All I Owe I-O-Way

We had to laugh at our first stop in Iowa. I made Randy take a photo by a buggy in front of the Amish Country Store at Lamoni, Iowa.  I told him I could have gotten a similar photo and only driven about 40 miles east from our home to Yoder, Kansas. 

But, it was still a good place to stretch our legs and wander through a country-style store before getting back in the car and heading on to Des Moines. 

Iowa was our first stop as we journeyed toward Chicago to attend the wedding of our brother-in-law Andrew's oldest daughter, Julia. My other siblings flew, but we took the more scenic route. Best laid plans often get derailed. The trip to Des Moines was uneventful (thankfully), but Randy was supposed to golf the next morning before we moved onto our next overnight stop. But it was raining, so we pivoted. A Facebook friend had recently posted photos from the Amana Colonies in Iowa. I saw that was fairly close to the route we had planned to take anyway. So we went to the Amana Colonies for the day instead.

After seeing the Amish buggy at our first Iowa stop, I assumed the Amana Colonies would be similar to the Old Order Amish that reside in Yoder, just 45 minutes from our house. I was wrong. Yes, there were quaint shops featuring handmade items and the place was full of history. But the Amana Colonies were settled by the Community of True Inspiration. I had never heard of this religion. It is a group of Christians descending from settlers of German, Swiss, and Austrian descent who originally settled in New York state. When that area got too congested for their liking, they migrated west to Amana, Iowa, where they settled in seven small towns in East Central Iowa along the Iowa River.

They lived a communal life for nearly 80 years. The Amana residents achieved this independence and lifestyle by adhering to the specialized crafting and farming occupations that they had brought with them from Europe. Craftsmen passed their skills and techniques on from one generation to the next. They used hand, horse, wind, and water power, and made their own furniture, clothes and other goods. The community voted to form a for-profit organization during the Great Depression - the Amana Society - which included the Amana Corp. (Yes, the Amana Corporation that made home appliances.)

Today, the Seven Villages of Amana are a tourist attraction known for their restaurants and craft shops. The colony was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965. There are still about 300 people who attend the True Inspirationists church services. The Society still owns the farm ground and some of the church members are tenant farmers on the Inspirationist-owned land. Unlike the Amish, they embrace new technologies, including GPS in farm implements and modern conveniences in everyday life. However, like the Amish, during their church services, men still sit on one side of the church, and women sit on the other.

The Amana Colonies don't shy away from beer or other spirits. We ate lunch at the Ox Yoke Inn, and Randy sampled a flight of beer. Good German that he is, he also had the Jager (pork) Schnitzel with spätzle, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, a yeast roll and homemade strawberry jam. (I didn't get a photo of that.) I had the Reuben sandwich. I guess it was a local favorite, too, since the Amana Colonies sauerkraut was one of their commodities.

We toured the Communal Kitchen and Cooper Shop, which the Amana residents left much as it was back when it was used three times a day.

 

The General Store is also set up much like an old country store at the turn of the century.

The landscaping around these buildings was gorgeously manicured.

The shops and restaurants were housed in the old - but beautifully maintained - buildings.

Though not on the "official" tour list, we also walked through a cemetery. One of the guides had told us that Amana citizens aren't buried in family plots. Instead, they are buried by date of death. 

Just a small portion of an old wooden fence remained.

The pine trees in the cemeteries were beautiful.

We went to each of the seven Amana villages just to see them before we drove onto Davenport, Iowa, for the night. The next morning, we went to LeClaire, Iowa. Our first stop was Antique Archaeology, home of American Pickers.

We like watching the TV show on the History Channel. We didn't see any of the television stars, but we still enjoyed the stop.

We remembered this giant papier mache head from one of the episodes.

After we spent a little money at the store, we asked where we could get down to the Mississippi River. Randy has always been fascinated by rivers - even if we live nowhere near one. When we drive over big bridges, I'm always afraid he's going to turn the steering wheel the same direction as his gaze as he peers over the railings in an effort to see any barge or boat traffic on the big waterways.

So he was thrilled he got to see this barge being pushed down the river. 

 We also toured the Buffalo Bill Museum right along the waterfront. 

William Buffalo Bill Cody was born in LeClaire.

Besides information about Buffalo Bill, the museum included the steamer, the Lone Star.

The Lone Star is a National Historic Landmark. It operated from 1890 to 1967 and is one of the longest running wooden steamboats in the U.S. It is the last remaining example of steamboats built in the Western Rivers style of construction. This consists of a shallow wooden hull supported by a hogging truss system. This style was necessary for the shallow waters of the Mississippi River system.

After another look at the river and lunch at Big Dave & Holly's, we took off toward Chicago. More from our trip to come.

