Why You Will Love this Old-Time Store and Kitchen

Dutch Country General Store has two stores, one in Missouri and one near our border with Iowa; each delivers a shopping experience definitely worth the drive. Founders, Levi and Erica Good, share their passion for family mealtime and special holiday recipes.

This article is presented in partnership with Dutch Country General Store.

You just know the recipes are going to taste good when you hear Erica Good say, “We value family traditions and enjoy spending time with our families and how much goes into that.”

It is in this spirit that Erica and her husband, Levi, share their own favorite holiday recipes with you. Make sure to check out the recipe cards below.

You can find these new Good Family recipes and more at www.dutchcountrykitchen.com, Dutch Country General Store’s very own online cooking show. These new delicious recipes come from their own collections or the kitchens of relatives; several even have been shared by the couple’s mothers.

One example of a recipe provided with ‘love from Mom’ is Levi’s Party Mix. Levi likes it without the rye bagel chips and thin, straight pretzels that Erica may add when making for others. The bagel chips and pretzels are available at both Dutch Country Stores, one in Hannibal and one in Bloomfield, Iowa (about 20 minutes north of the border with Missouri on Highway 63).

Another recipe is Buckeyes Peanut Butter Balls. This one is named for the Buckeye State, Ohio, where Erica was born and her mom made it every year for Christmas. She likes the crunch that Rice Krispies cereal adds to the balls.

A surprising new favorite can be found in the sweet potato casserole, a recipe shared by a church friend. Erica likes it because it’s not super-sweet, like some of the casseroles with marshmallows.

The doughnuts also have a sweet story behind them. While this recipe is from the archives of Levi’s mother – specifically tailored to make a large batch – Erica recalls her own fond memories of doughnuts growing up. “On the first day it snowed, our mother suspended home-schooling and let my brothers and sisters and I take sleds and go play in the snow. Mom would start making doughnuts, and we came in, we would all help finish making them.”

You can find these holiday recipes, along with others, below. Enjoy sweet, home-baked scones, or try the scalloped corn for something savory. Erica has carefully selected some of her favorites to share this season..

The Goods juggle a lot. Levi runs the store business, and Erica home-schools her children, in addition to shooting episodes for Dutch Country Kitchen. Their children range in age from 18 months (the youngest had just awakened from his nap and was on her lap during this interview) to 10 years old. Erica also grows a big garden and fills her freezer because she appreciates the goodness of home-grown vegetables.

How do they do it all? Erica says, “We each know what our duties are and split the labor. We work hard but love what we do.”

Erica explains that she was the oldest of six children and learned so much growing up that “Stuff doesn’t stress me out,” she says.

Erica and Levi say mental attitude has so much to do with their lives, and they teach this to their children. “If you’re dreading the day, you probably won’t like it. But if you believe it will be amazing, it probably will be.”

She goes on to say, “I get excited about teaching my four daughters. I make it a practice to let them be in the kitchen with me, starting when they were as young as one. They can put their hands in the flour, taste the dough. They’ll have fun. Sure they’ll make a mess I have to clean up, but they’ll view it as fun.”

Her strategy is working, as her oldest two, aged 10 and 9, already enjoy looking through recipes and choosing something to make for supper one night a week.

This reflects Erica’s and Levi’s values. When children work as they are growing up, they know they are needed and important within the family. They have innate self-esteem.

“We’re both people of faith,” Erica says, “and we want to teach them to love others, put others first, but to know they’re loved and that they are important, too, and that they can take love to others.”

That’s why you might occasionally see one or more of their older children accompany Levi to the store or elsewhere. “They learn so much about family, about business, about life,” she says.

You can visit Dutch Country Kitchen on Dutch Country General Store’s YouTube channel or Dutch Country Kitchen’s website to capture Erica’s passion for cooking for her family. Each episode features Good’s dear friend and Billboard charting recording artist Diana Upton-Hill in Diana’s kitchen. Together they share cooking traditions and simple but satisfying meals for the family.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your next family dinner, watch Dutch Country Kitchen Sunday Dinner Part 1 and 2 for the Rice Krispies chicken; mashed potatoes with brown butter; kale, bacon, and avocado salad; and chocolate Symphony Cake. Better yet, visit one of the stores to collect all the recipe cards you can! Then you can also find the basic baking supplies Erica uses—flour, sugar, and such, but also specialty items like pink Himalayan sea salt, Amish roll butter, the special Rada whisk she prefers, and more.

The vision and passion of the founders, Levi and Erica Good, can be experienced while viewing Dutch Country Kitchen and at Dutch Country General Store. It’s a must-visit, both online and in person. As the company’s friendly motto states, they “hope to see ya real soon”!