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.

 

 

Bridges of Madison County

 

We weren't starring in a big-screen romance. But we did have our own moment on The Bridges of Madison County.

A couple of weeks ago, Randy and I traveled to Iowa for a National Master Farm Homemaker convention. We enjoyed a visit with Jill's in-laws - Alan & Christy Ladd - in Atlantic, Iowa. It was more than bed and breakfast since we got supper, breakfast and lunch ... plus an after-supper tour and lots of good conversation.

Randy is used to my frequent requests for photo stops. Alan was willing, too, but I found it hard to translate the rolling 3-D hills to my 2-D camera screen.

 Iowa farm ground is so different from the flatlands of Kansas where we farm.

 

It was beautiful in a whole different way.

The next day, we went to church at the Atlantic United Methodist Church. 

It was nice to sit in the pews and not be responsible for the music or anything else.

Ceiling glass at Atlantic UMC

But back to the bridges ...

As we were driving from Atlantic toward Des Moines on Highway 92, I saw the Madison County sign. And I didn't want to come all the way to Iowa, drive into Madison County and not see the famous bridges.

Randy reminded me of our less-than-successful search for covered bridges near Morehead, Ky., when Brent worked there. But when we drove by the sign for the Roseman Covered Bridge, I again pled my case, and Randy turned around. 

There was no mileage sign to our destination. And after we drove down a twisted gravel road, we were beginning to have deju vu from our Kentucky search. But after 4.3 miles, we arrived at the Roseman Covered Bridge. 

As it so happened, two other travelers were there at the same time, so we swapped cameras and took photos of each other. Bonus!

Built in 1883 by Harvey P. Jones and George K. Foster, the Roseman Bridge is 107 feet in length and sits in its original location. It was renovated in 1992 at a cost of $152,515. In Robert James Waller’s novel, The Bridges of Madison County, and the movie of the same name, Roseman is the bridge Robert Kincaid seeks when he stops at Francesca Johnson’s home for directions. It is also where Francesca leaves her note inviting him to dinner. 

There's also a connection to Eric's family at the Roseman bridge. Christy said her maternal grandpa, Roy Hatfield, and his family grew up south of the bridge. His initials and his brothers' are carved in the bridge. The last time they visited, they could still find the initials. (I didn't look.)

 

Christy says her Great Uncle Frank was interviewed when the Roseman Bridge came to fame after the release of The Bridges of Madison County movie.

I saw the movie and read the book, but I could probably stand to do both again after our visit. 

Also known as the “haunted” bridge, Roseman is where two sheriff’s posses trapped a county jail escapee in 1892. It is said the man rose up straight through the roof of the bridge, uttering a wild cry, and disappeared. He was never found, and it was decided that anyone capable of such a feat must be innocent.

Though only six covered bridges remain, there were many covered bridges that once dotted Madison County in the early 19th century - all built by local bridge builders, with each builder utilizing his own engineering design that uniquely separated the various construction styles of Madison County's six covered bridges still standing today.  

Many still ask the question, "Why did they cover the bridges?" They were covered to protect them from the weather and extend their longevity. In 1870, the Board of Supervisors adopted new rules for bridge construction that includes the required that they be covered, siting that "the expense of the roof is more than made up by the permanency of the bridge." The bridges ranged in cost from $900 to $1,900. One historian quipped, "Bridges were covered for the same reasons women wore hoop skirts and crinolines - to protect the beauty seldom seen, but nonetheless appreciated." These remaining covered bridges paint a story of pioneer people who took what they had and did the most with it. These structures ... are a tribute to the generation of pioneers who left a land better than they found it and leaves to us a link with a romantic past.

From the plaque at the Roseman bridge

The bridge spans the Middle River, which eventually empties into the Des Moines River near Carlisle in northern Warren County.

We only had time for one more bridge before we needed to leave for me to get to my meeting. It was located in the Winterset, Iowa, city park, and honestly, we had more trouble finding that bridge than the one 4.3 miles down a dirt road! My Google maps kept leading us astray. Randy had to do it the old-fashioned way and stop for directions.

Built in 1870 by Eli Cox, the Cutler-Donahoe bridge is 79 feet in length and features a pitched roof. Originally located over the North River near Bevington, it was moved to its present site in Winterset’s City Park in 1970.

I got a photo of Randy at that bridge ... and then I couldn't resist a photo of him by the Bridges of Madison County display at the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines, one of our tour locations during the convention.

Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood weren't the only movie stars with an Iowa connection.

One of my favorite museum areas was Hollywood in the Heartland.

There, I couldn't resist a photo in front of a scene from one of my favorite musicals, "The Music Man." I had to text that one to my brother, who had the starring role in high school.

