Category Archives: Iowa

November 15, 2014 · 11:58 pm

Great meal and warmer than expected at Le Jardin in Des Moines

 

To be honest, I wasn’t sure the new location of Le Jardin in beaver dale would be a good place for dinner on an unseasonably cold November eve. It remember the space with full window walls and high ceilings as drafty when it was Flarah’s. But we were pleasantly surprised. Not only was the food terrific but the space was warmer temperature and ambiance-wise than expected, with help from a cool wall mural by a local artist known for his graffiti as I recall. To be honest, when the door opened, the cold wind did blow in but otherwise, we warmed up. it also helped that we had a rear table away from the entrance.

The food was delicious. I had lamb goulash, a surprisingly light but flavorful dish that was served in a shallow bowl, tender pieces of lamb, carrots, and the occasional green olive that offered a little salty jolt, in a light broth/sauce atop little doughy pasta (spaetzle) with a fried egg on top. Perfect meal for a cold night. Also had a very fresh salad with mesclun, cranberries, goat cheese, candied nuts, a light vinaigrette, perfectly dressed. We will be back!

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November 10, 2014 · 4:25 pm

Thanksgiving order out or possible pit stop on I-80 in Eastern Iowa: Augusta Restaurant

Always looking for places to eat just off Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa (a road oft-traveled) so thanks to Jennifer Miller at the DM Register for suggesting this place Augusta Restaurant in Oxford, Iowa although not sure I can handle the turducken (photo below – that’s a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey…and it’s available for Thanksgiving order….

 

*Turduckens *

 

Turducken-( All deboned by Chef Ben A chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in turkey with cornbread and Andouille sausage stuffing between each layer).

Includes two quarts of gravy. 120 $ NO price on the Organic Turkeys just yet.( let us know if you are interested in one)

Additional sides can be purchased (come in large metal square pans feeds 12 ) Some Prices have changed do to food costs

*Sweet Potatoes with roasted praline topping $25

*Green Bean Casserole with homemade cream of mushroom soup and topped with french fried onions $25

*Cranberry Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce $15

*Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie $35

*Bread Pudding $25

All you have to do is reheat!!!!!!!!

Your whole entire Thanksgiving for up to 12 people is only 259.70!

You can purchase separately of course ,

No, having to run around shopping for everything and then cooking

plus your meal is prepared by an award winning Chef !!

Please call soon there will be a cut off . The sooner you call the more options for pick up ‘

We will be delivering to DesMoine to the Yacht Club on Ingersoll.

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November 5, 2014 · 3:59 pm

Iowa City – Hawkeye football and Short’s burgers

After watching Iowa trounce Northwestern in football on a cold clear day, we warmed up at Short’s Burger and Shine, which didn’t disappoint – excellent burgers with top-quality meat, prepared just as requested, and hand-cut fries. I tried the Greek-inspired burger with feta, cukes and tzatziki sauce (although after awhile I couldn’t resist adding ketchup.) My only complaint is that we were told we’d have about a half hour wait so we dawdled a bit at Prairie Lights, the great book store around the block, and returned about 20 minutes later to find we’d lost our table. So we had to wait some more- but only about 10 minutes (after bracing for another potential 30 minute wait…). Moral of story: stay put for the wait, which may be shorter than you were told.

#8: Arion burger (cucumber, tomato, feta, tzatziki sauce)

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October 29, 2014 · 9:02 pm

Hot off the Presses: second edition NYT 36 Hours USA (with three stories by me)

amazon51wDt3y14iL._AA160_The second edition of the New York Times’ 36 Hours in USA and Canada guidebook just came out ( I just received my complimentary copy in the mail) and  it includes three stories I originally wrote – that have since been updated. I had two stories in the first edition. What was added? Des Moines – I’m pleased to report!

I’ve long used these pieces when I go on three-day weekends around the USA – and as the starting point for longer trips. I’ve also used the 36 Hours pieces written about foreign lands – most recently the one on Rome.

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September 15, 2014 · 10:58 pm

Halston, Warhol, pillbox hat together again – thx to Des Moines Art Center

All kinds of fun sounding events this month in conjunction with the Des Moines Art Center’s exhibit exploring/celebrating the friendship/collaboration of Halston and Warhol! I hope to make it to some!

An exhibition preview party will be held at the Art Center on Thursday,
September 18 from 6 – 8 pm (5 – 6 member hour) to celebrate the opening
of the exhibitions. Live music by DJ 8|10 and cash bar. Admission $5;
members FREE. The Art Center restaurant Baru at the Art Center will also
be open for dinner, offering a special menu; reservations recommended.

DES MOINES, IA (August 2014) – On September 18, the Des Moines Art Center
will open an exhibition organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh: Halston
and Warhol: Silver and Suede, which runs September 18, 2014 – January 18, 2015
in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. After premiering at The Andy Warhol Museum this
past May, the exhibition will embark on a national tour, beginning with the
Des Moines Art Center. The same evening, the Art Center will open a companion
exhibition, 15 Minutes in Des Moines: The Art Center Collects Andy Warhol, on view
in Blank One Gallery.

