illustration by james kloiber
Summer is a time to introduce the unexpected when it comes to food. Mix up your warm-weather entertaining menus with crisp, clean Mediterranean flavors. Antigone’s traditional Greek Feta Dip and Olive Spread are the perfect additions to jazz up a cheese board. Just add grapes, crackers, and a handful of olives for the ultimate Greek experience (myantigone.com).
Speaking of outside the box, homemade honey is buzzing these days. Beehives are popping up on rooftops in urban areas and backyards like never before. Sue Doeden’s new cookbook, Homemade with Honey, is one of a handful of books from the Minnesota Historical Society focusing on a single ingredient, such as squash and sweet corn. The honey book features 75 recipes and tips for using different varieties of the sticky nectar, including how to store it and substitute it for sugar (mnhspress.org).
Sometimes a good, old-fashioned cookout is the way to go, but put a twist on it—bypass the pre-packaged supermarket meats and use locally made wieners and brats. Bratwurst from Gerhard’s are handmade in Minnesota and come in original, smoked, or käsewurst flavors, perfect for crisping up on the grill (bratwerks.com). And if you’re really looking to shake things up, make your burgers with alpaca meat from Many Pastures, based in Princeton, MN (manypastures.com).