Random Sweets

08/07/2026

Do you like it chunky or a little more smooth?

🌶️ 🫑 🧄 🍅 🧅 🍋‍🟩🌿 Whether you grow a salsa garden or buy the vibrant peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and cilantro at a farmers market, it’s time to make a refrigerator batch of homemade salsa.

Do you make it spicy enough for the salsa sweats? With KELOLAND Living Keloland Living Ashley Thompson Mitchell Olson

Gardens are blooming and everything is in season to make homemade salsa!So, whether you’re growing it in your garden or visiting a neighborhood farmers market, once you make homemade salsa, y…

07/30/2026

Happy National Cheesecake Day! Are you indulging in a slice? Homemade or from a restaurant or bakery? What flavor?

White chocolate raspberry is my most popular flavor if you want to make it at home: https://randomsweets.com/bring-your-fork-to-the-table-white-chocolate-raspberry-cheesecake/

Raspberry white chocolate truffle cheesecake is a pretty dessert to serve at holidays, weddings, and especially stunning for Christmas.

07/27/2026

This is the first blog post I've written since my mom, Linda Moe, died in May.

I’m not ready to write a long post about grief. Instead, I found myself making one of the most unusual recipes from my childhood: Beef and Cheese Pie.

Grief doesn't always show up in the recipes you'd expect. I didn’t make mom’s Forgotten Kisses, Bing Bars, or S’mores bars—three of my favorites. Sometimes it's the quirky family dishes that bring back memories of someone.

If you've ever lost someone you love, I think you'll understand.

❤️ Read the story here:

A combination of hamburger, green beans, tomato sauce and shredded cheddar, beef and cheese pie is nostalgic, but it remains a cozy meal.

07/18/2026

It’s always a good time for Marie Mergenthal’s dill pickle pasta salad.

07/16/2026

I loved seeing my friend Sarah Peterson from Vintage Dish and Tell on Twin Cities Live yesterday making Marie Mergenthal’s Dill Pickle Pasta Salad! 💚🥒 Yes, there’s a secret to Marie’s extra pickle-y pasta.

This recipe has been a family favorite for years, so it was such a joy to watch my wonderful mother-in-law, Marie, represented on TV. Even more special, Sarah included Marie’s recipe and story in her beautiful cookbook, Dish & Tell: Recipes from the Heart, a collection that celebrates the people and memories behind the dishes we treasure. Sarah featured Marie's recipe as part of a recent Twin Cities Live cooking segment.

If you love family recipes, Midwest traditions, and the stories that make food meaningful, I highly recommend Sarah’s book. It's filled with recipes that connect generations and remind us that the best dishes always come with a story—just what this community is build around!

Watch the Twin Cities Live segment here: https://kstp.com/tcl/today-on-twin-cities-live/dill-pickle-pasta-salad/�
Congratulations, Sarah! And congratulations, Marie, on seeing your famous dill pickle pasta salad shared with so many people!

If you love pickles, you're going to love what cookbook author Sarah Peterson is whipping up — a dill pickle pasta salad that's about to become your new favorite dish.

07/15/2026

We’re staying in an Airbnb with our adult kids this weekend so I’m making a few sweets to complement the healthy (washed!) fruit and veggie snacks. Chewy cocoa peanut butter chip cookies have always been a hit and I like that this recipe doesn’t make a big batch.

https://randomsweets.com/thats-what-i-get-for-unintentionally-smuggling-chewy-cocoa-peanut-butter-chip-cookies-into-a-cheer-competition/

A cookie recipe for chocolate and peanut butter lovers, packed full of rich cocoa flavor and peanut butter chips.

07/14/2026

🔥 ☀️ Too hot out to grill? Make smash burger tacos indoors.

https://randomsweets.com/smash-burger-tacos-with-secret-sauce/

Messy and delicious, smash burger tacos are like crispy, caramelized diner burgers but folded into blistered tortillas with secret sauce.

07/11/2026

All you need to make an easy dessert this weekend:
• large can of pie filling (or 2 small ones)
• cake mix
• butter

Keep pie filling, yellow cake mix and butter on hand for a quick dessert any time. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

07/02/2026

"Some losses are especially personal. Among the things lost were my grandmother’s cookbooks, filled with her handwritten recipes and notes. Those recipes helped shape the food we’ve proudly served to this community and carried a piece of our family history that can never be replaced." -Casey McC...

07/02/2026

I haven’t made the T Boys Hot Dog Casserole in a few years. But it feels like this holiday weekend would be an American time to make it again—hot dogs and potato chips! 🇺🇸

Recipe:

An ultimate comfort food—creamy casserole with potatoes and hot dogs is topped with crunchy and salty potato chips.