Pella bakery

I traveled to Pella recently for work. I'd never been to downtown Pella before, so I swung by downtown to check out the Dutch bakeries.  I stopped at Jaarsma Bakery, and I couldn't believe the wide variety of treats inside.  I thought the bakery just sold Dutch letters, but they had that and much more. Breads, cookies, cakes, pastries, chocolates -- it was hard to pick just one!

I was a little overwhelmed, so I ended up buying a few cookies and Dutch letters to take home.

After I bought the sweets, I stopped in the clothing shop next door, and the salesperson told me I had to go back to the bakery and find the chocolate almond horns in the refrigerated case.  The almond horns are baked with almond paste in the dough, so they are extra chewy, almost like a caramel candy bar, although not caramel in flavor.  My husband ended up loving these, even more so than the Dutch letters (although he ended up polishing off the Dutch letters, too!)

Before I left town, I also visited the Pella meat shop and came home with the famous Pella bologna.  We enjoyed this for supper when I got home.

I'm already trying to talk my husband into taking another road trip to Pella, just so I can show him the amazing bakeries!

2012 World Food Festival, Des Moines

Once again, I ate my way through the World Food Festival in Des Moines last weekend.  I was blown away by the variety of food offered by the vendors this year.  I would say that the World Food Festival is now favorite food-related event -- even better than the Iowa State Fair. And that's saying a lot!

Last year, my favorite booth was the Ethiopian Association's.  So that was my first stop this year.  I ordered the mild chicken wot with vegetables and rice.  As my husband says, anything with curry has got to be good.  I loved all the spices in this -- fresh pepper, rosemary, curry.  I wolfed down this whole dish!

The $1 sample at the Iowa Machine Shed booth was the chocolate bacon chipotle cookie. Look how gorgeous this cookie is!  And it's coated in chocolate!  This was easily my favorite treat at the World Food Festival this year.

I told myself I was only going to get one dessert, but I couldn't resist this "special edition" cupcakes from my favorite bakery, the Ames Cupcake Emporium.  These are Iowa cupcakes, made with bacon and cornflakes.  That's a little candy pig on the top!

I stood in line for 10 minutes for the one item I was really looking forward to trying, the Hello Gourdgeous pizza from Gusto Pizza Co.  It's a pizza topped with butternut squash, red onions and sage.  I've been wanting to make a squash pizza at home, so I was excited to try this out.

Sorry for this photo of the half-eaten pizza, but I wanted to show you the pumpkin-puree "sauce" that topped the pizza. So creative!

So fellow Iowans, did any of you visit the World Food Festival this year?  What was your favorite dish?  There was so much to try, it was hard to choose what to indulge in.

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 eats: Ice Cream, Bob's Dogs & Drive-Ins

 

I've been doing a lot of traveling the past couple weeks for work, and I've tried to stop at small-town Iowa drive-ins along the way.  It's one of the best perks of traveling in the summer!  

I stopped at the downtown Ames farmers market to try the peach ice cream from Sweet Treats.  I heard great things about this ice cream flavor, and it was amazing!  Every time I stop at Sweet Treats, I discover a new favorite flavor!  Sweet Treats also has an ice cream stand in the small town of Jewell in central Iowa.

I drove through Le Mars in northwest Iowa, so I swung by Bob's Drive-In and ordered a famous Bob's Dog for lunch.

A Bob's Dog is a locally-made hot dog with a Maid-Rite topping. My photo doesn't do it justice; it was so good!

The next day, I drove through Humboldt in central Iowa and stopped at the Backseat Dinner, a 1950s-style drive-in.  I was in the mood for something a little different, so I ordered a BBQ bacon turkey wrap, with BBQ ranch dressing.  I loved it! 

 

Yes, I stopped at one more drive-in this summer.  I ordered a "vegetable burger" at Stan's Drive-In in Osage. No, it's not a tofu burger.  It's a beef burger topped with tomato and lettuce.  I also ordered a root beer on the side.  My boss made fun in me for turning in the receipt -- the lunch only cost $3!

Have you stopped at a drive-in this summer? What's your favorite menu item?

Wordless Wednesday: Maid-Rite and potato salad from Lewright Meats Deli, Eagle Grove, Iowa

May 2012: Odds & ends

It's been another busy month, and I can't believe Memorial Day weekend is already here.  Thought I'd share a few of my latest discoveries.

The Ames Main Street farmers market opened in early May.  I bought a few herb and tomato plants from the local vendors.  It's a nice farmers market close to home, and I don't have to fight all the crowds at the Des Moines farmers market.  (Have you been to the Des Moines farmers market lately?  I hear the crowds have been crazy big this year.)

Another plus: My favorite ice cream booth from the Des Moines farmers markets, Sweet Treats, also has a stand at the Ames farmers market.  I ordered one of my favorites flavors, maple pecan.  

I was shopping for groceries at Hy-Vee in West Des Moines recently, and I found these amazing Milton Creamery cheese curds for sale at the deli counter.  The sign said that the cheese curds are only delivered to the store once a month, so I was lucky to snag them.  These cheese curds are so fresh, they squeak when you chew them!

I picked up another favorite at the local Fareway grocery store: DoBiz cookie dough. Back when I was a freshman at Iowa State, my friends and I would make regular trips to the DoBiz cookie shop in Campustown. The cookie shop is gone, but you can still find the cookie dough at Hy-Vee and Fareway stores in the Ames/Des Moines area. Sometimes it's nice to make cookies without making a mess in the kitchen!

