eirv 2009-12 - issue #14

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Winter, 2009 Celebrating the Abundance of Iowa’s Local Foods, Season by Season Number 14

Bonus Issue:Blended Holidays - Beer Near & Far - Winter Markets

Back of the House - The 99 - The Locavore WayFood Democracy NOW!

edible ®

Member o Edible Communities

IOWA RIVER VALLEY

www.EdibleIowa.com

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Contents Winter 2009

Departments

4 Grist for the MillSpecial Bonus Issue

12 MarketWatch Many Farmers Markets Run Year Round

13 Subscription Form

14 Back of the HouseTe Che’s able—By Brian Morelli

16 Edible ImbibablesBrewing in a Classic River own—By Jef Allen and im Rask

20 Edible NationBlended Hoilidays—By Carol Penn-Romine

22 Behind Closed Doorsoday’s op Story—By Rob Cline

24 The 99 Muscatine County—By Rachel Horner Brackett

26 The Last Word Amy Cotler’s Te Locavore Way —By Kurt Michael Friese

Features

7 Local Boy Makes Good (Beer)Te story o Fritz Maytag and Anchoe Steam Beer —by Renee Brincks

10 Winter AbundanceIowa’s Famers Markets Provide Fresh Food All Year Long —By Eve Adamson

18 Food Democracy Now! A Movement Begins in Iowa—By Dave Murphy

Winter 2009 www.EdibleIowa.com

On the cover:Beer - Photo by Carole opalian

All of us at Edible are proud to call these folks our Partners. Tey understand the importance of

supporting local farms, local food, and the local economy.

Be sure to visit the Edible Partners listed here, and thank them for supporting local, sustainable food

and Edible Iowa River Valley.

o join the growing list of Edible Partners, please contact sales manager Rachel Morey Flynn @

319.241.4442 or [email protected].

Bread Garden— pg. 28Cae del Sol Roasting— pg. 11Classic Smiles— pg. 3Devotay — pg. 9Dhyana Kauman, MA — pg. 25Dubuque Farmers Market— pg. 11Eastwind Healing Center— pg. 21Edible Communities Marketplace— pg. 27Te Englert Teatre— pg. 15Farmers Market Workshop— pg. 15Fireside Winery — pg. 15

Hills Bank — pg. 8Iowa City Farmers Market— pg. 11

Jasper Winery — pg. 6 John’s Grocery — pg. 13Kim’s Pottery — pg. 6La Reyna— pg. 23MidWestOne Bank — pg. 23Motley Cow — pg. 5Muddy Creek Wine— pg. 8New Pioneer Co-op— pg. 6Oneota Community Co-op— pg. 23Pat Millin— pg. 11Pepper Sprout— pg. 15

Robinson Family Wellness— pg. 5Scattergood— pg. 6Seed Savers Exchange— pg. 9Sutlif Cider— pg. 13erri Wiebold— pg. 13assel Ridge Winery — pg. 2USA Pears— pg. 12

edible IOWA RIVER VALLEY

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grist for the mill

Dear Eater,

Our holiday git to you, a special 5th issue or 2009. We are very grate-ul to everyone who has helped make Edible Iowa such a success, and so we’ve put together a bonus (albeit a tad smaller) issue just in time or theHolidays.

We’ve also put together a new website that’s all web-two-point-oh’d withancy fash graphics and (come the new year) a real live blog where youcan chime in on your avorite Edible stories. Beore then, you are always

welcome to write to us the old ashioned way (the address is in the mast-head on page 5)..

Tis special issue has a bit o a ocus on beer, as you may have guessed.Tis is not only because we like beer - we do - but also because Iowa hasbecome such a great beer state. In act the man some call the David toindustrial beer’s Goliath, Fritz Maytag o Anchor Brewing in San Fran-cisco, is rom Newton, where his ather ounded Maytag Blue Cheeseand his great-grandather ounded the washing maching company o thesame name. Renee Brincks, who hersel splits her time between Iowaand the Bay Area, brings us a prole o this brewing legend.

Meanwhile stalwart local brewers Je Allen and im Rask have returnedto our pages with a story about one o the newer breweries in Iowa, Old

Man River brewery in McGregor, where their ocus on German styles is winning the aection o river dogs and tourists alike in the historicDiamond Jo building.

Not everything is about beer though, even or us. So we asked BrianMorelli to take you behind the scenes at one o Iowa City’s best restau-

rants, Te Che ’s able, in a new regular segment we call Back of the House . Also, our very popular new series, Te 99, continues it’s quest todocument the great local edibles in each o Iowa’s 99 counties as Rachel Horner Brackett takes you on a tour o her home county o Musca-tine.

Meanwhile our intrepid ridge raider Rob Cline gets the news on KCRG’s morning anchor Ashley Hinson, while Eve Adamson gets theskinny on the plethora o winter armers markets around the state. We round it out with Dave Murphy’s call or “Food Democracy NOW!”and nish up with a great guide to how to be a locavore.

So stop in and thank one o the advertisers you see here or bringing you an extra issue this year, and we hope the Holidays nd you sur-rounded by amily, riends, and wonderul ood.

With Relish,

4 www.EdibleIowa.com Winter 2009

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Winter 2009 www.EdibleIowa.com 7

Local Boy Makes Good (Beer)Newton’s own Fritz Maytag took the family legacy west, and changed American beer forever

By Renee Brincks

P h o t o C o u r t e s y o f A n c h o r B r e w

i n g

Newton native Fritz Maytag remembers atime when he’d look at Caliornia beersales reports and there, at the bottom, seehis own San Francisco brewery.

“Anchor Brewing always showed up as 0.0percent, which I just thought was wonder-ul. I knew that we were about to turn thebrewing world upside down, but thelonger [the big brewers] didn’t know it,the better. We’d get our act together rst,”he says. “Sure enough, one day we were at0.1 percent, and in some ways, they’vebeen trying to gure out what to do eversince.”

Forty-ve years ater Maytag rst investedin the near-bankrupt Anchor Brewing,many crat brewers view him as the indus-try’s David; by returning to traditionaltechniques and recipes, he tossed the rststone at a Goliath collection o Americancompanies turning out mild, mass-pro-duced beers. In the late 1970s, ewer than50 breweries existed nationwide. Tatnumber grew to 1,525 in 2009 – includ-ing 1,482 crat breweries – says the Brew-ers Association, a Colorado-based tradegroup that denes the American cratbrewer as small, independent and tradi-tional.

“I’ve always just thought o Maytag as one

o the pioneers in the business. He waskind o ahead o his time,” says Rob od, who ounded Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine, in the mid 1990s. “A lot o people don’t realize that it was a tough sell back then. No oneunderstood these beers. No one knew how to sell them. Not many people had tried beers like that, so I’m sure it was an uphill battle orhim or years. He was really one o the people who paved the way.”

Bottling beer was never the plan or Fritz Maytag, the son o MaytagBlue Cheese creator Fred Maytag II, and the great-grandson o F.L.Maytag, who sold his rst eponymous washing machine in 1907. Even

with his amous last name, Maytag enjoyed what he calls an “almostentirely perectly normal upbringing” in small-town Newton, runningthrough backyards and riding his bike along the streets ater school. Heeventually attended three years o high school at Deereld Academy inMassachusetts beore heading west to study American literature at

Stanord University. Ater landing in San Francisco in the early 1960s, Maytag requented aNorth Beach neighborhood restaurant called the Old Spaghetti Fac-tory. Tere, owner Fred Kuh poured only one drat beer: AnchorSteam, rst brewed in San Francisco in 1896.

“In those days, brewpubs were not legal. You couldn’t have a brewery ina restaurant,” says Maytag. “So Fred always served Anchor Steam ondrat, and only Anchor Steam on drat, because he loved the idea o alocal, small brewery’s drat beer.”

