Page 98 of 176

Iowa Bucket List: To The Top Of The Pilot Knob State Park Observation Tower

Iowa only looks the same if you drive straight down I-35 and never leave the beaten path.

This weekend, I checked a destination off my Iowa bucket list by climbing to the top of the Pilot Knob State Park Observation Tower located in Forest City. For I’ve seen hauntingly beautiful photos of this little stone tower perched on top of a hill and it beckoned me.

At an elevation of 1450 feet, standing at the top of an 84-year old tower means two things: You are teetering on the second highest point in Iowa in one of the oldest state parks.

A floating sphagnum bog called “Dead Man’s Lake” is also located deep within the park and is the “only one of its kind,” according to the Department of Natural Resources.

The drive from Mason City to Forest City is only 35-minutes. My GPS guided me through some of the most rolling, idyllic farmland I’ve ever seen, a far cry from what you’d see driving down the freeway. You really must take some detours.

You’ll know when you reach Forest City because of the forest. The drive through the park to the observation tower is encased in a tunnel of tree branches lined with wild flowers.

Trail Watermarked

It’s a short walk to the tower from the small gravel parking lot, up through another tunnel of trees that opens up to a grassy pasture. I was surprised to find I wasn’t alone.

Deer watermarked

When the deer ran away I continued towards the little tower.

Tower distance watermarked

I had it all to myself on this morning. All I could hear was the wind rustling around the hill and through the grass.

Tower Photo

Despite my fear of heights, I scaled the tower. I couldn’t see very far over the top of the walls, which was just as well.

DSC_0177

The wind continued to whistle around me, and so I climbed down.

Final Collage

My favorite thing to do is to go where I’ve never been, said the late photographer Diane Arbus.

Dining At A Table Set For 2,000. Create: The Community Meal

It’s hard to describe dining at a half-mile long table set for 2,000.

Table

My place at table 123 wasn’t just part of a meal, but a massive art piece that finally came to fruition after two years in the making.

Artist and host Seitu Jones was inspired to partner with Public Art St. Paul and plan CREATE: The Community Meal after watching people pass by his residence and studio located in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota carrying grocery bags of processed foods from the convenience store. He embarked on a food assessment of the community with the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and Afro-Eco to learn what factors drive people to choose unhealthier foods. The study identified cost, a lack of access, and lost sense of knowing how to cook whole foods to be these driving factors.

Volunteers played a pivotal role in cultivating community. They set up and tore down. They greeted us at every entrance gate and helped us find our tables. And at least one volunteer sat at each table to facilitate the moving pieces of the meal’s artistry.

Even the table settings had a very intentional layout.

recycling Collage

The whole event was designed to have zero waste and these Zero Waste Labs dotted each block. The place mats were handcrafted by Jones’ neighbor Mary Hark from neighborhood plants like burdock and rhubarb.

Empty seats were offered to those who were not able to reserve a ticket online and anyone else that wanted to join.

When it was time to eat, our hosts processed to the tables with platters of honey-ginger chicken they served in unison with gracefully choreographed movements.

meal procession watermark

We dove into the tender chicken with our fingers and enjoyed it with rice and beans, cornbread, salad greens and Salad Girl vinaigrette, and spicy collard greens with carrots and green beans all sourced within 40 miles (except for the rice). Of course, everything was served family style.

Meal Serving Collage

It’s impossible to be an island to one’s self while eating from platters meant to be shared. At some point, even the shyest person would have to ask for more of something, as every component was worthy of seconds. Chef James Baker of Elite Catering & the SunnySide Cafe prepared the type of meal that I will try to replicate over and over.

During my first year after college, I interned at Redeemer Center for Life located in the Harrison Neighborhood of Near North Minneapolis across the street from SunnySide. Elite catered some work events and I was filled with excitement when I first read that Baker would lead the menu.

Plate Watermarked

Throughout the meal, our gracious host facilitated discussions about our favorite childhood meals, favorite desserts and asked us to brainstorm one way we could overcome an obstacle in our community to healthy and sustainable food.

