• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Vintage Dish & Tell
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About Sarah
  • Contact
  • Substack Newsletter
  • Press

Easter

  • March 25, 2026VintageDishandDell

    The Dish: A vintage coconut bunny cake with fluffy frosting and a pretty pastel swirl surprise inside. The Tell: While gathering stories for my cookbook…

    Continue Reading

Search

Tags

Apples Bars Birthday Birthday Cake Cake Casserole Chicken Chocolate Chocolate Chips Christmas Coffee cookbook Cookies Dessert dip Eggs Fall family recipes Fish Frozen Dessert Fruit Hamburger Holiday Hotdish Lemon Marshmallow Mint Molasses No Bake Pasta Pasta Salad Peanut Butter Pie Pineapple Potato Potluck Pudding Pumpkin Rhubarb Rice Krispies Salad Shortbread Strawberry Summer Thanksgiving

This Saturday, I will be at Oliver Kelley Farm in This Saturday, I will be at Oliver Kelley Farm in Elk River from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. and hope you will join me! 🤗

We’ll talk about some of the stories from “Dish and Tell: Recipes from the Heart” and sample a few of the recipes from the book. I will also bring along some of my vintage recipe boxes and invite you to bring along your own recipe box or family cookbook to “dish & tell” with us! Bonus: Admission to the farm is included with ticket! More details can be found here: https://www.mnhs.org/events/58827715077
Have I ever made a sweet roll before last month?! Have I ever made a sweet roll before last month?! Technically, no. But when the Minnesota State Fair announced a special category in its baking competition in honor of the late, great Marjorie Johnson, I knew I had to enter!

Marjorie has been such an inspiration to me—not just for blue-ribbon baking, but for the way she pursued her passion later in life. I believe she was 55 when she really dove into competitive baking and started bringing home blue ribbons from the fair.

As I approach that same age this month and having just wrote a cookbook, I think of Marjorie often and am reminded that it’s never too late for a second (or third!) act. 💕

Now, did my first attempt at sweet rolls exactly channel Marjorie’s blue-ribbon magic? Please see photographic evidence. 😂

But I entered and I tried something I’d never done before. And while my sweet roll may have looked a little sad sitting next to those beauties in the display case (Nicole @tenthousandbakes, your rolls are PERFECTION!), I have a feeling Marjorie would have appreciated the effort and would call that a win. ❤️

Congrats to all the award-winning bakers at the Minnesota State Fair this year! 

#minnesotastatefair #blueribbonbaking #greatminnesotagettogether #secondact
Thanks to @ilikeyou_mn for stocking “Dish & Tell” Thanks to @ilikeyou_mn for stocking “Dish & Tell” at the fair! 

This vibrant corner in the West End market is a must-stop each year for our family. We love the cheeky T-shirts, stickers and FUN accessories! If you are out at the fairgrounds, seek them out and say hi to my book! 😉
When I need a little recipe inspiration, my mom’s When I need a little recipe inspiration, my mom’s old Rubbermaid full of the family favorites I grew up with always comes through. I love this recipe for tuna salad…and apparently she did too, judging by how worn it is around the edges. 😂

Seeing the recipe sent me scrolling through old photos, and I found this one of the tuna salad complete with a side of toast of course! It was one of the last meals I had at my parents’ house with both my mom and dad.

We shared a lot of meals around that table, just the three of us, during my dad’s last few years. Nothing fancy, often the simplest of meals, but I’ll forever cherish those memories and think of my dad whenever I see shoestring potatoes!💕
Thanks to the Star Tribune for inviting me to take Thanks to the Star Tribune for inviting me to take part in its day of cooking demos yesterday at the Minnesota State Fair! I loved seeing so many friends, family members and neighbors show up—and even a few of the recipe contributors featured in Dish & Tell: Recipes from the Heart.😘
 
Doing a full-on cooking demo like this (IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE!) is a bit new to me, but I was so glad to have Lucy by my side (along with my emotional support squishy butter!! 😂). We made Juicy Lucy Tater Tot Hotdish and Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies—two recipes from my cookbook that also happen to have earned ribbons at past State Fairs! We served up samples and shared handwritten recipe cards with attendees, which made the whole experience even more special.

I was so honored to have my demos sandwiched between the talented, multi blue ribbon award-winning @tenthousandbakes, who is as sweet as her fabulous baked goods, and @thatmidwesternmom, who REALLY knows how to entertain a crowd and whose mixing spoons accidentally got sent home with me! Amber, I promise I didn’t steal them! Now I just need to figure out how to reunite you with your spoons…😜
When the @startribune asked me to be part of a day When the @startribune asked me to be part of a day of cooking demos in the Cambria Kitchen at the Minnesota State Fair, my answer was pretty much immediate: YES!
 
The Creative Activities Building has always been one of my favorite stops at the fair. I love wandering through to admire the incredible baked goods, check out the ribbon winners and watch the cooking demos. And in recent years, it’s been fun to pop in throughout the fair to visit my own entries after being lucky enough to earn a few ribbons. 😊
 
So it feels pretty special that tomorrow, I’ll be on the other side of the counter—demoing two of my own State Fair ribbon-winning recipes!
 
12:00 p.m. | Juicy Lucy Tater Tot Hotdish
2:00 p.m. | My mom’s Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies💕
 
Both recipes are also featured in my cookbook “Dish & Tell: Recipes from the Heart,” which you can find at the fair at the I Like You booth in the West End Market. Maybe grab a copy on your way over and bring it to the demo—I’d love to sign it for you!
 
If you’re heading to the fair tomorrow, please come find me in the Cambria Kitchen in the Creative Activities Building. And yes, there will be samples! 😘
Lookie here at what just showed up! 🥰 I am so ex Lookie here at what just showed up! 🥰
 
I am so excited to have a fresh new batch of hand-painted recipe boxes, just in time for my fall events. Each one is hand-painted by my friend @opethatsemily so no two are exactly alike. They’re made to be a sweet little home for the recipes you love most: the handwritten ones that have been handed down or maybe the ones you don’t want to lose track of and deserve a permanent spot on your counter.💕
 
I’ll have these beauties (along with my vintage-style recipe cards) with me at several events this fall. If you would like me to set one aside, just send me a message or reach out through the link in my bio.
 
And a big thank-you to Emily for bringing these little recipe homes to life. ❤️
If you know me, you know I really love the @mnstat If you know me, you know I really love the @mnstatefair! In my latest Substack, I share more about my lifelong love of the fair and how it has evolved through the years, including my dabble into Blue Ribbon baking! 

I hope you will read it (there is a link to my Substack in my bio) and that you will come visit me on Sept 1 when I will be part of the Star Tribune’s day of food demos and conversations in the Cambria Kitchen in the Creative Activities building!🤗
Follow on Instagram

About Vintage Dish and Tell

Welcome to my blog where you will find cherished, tried-and-true recipes from my family to yours. Sign up with your email address to receive the latest recipes!

Latest Posts

  • "Dish & Tell" with Moi!

    August 14, 2026
  • Hand-Painted Recipe Boxes & Matching Recipe Cards

    April 29, 2026

Latest recipes

  • Banana Split Ice Cream Birthday Cake

    June 26, 2026
  • Banana & Blueberrry Breakfast Coffee Cake

    May 2, 2026