It was Kuh who encouraged Maytag to visit Anchor Brewing in 1965, when nancial is-sues had all but closed the business. Atertouring the brewery, then located on 8thStreet, Maytag bought 51 percent or about

what a used car might have cost. And, inthe process, he acquired the associated debtsand diculties.

“I just did it,” he says. “I bought it, andthen I tried to gure out what to do.”

For starters, Maytag set up a microscope.

“I started reading and studying and lookingat the beer through the microscope to gureout why it was going sour beore it was

going to be sold,” he says. Ater scrutinizing his own beer, Maytag re-searched the market. He noticed that people

were paying a premium or certain im-ported brews.

“Most o the imports were just pretty blandlager beers, much like the American lagerbeers, but some o the imports were dark and rich and favorul,” he says. “I began toget the idea that beer brewing has a history and a tradition...and almost nobody wasbrewing beer in a traditional way just orthe sake o being traditional. Almost every-body was taking modern shortcuts.”

Based on what he learned, Maytag re-vamped the Anchor Steam recipe. He re-placed sugar with whole malt. He tradedcaramel coloring or roasted malt, which

was darker and had a richer favor. On theadvice o an old brewmaster, Maytag started brewing with clean, reshbaker’s yeast and, as he simplied the ingredients, he updated theequipment and processes used to put it all together.

Te company slowly started to turn around. By 1971, two years aterhe became the brewery’s sole owner, Maytag began selling AnchorSteam in bottles. It took all ve o the company’s employees to run thebottling line, so they simply hung a sign on the door that said, “Closedor bottling.”

Maytag still has the sign.

“Each person had many jobs,” he says. “We were just hands-on brewers

rom the ground up, and every one o our employees was thoroughly versed in almost every aspect o brewing and brewing history. It was re-markable and un and the kind o thing that only happens to people

who are crazy and just get totally immersed in something.”

Anchor Brewing moved to its current location, on San Francisco’sPotrero Hill, in 1979. Te company now bottles Liberty Ale, AnchorPorter and several seasonal beers, among others. Despite opportunitiesor continued expansion, however, Maytag careully manages Anchor’sgrowth.

Newton native and beer and cheese patriarchFritz Maytag

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“I have purposely chosen to be small,” he says. “I had, early on, an in-stinctive, deep ear o things getting out o control – o the company getting bigger than I could understand, bigger than we could manage,too big to change what it was doing or too big or me, and others, toknow everyone in the company.”

Maytag attributes his perspective, in part, to what he learned rom hisather’s management o Maytag Dairy Farms. Maytag himsel hasguided the amily’s blue cheese business since his ather passed away in

1962.“I like small things,” he says. “I have consciously tried extremely hardto stay small there, or some o the reasons we did with the brewery. Ithink that’s always been a theme as a company: the old ashioned, sim-ple, high-quality and hand-made cheese.”

In 2008, the James Beard Foundation presented its lietime achieve-ment award to Maytag, calling him a pioneer o American microbrew-ing and citing Maytag Dairy Farms as a leader in the country’s artisanalcheese renaissance. Te oundation also named him outstanding wineand spirits proessional in 2003. Maytag believes that award legitimizedthe crat brewing industry and solidied beer’s place in the ood world.

“We turned the world upside down. And it’s been great un,” he says o himsel and other crat brewers. “We’ve brought more o an attitudethat brewing is wholesome and cheerul and pleasant and decent, and

more or less good or you, i you don’t over-indulge. We brought realpride and curiosity and quality awareness to the brewing industry, whereas it was in danger o just becoming the big bad actory brewersmaking favorless beer.”

Someone would have led the way i his brewery had not, Maytag adds,but 1960s San Francisco, with its openness to “wild, creative ideas,”

was the right time and place or change. He points to what he calls “a

revolution and a renaissance” in ood, wine and beer that has changedattitudes throughout the United States and the world.

“You have to be wonderully wealthy, as a society, to be able to aordto worry about whether the vegetables are pure and clean and whetherthe cows are happy, but what a joy to be able to get there,” he says.“I’m sure we were some o the ones who led the way, but I don’t think

we were utterly brilliant in thinking this up all by ourselves. We were just part o a broad movement that was happening.”

Brewer Mason Groben, who will start selling his own Madhouse Brew-ing Company selections in early 2010 (see Edible Iowa’s orthcomingspring edition), still attributes the resurgence o unique, favorul beersto Maytag. His brewery is located in Newton – in a building that or-merly housed part o the Maytag appliance company.

“He denitely started it all,” Groben says.

oday, Fritz Maytag continues to expand his portolio. Tis year saw the 41st harvest at his York Creek Vineyards. He used to just sell thegrapes to other winemakers, but in recent years he’s started blendinghis own wines in a small winery across the street rom the brewery.Maytag also launched Anchor Distilling in 1993, using traditionalmethods to create small-batch spirits such as Junípero Gin and OldPotrero Whiskey.

Tis all, Anchor Brewing created a limited edition, drat-only ale tocommemorate 30 years in its current building. When he thinks aboutthose early years at the brewery, Maytag remembers both the excite-ment and the eort.

“Broadly speaking, when I look back at this time, I admit now that I was crazy,” he says. “I was just insanely unable or unwilling to imagineailing. I was just determined to make a go o it.”

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As the leaves turn gold and red, the days get shorter and darker, andthe snowfakes begin to fy, Iowans have come to accept the dwindling

vendors at armers markets and the eventual end o the harvest season.It’s just part o the natural cycle, isn’t it? We hunker down and awaitthe winter, grudgingly accepting the inevitable: For the next ew months, ood will have to come rom the grocery store again.

But wait! Not so ast. Winter may be inevitable, but all across Iowa,armer’s markets are re-opening despite the season…or in celebrationo it. Farmers and vendors still have squash and potatoes, carrots andgarlic. Tey’ve got grass-ed bee to sell, and ree-range chickens.Some o them are still baking bread and pie, making cheese, knitting

wool hats, and stringing beads. Tey’ve got wreaths and pumpkinsand some o them even have Christmas trees. What are they going todo with all that good stu? Wouldn’t you like the chance to buy it?

Extending the Harvest

Winter isn’t easy or armers, who oten have letover produce and a

continuing supply o meat, poultry, eggs, and preserved oods atersummer armer’s markets close down. Winter isn’t easy or con-sumers, either, especially when cabin ever strikes and they long orresh local oods and community contact. Fortunately, eating locally has become trendy, and that has helped spur many Iowa communitiesto recognize and repair this disconnect.

“We had a lot o our vendors saying they were having trouble market-ing their products during the winter,” says Kelly Foss, market manageror the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market. “Some o them werepulling into parking lots during the winter to meet with their steady customers. Tey still had ood to sell but nowhere to sell it. We g-ured that i we heard about some o these cases, there must be many more, so we did a little research about what products were available,or could be available, or a winter market.” Te result o that research

was the Downtown Farmers Winter Market in Des Moines, now in itsourth season.

Winter markets give vendors the opportunity to stay in businesslonger, says Amy Weber, coordinator or the Dubuque Winter Farm-ers Market, now in its third season. Recognizing that their marketisn’t going to dry up in October has helped armers get more creative.“We are seeing our vendors diversiying their crops a little bit more,”

Weber says. “Tey are planting more varieties o potatoes, garlic, a loto winter squash, and some are doing greenhouse gardening and havealready planted tomatoes that should be ready in January and

February. Tey will have spinach throughout the winter and root veg-etables like rutabagas through January or even February.”

Winter Bounty

While each market across the state is a little dierent and variety de-pends on market size and participating vendors, many o Iowa’s wintermarkets provide late-season and storage crops like winter squash,pumpkins, winter greens, apples, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Many also eature cover crops and greenhouse produce, like lettuce, aspara-gus, and tomatoes.

