–2 weeks—although ours has never come remotely close to surviving that long. 😂

Try it over yogurt with fresh berries and tell me that's not dessert. 🍋🫐🍓

08/12/2026

🍊 Time Capsule Tuesday — Minnesota Edition!

This week we're heading back into my vintage Watkins cookbook for Orange Doughnuts!

Watkins has deep Minnesota roots, and this old recipe was definitely written for a cook who apparently didn't need nearly as many instructions as I do. 😂 So I kept the spirit of the original, filled in a few blanks, and turned them into baked orange cake doughnuts.

Fresh orange juice and zest, a touch of my homemade lemon extract, and then an orange-vanilla glaze made with Watkins Vanilla Powder.

They're soft, citrusy, old-fashioned and proof that sometimes those vague little vintage recipes are worth figuring out. 🍊

Baked Orange Cake Doughnuts

Doughnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup granulated cane sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup fresh orange juice
Finely grated zest of ½ orange
¼ tsp lemon extract
2 Tbsp butter, melted & slightly cooled

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.

Beat eggs and sugar until well combined and slightly lightened. Whisk in cream, orange juice, zest, lemon extract and melted butter.

Fold in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Fill a well-greased doughnut pan about ¾ full. Bake at 375°F for 10–12 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack and cool before glazing.

Orange-Vanilla Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice, plus more as needed
¼ tsp Watkins Vanilla Powder
Tiny pinch of salt

Whisk until smooth, adding additional orange juice ½ teaspoon at a time if needed. Dip the cooled doughnuts and let the glaze set. Finish with a little fresh orange zest if you'd like. 🍊

Another old Minnesota recipe brought back to the kitchen. ❤️

08/10/2026

I grew the jalapeños, dried them, crushed them, and proudly tucked them into a mason jar.

Dan went to the store and came home with the giant container. 😂

Two different approaches—and honestly, both are okay. I love learning the process, preserving what we grow, and knowing how to do things from scratch. Sometimes convenience wins too.

08/09/2026

My son sent me this recipe and said it was a 10/10. 🇫🇷🥔 He wasn't wrong. I've had German potato salad, but French potato salad? This was a first—and it won't be the last.

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New Prague, MN

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