ALBERT LEA, Minn. — An Albert Lea grandma has parleyed the skills she honed as a member of the Richlanders 4-H Club into a business.
Kim Olson, of Albert Lea, started Grandma's Gourmets in 2009. She peddles jams, jellies, pickles, salsas and shrub — a drinking vinegar concentrate — in addition to catering.
Olson grew up west of Faribault in Rice County and learned how to make jam as a 4-H project. She entered peach jam her first year and earned a blue ribbon. The next year, she picked blueberries in Canada, and entered blueberry jam, which also earned a blue ribbon.
She would __have been disappointed had she earned anything less than a blue ribbon in foods, Olson said, and she still has those ribbons tucked away.
Olson moved from the farm and pursued a career. When she was recuperating from back surgery in 2008, her father called and suggested she pick the wild grapes at their place. Money was tight because she was out on medical leave, so she decided to pick the grapes and make grape jelly as gifts.
That jelly opened a new door. Olson is an entrepreneur, sharing her story and selling her homemade jams, jellies, salsas, pickles and shrub throughout the region.
"I like it because it's on my time, it's on my schedule," Olson said. "I get to meet really cool people all the time and network."
Olson was recently at Feast Local Foods Marketplace in Rochester and her next event is the Historical Faire at Albert Lea's Northbridge Mall from Feb. 13-14. Her products can by ordered online. Gift certificates and gift baskets are available.
Olson has expanded her line of jams and jellies from those 4-H entries. She has 40 varieties in production, varying based upon the availability of fruit.
She gives priority to Minnesota Grown fruits. Her strawberries come from a Hollandale grower, her black currants from Duluth. She gets her Minnesota Concord grapes from Betty, the Bingo lady and her rhubarb from Gerald, the single farmer guy. She met Gerald and Betty at Trail's Travel Center, where she works occasionally. Her parents also search out fruits for her. Her cucumbers are from an Alden grower and she's adding an Ellendale grower next year.
Olson's pickle recipe is based on her great-grandmother's recipe. Everybody's grandmother had a different pickle recipe, Olson said. She's altered her grandmother's recipe and added ingredients.
Her pickle offerings range from dills and pickled beets to pickled mushrooms and asparagus. Olson tries to add a new pickle every year. Last year, she added a Bloody Pickle, which is a Bloody Mary in a pickle without the vodka. The pickle is a finalist in the Good Food Awards, meaning it was selected as a top five product from this region by Seedling Projects, which supports the sustainable food movement. It is based in California.
The tomatoes Olson turns into salsa come from Amish farmers in Iowa. Her salsas range from fruit to hot.
Perhaps her most unique product is shrub, which started in the 1500s as an alcoholic beverage. Before a temperance movement in the United States in 1794, children drank alcohol because early settlers were afraid to drink the water, Olson said. Shrub evolved to become the original sports drink or soda of the country. Cookbooks from the late 1700s and early 1800s contain recipes for shrub, which combines vinegar, fruit and sugar.
Olson started marketing the product at her booth at area rendezvous, but now it's becoming more mainstream, she said. In addition to mixing shrub with water, club soda or alcohol as a drink, people are using it as a marinate or steaming agent.