Winter markets in Iowa also tend to ocus on grass-ed and pasture-raised meat, including turkey, ham, duck, bee, chicken, pork, andgoat. Many eature egg vendors. You might also nd local wine,cheese, black walnuts and other nuts, handmade candy, jams, jellies,local honey, salsa, and pickles. A ew, including the Dubuque market(next door to Wisconsin), have dairy, butter, and milk. Most marketsalso have plenty o baked goods, rom bread and homemade noodles

to kolaches, cookies, pies, cakes, and cinnamon rolls. “Many o thevendors who have a ull table o produce during the summer will havehal a table o produce during the winter, along with something hand-made,” Foss says.

Where winter markets aren’t an option, winter CSA shares might be. As with summer CSA shares, participants pay the armer a fat ee atthe beginning o the season, then collect their vegetables on a schedulethroughout the winter. Winter CSA shares help keep armers in busi-ness when the snow fies, and or CSA customers who anticipate their

weekly or bi-weekly box o resh vegetables, the un doesn’t have toend in October.

ZJ Farms in Solon is experimenting with winter shares or the rsttime this year, oering shares every other week rom October throughDecember. Annie’s Gardens and Greens in Fort Atkinson is oering

winter shares or the second year in a row, according to coordinator

Holly Cleve. “We will start the winter shares the rst weekend in No-vember with cold crops like carrots and radishes,” Cleve says. “Wealso have greenhouse tomatoes rom some other producers, plus let-tuce and celery. It’s all an experiment at this point and this is the rstyear we are using a cold rame.”

Annie’s oers ull and hal shares weekly or every other week, plus astaple share o milk, bread, eggs, and butter. “We will go until theend o May, then we’ll start our summer shares again,” Cleve says.

Winter Abundance

Iowa’s Farmers Markets Provide Fresh Local Food All Year Long

By Eve Adamson

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Whether a winter market happens just twice in a season, twice every month, or weekly all winter long, winter armers markets and CSAsextend the harvest until spring, making it easier or vendors to sharetheir wares and or locavores to enjoy them. “Te Winter Market is acelebration o local ood,” says Foss. “But it’s also a celebration o theholidays.”

A Holiday Afair

A winter market isn’t just about the ood. Many o Iowa’s winter mar-kets specialize in the holidays. Tis year’s Des Moines winter market will include 120 vendors, a wide variety o holiday activities or ami-lies, musicians playing holiday music, strolling carolers, artist demon-strations, and more. “Patrons can enjoy the market ambience createdespecially to celebrate the harvest, winter, and the holiday season,”Foss says.

Winter markets can help make holiday dinners and parties easier.“You can order all your cookies or your Christmas party, get all yourmeats and cheeses, get your ham or roast or turkey, everything youneed or the holidays,” says Weber, o the Dubuque market. “We re-ally make it a one-stop shop, and a lot o our vendors take orders sopeople can call ahead with what they need and pick it up at the wintermarket.”

Holiday-oriented markets also make git giving and holiday decorat-

ing easier, with poinsettias, resh-cut Christmas trees, wreaths andother holiday greenery, ornaments, and gits like jewelry, stationery, winter outerwear, wood urniture, soap, pet treats, and other crats, allmade by hand, all made locally.

Let It Grow

Despite the potential barriers to market attendance, like bad weatherand chilly temperatures, winter markets in Iowa continue to grow each year. Last year, according to Foss, the Des Moines winter markethad 6,000 visitors on a single Saturday. Te Iowa City Holiday Farm-ers Market’s customers also typically number in the thousands, ac-cording to market coordinator ammy Neumann.

Four years ago, the Mount Vernon Winter Farmers Market had just 3or 4 vendors, according to market manager Mickey Miller. “Last year

we bumped it up to twice a month because there was such a demand,

and that helps keep the market in peoples’ minds,” Miller says. “A lotmore customers are coming and now we have a pretty dedicated cus-tomer base. Last year we had a lot o people coming rom Cedar

Rapids and Iowa City, which really increased our numbers. Peoplearound here really do like to shop locally and rom people in town, i possible,” says Miller.

I you have a winter market near you, visit it oten. Helpgrow the movement and everyone benets: the armer, the cratsper-son, the locavore, you. Patronizing winter markets not only supportsyour local amers, but supports and encourages the notion that eatinglocal and buying local doesn’t have to be a seasonal aair. It can hap-

pen all year long, so go ahead, Mother Nature. Do your worst. We’vegot vegetables, so let it snow.

See Page 12 for details on winter markets around the state


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Bettendor Indoor Farmers Market at the Isle

When: Every Saturday rom 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., November 7through December 19 (this market may start up again in mid-Janu-ary)Where: On the Mississippi River at the Isle o Capri, 1777 IsleParkway For more information: Contact Eric Storjohann, president o theMississippi Valley Grower’s Association, at 563.349.2853. he web-site does not currently include inormation about the Bettendor In-door Market at the Isle, but will be orthcoming at

www.MVGrowers.com.

Davenport Freight House Farmers Market

When: Year-round on uesdays, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Satur-days, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.Where: On the Mississippi River anchored by the Freight HouseBuilding downtown, 421 West River DriveFor more information: www.FreighthouseFarmersMarket.com orcontact Darcy Rostenbach, market chairperson, at 309.764.0062.

Des Moines Downtown Winter Farmers Market

When: Friday, December 18, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., and Saturday, De-cember 19, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.Where: Inside Capital Square and outdoors at Nollen Plaza, 400 Lo-cust StreetFor More Information: www.DesMoinesFarmersMarket.com

Dubuque Winter Farmers Market When: Every Saturday, November through April, 9 a.m. - 12 noon.Where: he Colts Drum & Bugle Corps Building, 1101 Central Av-enue, DubuqueFor more information: www.GreenDubuque.org (click on “WinterFarmer’s Market” link under News and Events) or contact coordina-tor Amy Weber at 563.599.9858.

Iowa City Holiday Farmers Market

When: December 12, 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.Where: Robert A. Lee Recreation Center gymnasium, 220 S. GilbertStreetFor more information: contact ammy Neumann at 319.356.5110.

Mount Vernon Winter Farmers Market

When: December 12 and 19; January 16 and 30; February 1 and 27;March 13 and 27; April 3 and 17, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.Where: In the basement o City Hall, 213 First Street W., MountVernonFor more information: Contact Mickey Miller at 319.310.6399

MarketWatch

Compiled By Eve Adamson

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Te holidays are coming, and that means it’s

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he planning starts at the morning meeting when che Eric McDow-ell, his che de cuisine Greg Barr and sous-che Brian Lhee start to

brainstorm a tasting menu or that night. Using the word “meeting”gives a slightly more ormal connotation than what it really is.

It’s a brie conversation. It’s a look in the cooler. It’s a ew sentences ex-changed passing in the hallway. It’s ideas. It’s spontaneous. hat cap-tures a lot about McDowell’s new French-inluenced Iowa City restaurant called Che’s able.

“We just talk about it in the morning. Is there a new technique we want to try or a new ingredient?” McDowell said.

On a busy Friday night in September, McDowell and his crew are putto the test. hey have a solid wave o reservations and oot traic to illmost seats in the restaurant. For most o the restaurant, they work rom their menu, which adds some stability, but it changes requently enough that sta need to be on their toes.

owards the back o the stone-walled dining room is a tasting party and beyond that a group dines in the “Vino Cave,” a wine room lined

with 650 varieties o wine and with the donned “che’s table.” Herethere is no menu. he ches are on their own to decide what to make.

More and more restaurants are trying the “no menu” approach, espe-cially on the coasts and in larger cities. At oronto restaurant Susur,guest simply receive a list o the dishes they will be served.

Here in Iowa it is still a bit novel, and as such, McDowell is testing itout in a small-scale.

A stone passage descends rom the back o Che’s able’s dining roomleading to the kitchen.

he ches are cranking. here are six o them. McDowell serves as the

expiditor or “expo” – a liaison between kitchen sta and wait sta. oan outside eye, his job might seem like an ater thought. What doesthat guy do? But the expo has the most important job on a busy nightlike tonight.

