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pesto recipe

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Meet the Minnesota Makers

@meettheminnesotamakers

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We are now accepting applications for the 4th annu We are now accepting applications for the 4th annual 2026-2027 Meet the Minnesota Makers “Shop Minnesota” Gift Guide.  Minnesota-based art, artisanal, farm, food, experience or service-based businesses are welcome to apply. Retail storefronts dedicated to Minnesota made products are also encouraged. This past year’s guide reached over 16,000 shoppers! I can’t wait to see who we’ll connect with this year.  *Applications are due by Monday, November 9.  *You may apply to be a part of the 2026 winter holiday guide or you may apply to be a part of the 2026 winter holiday guide AND Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Fall 2027 gift guide updates.  *We will indicate in the guide if a business offers a discount code, but the codes themselves will only be available through the Meet the Minnesota Makers newsletter.   Pricing and eligibility information in the application itself. You will receive a confirmation email upon submitting your application (make sure you have one so that you know your application went through!). Check to ensure that you received that email as receipt of your application going through. Contact michelle@meettheminnesotamakers.com to verify your application status. We encourage you to share this information with other small business owners as well, especially businesses that focus on art, artisanal goods, food and beverage, farm goods, toys, experiences and services.  We’re here to make it as easy as possible for people to shop locally this holiday season (and all through the year). We’d love to have you as a part of our local guide. Application at meettheminnesotamakers.com (look for the button at the top of the home page), follow the link in bio or comment gift guide and I’ll send you a direct link.
Know your Neighbors—we’re heading to Ely! It’s al Know your Neighbors—we’re heading to Ely! It’s always the right time to shop local at Meet the Minnesota Makers. Our Shop Local series introduces the real makers, growers and doers from our “Shop Minnesota” guide and makers directory. These are some of the small business owners who make Minnesota an amazing place to be. 🖌️Who: The Ely Folk School 💚Where: Ely, MN 🎨What: School hosting community arts and crafts classes, events, and an artist mercantile *Educational programming in fiber arts, folk arts, music, metalworking, humanities, and Northwoods skills and crafting, along with youth classes *Helping artists launch careers in their field by working with over 80 individual Ely and Minnesota artist teachers *Classes rooted in the local environment, such as beaver hat making, birch bark crafts, and herbalism classes *Enriching and preserving local knowledge through Slovenian Potica cooking class, wild rice processing camp, and more *Mercantile selling artist teachers’ crafts including sauna hats, handmade brooms, jewelry, and metalworking *Ceramics studio providing space and equipment for established and aspiring ceramicists *Community events such as Thanksgiving dinner and Kräftskiva Swedish crayfish party 🛍️How You Get Involved: Take a class and visit the mercantile, whether local or visiting! *Explore the myriad classes and events at https://www.elyfolkschool.org/ *Learn more about Ely Folk School’s mission to enrich and preserve local knowledge at: https://meettheminnesotamakers.com/ely-folk-school-enriching-local-knowledge-through-community-classes *Follow @elyfolkschool for upcoming events and a peek into the Folk School classes *Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com and follow @meettheminnesotamakers to discover small business owners building community through their everyday missions. 💙Meet the Minnesota Makers is a news site that connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
Gratitude. That was one of the community-driven Gratitude. That was one of the community-driven words of the night as we gathered to celebrate the Sue Zelickson scholarship program. We are grateful for people’s support and recognition of our dear Sue Z. The WWRC community is grateful for the connections forged and pathways laid by Sue so that we would continue to gather in a mission-driven way. Our scholarship students shared their gratitude for the financial support of their educations along with their delight to be a part of the WWRC community. Being seen as a whole person and invited to learn alongside current practitioners in your aspired field is a powerful thing. This past week marked the end of the inaugural “Carry It Forward” month in honor of Sue Zelickson. Women Who Really Cook honored our founder with a foodie fantasy hosted by The Lynhall with sweets and savories donated by Diane’s Place, Honey & Rye, Chowgirls, D’Amico, The Grocers Table, and Cafe Latte with sips from US Foods (Sue’s favorite root beer floats!), SMB Collective, Pryes Brewing, and the Libation Project. Our current scholarship students were the stars of the evening. As the chair of the scholarship program, it was especially inspiring to hear about the impact of the scholarships themselves along with the support of the WWRC community. We’re there for their education and professional development. Being there was a “pinch me” moment. What a gift to be able to pay this forward. Thus far, we’ve raised over $20,000 to support our scholarship programs. This outpouring of support helps us to lay a foundation to ensure the existence of the Sue Zelickson Scholarships for generations of women to come. Read more (and perhaps donate?) at https://womenwhoreallycook.com/sue-z-scholarship-fund-contribute Thank you for your support in helping us to carry Sue’s legacy forward. Thank you to our scholarship students for being you and sharing yourselves with @womenwhoreallycook I’m still smiling when I think about the people that filled that space and all of us working together.
