Family Kitchen
When this Wisconsin mother and daughter get cooking with fresh herbs, the only thing stopping them is the sampling along the way.
•Mom and daughter create recipes and memories in the kitchen.
SUE GRONHOLZ AND HER DAUGHTER, HEATHER KAROW, HAVE ALWAYS LOVED COOKING TOGETHER.
“Heather’s my right-hand person in the kitchen. We’ve never had any food fights,”
Sue says with a laugh.
Heather agrees. “We definitely work well in the kitchen!” she says. “I learn so much from her, especially when she tells me family stories about my greatgrandma, who taught Mom how to cook. Now that I’m a mom of three (ages 10, 4 and 1), I hope my children will learn from me one day.”
It’s easy to see how great cooking runs in the family. Sue, who lives in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, has been a Taste of Home Field Editor since the very beginning, joining the program at the magazine’s inception in 1993. Twenty years later, Heather became a Field Editor, too, after being surrounded by fresh food and her mom’s creative cooking from the get-go.
The Gronholz family operated an organic greenhouse for 13 years. “We were known for our heirlooms and herbs,” says Sue. “And we sold our produce to supermarkets and restaurants.”
Sue also taught cooking with herbs at the local college—and Heather helped. “The women in my classes always loved her,” Sue beams.
“We’ve created a lot of recipes together over the years,” says Sue. “One of us would come up with the idea and we would go from there, working together.”
A favorite creation of theirs is Strawberry Tarragon Chicken Salad, which they have served as a main course over greens, or as a sandwich filling inside a flatbread or a lettuce-leaf wrap.
Sue says they’ve also invented unique desserts using all kinds of specialty herbs. “We included ingredients you don’t really think of putting in a dessert, but they add so much flavor.”
Heather, who lives in nearby Burnett, Wisconsin, loves the experimentation. “We’re so in sync,” Heather says. And after all their time creating in the kitchen, they’re still testing, tweaking and tasting until they both agree, “Mmm...perfect.”