McDowell collects the order tickets and reads it o to his ches,“Lamb, two sturgeon, a duck. Bread or our.” hat’s or table 12, butthe ches don’t need to know that. McDowell will keep it too himsel.he expo keeps everyone’s timing in sync and monitors quality. When

wait sta come to run the ood, McDowell makes sure all the ood

looks right and nothing rom the order is missing. He checks that the wait sta understand each dish, which is especially important with an

ever changing menu and more so when they work without a menu.

McDowell is the heart and soul o Che’s table, as well as the che andowner. He opened the restaurant in 2008, ater running the kitchen atother Eastern Iowa restaurants including akanami and Linn StreetCaé and Bistro on First in Cedar Rapids, and working under amedche Charlie rotter in Chicago. At 31, he has already established him-sel as one o the top ches in the state.

hroughout the kitchen, it’s controlled chaos; a lurry but precise.Each plate is a canvas. Dishes get 12 to 14 items rom sauces, gar-nishes, dierent meats, vegetables and grains. wo or three people at atime assemble individual entrees. he ches squeeze ine-nozzle bottlesdripping small pools o inused oils onto the plate.

In addition to cooking some o the menu items, Barr creates some “o the menu” items.

“ry this,” he says handing over small coup o bouillabaisse. It’s sim-mered king crab, mussels, lobster and ish stock. Mellow and lavorul.

Later, he whisks together a caviar-mustard vinaigrette. Barr will toss it with some greens. McDowell prepares oysters in dierent ways: crispy,steamed, with a cucumber puree, and with a watermelon relish.

Deciding what to prepare isn’t totally up to the che. It’s actually a back and orth process with the customer, McDowell said. McDowell likesto visit with the table and ask them some basic questions. What lavorsdo they like? What meats do they like? What kind o wine do they like? Is there anything they don’t like?

McDowell calls this spontaneous cooking – tailoring a meal to an indi-

vidual. For now, this is mainly limited to the Vino Cave and to tastingmenus. Someday, McDowell said, he would love to go entirely menuree.

As the night comes to a close, out in the dining room, guests appearcontent. hey pour the inal drops o wine into their glasses. In thekitchen, the sta begins to clean their stations and polish the shiny sil-ver suraces back to like-new. For McDowell and his ches, it is time tostart thinking about tomorrow and what new dishes they might create.

Back of

theHouseThe Chef’s Table

Story andphoto by BrianMorelli

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edible iowa river valley

Advertising opportunities are available orupcoming issues. Contact our sales manager,

Rachel Morey Flynn @ 319.241.4442 [email protected]

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Beer lovers in Iowa may have noticed an encouraging trend over thelast year—the rise o crat-brewed beer in small Iowa towns such asNorthwood (Worth Brewing Co.), Stanley (Hub City Brewing) andnow McGregor, with Old Man River Restaurant & Brewery’s line o beers.

Anyone who has spent time exploring the back roads o Iowa is proba-bly amiliar with the Mississippi River town o McGregor. ucked inthe scenic blu country o northeastern Iowa, McGregor and its sistertown o Marquette oer tourists easy access to watersports, bicycling,hiking, antiquing, and even casino gambling.

Jacob Simmons, the brewer or Old Man River, hopes visitors will alsocome or some rereshing German-style beers, brewed in the heart o McGregor’s historic downtown.

Old Man River occupies the Diamond Jo Building which once servedas the headquarters o Joseph “Diamond Jo” Reynolds, a grain trader

who later diversiied to become one o the leading steamship magnateson the upper Mississippi. he building was placed on the NationalRegister o Historic Places in 1982, but in recent years had allen intodisrepair.

Enter McGregor natives David and Marci Strutt. he Strutts werehigh school sweethearts who made their careers in Des Moines, butstill wanted to contribute to their hometown. Restoring the 150-year-old building and converting it into a restaurant provided that opportu-nity. Ater two years o renovations, an attractive dining room now occupies most o the old structure, with a new addition that houses thebrewing operation.


Edible ImbibablesBy Tim Rask and Jeff Allen

McGregor’s Old Man River Brewery

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he Strutts brought in General Manager Stacy Moser and ExecutiveChe Kendall Clark to handle the restaurant side, which opened in

January, 2008. For the brewing operation, they turned to Simmons,the quintessential twentysomething dreamer.

“He’s a really good boss,” Simmons said o Strutt. “He basically said, ‘Idon’t know anything about making beer—that’s up to you.’ hat was abig draw to me or taking the position—so I could ollow my dream o operating a brewery in Iowa.”

Simmons, a Des Moines native, earned an undergraduate degree in mi-crobiology rom the University o Iowa, ollowed by some work on aPh.D. in St. Louis. He ound he didn’t have the passion or graduateschool so gave the working world a try by spending a year and hal

with a biotech company. But he still ound happiness elusive. “I had a whole lot o schooling but wasn’t really sure what to do with it,” Sim-mons commented.

A move to Denver opened Simmons eyes to the brewing scene in Col-orado and he suddenly ound his calling. Simmons had tinkered withhome brewing, and bolstered his credentials by enrolling in an onlinebrewing program through the Heriot-Watts University o Edinburgh,Scotland. Later, he picked up some practical experience with two mir-crobreweries: Schlaly o St. Louis and Sebago o Portland, Maine.

“I had a sae, secure job that paid well, but I decided to take a huge pay cut to wash kegs instead—it ended up being a pretty good move, ”

joked Simmons. he grunt work paid o, though, when he landed hisdream job o running a brewery in his home state. (And as Simmonslater ound out, he was ollowing in a amily tradition—his great-grandather dabbled in bootleg whiskey during prohibition and acousin also works as a brewer).

Like the brewmaster, the brewing equipment at Old Man River alsotook a circuitous route to Iowa. he ten-hectoliter (8.5 barrel), ully automated decoction system was manuactured by O. Salm & Co. o Vienna, Austria and saw service with breweries in Manhattan andChicago prior to its acquisition by Old Man River. echnicians rom

Austria helped to work out the early kinks in the computer program,and in late 2008 Old Man River’s beers debuted with two oerings—a

weizen (wheat) and an amber ale.

Decoction mashing is a way to conduct multi-step mashes withoutadding additional water or applying heat to the mash tun (the largekettle used to steep the grains that give beer its body). In decoction,the brewer removes about a third o the mash to a second pot wherethe liquid is heated to conversion temperature, then boiled and re-turned to the mash tun. Without going into too much detail, thismethod o mashing breaks up the starch molecules o the unconvertedgrist to produce a higher degree o extraction rom moderately-modi-ied malts. Simmons told us that the system was 93% eicient. Mash-ing this way gives the beer a crisp, dry malty characteristic o theGerman Oktoberest beers and other European lagers.

Unlike most brewpubs, which commonly oer English-style pale ales,porters, and stouts, Old Man River is ocusing on producing classicGerman-style lagers under the name Einach (which means “simplic-ity” in German). “hat decision was made beore I came on board,”commented Simmons, but it seemed to me to be a really good idea.here is a lot o German heritage in this area, and nationally not a loto brewpubs specialize in German styles.”

Simmons’ goal is to produce “nice session beers” that can be enjoyedover a meal or by riends meeting to qua a pint or two. wo morestyles were added in January—a Helles lager and a Dunkel lager

(meaning “light” and “dark,” in German, respectively). Simmons citedthe nutty-tasting dunkel as his personal avorite, although he waspleased with the creamy helles. “It was airly simple but came outmuch better than I anticipated, with a hint o spice behind the maltlavor”

Simmons is happy with the local reception thus ar. “People have re-sponded really well. We have some educating to do—most peoplearound here are light beer drinkers—but we’ve still had a very positiveresponse.” A root beer also is available, and has proven popular as well.he initial batch was drained within a week.

Einach also unveiled a seasonal Märzen, or Oktoberest beer in timeor the all. For uture brews, Simmons is considering a Scottish-styleale, and he would also like to add a bock beer, but is concerned thatthe 6.25% alcohol restriction in Iowa might make it diicult to really do justice to the style.

