Michele in Minnesota

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

10/11/2026

We're making the real deal!

100g of Madagascar vanilla beans, 750 mL of Bacardí white rum, and a little patience!

My general rule of thumb is 1 ounce of vanilla beans for every 8 fluid ounces of alcohol. You can use vodka or rum, but I really love the flavor of rum for homemade vanilla!

Into a cool, dark cupboard for 6–12 months, and we'll have beautiful homemade vanilla extract for next year's baking.

And the best part? Once it's ready, homemade vanilla can keep for years when properly stored! Just keep it tightly sealed in a cool, dark place.

Real ingredients, a little patience, and absolutely NO beaver butt glands involved! 🤣🦫

10/10/2026

Nothing like an 80° October day in Minnesota to remind you that winter is right around the corner. 😂

My Saturday started with a few errands and a lunch date, followed by a mad dash home to soak up what's probably our last little taste of summer.

And by soak it up, I mean packing away all the summer stuff and dragging out the winter crap. 😮‍💨

Somewhere between laundry, dishes, cleaning, and switching seasons, I managed to get a homemade beef stroganoff dinner on the table.

Just another Saturday of trying to squeeze 48 hours into 12. 🤣

10/10/2026

Funny how some of the best nights are the ones you never planned. ❤️
We had meat thawing at home, but decided to grab a couple of burgers at the bar instead.
One thing led to another, we ran into friends and family, and what was supposed to be a quick bite turned into an evening spent with some of our favorite people.
No plans. No expectations. Just good food, familiar faces, and a whole lot of laughter.
Sometimes life has a better plan than you do. 😊
And tonight was one of those nights. ❤️

10/09/2026

I may have a cookbook problem. And apparently a vintage kitchenware problem, too. 😂

I spent the day running errands, which naturally turned into a little treasure hunting. And GOOD LORD, did I find some things!

Old cookbooks, Gooseberry Patch finds, Pyrex, Tupperware, and even a few things that aren't vintage but were too good to pass up.

There's something about digging through shelves and finding pieces of kitchens past that makes me ridiculously happy. Especially those old cookbooks. Who knows how many recipes are tucked inside just waiting to be made?!

So no cooking today. I'm too busy finding things to cook FROM. 😂

10/07/2026

This morning I was melting butter to make a roux for soup.

Then I saw a squirrel. 😂

By the time I remembered the butter…we had browned butter.

I was annoyed with myself at 5AM.
Afternoon Michele, however, would like to formally thank 5AM Michele for screwing up. 😂

Because that accidental browned butter became fresh browned butter dark chocolate cookies and GOOD LORD. 🤤🍪

I guess I needed a little sugar today. ☺️

Sometimes the screw-up IS the recipe.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes about 12–14 cookies
Ingredients
All of your browned butter from 1 stick butter, including every brown speck, let it cool all the way down
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
Optional but excellent: flaky salt for the tops

Do this:
Let the brown butter cool until it's warm, not hot. Scrape every last brown bit into your mixing bowl—that's where the flavor is.
Stir in brown sugar and granulated sugar.
Add egg and vanilla and whisk until glossy and well combined.
Stir together flour, baking soda and salt, then add to the wet mixture.
Fold in chocolate. The dough should be soft but scoopable.
Let the dough sit 20–30 minutes. Brown butter is liquid and warm, so this gives the flour time to hydrate and keeps the cookies from turning into pancakes.
Scoop into roughly 2-tablespoon balls.
Bake at 350°F for about 9–11 minutes. Pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone.
Flaky salt while they're warm if you have it.

10/07/2026

Up at 3AM.
At the bar by 5AM.
We don’t open until 11.
🙄😂

Then I brought work home because apparently I hadn’t accomplished enough yet.

First-ever batch of Cowboy Candy 🌶️ ✔️

Last of the fresh garden tomatoes 🍅 ✔️

A quick pasta that accidentally became soup 😂 ✔️

By lunchtime it felt like 5PM and I was STARVING.
Just another perfectly normal day around here. 😂

10/07/2026

Time Capsule Tuesday is taking us straight back to 1971! 🧇😂

Saturday I thrifted this amazing old Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library, brought that beautiful green box home, cleaned her up and started flipping through the cards.

And under “Hurry-Up Main Dishes” I found… HAM WAFFLES.

Betty thought waffles with ham mixed right into the batter counted as dinner, and honestly, I had to know. 😂

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of Bisquick. I don’t keep Bisquick in my kitchen, so I substituted:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Then I followed the rest of Betty’s recipe as written.
And because Betty filed these under main dishes, I served those ham waffles over buttery cooked cabbage with onion and bacon crumbles.

1971 Betty Crocker… you may have been onto something. 🧇🥓

10/05/2026

I don't even know who originally created this recipe, but whoever you are…THANK YOU. 😂🍎

I came across this recipe for Chopped Apple Salad and decided to give it a try.

Holy. S**t. 🤤🤤🤤

It's freaking phenomenal. The apples and grapes are sweet, cranberries are tart, pecans give it crunch, feta gives it that salty bite—and the maple-Dijon apple c***r dressing brings the whole damn thing together.

This one is absolutely getting saved. ❤️

CHOPPED APPLE SALAD
3 apples, chopped
1½ cups red grapes, halved
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
½ cup crumbled feta
Fresh parsley, chopped
DRESSING
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple c***r vinegar
1½ Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste

Chop everything and throw it together.

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the chopped apples. Mix all of the dressing ingredients together, drizzle over the salad and toss.

That's it.

And seriously…MAKE THIS ONE. 🤤🍎

Recipe isn't mine—I'm sharing what I found, made and absolutely loved.

10/05/2026

Today Dan and I said screw it. 😂

No projects. No preserving. No moving anybody. No trying to catch up on the 47 things we probably should've been doing.

We met up with friends, played a little golf, had a few cocktails, watched some football, did a little gambling and spent an entire day doing absolutely nothing productive.

And after the last couple of weeks?

10/10. Would recommend. 😂❤️

Sometimes you just need to clock the hell out of your own life for a day.

10/03/2026

The last couple weeks have been FULL—work, my parents moving, feeding moving crews, preserving the last of the garden, and just trying to keep up with regular life somewhere in between.

A few days ago I was scrolling and came across Crowded Kitchen making Cheese Dreams, and I immediately saved them because I knew exactly what I wanted with them.

I roasted garden tomatoes and veggies at work the other day, and turned them into a roasted garden tomato soup 🍅

Today I finally got to sit down and actually EAT IT. 😂

Hot homemade tomato soup + crispy, cheesy Cheese Dreams.
These two were absolutely meant for each other. 🥹🍅🧀
Cheese Dreams recipe inspired by CrowdedKitchen ❤️

And now I think I'm going to do absolutely nothing productive for the rest of the night. 😂

Address

New Praha, MN

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Michele in Minnesota posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category