Sarah Peterson
A truly great recipe is one that has the power to transport you. Maybe it’s the sticky cinnamon rolls your grandma used to bake on weekend visits, or the chicken noodle soup your mom faithfully stirred together each time you came down with the flu. The smells, the sounds, and the comforting warmth of the kitchen all become inseparable from the flavors themselves, carrying on a sensory experience that transcends time and space—and never fails to make you feel young again.
For Minnesota author Sarah Peterson, these moments are far more than just nostalgic. They comprise a scared inheritance—one she believes to be worthy of thoughtful devotion and relentless preservation. This idea is at the heart of her debut cookbook “Dish & Tell,” a petal-pink-painted time capsule that uplifts a category of women she refers to as “the keepers”—the steady matriarchs who assume the quiet responsibility of preserving family history and bridging generations. And one of the primary places where this work unfolds? The kitchen.
Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, we caught with Peterson to dig deeper into the generational ties between women, food, and storytelling—uplifting the heroic and often-overlooked role of faithfully putting food on the table, day in and day out, generation after generation. 
Emma Enebak (EE): So many of the recipes in ‘Dish & Tell’ trace back to mothers and grandmothers. How did the women in your own family shape not just what you cook, but who you are?
Sarah Peterson (SP): The women in my family passed down a deep sense of nurturing and caring for others. Often, that love showed up in the food they made and shared, but their influence reached far beyond the kitchen. They were attentive to others’ needs, generous with their time, and always put family first.
My grandma Frances, also nurturing but with an independent side, is someone I credit deeply for who I am today. Frances was a bit of a ‘modern woman’ for her time. A voracious reader of everything from weekly news magazines to bestselling novels, she stayed up to date on current events, sports, and even celebrity gossip. She smoked cigarettes, drank Manhattans, wore sharp pantsuits, and worked in an office at a local oil refinery. She had her own money—and her own credit cards—and she wasn’t afraid to use them. She loved to spoil me by taking me on shopping outings for the latest fashions and treating me to lunch out at her favorite restaurants.
But what she really modeled was living life on her own terms and the belief that you didn’t have to make a fortune to carve out something for yourself. She taught me that nurturing others is meaningful, but so is protecting your independence and finding joy in the little things in life. I think that mindset gave me the confidence to pursue my own career and passions, including becoming a first-time author later in life.
EE: International Women’s Day is about honoring impact—often the kind that goes unrecognized. Do you see home cooks, especially women of past generations, as unsung cultural historians in their own right?
SP: Absolutely. I often think of the women who have helped carry on their family’s food traditions as ‘keepers.’ Most of the recipes I hold dear are connected to my grandmothers, my great aunt Ede, my mom and mother-in-law, and even my husband’s grandmothers. Some of their recipes live on recipe cards handwritten in their own writing. Others have been copied and passed down through generations. But they are forever tied to the woman who first brought that dish to the table.
A ‘keeper,’ to me, is the caretaker of those beloved recipes that represent a family’s history, culture, and traditions. Often, the matriarch is the one who knows how to make the cheesy potatoes just right, who keeps the cookie tins stocked in the freezer, who remembers which dish ‘aunt so-and-so’ always brought to the potluck. Whether written down or held in memory, she carries the key to the past.
EE: Your book pairs dishes with ‘tells’—the stories behind them. Why do you think storytelling has been such a powerful tool for women, particularly in the kitchen?
SP: For past generations, the kitchen was probably one of the few spaces where women could hold court or where they had authority and influence. It became a place where recipes and stories were passed down and shared across the table. While meals were prepared or the cookies baked, memories were exchanged—about childhood homes, immigration journeys, holidays, hardships, and joys. It’s truly the heart of the home.
I’ve often thought about my grandmothers and special aunts who were gone by the time I truly developed an interest in cooking. I have fond memories of sitting at their tables, but what I wouldn’t give to go back in time and stand beside them in their kitchens—to ask about the techniques they perfected, the dishes no one ever wrote down, the stories behind their signature recipes, as well as stories about their lives. That longing is what inspired me to start my blog and write ‘Dish & Tell.’ Storytelling in the kitchen has always been powerful, as it ensures that when the recipe or food tradition lives on, the woman behind it lives on, too.
Photo by Rachael White of Set the Table Photography
EE: Was there a moment while working on ‘Dish & Tell’ when you realized a recipe was about much more than food?
