What started out as a hobby . . . turned into a thriving business for a farm family in southern Saskatchewan. Peg’s Kitchen is a fixture on Park Street in Regina . . .with a restaurant, catering service and take-out business all rolled into one . It all started in 1998 . .. when Vern and Peggy Leippi invited 250 friends to the family farm near Kronau for their 25th anniversary. In addition to hosting the party . . . they made all of the food—-including sausage and cabbage rolls. “As people came up and congratulated us and after the thing they said “why don’t you sell this stuff instead of just giving it away?” That’s what it is. We went to Vancouver that fall and she had a cousin who was married to a gentleman who was a businessman and we asked a few questions and he gave us some answers we we’re looking for and basically our whole business started out on the drive home trip from Vancouver. It was all done when we got home, we had it all hatched out.” Says Vern. In regards to the recipes, Peggy said they had to fine tune the recipe… “I was raised with sour cabbage rolls and of course that’s very, very expensive cabbage and my aunt in Kelowna said well you just freeze fresh cabbage and thaw it and add vinegar and salt, and I said how much? She said well one hip with the salt and two with the vinegar and whatever and I give it a whirl. So we came home and tested cabbage rolls to turn them sour. I tested them on Vern and of course our three sons until we got the right recipe.” Says Peggy.
Peg’s Kitchen is located at 1653 on Park Street in Regina.