Since we'd just seen the pro baseball game played at the Field of Dreams on TV, we were also interested in that display.

Photo by Millie Dearden (her photo turned out better!)

We did have meetings in Iowa, too. Here's a photo of the Kansas ladies who attended.

Steep Learning Curve: A Tour of Iowa's State Capitol

 

There's nothing like a 97-step climb up steep stairs to make you appreciate a view.

From the top of the dome, you can see some of our group in the center quadrant of the photo.

The Iowa State Capitol was one of the tour stops during the National Master Farm Homemakers convention in Des Moines.  I'm the current president of the Kansas chapter, so it was part of the job description to attend.

However, the trek to the top of the dome was optional. And, at first, I thought I'd skip that part. 

But peer pressure is real - even among ladies of a certain age - so up the winding stairs I trekked. (Plus, Randy was going, too, and I didn't figure he'd take photos ... or wouldn't take photos to suit me.)

View down the stairwell from the top of the dome

Ultimately (once I'd caught my breath), I was glad I made the hike.

From the top of the dome, looking out at the flagpole

 The view was beautiful from bottom to top.

From the floor level

Looking up from floor level

The Iowa State Capitol was fashioned in the influence of Renaissance Revival, which looks to 15th century Italy for inspiration. This was a common architectural style for public buildings in the 19th century. It is the only five-domed capitol in the country. 

It may look like wallpaper (in the bottom right photo) but it's actually hand stenciled.

There's no shortage of fancy!

The law library - wow!

The staircase mural Westward (above) is a massive work that is “a symbolical presentation of the Pioneers led by the spirits of Civilization and Enlightenment to the conquest by cultivation of the Great West,” according to its artist Edwin H. Blashfield.

Directly above Westward is a series of six mosaic panels that depict Defense, Charities, the Executive, the Legislative, the Judiciary, and Education. (The one below is Defense.)

Above is a closeup of one of the mosaics. 

From that level, I looked across the way and saw a quote.

"Where law ends, tyranny begins."

It was just one of many quotes that made me think that day - and since that day.

I love words (obviously) and quotes. These were words that the people of that time thought were important enough to etch into one of the most iconic buildings in their state.

While the tour guide at the Iowa Capitol building was telling us all about the USS Iowa model, I looked up and saw this quote stenciled there:

 Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong. 

Daniel O'Connell (1775 - 1847), an Irish politician

 

Politicians today could stand to have that included in their oath of office. 

Other quotes stenciled onto walls or etched into plaques included:

Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.

Edward Everett, American statesman (1794 - 1865)

 **

 

No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

Patrick Henry, Founding Father (1736-1799) 

**

Courageous confidence in the intelligence of the community is the sure sign of leadership and success.

 G.W. Curtis, American writer

**

The ideal state – that in which an injury done to the least of its citizens is an injury done to all.

Solon, Greek philosopher

I couldn't help but think about those quotes again as I watched a Youtube video my sister, Darci, sent me last Saturday. It was about the Boatlift of 9-11, in which ferries, tugboats and private boats of all kinds and sizes came together to evacuate people from the island of Manhattan after the terrorist attacks.

Neither of us had ever heard about this endeavor. Compare it to Dunkirk, in which 339,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated in nine days during World War II. (There's been a movie made about that.) On 9-11, 500,000 people were rescued from Manhattan by boat in less than 9 hours. 

I paused the video a few times and wrote down quotes from some of the heroes who responded that day. They didn't look much like heroes. One looked a little rough around the edges with missing teeth. Another didn't have the physique that we've come to associate with our super heroes.

But they were heroes nonetheless:

"You forget all about what you're supposed to do, what they teach you at school, and you say, 'You know what? Morally this is the right way to go and deep down, this is what I'm going to do.' "

"When the American people need to come together and pull together, they will do it."

"I believe everybody has a little hero in 'em. You gotta look in, and it's in there. It'll come out."

As we were leaving our Capitol tour, I snapped a quick photo of the Capitol from the outside - and marveled that just a short time before, I was up in that dome and that flying American flag was the one in my photo from there.

I wrote the bulk of this blog post on 9-11. I decided I needed to quit watching TV midway through the morning because it just made me so sad. As I worked on the blog post, I edited the photos and saw the American flag in several of them. I again read the quotes that I was so struck by during the tour. I had liked them enough that I'd paused to pull my camera away from the glittering chandeliers and the mosaic floors and the opulent furnishings to "click" the words with my camera shutter.

In a world - and country - that seems increasingly divided, I hope we can take those words to heart - the words immortalized on grand buildings - like the Iowa Capitol - and those uttered from everyday heroes - those people who answered the call on 9-11.

I know they are worth remembering for me.