Currently, the beers are available on tap at the brewery and on the beerestival circuit (the brewery set up a booth at Madison’s Great aste o the Midwest, the premier beer estival in the U.S., in the opinion o the authors). Simmons is hopeul, however, that Old Man River canarrange a distribution deal in the uture to allow the brewery to sellgrowlers or even bottles o their beers or carry-out. With a capacity o

2000 barrels annually, Old Man River can easily produce more beerthan can be consumed at the restaurant alone.

Now that the beer is lowing, Simmons is eager to spread the wordabout Old Man River, and looks orward to hitting the Iowa Brewestand the other beer estivals in the region. He’d also love to establish aestival in McGregor to promote Iowa-produced beers and wines (theEagles Landing Winery is located just upstream in Marquette). “Wehave a quaint little town that loves to invest in tourism,” Simmonsnoted. “I’ve also toyed with the idea o setting up a bike ride. We havesome great hills here, and most cyclists tend to be the kind o people

who drink crat beer so it seems like a natural it or us.”

In the meantime, you’ll ind Simmons toiling away at the brewery. Heeven lives in an apartment above the pub, and takes most o his mealsin the restaurant. “I haven’t bought ood in a grocery store in two

months,” oers the brewer as his endorsement o Old Man River’smenu. Working, eating and sleeping at a brewery. Brewing dreamsdon’t get any better than that.

When You Go...Old Man River Restaurant & Brewery is

located in the heart o downtown McGregor,at 123 A Street.

hey are open Wednesday through Monday rom 11:00

a.m.until 10:00 p.m. (kitchen closes at 9:00

p.m.) and closed on uesdays.Phone 563.873.1999

www.OldManRiverBrewery.com www.EinachBeer.com

ours o the brewing operation are available onrequest.

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You never know what can happen in Iowa, but ater the corn is har-vested and the winter sets in, all things are possible.

Starting in December o last year, a small group o Iowans began reach-

ing out to our riends across the country, launching a petition based ona letter to then President-Elect Obama that called or a Secretary o Agriculture with a list we created o candidates with background inpromoting sustainable agriculture.

Calling ourselves Food Democracy Now!, we hoped to get a ew thou-sand signatures on our petition and let President Obama know thatthere were some Iowans who supported a more progressive choice orthat cabinet level position, recalling the vision or agriculture that hearticulated while here on the campaign trail.

he original letter was signed by 90 people, including: Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Michael Pollan, Frances Moore Lappé, Alice Waters, BillMcKibben, Marion Nestle and Eric Schlosser. O those original 90, 20

were rom Iowa and 20 were amily armers.

In an unprecedented outpouring o support or what had been consid-ered a sleepy, backwater cabinet position, the petition garnered over100,000 signatures rom across the country.

What began as a conversation among riends concerned about the u-ture o agriculture and its impact on human health, the environment,amily armers and rural America, has now grown into a national or-ganization dedicated to promoting sustainable, amily arm agriculture.

In a little less than a year, those discussions have become part o a na-tional dialogue that has helped inluence personnel decisions at theU.S. Department o Agriculture and the way agriculture is discussednationally.

hat conversation began here in Iowa, with hornton hog armer Paul Willis, the ounder o the Niman Ranch Pork Company, Lisa Stokke, alongtime local ood advocate and mother o our, Aaron Wool, the di-

rector o King Corn, which was ilmed here in Iowa, and mysel, whoreturned home to the state three years earlier to help stop a 5,000 headhog coninement rom being built near my sister’s arm in DickinsonCounty. I have worked on amily arm and political issues ever since.

For a number o us who participated in the Obama campaign, begin-ning during the caucus, there was a belie that we had inally elected apresident who not only understood the concerns o rural America, but

was inally willing to live up to the rhetoric o his campaign.

For many Iowans, President Obama’s victory held a special meaning,since many o us had been there rom the beginning. During the cau-cus Paul had a number o the Obama campaign sta visit his arm anded them Niman Ranch pork, Lisa had been an Obama precinct cap-

tain during the caucuses and general election and I had worked closely with the ag and environmental team during the caucus and had been ateam leader during the general election, helping run a volunteer oicein Clear Lake or the last our days o the campaign.

Ater President Obama’s election however, we began to realize that wehad won the battle, but a larger campaign was going to be needed i we

were going to create the uture that we wanted.

For those o us who had been active in politics, we knew the real work had just begun.

Ater Vilsack – Now What? The Sustainable Dozen

While Food Democracy Now!’s petition temporarily galvanized thesustainable ood and ag community, the selection o om Vilsack didnot. As the ormer governor o a Big Ag state, Vilsack was seen by

some to have a history o promoting the wrong style o agriculture.

As many in the sustainable ag community protested, we went back to work.

We igured, you win some – you lose some. So, within days, FoodDemocracy Now! launched it’s second campaign, called “he Sustain-able Dozen.”

While the original petition listed six candidates or the position o Sec-retary o Agriculture, only days ater Vilsack was announced, we addedsix more candidates to our list and went to work trying to transormthe uture o agriculture by guaranteeing that the sustainable ag com-munity had a seat at the table by advocating or Under Secretary posi-tions.

From that list o twelve, President Obama selected Kathleen Merrigan,the Director o uts University Food, Agriculture and EnvironmentProgram, who had helped create the national organic standards in the1990s, as the Deputy Secretary – or second in command to Vilsack.

Deputy Merrigan was joined by Iowa native Doug O’Brien at theUSDA, also on the Sustainable Dozen list, who works as her chie o sta.

Ater wandering or the past thirty plus years in the wilderness, mem-

A MovementBegins in Iowa

By Dave Murphy

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bers o the organic and sustainable ag community now have one o their own sitting at the head o the table when decisions are made.

Merrigan recently helped launch the new “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” program at the USDA to promote local and regional oodsystems, something that Food Democracy Now! and other amily armgroups have widely applauded.

he inal candidate on Food Democracy Now!’s list was Drake law proessor Neil Hamilton, who now serves as an inormal advisor toSecretary Vilsack and the Obama administration since the Inaugura-tion, helping create opportunities or local oods and beginning arm-ers.

What a Dierence a Year Makes

It’s been a remarkable journey since launching Food Democracy Now!. At the end o February, Paul, Lisa, Aaron and I, along with animal wel-are expert Marlene Halverson and Slow Food board member EleanorBertino, visited Washington DC to deliver 87,000 signatures to Secre-tary Vilsack at the USDA. his was probably the irst time in the his-tory o the USDA that a Secretary o Agriculture sat down with agrassroots movement beore sitting with Farm Bureau and other largecorporate interests.

During the meeting, we discussed creating a local school lunch pro-gram where local armers could provide resh ruits and vegetables orschool lunches in an eort to address our nation’s childhood obesity epidemic and stimulate rural economies.

It’s an idea that has been at the heart o trying to rebuild America’s van-ishing local and regional ood systems, promoted by sustainable aggroups or years. Secretary Vilsack was receptive and supported theidea.

As a ormer small town mayor and ag state governor, Secretary Vilsack understood the importance o creating opportunities or beginning andmid-sized armers. He also appreciated the model o sustainability andeconomic development that Paul had created with the Niman RanchPork Company, which originated in the small town o hornton andhas become a nationally renowned meat company. Niman Ranch pro-vides some o the best tasting pork in the world, raised in pasture, withhigh animal welare standards by a network o over 600 amily armers

who are still on the land because they set high standards and stayedtrue to their vision o arming.

oday Secretary Vilsack and his sta at the USDA speak regularly

about the need to make agriculture sustainable, the importance o cre-ating local and regional oods systems and rebuilding rural America by providing opportunities or beginning armers, all o which were laidout in Food Democracy Now!’s original letter.

Standing Together – Pitching In

O all the opportunities we’ve had in the past year, nothing has beenmore rewarding than working with groups and individuals whose work

we’ve admired or years.