Growing up in Apple Valley, Minnesota, we didn’t eat too adventurously. Therefore, my favorite meals were the special occasions where we would order Chinese take-out. I’ve always had a taste for spicy foods and preferred savory over sweet, so as an adopted Korean, I was interested to learn that one’s food preferences can be influenced in utero. In my case, this explains a lot.

All of our food stories are so unique and worth exploring.

When the final bell sounded we read a closing written by Soyini Guyton that ended with the final words, “We wish to never forget the healing power of food, community, and love. We go in peace.” 

Those who walked by and wanted to dine was offered food and a seat at the table, yet some leftovers remained. These were offered to anyone who wanted to take them home and finally delivered to a shelter.

The rhythm of spoken word drew us down Victoria towards University and continued to weave personal stories of food and identity.

spoken word

Participating in Jones’ community meal was a humbling experience. There’s something humbling about being cared for by strangers.

I left overjoyed at connecting with old friends and making some new. Is there a better way to bring people together than over a meal? Good things happen when you break bread with strangers.

My Readers Teach Me How To Make The Best Salsa: Their Tips & My Take

I’m notoriously bad at growing things.

During my first couple years after college, I worked at a church and inherited an office full of Peace Lilies. Try as I might, I couldn’t keep them alive and so all the plants were confiscated from my office never to return. And then there was the container plant garden disaster on my Fargo balcony in 2012. . .

I’ll try again when we aren’t living in a town home development, but, for now, I’ll happily accept any of your extra produce. My in-laws cultivate a beautiful garden of fruits and vegetables in the backyard of their East St. Paul home. After our last visit, they sent us back home to Iowa with a sack full of salsa veggies and burstingly-ripe tomatoes.

I’ve prepared pico de gallo before, but wanted some new ideas for making salsa-making, so I sought the advice of my readers and friends. Here’s what they had to say:

  • Ally of Ally’s Sweet & Savory Eats: Ally makes salsa once a week. She recommends blending eight tomatoes, one onion, one jalapeno with seeds, one clove garlic, a handful of cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, and the juice of one lime (cutting up the larger vegetables). Check out her recipe for “Copy Cat Chili’s Salsa.
  • Jenny of Prairie Californian: Jenny roasts her salsa veggies at 400℉ and zips them in a food processor with salt, pepper, sugar, cilantro, oregano, and lime juice.
  • Kate of Kate in the Kitchen: Kate broils her salsa veggies until charred and blends in a food processor. She seasons her salsa with cumin, smoked paprika, ancho chili and kosher salt to taste.
  • Sara (my cousin-in-law married to Brian Dahlen): Sara transforms these salsa vegetables into homemade enchilada sauce by roasting and blending them.

Salsa Collage

As always, their advice was spot-on. We love our golden, roasted salsa and practically eat it like gazpacho. It tasted especially refreshing accompanying simple cheese and spaghetti squash quesadillas.

My Take: 

  1. Cut tomatoes and peppers in half. Cut onion in quarters.
  2. Arrange in a single layer on a sheet pan along with a few cloves of garlic still in the skin. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.
  3. Broil until softened and blistered. Flip one-two times for even blistering.
  4. Peel the roasted garlic and zip everything in a blender or food processor with a lime juice and a handful of cilantro until chunky with a drizzle of olive oil.
  5. Season with red wine vinegar, thinly sliced green onion, oregano, salt, sugar, black pepper, and cumin.
  6. My salsa needed more of a kick so I blended-in an additional clove of raw garlic.

Turning Into Pumpkins At Enchanted Acres & Katy’s Homemade Applesauce Recipe

The North Iowa bloggers embarked on their first fall adventure where some of us turned into pumpkins.

Jeni pumpkin

This weekend, Shannon Latham invited us to spend the morning at Enchanted Acres in Sheffield, Iowa about thirty-minutes south of my home in Mason City. The acres feature a patch of at least 30 varieties of pumpkins of which Shannon and her family planted by hand. Throughout the fall, visitors can pick their own pumpkins for decorating and eating, attend a pumpkin craft workshop, meet farm animals, and play on the big tractor tire playground. You can find a schedule of events on their Facebook page.

