What made Edie Baumgart want to put together a cookbook featuring recipes from more than 50 members of the local music scene?
“Well, I’m insane, so there’s that,” she laughs.
But for Baumgart, the impetus for A Musician’s Menu: Recipes That Rock by the Minnesota Music Community, goes deeper. The president of Minneapolis’s RaeBeat Records says she wanted to showcase Minnesota’s music community while highlighting the fact that most of its members do a lot more than just playing music, producing records, or booking shows. She wanted to provide a different kind of insight into the musicians here in town—a sense for what they like, not just what they play—and bring two different art forms together, all while having a little bit of fun.
“I love to cook, I love to eat, I love music, I love our music community, and I kept thinking, ‘Why can’t we combine these?’” Baumgart says. “Everything seems to be so categorized these days.”
Baumgart calls A Musician’s Menu a recipe book, not unlike the community-sourced, spiral-bound booklets you’d find from Lutheran churches and cultural groups. She assembled the collection by reaching out to members of her own community, often approaching people at shows or calling them up to say, “Hey, want to contribute something?”
Every recipe in the book is from someone who either “is or has been” involved in the music community, as Baumgart puts it—some have left the Twin Cities and others have passed on. It’s a personal book, filled with her writing and memories of being involved in the music community over the years. And it features entirely original photography by Paul Irmiter with design by Tod Foley.
Many local artists she already knew were amazing cooks, and while some recipes are for meals that people cook regularly, others are a family recipe or something special. “Jim Walsh, for example, gave us his Walsh Family Dessert,” Baumgart says, and Randy Broughten of Gear Daddies provides his tried and true stroganoff recipe.
…And then, on the other end of the spectrum, you’ll get recipes like Hamburger Cupcakes from Jon Clifford of HiFi Hair and Records in Loring Park, or Craig Teiken’s Krautsadillas—yes, that’s a quesadilla with sauerkraut, and Baumgart says it’s “quite fantastic.” The recipes are divided into Opening Acts (apps, salads, etc.), Headliners (entrees) and After Party (desserts).
Now, she has not herself cooked through all the recipes that appear in A Musician’s Menu, so you’ll have to give those meaty cupcakes a try for yourself. Baumgart says she trusted the folks who submitted their ideas and wanted the foods to reflect who the contributors were as people. In fact, part of the fun of putting the book together for her was getting to know its contributors in a new light.
The recipes aren’t only provided by musicians, but by the producers, bookers, stagehands, and more who make up the local music scene.
“A scene doesn’t just happen, people make it happen,” she says. “I decided it isn’t really just about the musicians, it’s about the community that makes it all happen.” So while guitarists, bassists, songwriters, and yes, even drummers contributed to the book, it also includes recipes from people like Doug Myren, an entertainment attorney who owns the Silver Dome Ballroom in Wisconsin, and Mike Owens, owner of Blackberry Way Records.
And even with more than 50 recipes, “I was only able to get a fraction of what exists in this book," says Baumgart.
Hey, there’s always time to release a follow-up. Just ask any local musician.
A Musician’s Menu: Recipes That Rock by the Minnesota Music Community is available online and at local shops including Lucky Cat Records and HiFi Hair and Records.
