DOUGHNUTS OR DONUTS. Whatever the spelling, there’s one thing for certain. Most everyone loves this sweet treat. I’ll take a doughnut from a bakery. Make that one covered with chocolate icing and colorful sprinkles. I’ll take a bag of sugary mini donuts fried by a food vendor. Any doughnut will do.
This coming Sunday, February 15, I can try a new type of doughnut, one warmed over a bonfire at the fourth annual Valley Grove Doughnut Hole Roasting Party. Now I’ve never eaten a doughnut hole heated over an open fire on a winter day. But a roasted doughnut hole sounds tastier to me than a roasted marshmallow.
From 1-3 p.m., the Valley Grove Preservation Society will host this unique food event at the two historic Valley Grove churches located atop a hill in rural Rice County near Nerstrand. The Society, tasked with preserving these Norwegian immigrant churches and managing the surrounding prairie and 50-acre oak savanna, will provide the doughnut holes, roasting sticks, toppings and the firepits.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own beverages and chairs (to sit and visit outdoors) and proper gear for walking on the prairie. Temps are predicted to be a balmy 50 degrees, unseasonably warm for February in Minnesota and perfect weather for roasting doughnuts outside two country churches.
FYI: Valley Grove is located northwest of Nerstrand or southeast of Northfield at 9999 155th Street East, Nerstrand. The two churches are on the National Register of Historic Places.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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