Whether it was early support rom Roots o Change, the Institute o Agriculture and rade Policy, Slow Food, Practical Farmers o Iowa andthe Iowa Citizens or Community Improvement, among many others,it’s been great to build new relationships and renew old ones.

Since irst visiting with Secretary Vilsack in February, we’ve had an in-credible year o getting down to the real work o building a sustainableood system or the 21st century by working closely with groups likeFarm Aid, Food & Water Watch, the National Sustainable AgricultureCoalition, National Family Farm Coalition, the Land Institute, Or-ganic Valley, and the United Dairy Farmers.

As we’ve learned here in the past year, dreams not only begin in Iowa – where President Obama irst began his march to the White House –

but they quickly spread with the help o riends.

It’s amazing how time lies, especially in the company o riends. AtFood Democracy Now!, we’re excited about growing into our secondyear, especially ater harvest season and the long work o winter sets in.


Additional Resources www.FoodDemocracyNow.org

Also:

Roots of Change www.ROCund.org

Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy www.IAP.org

Slow Food www.SlowFoodUSA.org www.SlowFoodIowa.orgPractical Farmers of Iowa

www.PracticalFarmers.orgThe Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement

www.IowaCCI.orgFarm Aid

www.FarmAid.orgFood & Water Watch

www.FoodAndWaterWatch.orgThe National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

www.SustainableAgriculture.netNational Family Farm Coalition

www.NFFC.netThe Land Institute

www.LandInstitute.orgOrganic Valley

www.OrganicValley.coopUnited Dairy Farmers www.UDFInc.com

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Edible Nation

Blended Holidays: A goose for the holiday auto-pilot blahs

By Carol Penn-Romine

Is it possible to make it through the holidays without watching It’s a Wonderul Lie at least once? In my household the answer is yes, unless we catch it by accident. Our can’t-miss movie or this season is heRe, and the laughs it inspires do more or stomach muscle tone than athousand sit-ups, a real bonus during this time o easting. In one par-ticularly outrageous scene, the amily is gathered at the holiday dinnertable, wearing wreaths o lit candles on their heads to honor their Scan-dinavian heritage while arguing bitterly, as i it were just another dys-unctional amily gathering. But this Christmas they have among theman escaped convict who is holding them all hostage. He may be the one

with the gun, but still he’s orced to sit with a wreath o burning can-dles on his head as World War III blazes all around him. Convict or noconvict, this amily is carrying on with its traditions, period.

he winter holidays are the most tradition-laden time o the year, andmany people hold as ast to their rituals as a three-year-old clutching acookie. rue, traditions tie us to our amily and our culture, but what i

we’ve never really enjoyed those traditions and never ound muchmeaning in them? What i we’ve moved ar rom home, where we’veencountered new customs and traditions that merit our consideration?Here’s a little secret: Civilization as we know it won’t end i there’s achicken or a pizza or a tray ull o pancakes on the table at hanksgiv-ing, Hanukah or Christmas, or i the pie is rhubarb instead o pump-kin.

Last hanksgiving my husband and I invited our new Australianriends, Julie and Peter, to celebrate this distinctly American holiday

with us. But rather than the Norman Rockwell turkey-with-all-the-ixin’s, which they’d experienced the previous year when they’d just ar-rived in Los Angeles, we opted or a Southern east, to relect where we

came rom and give them a taste o regional American cooking. Soearly that morning, we stashed a couple o racks o pork ribs in thesmoker out back, set a jug o water with tea bags in it on the picnictable to make sun tea, cooked up some black-eyed peas and collardgreens, made ambrosia, and baked cornbread and a pecan pie. With the“Down From the Mountain” disk in the CD player, the stage was setor a singularly Southern American experience. Most o the hanksgiv-ings throughout my lie blur in my memory, but that was one I’ll al-

ways remember. No turkey and no bowl games, but a lot o chat aboutour respective countries and what it’s like to celebrate holidays ar romhome.

As a thank-you git, they presented us with a book o Christmas recipesrom Australia. We discovered that while a Christmas east down undermay eature turkey and ruitcake, it can also include oysters on the hal shell, an array o salads and the Australian dessert standard, a lightPavlova illed with resh berries. Ater all, December is the middle o summer there. Why would Australians eat a rich, heavy meal rom thenorthern hemisphere’s winter when it’s hot as blazes?

What prompts ingenuity in planning holiday estivities is oten ablending o cultures or religions through marriage. When ed andErika were irst married, they didn’t think too much about holiday ritu-als, but now that they have a son, they’re eager to build amily tradi-tions that embrace aspects o their Mexican and American cultures.

“We plan to have a late dinner on Christmas Eve—ater going to a reli-gious service—where we’ll eat turkey with stuing, but also the tradi-tional bacalao (dried codish) cooked Spanish style, romeritos—a kindo herb that we only have at Christmas—with mole sauce and dry shrimp patties, and lots o desserts. Ater dinner we’ll exchange gits

with the amily. And ater that, when Erik goes to sleep, Santa willsneak in and do his work!”Lisa, im and their children observe what they call a Mindul Shabbat.Lisa also reers to it as “Jew-Bu,” a blend o the Jewish Shabbat withBuddhist Vipassana meditation.

“We sit together, light candles and eat mindully, with careul consider-ation o the oods we choose, so that the connections are meaninguland healthy or us all,” she explains.

While Sara and Bryan decorate their Christmas tree with Jewish sym-bols and lots o blue and silver ornaments in honor o Hanukah, Peterand Irene gather their Christian and Jewish amilies and riends in early December or a day o baking and decorating cookies.

“It gives me great joy to bring our amilies together each year,” saysIrene. “I have close to 100 cookie cutters, including a lot o Christmasand many Hanukah ones. Everyone is invited to bring their own tradi-tional cookie recipe or dough to share. he house smells wonderul, thevisiting is ull o love, and we enjoy eating and reconnecting.”

I you’ve never tried stepping o the we’ve-always-done-it-this-way treadmill, attempting something new at holiday time can seem daunt-ing. Here are some ideas or creating new traditions and reashioningand rereshing the old ones:

1. Pick a country and learn how people there celebrate the winter holi-days. Ask each person in your household or at the party to plan someaspect o the celebration, and select or make something to share. Youdon’t have to wear lit candles on your head to enjoy the holiday tradi-tions o another culture. It may be something as simple as incorporat-ing new songs into the repertoire.

2. Select a dish that’s traditional to your holiday table and try preparingit in the style o another culture. Instead o a whole turkey, how aboutturkey portions cooked up coq-au-vin style or in a stir ry or a big poto gumbo? (See Chicken à la Passport or some ideas on preparing astandard dish with an international lare.)

3. Volunteer. he holidays tend to be so crowded with shopping, deco-rating, cooking and running ourselves ragged that it’s easy to lose sighto those who need a kind gesture the most. A quick check online, inthe phonebook or with a local charity or church reveals a wealth o op-portunities to be o service in your community. Each holiday season wecook ood and take it to a place where the homeless are ed on hanks-giving and Christmas days. Some years we stay and help set up or serveood. It’s not an all-day commitment, nor something that prevents usrom participating in our own holiday observances. But it means anawul lot to those whose lives are on the skids—and to us as well.Volunteer during the holidays and everyone is a winner.

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4. At the conclusion o the holiday season ask everyone, “Did you likethis year’s activities? Which ones would you like to include next year?”Do this each year, winnowing out things that just don’t rev your en-gines and keeping the ones that do, and see what kind o new tradi-tions your amily can ashion or itsel.

