MANISTEE — Sherry Ronning entered the world of cooking at an early age.
“I grew up with my parents’ catering business. I had family that I actually worked for from the time I was 14,” she said. “They owned a restaurant, which was Lenz’s Country Side Kitchen in Kaleva. I grew up there doing everything: busing, dishes, prep work, cooking, waitressing.”
After accumulating decades of experience in the kitchen, Ronning decided to acquire an associate degree from Northwestern Michigan College.
“My mother passed away about five years ago and right after she passed away I decided I wanted to go back to school. I went to culinary school up in Traverse City at NMC at the age of 46,” she said. “I wasn’t actually the oldest person to go through the school — there were a lot of older individuals like myself going through that program, which was nice to see. I would have never thought I would have been going and getting my associate degree in culinary arts at the age of 46.”
Upon graduating, Ronning wanted an outlet for all the delicious knowledge she had accumulated over the years. Eventually, From Michigan to the Table, Ronning’s food blog, was born.
“It has Midwestern cuisine recipes — a lot of recipes that are known in our area. I do pierogis, cabbage rolls and different stuff in our area,” she said. “The venison dishes I have are popular, and I’ve just recently started Blackstone griddle cooking recipes, which is very popular on my website.”
Ronning has been married to her husband, Randy, for 25 years and they have two daughters, age 16 and 21. Ronning enjoys kayaking and visiting amusement parks with her family.
In addition to the website, Ronning runs a bakery out of her home.
“I have a licensed kitchen in my home in Manistee that I work out of, which is Sherry’s Sheer Delight,” she said. “I do that and I’m working full-time on my food blog.”
For more information about Sherry’s Sheer Delight, visit facebook.com/Sherrys-Sheer-Delight-155593209791.
Ronning is currently working on creating some cookbooks and hopes to offer virtual cake decorating lessons in the future.
“I am working on an e-book — like an e-cookbook. There are a couple of them I am hoping to get out by the end of the year,” she said. “I’m working on a Blackstone griddle baking recipe cookbook. … In the future I would like to do online cake decorating classes to be able to offer different classes to kind of coincide with my Sherry’s Sheer Delight business and actually kind of mesh the two together, but that’s a plan I’m working on for maybe next year.”
Ronning’s blog can be found at frommichigantothetable.com.
