Family Recipes and Braving Youth Mental Health with Kristin and Anna Rehkamp

Everyday living—the highs and lows of everyday life—is exactly what today’s post and podcast encompass. Because whether we, or someone we love, is braving adult or youth mental health battles, our everyday lives continue around us. But how we cope with and support each other makes all the difference in the world.

In this week’s podcast, Kristin and Anna Rehkamp are sharing their personal story about how Anna’s panic attack at a well-child check in 2020 when she was 11 years old turned into a debilitating panic disorder within two weeks. Counseling was booked months out. And their daughter was in crisis.

Although it is difficult for Anna to talk about it, she and her mom bravely and candidly tell their story, with the purpose of changing and opening the current conversation and advocacy, or lack thereof, around youth mental health with parents, children, medical and mental health professionals, the community, and anyone who can help make change. 

Listen to their episode of Funeral Potatoes & Wool Mittens S2 E6 in the link below or in your favorite podcast app. This episode is NOT intended to be medical advice.

Anna is remarkably courageous, and she is wiser than many of us when it comes to accepting people where they’re at. She and her mom continue to advocate for youth mental health initiatives.

“Finding Us” and La Vie Est Belle Boutique

This journey led Kristin to write and publish her book titled, “Finding Us: A Mother’s Memoir of Braving Mental Illness with Her Young Daughter,” along with opening a boutique in Lake Elmo, Minnesota called La Vie Est Belle, which in turn, she donates a percentage of net profits to pediatric mental health initiatives. 

La Vie Est Belle, 3417 Lake Elmo Ave. North, Lake Elmo, MN

Family Recipes

I met Kristin in 2022 when I wrote their story for Woodbury Magazine and St. Croix Valley Magazine, and we’ve kept in touch. I learned that there is a long line of bakers in this family, Anna and Kristin being two of them. And Kristin’s mom, Lynn (Johnson) Rohman, has taken it up a level by publishing two family cookbooks!

So naturally, we thought it would be fun to talk about some of their cherished family recipes like turtle cake, chocolate chip shortbread bars, (both recipes are at the end of this post) and cinnamon rolls. 

The following are a few recipes from that cookbook:

The following are just a few of their favorite recipes from the books.

The Turtle Cake

The turtle cake that Anna and Kristin talked about intrigued me because it sounds similar to my Yes! Yes! brownies recipe.

So, I decided to make it. And wouldn’t you know it, the ingredients are almost identical but the result is different. Basically, make turtle cake if you like gooey, caramel cake. If you are a gooey caramel brownie lover, bake Yes! Yes! brownies. They are both delicious.

Look how easy it is to make turtle cake:

More Recipes from this Episode

Kristin graciously shared her current chocolate chip cookie recipe. She talks in this episode about how she’s always working to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.

The battle of the cinnamon rolls at the Rehkamps? Kristin even shared those family recipes! Listen to the show to hear which one of them Anna prefers—her mom’s cinnamon rolls or her dad’s.

Kristin’s Sweet Roll Recipe:

Turn them into caramel rolls:

Tom’s Cinnamon Roll Recipe:

More Chocolate & Caramel Cake

Here’s the Better Than Sex Cake recipe I mentioned in this episode. It’s another easy recipe that starts with a German chocolate cake mix.

Connect with Kristin and Anna

Website: shoplavie.co

Kristin Rohman Rehkamp’s Book: “Finding Us: A Mother’s Memoir of Braving Mental Illness with Her Young Daughter”

Instgram: @lavieestbellegiftshop

Facebook: La Vie Est Belle Gift Shop

LinkedIn: La Vie Est Belle

Anna’s Home Bakery on Instagram: @honey_beebakery_

Also mentioned in this episode: Acres for Life.

Suicide Hotline

National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline: Call, text or chat 988,
or call 1.800.273.TALK (8255)

Sweet wishes,