From Pasture to Pantry : The Origin of Boki’s Kitchen

Welcome to Boki’s Kitchen, my friend!

New and beautiful faces have been visiting our blog, so a heartfelt and proper introduction feels necessary.

Our name, “Boki’s” (pronounced “beau-keys”), is a combination of our names: Bob and Niki. We’ve been Boki’s Kitchen since 2022, and before that we were known as K-Bob’s Country Cuisine and Kathy Neisen Catering. Our operation was established in 1989.

Connecting over a shared passion for food, Bob and I are proud to serve delicious and wholesome meals to our favorite people.

Bob is a welder at Knapheide Manufacturing, and he truly loves to build and create. I spent over a decade in a variety of healthcare roles before joining Kathy Neisen (Mom) in her rural commercial kitchen.

As 2020 became a pivotal year for many, this story is no different.

Furloughed from my specialty position at the clinic, fear began to creep in. I listened to my intuition, and called my mom.

“Mom! I’ve been furloughed. Not sure for how long. I’m frustrated they couldn’t move me to a different department. Guess I'm not considered essential. How about we make frozen meals for people while I have nothing else to do . . . “

“Oh, Niki! No one wants frozen meals, but you can try if you want to.”

And try is what I did.

Boki’s Kitchen continues to create affordable, prepped family and individual meals along with full catering services!

2021 brought unique challenges to our family. Working part time at the clinic while my parents continued milking their herd of registered Holstein cattle twice daily meant there was plenty of work in the kitchen to go around for all. One rainy March morning, everything changed.

Kathy experienced a terrible fall. The day of the fall marked my last day working at the clinic. Incidentally, this was also Kathy’s last day milking her cows. It was an end neither of us realized in the moment. Challenges presented as Mom healed from her fall. She’ll be the first to say she hasn’t quite been the same since that rainy spring morning.

Catering slowly picked up after no events in 2020.

By mid 2022, Kathy was ready to move into a more “retired” role— letting me handle all customer interactions.

Enjoying the garden with Chase and Sadie

To this day, I’m not sure what I have gotten myself into, but the more time that passes, the more grateful I am for this unique path.

Caring for others comes natural to me, and being able to love and care for others through food has been a refreshing change of pace. I’ve also been able to utilize my accounting degree— which seems like yet another full-circle moment.

Dad (Tom) milked his herd of dairy cattle for the last time in December of 2022. The Neisens are enjoying this next stage of life. This means extra time in the garden growing fresh produce that we’re excited to create wholesome and delicious dishes with. The gardens contain a variety of produce, and my favorites include tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs! Cows are still a prominent focus at Boki’s Kitchen. Black Angus cattle graze the green, lush pastures that generations of Holsteins were raised on.

Bob dedicates his nights and weekends to cooking. His recipes have become Boki’s staples— such as his cheese ball, his alfredo sauce, his stuffed mushrooms . . . the list goes on and on!

Not a single aspect of this was planned— most know the good things in life rarely are . . . with the exception of a delicious meal, and for that, please give Boki's Kitchen a shout!

Ready to taste the difference?

Talk to us about event catering, or browse our frozen meal inventory!

Committed to connecting people over wholesome meals, Boki’s is ready to provide a hot catered meal, something for your loved one’s freezer, or even a decadent dessert for you (because you deserve it).

Thank you for being in this space. Your support means everything to us.