We tried our hand at decorating pumpkins. Amy created the glitter pumpkin while I attempted duct-tape polka dots.

Pumpkin Shannon Collage

Shannon Latham shows-off Enchanted Acres’ new signage which explains each pumpkin variety.

Enchanted Acres features many activities for kids. Of course we all had to try them all out.

As a {former} city girl, I became most excited about meeting the farm animals. Growing-up, we occasionally saw farm animals at the Minnesota Zoo and State Fair, but have never gotten too close. I tried posing with Nibbles, Sharon’s pygmy goat.

Nibbles Collage

He’s very friendly, but had other plans. He grabbed a mouthful of corn husks and ran away. I also got to hold my first chick and my first bunny.

Chicks Collage

Enchanted Acres just got chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery located nearby in Rudd, IA.

It was pretty much the best thing ever and definitely a personal bucketlist moment. Possibly not as giddiness-inducing for the bloggers who grew up on farms.

Blog Collage Collage

Showing-off our crafty pumpkin handiwork, making pumpkin pie in a bag and meeting the animals.

Shannon also sent us home with goodie bags filled with treats guests can purchase at Enchanted Acres such as homemade strawberry jam, beer bread mix and salsa dip seasoning. Jake and I hit the chunky strawberry jam immediately.

Jam

In the spirit of the changing seasons and blogging collaboration, I invited Katy to share one of her favorite fall recipes. She blogs at Learning As I Go: Learning About Life Being A Wife, Step-Mom & An Adult and offered to share her recipe for homemade applesauce:

Katy and Jeni

Katy’s Homemade Applesauce
It’s Iowa, and, although summer hasn’t officially ended according to the calendar, it’s fall in my home. School has started, the first football games of the year for my step-sons are next week. . . it’s fall!! When I think of fall, I can’t help think of pumpkins, apples, goodies baking in the oven, cinnamon, and crisp smells. This past weekend, I was given a large bag of fresh home-grown apples. While I knew that I wanted to freeze some for apple baked goods (pies, crisps, etc) this winter, I also knew I wanted applesauce.

I’m actually snacking on it while I type this post and it’s delicious. It tastes like the best homemade apple pie filling. I hope you get a chance to enjoy some fall food and baked goods this year!

Katy's Applesauce watermarked

Ingredients:
5-7 apples
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions:

  1. Peel, core, and slice apples, cutting out any bad spots. I like to leave a little skin at the tops and bottoms for texture and flavor.
  2. Place the apples in my two qt sauce pan (I didn’t have the need to chop them and you’ll see why later).
  3. In the pan, add butter (yes, butter, no margarine!) and about ¼ cup granulated sugar and two tablespoons of cinnamon. The amount of cinnamon that you use is obviously up to your liking.
  4. Turn burner to medium heat, cover the pan with a lid, and let everything start getting happy.
  5. Simmer until the apples become soft then break them up. I like my applesauce chunkier, so cooking them whole was perfect and it saved me a lot of time not having to chop them.
  6. Simmer about two minutes longer. If you like smoother apple sauce, just continue to cook and mash as they cook.
  7. Remove applesauce from the burner and package it in Tupperware containers. Freeze for later or refrigerate. I enjoyed a small bowl right away.

Katy’s Apple Freezing Method:
Chopped any peeled and cored apples you want to freeze into a sink full of water. Add about one tablespoon of salt and a good splash of cider vinegar. Let them have a nice bath in that mixture (this was my Grandma’s secret to freezing apples so they don’t get brown). After they soak for about five minutes, place them in a strainer and rinse with plain water. Bag them up and put them in the freezer.

*Special thank you’s to Shannon for graciously hosting us at the farm and to Donna Hup for helping me take photos. If you see me in a photo, Donna took it:) 

My Fellow North Iowa Pumpkins:
Amy, Modern Rural Living
Beth (in absentia), It’s Just Life: Finding The Extraordinary In The Ordinary
Donna, Donnahup.com
Katy, Learning As I Go: Learning About Being A Wife, Step-mom & An Adult
Sara, All In An Iowan Mom’s Day & Travel With Sara
Val, Corn, Beans, Pigs & Kids

Becoming The Grown-Up Assistant With Knife: Fish Sticks!