By the way, the title of the blog is a song from the musical, State Fair, about all Iowa has to offer. We missed the state fair by a week or so this time, but it may be in our travel plans in the future. We know some experienced guides (our friends - and Eric's parents, Alan and Christy).

High Tea for Low Brow?

 

It's not every day that a bunch of farm folk have high tea on fine china.

Well, it's not that way at our house anyway. I suppose I can't speak for every farm family. 

Our National Master Farm Homemakers Guild conference attendees were treated to high tea at the Iowa governor's mansion, Terrace Hill. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and First Gentleman Kevin Reynolds do live in the mansion, but we didn't see them.

Even the back of the house was fancy!

The construction of Terrace Hill began in 1866 at the height of B.F. Allen’s fortune. In October 1866, a local newspaper announced the employment of workers to prepare a 29-acre site for Allen’s new home. It described “a country residence in modern French design with a mansard roof.”  Another early newspaper source referred to a “fairy-land castle with towers and turrets.” ... Allen selected Chicago architect William W. Boyington to design Terrace Hill. Additionally, Job T. Elletson, a landscape gardener from England, was hired to design the grass-plats, flower banks, vineyards and orchards with graveled walks and drives throughout.  It was completed in 1869.

From the Terrace Hill website

 

The mansion has been used as the governor's residence since 1971. 

Even though it was opulent, there were a few signs that it's occupied by a family with young grandchildren. The pool area had a couple of bright-hued beach chairs, just right for watching the grandkids play in the water.

For high tea, our group was seated at tables of eight in the various public rooms of the mansion. 

 

The tables were already set with china place settings and the high tea fare, which was stacked three plates high on servers.

The treats were prepared by Chef Sharon Van Verth and her staff. She has served several of the state's governors.

After tasting her scones with lemon curd, I can see why. The scones were moist, different than the dried-out texture of many scones I've had in the past. Of course, the moistness was helped along with the lemon curd we smeared on the scones.

The tea sandwiches ...

... and the other sweets were tasty as well. Another favorite at our table was the Scandinavian Almond Bars (which you can barely see in the center of the plate below).

 My friend, Millie, got a better photo of her plate. (The almond bars were at the lower left in her photo below.)

Photo by Millie Dearden

Once we'd emptied one of the plates, we discovered this farm scene. Maybe we weren't so far from the farm after all!

 The tea servers did a wonderful job in tight quarters.

Photo by Millie Dearden

Photo by Millie Dearden

True confessions: Randy may not have gotten filled up with this meal. But he also didn't want to go to Iowa and not have a pork tenderloin sandwich. So, after we got back from our bus tours, he drove to Smitty's, which was supposed to have the best pork tenderloin sandwich in Des Moines. 

He had some time to let his tea fare settle before his extracurricular trip. Our group toured the public floor and the gardens (and, of course, the gift shop).

 

They were renovating on the second floor, so it wasn't open, but the stained glass at the top of the staircase was beautiful. 

We took our turn on the courting chair. 

After we got home, I Googled, trying to find Chef Sharon's recipes online. But then I decided I'd go to the source. I requested the recipes from the governor's mansion itself. And I was delighted they shared them. They also noted the ones that I asked for are the most popularly requested. 

I thought I'd share with you, too. I haven't tried them here at home yet.

Scones from Terrace Hill

2 cups flour

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

4 oz. butter, cut in eighths

2/3 cup cream

1/3 cup dried fruit (blueberries, cherries, cranberries)

Additional cream and sugar

 

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in food processor. Process until butter crumbles and is distributed. Add cream and process just until dough starts to form. Place the mixture in a bowl. Add dried fruit. (The scones we were served had cranraisins.) 

 

Form into circle on floured surface, about 1 inch thick. Cut into eight wedges.

 

Let sit for 15 minutes. Brush with additional cream and sprinkle with raw sugar.

 

Bake at 400 degrees about 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

 

Lemon Curd from Terrace Hill

1 cup butter

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 cups sugar

1 tbsp. (at least) grated lemon peel

3 eggs, lightly beaten

 

In double boiler, melt butter. Stir in sugar, eggs, lemon juice and peel. Cook over simmering water for 1 hour or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Pour into container and store in refrigerator. Spread over scones, biscuits or toasts. Makes 3 cups.

 

Scandinavian Almond Bars

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Milk

Almond icing

 

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat together butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract, beating well. Add flour mixture and beat until dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Form each into a 12-inch roll. Place 2 strands on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten until 3 inches apart. Repeat with rest. Brush with milk and sprinkle with almonds. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. While still warm, cut crosswise at a diagonal into 1-inch strips. Cool and drizzle with icing.

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract 

Water

Combine powdered sugar with extract. Add enough water to make icing that can be drizzled on cooled bars.