Rising star: Since launching her TikTok channel this spring, Frazee woman has gained half a million followers

As she was leaving the Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center after a swim in the pool earlier this week, Amber Schwarzrock ran into a group of teenage boys she didn't know — but, as it happened, they all knew her.

"They said, 'Hey, she's famous on TikTok'," said the Frazee native, otherwise known as That Midwestern Mom. "Is there any compliment bigger than a bunch of teenage boys recognizing you after you come out of the gym?"

Since launching her channel on the popular video sharing app last spring, Schwarzrock has gained over half a million followers. Her pages on Facebook and Instagram — also listed under the name @ThatMidwesternMom — have been growing fast as well.

"Instagram is at 8,000 (followers) and Facebook is at 25,000," she said. Among those followers were the Keebler elves, who sent her a case of Fudge Stripe cookies to use in her recipes.

Besides contacting her via social media to share comments, ideas or recipes, Schwarzrock also invites her followers to contact her directly at thatmidwesternmom@gmail.com .

Over the past year, she has also been featured on NBC's Today show and the Twin Cities-based FOX 9 TV show, The Jason Show; Schwarzrock has been a guest on the latter a couple of times during the holiday season.

"Jason was thrilled to have me (as a guest), and loves talking about Frazee," she said. "I'm hoping to get him up here for Turkey Days next year."

Schwarzrock's famed "crazy eyes" expression has also graced many an Internet meme.

Her Internet fame has grown to the point that the Fargo-based 701 Eateries will be hosting a meet-and-greet event for her this Sunday, Dec. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m.

"I'll be singing some Christmas carols and interacting with the audience," Schwarzrock said.

The 701 Eateries — known for "Nordic cuisine with a Midwestern flair" — were particularly well-suited to host an event for her, she said, because "their cuisine is exactly what my content is. We've been trying to work out a way to do something there for a while."

The "content" that Schwarzrock is referring to is her quirky, humorous videos, where the perfectly-coiffed connoisseur of vintage dessert salads is usually poised over a Tupperware mixing bowl in the kitchen of her home, smiling sweetly and singing like a bird about “Minne-SOOO-ta salads, that aren’t really salads!”

She then fills that big bowl with a strange brew of ingredients galore — canned pineapple, cold pasta, grapes, Snickers bars and one of those "salad" staples, Cool Whip or Jell-O, to help hold the mixture together.

She films herself out of the kitchen at times, too, at places like her local grocery store, where she happily shops in her hair rollers. Recently, Schwarzrock made an appearance at the snowplow parade that was held during "A Merry Frazee Christmas" on Saturday, Dec. 11.

"Tootsie Roll sent me some Tootsie Pops to throw out during the parade," she said.

And she was recently invited to be a guest judge at a February hotdish cookoff in Fargo.

"People are starting to recognize Frazee; they're learning where Detroit Lakes is, where Fargo is," she said. "I’ve got the whole country talking about Minnesota cookie salads and Jell-O salads."

What: An Evening with That Midwestern Mom

Where: The 701 Eateries, 701 N University Drive, Fargo

When: Sunday, Dec. 19, 5 to 8 p.m.

How: Pre-registration for this special event is requested. Call 701-532-0734 or book a table online at opentable.com .