Know your Neighbors—we’re heading to Ely! It’s al Know your Neighbors—we’re heading to Ely! It’s always the right time to shop local at Meet the Minnesota Makers. Our Shop Local series introduces the real makers, growers and doers from our “Shop Minnesota” guide and makers directory. These are some of the small business owners who make Minnesota an amazing place to be. 🎨Who: Shawn Bina of Guild of the Gilded Hilt and Cindy Bina of Natural Inspiration 💚Where: Ely, MN 🪎What: Artist couple creating hand acid-engraved fantasy weapons and hand-sculpted silver metal jewelry *Vendors at art festivals and renaissance fairs across the Midwest under the name “Blades and Beguiling Jewelry” *Cindy creates silver jewelry incorporating the beauty of the Northwoods *Shawn crafts intricately-engraved blades inspired by a fantastical world of Shawn’s own invention *Shawn’s blades exhibited at Fantasy’s Spell: The Art of Enchantment installation *Cindy crafts commissions of jewelry with a personalized meaning. *Natural Inspirations is a vendor at the Ely Blueberry Festival, a major loss this summer 🛍️How You Get Involved: Find Natural Inspiration at Holiday Bazaar at the Landmark Center in St Paul, December 4-6 *Discover show-stopping fantasy blades at guildofthegildedhilt.com *Order your own Northwoods jewelry at naturalinspirationcb.etsy.com *Learn more about Shawn and Cindy’s return to an artistic lifestyle after retirement at: meettheminnesotamakers.com/fantasy-blades-and-northwoods-jewelry-crafting-worlds-out-of-metal *Follow @naturalinspirationcb for a look at the newest jewelry designs *Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com and follow @meettheminnesotamakers to discover small business owners building community through their everyday missions. Meet the Minnesota Makers is a news site that connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
Know your Neighbor—we’re heading to Ely! It’s alw Know your Neighbor—we’re heading to Ely! It’s always the right time to shop local at Meet the Minnesota Makers. Our Shop Local series introduces the real makers, growers and doers from our “Shop Minnesota” guide and makers directory. These are the small business owners who make Minnesota an amazing place to be. 🎭Who: Ian Lah, Executive Director of Northern Lakes Arts Association 🌲Where: Ely, MN 🎨What: Arts Non-Profit *Established in 1988 to support performing, visual, and literary arts in Ely *Providing grants and residencies for literary and visual artists of the Northwoods *Pay-what-you-can ticket nights for community theater productions introduced during the 2026 wildfires *Educational programming for adults and youths in the arts *Broadway in the Boundary Waters, a collaboration between professional actors and local community members 🖌️How You Get Involved: Attend an upcoming art class, community event, or main stage production *Visit SWEET RELEASE: A Body of Work by Jane Dandron-Holtz, the current Creative Spirit Award art installation *Attend Jane Dandron-Holtz’s puppet-making workshop on Nov. 15 or Ely’s Got Talent on Oct. 24th *Look for more ways to support Ely’s art community at https://www.northernlakesarts.org/ *Learn more about NLAA’s mission for a diverse and resilient Ely arts community at https://meettheminnesotamakers.com/northern-lakes-arts-association-finding-community-resilience-through-art *Follow @northernlakesarts for upcoming events and a look into main stage productions *Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com and follow @meettheminnesotamakers to discover small business owners building community through their everyday missions. 💙Meet the Minnesota Makers connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
Meet the Minnesota Makers has a new look! Our ori Meet the Minnesota Makers has a new look! Our original logo was the inspiration of a local newspaper editor. He created it for the newspaper column that accidentally founded a business totally dedicated to sharing the stories of Minnesota’s uniquely talented small business owners. This logo highlighted the food focus of our newspaper column with its collage of colorful foods. Meet the Minnesota Makers has since expanded its storytelling to include artists and artisans, launched the “Shop Minnesota” gift guide, established itself as an LLC with coaching and content creation services, and partnered with media, research, and corporate partners. The old logo just didn’t quite fit anymore. With the launch of the Makers Table, the new membership program for makers (more about this soon!), this felt like the right moment to unveil a new, focused logo that embraces our mission to celebrate the truly small businesses across our state. Our state and its makers are at the forefront of the new logo along with our signature orange and kelly green colors (Michelle’s favorites!). We’re looking forward to the next five years of Meet the Minnesota Makers. Join us on our journey for all things local at @meettheminnesotamakers or at meettheminnesotamakers.com
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