Earlier this summer I reunited with my first, three cookbooks.

DSC_0077

It took me some time and internet research to figure out their titles before I could locate them on Amazon.

I remember pouring over these books as a child. Most especially, the spiral-bound Kids Cooking: A Slightly Messy Manual that came with a plastic set of measuring spoons in primary colors. The books’ recipes aren’t anything mind-blowing for an adult who cooks a lot, but they are priceless for the memories.

Growing-up, my parents weren’t too keen on me experimenting in the kitchen, aside from baking projects. However, I do remember trying a few recipes from Kids Cooking such as the Alphabetter Soup and Frosted Chocolate Conecakes. I made mental checklists of recipes that I wanted to try someday when I had my own kitchen and, now, here I am!

One of these recipes was Home-Baked Fish Sticks from Kids Cooking.

DSC_0155

The legend goes that my mom choked on a fish bone when she was a child which led to her lifelong disdain of all things fish. Therefore, we never ever ate fish at home because the smell would make her feel ill. I grew up thinking I hated fish, too, even though I was fascinated by seafood. It was like a little hate crush.

Someone else’s family vacation snapped me out of my aversion to fish. I traveled with my friend’s family to Livingston, Montana in grade school and tried all kinds of new foods on our epic road trip west. I can still taste my first bone-in pork chop, chicken-fried steak, jumbo prawns sizzled in fondue oil, and crispy, fried shrimp nearly twenty years later.

After tasting that first bite of fried shrimp, I remember realizing, “Well, I guess I do like seafood,” and then I never turned back.

My first childhood cookbook meal was a smash.

Fish Meal Salad

I prepared cucumber-tomato-onion salad with “Snappy Dressing” from Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake! to accompany my Home-Baked Fish Sticks and tartar sauce. Of course, I fiddled with the recipes.

For example, I added a step by dredging the fish in seasoned flour before dipping it in eggwash and bread crumbs. I may have added some garlic to Encyclopedia Brown’s snappy balsamic vinaigrette and chopped onion to the tartar sauce. Afterall, I am my own grown-up with a sharp knife now.

Kids Cooking Collage

Someday when Jake and I have children, I hope we can enjoy these cookbooks together. We’ll be ready to accept our new roles as their grown-up kitchen assistants.

My Take On Oven-Baked Fish Sticks
Kids Cooking’s method of drizzling melted butter over the panko-breaded fish sticks before baking produces a crispy, satisfying coating. While this is not fried fish, it definitely scratched my itch. 

Ingredients:
1 lb of white fish such as cod, halibut or tilapia
1/2 cup flour (or enough to lightly dredge the fish) seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder
2 eggs, beaten into eggwash
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (add more if you run low or they become too mushy with eggwash)
1/4 cup butter, melted
Finishing salt

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400℉.
  2. Set up breading station by placing the seasoned flour, eggwash and panko in their own wide, shallow dishes.
  3. Cut fish fillets into manageable strips. I cut the tilapia fillets in half.
  4. Lightly dredge the fish in seasoned flour, shaking off the excess.
  5. Dip the dredged fish into the eggwash. Allow the excess to drip off.
  6. Coat the fish in bread crumbs. Turn and press the fillets until they are completely breaded.
  7. Place breaded fish in a single layer on a baking sheet that is lightly greased or covered in parchment paper.
  8. Drizzle each fillet with as much melted butter as you’d like.
  9. Optional: Sprinkle each fillet with a little sweet or smoked paprika for extra color and flavor.
  10. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked-through.
  11. Sprinkle with sea salt immediately after removing from oven.
  12. Serve with tartar sauce and fresh lemon wedges. I made my tartar sauce by mixing mayonnaise with lemon juice, minced dill pickle, minced onion, pickle juice, salt and sugar, to taste.
« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Jeni Eats

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
INSTAGRAM