In my garden, I picked the last of the radishes before the weather turned hot and dry.  I picked them small because the weather turned dry and hot, and the radishes were already starting to go to seed.

We've also been enjoying salads with our homegrown lettuce and spring onions. I'm so glad I bought this Oxo salad spinner last year.  The lettuce stays fresh for a really long time when left in the spinner and placed in the fridge.

The irises have stopped blooming now, but they were pretty while they lasted.

I like to get up early on the weekends and go for a long run or bike ride, then eat a big breakfast that fills me up all day.  My husband made the best breakfast the other day; I just had to take a picture.  Love the toast with my homemade Concord grape jelly.

One last garden photo:  The pink lady peonies I bought at the Iowa Arboretum last year bloomed this spring, and they were even prettier than I imagined!

Now I'm looking forward to a long Memorial Day weekend.  Hope you enjoy the holiday!

Iowa eats: Maid-Rite in Newton

My sister and I visited Newton last weekend to run a 5-mile race at the Iowa Speedway.  After the run, we stopped at the Maid-Rite in downtown Newton.  It's one of the original Maid-Rite franchises in Iowa.  Of course, I ordered the maid-rite, a loose meat sandwich.  My stomach was a little queasy after the hilly run; otherwise, I would have tried a few other items on the menu board.

My sister ordered a chocolate shake, so I couldn't resist ordering one, too.  I'm so glad I did.  It really hit the spot after our tough workout!

Can't wait to visit Maid-Rite again soon!  I love a good loose-meat sandwich!

Cupcake addiction

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm addicted to cupcakes.  I've driven to nearby Ames three weekends in a row just to try the new cupcake creations at the Ames Cupcake Emporium on main street.  Here's a round-up of my favorite cupcakes from the last month.

Fried ice cream cupcake - with cornflakes, honey, chocolate and whipped cream on buttercream frosting.

Surprise! The fried ice cream cupcake was filled with custard!

Chunky Monkey: chocolate banana cupcake with graham cracker sprinkles.

For St. Patrick's Day:  The Green Beer Cupcake! With a subtle beer flavor. Loved the buttercream frosting!

I told my husband that I want to decorate my kitchen like the Ames cupcake shop.  They have such a cute, retro theme inside the store. I highly recommend a stop at the Cupcake Emporium next time you're in Ames.

Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival

It's been an amazing day, and I'm thrilled to share my little adventure with you all.  I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Des Moines.  The tickets sold out in 20 minutes, and I still can't believe I got one.  It was an awesome event, and all the bacon-inspired food was so good, I think I ended up eating like 2 pounds of bacon in one afternoon.  But so worth it!

There were huge lines for most of the food booths, so I often didn't know what I was going to end up eating until I got to the front of the line.  I let out a little squeal when I saw the menu at the Gusto Pizza Booth.  Bacon, peanut butter & banana pizza?  Yes please!

"The Elvis" - bacon, peanut butter & banana pizza.

Another favorite was the Maytag blue cheese paired with bacon & honey.  I could have eaten the whole tray-full.

To be honest, I wasn't all that excited to stand in line for the bacon tacos, but they turned out to be delicious.  It was a new spin on the classic BLT sandwich. I must try this at home!

My favorite bacon dish was actually a dessert -- the caramel bacon gelato from Chocolaterie Stam.  Sounds strange, but it was so good. I may never eat ice cream without bacon again :)

And I couldn't resist buying a couple slices of chocolate-covered bacon.  I was lucky I bought it when I did, because they were sold out within a few minutes.

Now I'm in a bacon-fat haze as I write this, but I'm giddy from all the new foods I tried today.  Who knew that bacon was so versatile?  I'm proud to live in the nation's top pork-producing state, and I'm glad there's a festival where we can celebrate this ultimate comfort food.  Ohhh, Bacon!

Iowa eats: Hickory Park in Ames

I had a serious case of the winter blues, so I asked my sister to meet me for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Hickory Park in Ames.  We've been going to this restaurant since we were little girls.  Our parents used to take us to Iowa State University basketball games during winter break, and they would often treat us to lunch at Hickory Park or at Ruttle's.  (Does anyone else remember Ruttle's? We loved their malts and burger bar.)

I checked ahead of time to make sure there wasn't a home basketball game, when the lines at Hickory Park are especially long.  Luckily, we got seated right away.  I was in the mood for fried food, maybe because it was 10 degrees outside, so we ordered an appetizer tray of onion rings, cheese balls and sweet potato fries.  I especially loved the sweet potato fries!  I'll be ordering these again next time.

My sister loves cherry cokes, and I decided to order one, too. Hickory Park makes them the old fashioned way, with cherry flavored syrup.

For lunch, I ordered the Saucy Southerner pulled pork, beef and chicken sandwich, with a side of cole slaw.  Hickory Park has the best cole slaw.  My sister ordered the cheeseburger. (She always orders a cheeseburger wherever we eat! But the Hickory Park burgers are terrific.)

Hickory Park offers an amazing ice cream menu, but instead, we ordered a side of pickles to end our meal.  We gobbled these up quickly.  We both love pickles!

After lunch, we bundled up in our winter coats and headed over to the new bowling alley on the west side of Ames.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon. We both agreed we should bowl together more often.  My sister won the first game, but I won the second!  We were just happy to bowl a score of 100!

What does your family do to beat the winter "blahs"?  I've been doing a lot of baking, but I try to get outside as much as I can, especially on the weekends.