Welcome to the blog for Homegrown Foods, a business from mom and lifelong cook Aleks Till. Being inspired and cooking from scratch is our way of life. How else would we know all the best recipes for our menu and find the best ingredients for your grocery delivery. Enjoy!
Scary Good Caramel Corn!
With Halloween around the corner, it’s time for one of my favorite traditions: Horror Movie Night, which is never complete without caramel corn and boozy apple cider or mulled wine. The first time I made caramel corn, it was from a recipe we got in Home Ec, “Microwave Caramel Corn”. So this is where the […]
Anti-Squirrel Hand Pies with Apples
Editor’s Note: This post is not about getting rid of squirrels. If that is what you are looking for, you’re in the wrong place. Though if you find a good method, be sure to let me know. I don’t know which story to start with first: the one about the State Fair or the one […]
Cooking with (Small) Kids is Crazy
This is the truth about cooking with kids: it is a pain in the butt. Despite lofty articles about letting the kids help or making dinner in 15 minutes or less, the reality is that cooking involves sharp objects, hot things and critical timing. And nothing takes 15 minutes when young’uns are around. Kids aren’t known for […]
Scallion Soup with Woodsy Mushrooms
I think I can count myself lucky to have two friends now who go mushroom hunting. I have lifelong been a lover of mushrooms of every variety, but my this being the first time I was about to serve my family something not-purchased-at-the-grocery-store did give me pause, no doubt. I looked up the ‘shroom. It […]
Lemongrass-Infused Ice Cream with Coconut Milk
Summertime is ice cream season at our house. I suppose it started with a need to make myself use small appliances purchased impulsively years ago. Appliances such as the ice cream maker. Homemade ice cream is really easy, though the hard part is making sure you set the maker-bowl in the freezer at least 24 […]
Radish Hamburger Buns
Typically I shy away from baking endeavors in the summer because it is too hot. But this year, it is what I would call a perfect summer. 70’s to 80’s, low humidity. The other week I made foccacia and was pleased to discover that my dough actually rose in the amount of time it was […]
The Best Way To Clean a Burned Pan
One time, when I was a teenager, I set off the house fire alarms from forgetting that I was boiling noodles on the stove. Yep, you heard that right. I completely forgot about it, so all the water boiled away and the noodles started smokin’. I’m better that that now…I never burn anything with a […]
Key Lime Pie
In my mind, The Birchwood Café’s key lime pie is the gold standard. The lime doesn’t cower away, it stands out boldly between the other two major forces at work: sweet and creamy. As your fork cruises through the chilled custard it stops, then goes “thunk” through the graham cracker crust. So when I spied […]
Better-Than-Steak-Sauce Mushrooms
I stumbled across a beautiful bag of shiitakes for $5 on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus, sold by a student from the mycological department. Since we were going to be grilling some steaks over the weekend, I thought it might serve us well to grab a bag. (They also sold some gorgeous red […]
Macrobiotic Baby Food
I’ve been mulling on baby food. At seven months old, Ike has broken out of the rice cereal box. While I love introducing him to table food, I also think there has to be something between unseasoned purées and fully seasoned table food. Something besides Cheerios, that is. I am sorry, but I guess I […]