SP: Talking to families about their favorite food traditions really showcased how recipes like these are time capsules. They are true ‘recipes from the heart,’ often representing a link to our past and cultures that shaped us, as well as an important tool for teaching the next generations about their history and ancestors. For instance, there is a great story about a family that gathers each spring to make Easter pies, a longstanding Italian tradition that includes tasty half-moon pastry shells with a peppery, cheesy egg filling.
Jeannie Passofaro, the recipe contributor, recalls growing up on ‘the Levee’ in downtown St. Paul along the Mississippi River, which was home to a large population of Italian immigrants. Each year, her family, along with her grandmas, aunts, and cousins, would gather to make the special pies with everyone having a hand in the process. It was a recipe handed down from her grandmother, who was from Casacalenda in the Italian region of Molise. Today, Jeannie is ‘the keeper’ of this family tradition and gathers with several members of her family to make the Easter pies together each year.
EE: Many of these dishes—like Swedish almond rusks and potluck hotdishes—reflect Upper Midwest traditions. How do you see Minnesota women shaping and preserving the region’s food identity over generations?
SP: In many ways, Minnesota women have been the keepers of our region’s food traditions. From church basement potlucks to weekend baking, Sunday dinners and holiday celebrations, they often defined what showed up on our tables over generations.
I see this in my own family with my mother-in-law, Mary Lou, who has shared her passion and skill for making lefse, a holiday tradition passed down from her Norwegian mother and grandmothers. She has taught countless family members and friends how to make it and even volunteers to make several rounds each year for the annual Sons of Norway Taste of Scandinavia event.
EE: How do you personally connect to Minnesotan’s food identity?
SP: As a lifelong Minnesotan, I feel deeply connected to Minnesota and the food culture here. In the book I write that ‘our great state is a smorgasbord of familiar favorites and diverse flavors—a reflection of the people who live here: warm, welcoming, and full of tradition.’ That really captures how I see it. Yes, Minnesota is known for foods like lutefisk, Jell-O salads, and hotdish—and those dishes absolutely deserve their place in our history. They tell the story of immigrant traditions, church potlucks, and families finding creative ways to feed a crowd.
But Minnesota cooking is also wonderfully practical and resourceful. Home cooks here have always known how to stretch ingredients, take smart shortcuts, and turn pantry staples into something comforting and memorable. Whether it’s using a can of condensed soup in a hotdish, pulling out a bag of tater tots, or keeping things like wild rice, walleye, and plenty of butter on hand, these ingredients are familiar staples on Minnesota tables.
For me, Minnesota’s food identity is really about that blend of tradition, ingenuity, and hospitality. It’s the kind of friendly cooking that’s meant to be shared—around a crowded holiday table, at a church supper, a neighborhood potluck, or during a casual Sunday dinner with family.
EE: For younger women just beginning to build their own traditions, what does ‘dishing and telling’ look like today? How can they begin preserving a legacy of their own, for future generations?
SP: Today, ‘dishing and telling’ might be texting a recipe to a friend, posting a story on Instagram, and making a TikTok video about a family dish. Or maybe it’s starting a shared Google Doc of favorite meals and inviting friends over for soup on a Sunday night. The key is to be intentional—write down recipes, ask about your loved ones’ favorite food memories, and cook together whenever you can.
In my book, I share tips to preserve food traditions and encourage more sharing of recipes, including recipe card swaps and ‘dish and tell’ potlucks, which are similar to a cookbook club. Suggest a theme or meal (like breakfast or dinner), and have guests sign up for different components of the menu (appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts), bringing along recipe cards with their recipe to share. As guests sample the offerings, encourage them to ‘dish and tell,’ sharing the stories behind their recipes.
EE: If readers take away one message from your words this International Women’s Day—about food, memory, and the women who feed us—what do you hope it is?
SP: I hope readers pause and recognize the women who fed them and were the keepers of their family’s most cherished food traditions. So much love has been expressed in ordinary meals, whether it was a molasses cookies tucked in a sack lunch, a one-of-a-kind birthday cake, a special comforting soup, or an annual holiday dessert. My hope is that readers take a moment to honor those women, preserve their recipes and stories, and carry forward the love and memories they created.
Get your copy of “Dish & Tell” at shop.mnhs.org, and follow Peterson’s blog for regular recipes at vintagedishandtell.com
