Real butter makes everything taste so much better. We’re proud of our local Land O’Lakes butter, which is distributed all over the world. Now, smaller butter batches from the Midwest have joined the scene, including my two favorites: Hope Creamery from Hope, Minn., and Farmhouse Kitchen’s hand-rolled butter from Bonduel, Wis. Both are available salted and unsalted in supermarkets and co-ops.
Eggs are another commodity we cherish (and need!) in our kitchens, and Locally Laid, a farm based in Wrenshall, Minn., is both selling eggs and changing the way they are produced in America. Lucie B. Amundsen, one of the family farmers, tells their story in her new book, Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-changing Egg Farm—from Scratch.
You could use delicious butter and eggs to make your own Aebleskiver, a.k.a. Danish donut holes, or you could head to the new Hyatt Regency Bloomington’s Urbana Craeft Kitchen & Market. There’s a definite Scandinavian feel in the décor and menu as well as three versions of Aebleskiver on the breakfast menu, including buttermilk, wild rice, and a gluten-free lemon ricotta. The krumkake, and gouda fondue with lefse chips are added attractions at lunch and dinner on chef Paul Lynch’s creative menus.
Sue Zelickson is the founder and director of Women Who Really Cook and Perspectives Family Center’s Kids Cafe. She is the former host of WCCO Radio’s Food for Thought.
Illustration by James Kloiber
