John Michael Lerma
Holiday How-To: Reminisce and Stress Less
I was the hippopotamus for Christmas Christmas wasn’t about anxiety until 5th grade. It used to be the odor of pine in the living room, colorful lights attached to our farmhouse, and the anticipation of Santa’s arrival at Montgomery Wards. After 5th grade, I greeted the holiday with an anxiety only Charlie Brown could comprehend. …
Nordic Ware: Family Affair
I grew up watching Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and first run Brady Bunch on television. Entrepreneurship was a regular premise with dad sitting at his work bench in the basement inventing or Beaver ordering concoctions from the back of comic books to make a fortune. This message urged me to start selling…
“Let’s Have Another Cup of Coffee. Let’s Have Another Piece of Pie.”
The title refers to a song by Irving Berlin appearing in the musical comedy Face the Music, which opened in 1932 on Broadway. The song was sung by a group of once-wealthy citizens who were looking ahead to better times. Sounds familiar? Well I was recently invited to compete in a food challenge demonstrating that…
How-To: Canning 101
Late spring 2004, I received a letter from the Creative Activities supervisor at the Minnesota State Fair and I’m paraphrasing, “Since you have won 1st place three years in a row for your Vidalia Onion Relish we request that you do not enter it again for at least two years.” At first it felt like…
