Tom started Uncle Tom's Kitchen in September of 2020. For years, he had dreamed of having his own food business. Over 20 years, he had worked every position there is in the restaurant business from server to cook to manager and everything in between. Many of his friends and family had frequently told him that he was an amazing chef and that he should start selling the food that he made at home. He even catered his own wedding in July of 2015. For that menu, click here.

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Tom moved to Wisconsin in 2010 and met his future wife in 2013. They both fell in love with honeycrisp apples and he immediately began working on what he could create with this delicious variety. Amongst his earliest creations was a creamy applesauce with just a hint of sugar and a hint of spice that his nephew Terje fell in love in 2018. For that story, click here.

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Uncle Tom’s Kitchen was born in the fall of 2020 at a Fall Harvest Festival run by friends of his wife’s family. He sold 30 jars of his honeycrisp applesauce that day, and he has never once looked back. He immediately expanded his line of apple products, and, due to a lucky late cancellation, got accepted to join the Cameron Park Winter market in November of 2020. 

 

Tom continued with the Cameron Park Farmer’s Market in the summers of 2021 and 2022. He also rapidly expanded his product line to include specialty tomato sauces, jams/jellies, and baked treats. Tom also began attending many other craft fairs, maker’s markets and other events including joining the Sparta Kriskindlmarkt in December of 2021.

 

In 2023, due to changes in the format at Cameron Park, Tom switched his Saturday home base to the Sparta Farmer’s Market. He has also expanded to the Eau Claire Market through connections made with the Wisconsin Maker’s Market Association beginning in the fall of 2022. 

 

All in all, our growth has afforded us the opportunity to participate in approximately 45 events a year every weekend from March through December. Our product line also now boasts 50+ artisan, handmade products. Tom has written all of our recipes himself and he buys all of our fruit from the local farmers he has gotten to know through his market connections. We are also now doing events in five different counties (La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon, Trempealeau, and Eau Claire) in western Wisconsin in addition to our online business..

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Lastly, thank you to everyone in the area who has supported this endeavor. You have helped Tom to turn a lifelong dream into a reality.

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