Once you awaken to the possibilities or creativity and lexibility inthe holidays, it’s amazing to see how these ideas can enliven the rest o the year. Ater Sara and Bryan pack away the Christmas tree and the

Jewish ornaments, they look orward to Easter, when they’ll joinriends in whacking a piñata illed with jellybeans and Easter eggs.Hmm, I wonder what’s next. Karaoke on Independence Day?

raditionally Coq Au Vin required an overnight marinade becausethe coq in question was a tough old rooster who was being retiredater several years o um, productivity, to put it delicately. In themodern supermarket, you’re hard pressed to nd a chicken that’smore than a ew weeks old, so your owl won’t need a 24-hour bathbeore cooking. Tis method is essentially the one or Coq Au Vinthat you’ll nd in the classic Larousse Gastronomique, minus thechicken blood (I know you’re disappointed about having to skip thatstep.). While Larousse doesn’t call or a marinade, a couple o hoursin a favorul bath will make or a moister bird. Te basic steps orbraising our pieces o chicken (skin-on and bone-in, or more favor)

with vegetables are the same or all the areas shown on this chart:

1. Mix all ingredients in a gallon-sized zip lock bag—except or thecooking oil—and let the chicken marinate or at least two hours.2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, pat down the chicken with paper towels and sear it onboth sides until it is golden brown.

3. Pour all the ingredients rom the bag into the pot and bring themixture to a boil, scraping up any bits that might have clung to itduring the browning.4. Cover the pot and place in the oven to braise or 40 minutes.5. Remove the chicken and strain out the vegetables, arrange all on aserving platter and wrap to keep warm (you can set it inside the cool-ing oven—be sure you’ve turned it o rst).6. Return the liquid to the pot and cook over medium-high heat toreduce. Whisk in beurre manie—one tablespoon each o four andbutter mixed into a paste—and cook until the sauce is thickened. Ad-

just to taste with salt and pepper.7. Spoon sauce over the chicken and vegetables and top with garnish.I you’d like more or less o any seasoning or ingredient, just make ad-

justments to suit your tastes. And i those tastes reach beyond French,Mediterranean, Asian and Southwestern, then you can create yourown take on this classic dish.

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Ashley Hinson came back romvacation in Malibu with a taste oran unlikely beverage. How un-likely? She describes it this way:

“he act that it doesn’t taste badis a miracle.”

o be honest, what seems like amiracle to me is that Ashley is ableto coherently deliver the day’snews each morning at oh-dark-thirty (5:00 a.m.) rom the anchordesk at KCRG. But there she iseach weekday, expertly doing her

job while I’m stumbling around with my hair uncombed lookingor my irst cup o tea and my carkeys.

Admittedly, I’ve dragged mysel down to KCRG to appear on themorning news with Ashley —

who is a true riend o and partici-pant in the arts and culture com-munity in the Corridor — as parto Hancher’s annual season an-nouncement media blitz. Once ayear or so, I can simulate the perk-iness o a morning person, clear-ing the morning cobwebs enoughto sound like I know what I’mtalking about. But every weekday?

I don’t think so.

As I rang the bell at her home inCedar Rapids, I wondered: WouldI discover a magic elixir that al-lows her be upbeat when mostolks are lying down? Well, there was some Red Bull and some CokeZero, but the most intriguing drink by ar was something called“Fruitul Greens.”

A couple o things that seem disgusting, but apparently aren’t

Archer Farms (the cleverly named arget brand) Simply BalancedFruitul Greens is an unpleasant shade o green — probably as a resulto the kale, spinach, green cabbage, and the like that are mixed up

with a variety o ruit juices. It’s not at all clear to me why this is thesort o drink one would irst imbibe while on vacation, but Ashley hadsomething similar in Malibu and liked it enough to ind a comparableproduct back at home.

“You might look at it and think, ‘hat looks disgusting,’” she ac-knowledged. “Actually, they really taste good.”

In the door o the rerigerator is another item that seems unappealing,but which is a key ingredient or a dish Ashley’s husband, Matt, isproud o.

“I make a mean pasta puttanesca,”Matt said. o do that, he needs,among other things, minced gar-lic, capers, and Roland Anchovy Paste. his last comes in a tubelike toothpaste, though I suspectone would not want to mix themup.

Buying in bulk

Most items in Ashley’s rerigeratorare about the size you would ex-pect them to be. But a couple o things purchased at Sam’s Clubmake the products around themseem positively Lilliputian.

“See, this is the industrial sizeone,” Ashley said, hoisting a size-able container o Miracle Whip.She was clearly taken aback to dis-cover that its expiration date islooming at the end o this year. It

will deinitely require dedicatedsandwich eating to use it up by then.

An unusually large bottle o parmesan cheese also graces theridge, but it is more than hal empty.

“We just sprinkle it on top o everything,” Ashley said.

he couple is similarly ond o eta — though the tub in theridge was o a more traditional

size. hey like to add it to pizza among other things.

Eating together and eating letovers

Despite challenging schedules — her early morning gig, his job in Waterloo — Ashley and Matt are committed to eating dinner togethereach night. It might be grilled pork chops or it might be HamburgerHelper and it will probably include a bag o Birds Eye Steamresh Veg-etables. But whatever is on the menu, they will eat it together in thelickering light o Ashley’s aux candles.

And i there is some letover?

“One o our goals is to get better at letover eating,” Ashley said. Dur-ing my visit, meatloa o questionable vintage, macaroni and cheese,and some ood rom Olive Garden were the sole letovers in the ridge.

How Bogey likes his eggs

“We go through a lot eggs,” Ashley explained. “We not only eed them

Behind Closed DoorsBy Rob Cline

Today’s Top Story

KCRG Morning News anchor Ashley Hinson with her Ocucaje Pisco

(and note the Hub City beer in the fridge! Way to drink local, Ashley)

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to ourselves, we eed them to our dog, Bogey.” he lucky dog likes hiseggs over medium — “Eggs ala canine.”

A stylish beverage

Perhaps the most unusual item in Ashley’s rerigerator is a bottlesporting a hat and a serape. A riend who served in the Peace Corps inPeru provided the Ocucaje Pisco, a brandy-like distillate o grapes.he riend enjoys Pisco sours, which apparently involve egg whitesand bitters.

“It’s not very good,” Ashley said.

Maybe not, but dressed in that stylish hat, it looks a lot less threaten-ing than the Fruitul Greens.

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The 99Every Iowa County, One bite at a Time

Muscatine County

Muscatine County is best known or its lavorul melons, and or goodreason. he area prides itsel on this luscious, seasonal produce bestacquired at the numerous armstands that pop up in late summer.

Nestled into the sandy corners o the Mississippi River Valley, the areaprovides the ideal environment or the inamous ruit. MuscatineCounty is also becoming known or its excellent assortment o authen-tic Mexican eateries, several o which have been chronicled in thesevery pages. It’s worth a trip to the area or the cantaloupe and taque-rias alone. But i you ind yoursel headed east toward the Mississippithere are even more great places that should not be missed.

In the early 20th century, roughly 37 percent o the world’s supply o buttons came rom Muscatine County. he pearl button industry dominated the area or decades, employing thousands o mussel isher-man, shell cutters, sorters, packagers, and related enterprises. Home-based actories sprang up all over town, cashing in on the MississippiRiver version o a gold rush. Even today, when we dig in our backyardgarden it is common to unearth button blanks and mussel shells

scarred with a series o circular holes. At one point, some o Musca-tine’s streets were literally paved with discarded shells.

he pearl button industry continued into the 1960s, and let an indeli-ble mark on the culture o the area. he Muscatine History & Indus-try Center (Pearl Button Museum), located in the heart o downtown,explores the topic in ascinating detail. his small, interactive museumhas exhibits on lie in a clamming camp, women’s labor, and the role o the Button Queen, among others. It is well worth a visit.

I the museum inspired you, a short walk away is he Button Factory Woodire Grille, which serves hearty American are inside a renovatedbutton actory on the riverront. Stop in or lunch or dinner and enjoy the views o the river and the décor based on relics rom Muscatine’sindustrial past. he Button Factory recently acquired an authenticpaddlewheel riverboat, where guests can relax, dine and enjoy the riverduring the warmer months.

