Iowa eats: Bauder's Ice Cream

Last week, our boss surprised us by bringing in Bauder's ice cream as a thank you for working at the Iowa State Fair.  The Bauder's ice cream trailer is an always popular destination at the fair.  We were treated to the famous peppermint bar.  As you can see, it's peppermint ice cream sandwiched between two layers of crumbled chocolate cookies.  It was so good!  I ate my bar at my desk while editing pages.

Oh, and I should mention that there is also a layer of hot fudge in the Bauder's peppermint ice cream bar.  As if a giant ice cream treat wasn't rich enough!

Have you ever stopped for Bauder's ice cream?  What's your favorite ice cream destination?

Iowa recipes: Zucchini Cake

 

No, this isn't a Spam cake.  I just love the mug I got at the Spam Museum this spring :)

I've actually posted this recipe for Zucchini Cake on my blog before, but it was back before I knew that it's important to write very specific titles in order for folks to find the recipe when searching Google.

And this is a terrific recipe that I want to share with as many of you as possible!

I found this zucchini cake recipe in one of the old church cookbooks my mother-in-law gave me.  My husband remembers his mom baking this cake when he was a kid.  It's pretty much the only way I can get him to eat zucchini, although I'm trying to change that. By that's another story.

Now you can shred the zucchini before adding it to the cake batter, but my husband likes it better when the zucchini is cut up in little chucks, so it has the texture of a chopped-up apple in the cake.  It really makes the cake moist.

But the best part of this cake is the chocolate chip/brown sugar/chopped nut topping.  It's the perfect snack cake to eat with coffee (preferably in a Spam mug. LOL.)

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

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Zucchini Chocolate Cake

• - 1/4 c. butter, softened
• - 1/2 c. oil
• - 1-1/2 c. sugar
• - 2 eggs
• - 1 tsp. vanilla
• - 1/2 c. milk
• - 2-1/2 c. flour
• - 4 tbsp. cocoa
• - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• - 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• - 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• - 1/2 tsp. salt
• - 2 c. peeled, finely chopped zucchini

Mix all ingredients together, except zucchini. Add zucchini last and mix well. Spread in 9x13 greased pan. Mix the following and sprinkle on top:

• - 1 c. chopped nuts
• - 1 c. chocolate chips
• - 1 tbsp. sugar
• - 2 tbsp. brown sugar

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Foodie heaven: Urbandale Hy-Vee

We've had a lot of fancy grocery stores open up in the Des Moines area lately, but I was most excited about the grand opening of the new Hy-Vee in Urbandale last week. It's Hy-Vee's first concept store for testing out the latest grocery shopping trends. I visited the store on the first day it opened, and the store was packed full of shoppers. I didn't take many photos, because I was just trying to get out of the way of all the shopping carts.  But I couldn't believe the gorgeous produce section.

There were so many fruits I've never hear of before, including this gigantic "John fruit" from Mexico.  I got to sample it at the store, and it was wonderful -- like a super sweet melon.

The Urbandale Hy-Vee also has an amazing gourmet deli (you'll never have to cook again if just buy the meals from the deli!), a sushi bar, a gelato counter, a fresh seafood counter (with live lobsters!) and a huge cheese counter. But my favorite was the bulk food section. The store has a machine that processes peanuts and almonds into butters!  I came home with fresh-made almond butter, and I've been snacking on it with apple slices all week.

The new Hy-Vee store is a little out of my way, but I'm sure I'll be visiting the store at least once a month just to see what's new.  Do you have a favorite grocery store for foodie finds?  I'm also a huge fan of Trader Joe's, but it's also a little out of my way.