Across the block you will ind the Pearl Plaza, a beautiully restoredbrick building that houses numerous shops and oices. Here you’llind Elly’s ea & Coee House, a justiiably popular lunch spot thatills up ast over the noon hour. All o the homemade desserts arecrated on site, and reshly baked whole-grain and swirled rye breadsorm the oundations o their sandwiches. Selections vary daily. ry the cranberry pecan chicken salad or the cilantro Dijon tuna salad on

wheatberry bread. Elly’s oers specialty coees rom Chicago’s Intelli-gentsia Roasting Company and has an extensive selection o loose-lea teas rom Upton ea Imports. I the weather permits, enjoy yourlunch on the back patio overlooking the Mississippi River. From this

spot it is not uncommon to spot bald eagles hunting or ood on theopen water during the winter months.

Head upstairs in the Pearl Plaza building to visit Wine Nutz, an invit-ing new wine shop and lounge. In addition to weekly eatured winesthat can be purchased by the glass, any bottle purchased in the storecan be opened and sampled. he business is working to incorporatemore local wines into its well-edited selection. Be sure to try theirgourmet glazed nuts, which serve as the perect complement to a glasso vino on a cold winter evening.

by Rachel Horner Brackett

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When you Go...he Muscatine History & Industry Center (Pearl Button Museum)

117 West 2nd Street, Muscatine563.263.1052 www.MuscatineHistory.org

he Button Factory Woodire Grille215 West Mississippi Drive, Muscatine

563.264.8590 www.ButtonFactoryRestaurant.com

Elly's ea & Coee House208 West 2nd Street, Muscatine

563.263.5043 www.EllyseaAndCoee.com

Wine Nutz208 West 2nd Street, Muscatine

563.263.0202

www.Wine-Nutz.com

Salvatore Vitale's Ristorante313 East 2nd Street

Muscatine, IA (563) 263-9396

www.SalvatoresOnline.com

Anderson Farm Grassed Lamb1575 Underwood Avenue, Muscatine

563.264.2209 www.GrassFedRecipes.com

Pine Creek Grist Mill1884 Wildcat Den Road, Muscatine

563.263.4337

www.PineCreekGristMill.comBison Ridge Kennels

3672 Highway 61, Blue Grass563.381.3671

www.WinterBison.com

Candy Kitchen310 Cedar Street, Wilton

563.732.2278

Salvatore Vitale's Ristorante has been a staple in the downtown Mus-catine area since 1983, when the Vitale amily moved here romPalermo, Sicily. hey oer antastic calzones and pizzas in addition toa variety o pasta dishes and salads, all o which are named ater am-ily members. he pizza dough and red sauce are made resh on-site,and Claudio Vitale returns to Italy regularly to select wines or therestaurant at their point o origin.

From Muscatine, a short drive east on highway US-61 and a let onto

Underwood Avenue will bring you to the Anderson Farm. Here,Mark Anderson and his amily raise delicious grass-ed lamb withoutthe use o artiicial hormones, steroids or unnecessary antibiotics. hesheep, which pasture in the bucolic acreage behind the armhouse,look lively and happy. he Andersons oer a variety o lamb bundlesor sale, and the meat is processed locally in Durant. Sheepskins arealso available or purchase.

As you continue east on US-61, watch or signs or the Pine Creek Grist Mill and Wildcat Den State Park. he Grist Mill, built in1848, oers a view o colonial lie and agriculture in Iowa. I you’recurious about where lour and animal eed came rom beore the ad-vent o industrial processing actories, the Grist Mill museum oers

wonderul interactive and educational exhibits. he park surround-ing the area is a lovely spot or a picnic.

I you’ve never tried bison jerky beore, now is the time. Keep goingeast on US-61 toward Blue Grass until you reach Bison Ridge. You’llknow you’ve arrived when you see the bison herd stoically observingthe traic rushing by and lazily scratching themselves on repurposedtractor tires anchored into the pasture. here are currently about 50bualo on the ranch, and a wide variety o organic bison meat prod-ucts are or sale inside the shop. heir reezers are well stocked, andthey also take custom orders.

Don’t leave Muscatine County beore you make a trip to downtown Wilton to visit the Candy Kitchen. helma and George Nopouloshave run this soda ountain or decades, ollowing in the ootsteps o George’s ather, Gus, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1907. hisbuilding with the red and white striped awning has held a soda oun-tain/ice cream parlor continuously or over 150 years. It is noted inthe National Register o Historic Places, and the Candy Kitchen o-ers a nostalgic taste o Americana. George makes ice cream on site

three days a week, and all o the drinks are mixed to order—so i you want a cherry coke, you’ll get Coke syrup mixed with carbonated water and cherry lavoring. his means that the Candy Kitchen canoer a huge variety o sodas, so let your imagination run wild. I you’re eeling brave, try a Dipsy Doodle (a blend o six dierent la-vors).

he next time you head toward the Mississippi River, take some timeto explore the variety o oods, activities, and sights in MuscatineCounty. We’ll look orward to seeing you during melon season—andhopeully sooner.

P h o t o b y K u

r t M i c h a e l F r i e s e

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The Last WordBy Kurt Michael Friese

The Locavore Way

So oten I hear the rerain, “I justdon’t have the time.” Or, “it’s just toocomplicated to eat locally,” or, “I only someone wrote a book thatspelled it all out and made it simple.”

Well, Amy Cotler has done just that.

With Te Locavore Way: Discoverand Enjoy the Pleasures o Locally Grown Food, Cotler has given us astraightorward, easy to read guide toall the whats, whys, whens, wheres,and most importantly hows o pursu-ing the local ood liestyle. Free o preachy polemics, the book is a sim-ple how-to guide. It’s not a cook-book and does not pretend to be, but

does contain some tasty seasonalrecipes, like market salad with panroasted potatoes and cheese, or“meat-buying-club borscht.”

Cotler starts out with a ew words onhow she got where she is. She camerom a oodie amily, mom and dad

were both passionate about ood andtaught their kids to “taste, cook, andseek culinary adventures.” A ormerche and caterer, an educator, authorand ood activist (sounds kinda a-miliar to me), she ell in with CSA pioneer Robyn Van En in the Berkshires in the early 1990s and has

worked with the cause o local ood long enough to see it go main-stream.

With “15 Ways to Become a Locavore,” we see in two pages somevery simple steps that almost anyone can take, one, two, or 15 at atime to discover the joys o local eating. Most o the steps in the sec-tion also reerence greater detail on the subject included later in thebook. Number one, o course, is “Eat local oods in season.” Butthat’s a bit broad, so she breaks it down or us, suggesting visiting aarm (more than once), having local ood parties, engaging the nextgeneration, and asking or local ood in restaurants (yay!).

Most o all, she encourages cooking.Te great cookbook author MarcellaHazan once emphasized that “sayingyou have no time to cook is like say-ing you have no time to bathe,” andCotler appears to agree. Te Loca-vore Way is lled with good advice,anecdotes, and stories about realpeople who are walking the walk.

We meet armers, ches and marketmasters each with sage advice onhow to be a locavore – simply,healthully, and (perhaps best o all)cheaply.

With points such as remembering toeat in season and to stock your

pantry well, Cotler demonstratesthat the notion - that eating this way is more expensive - is quite fawed,and there are numerous hidden coststo apparently cheap processed oods.

What you don’t pay or at the gro-cery store checkout you end up pay-ing or in subsidies, stress,environmental and health care costsdown the line.

She includes an excellent glossary o terms, recommended reading andadditional resources, and ends with

another list, titled “Active Culture: 10 ways to grow your local oodsystem.” Included are ideas such as “Educate the decision-makers,”“organize a ‘buycott,’” and “support arm product businesses.” o this

we might only add “Read your local ood magazine!”

Te Locavore Way would certainly make a great git or the skepticallocavore wannabe in you lie, or or yoursel as a valuable go to guide.

Te Locavore Way: Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food by Amy Cotler. Published by Storey Publishing,

North Adams, MA ©2009

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