Silver and Suede will examine the dynamic friendship between legendary
American fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick (b. 1932, Des Moines), and artist
Andy Warhol (b. 1928, Pittsburgh) through art, fashion, photography, video, and personal memorabilia. Born within four years of each other, they had similar
beginnings to their careers, both starting out as window dressers for department
stores before relocating to New York City where they each found success in their
chosen fields.

An exhibition preview party will be held at the Art Center on Thursday,
September 18 from 6 – 8 pm (5 – 6 member hour) to celebrate the opening
of the exhibitions. Live music by DJ 8|10 and cash bar. Admission $5;
members FREE. The Art Center restaurant Baru at the Art Center will also
be open for dinner, offering a special menu; reservations recommended.
DES MOINES, IA (August 2014) – On September 18, the Des Moines Art Center
will open an exhibition organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh: Halston
and Warhol: Silver and Suede, which runs September 18, 2014 – January 18, 2015
in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. After premiering at The Andy Warhol Museum this
past May, the exhibition will embark on a national tour, beginning with the
Des Moines Art Center. The same evening, the Art Center will open a companion
exhibition, 15 Minutes in Des Moines: The Art Center Collects Andy Warhol, on view
in Blank One Gallery.
Silver and Suede will examine the dynamic friendship between legendary
American fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick (b. 1932, Des Moines), and artist
Andy Warhol (b. 1928, Pittsburgh) through art, fashion, photography, video, and personal memorabilia. Born within four years of each other, they had similar
beginnings to their careers, both starting out as window dressers for department
stores before relocating to New York City where they each found success in their
chosen fields.
Halston became the defining American fashion designer of the 1970s
through his effortlessly chic

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September 12, 2014 · 5:34 pm

Canoe options in Iowa – for future reference

Good canoeing options offered today by the DM Register – for future reference:20140831-194829.jpg

 

The Iowa River meanders through the central and eastern parts of Iowa, protected by the Iowa River Greenbelt, an effort started in the 1980s to connect Iowans to this river with hundreds of adjacent acres of recreational and protected lands.

It means there are plenty of trees carpeting the deep river valley, where a rocky stream that isn’t much wider than 75 feet bustles through.

I recently checked out a segment, a short 6-mile trip from Steamboat Rock to Eldora.

“It has bluffs, a rocky bottom and a nice drop (or gradient). It’s a nice stretch of river,” said Sandra Morlan of Rock-n-Row Adventures in Eldora.

If you go

Here are other recommendations of paddling trips with good fall colors from Central Iowa Paddlers and Todd Robertson, the DNR’s River Programs Outreach Coordinator.

• Red Rock Water Trail at Lake Red Rock: This 36-mile trail is a great back-up plan if stream levels are too low. The trail includes rocky cliffs and a sea cave at Elk Rock State Park and a paddle-in campsite at Hickory Ridge. Eagles’ nests and migratory birds make for great wildlife viewing and fall colors are in blaze, especially around Hickory Ridge. Use caution on windy days that create big waves on the lake. As the days get colder a wetsuit may be needed.

• Middle/South Raccoon Water Trail near Adel and Redfield: The Middle Raccoon’s high bluffs and the South’s unspoiled, remote woods make these great rivers in Central Iowa for fall colors. They are also good fishing streams for catfish, smallmouth bass and walleye.

• Middle River Water Trail near Winterset: A nice trip is from Roseman Covered Bridge to Pammel State Park. The river is tight, usually only 50 feet wide, which makes for a nice tree-lined trip. The river may be swift in higher waters, but watch out for low water in fall. The covered bridges of Madison County are famous for love, of course, so bring a honey on this one.

• Upper Iowa River near Decorah: If you want to take a longer drive, it may be worth it. Although it’s not yet an official state trail, this National Wild and Scenic River is nothing short of a gem and has long topped the lists of paddlers statewide. The water is spring-fed and clear, and the rocky bottom leaves fun riffles to paddle through, all along breathtaking bluffs that rise up to 60 feet. Fall paddlers love this one, of course, because of the surrounding blanket of trees and forests and the selection of numerous outfitters to drop you off.

DETAILS:

DNR maps and brochures of Iowa water trails:www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CanoeingKayaking/WaterTrails/WaterTrailMapsBrochures.aspx.

For nearby outfitters to rent canoes or kayaks, go towww.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/CanoeingKayaking/PaddlerResources.aspx.

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September 10, 2014 · 1:55 pm

Iowa cabins in the woods to remember: for future use!

We stayed near a 150-year-old cabin in the woods (see pix below) at Fern Hollow in Decorah earlier this month. (We were in the newer house, in a lovely room made of wood so it felt like a cabin.)

But I was also trying to remember the name of some other options when the DM Register came to the rescue so for future reference here they are:

The Natural Gait http://www.thenaturalgait.com near Marquette, along the good-for-canoeing Yellow River. (I’d heard of this one!) It’s a wildflower farm withe horse stables and a bunch of cabines.

Whiterock Conservancy near Boone – this is the old Garst place which we stayed (in the more gentile Hollyhock Cottage, not the River Cabin) at with our kids (and wrote about for the NYTimes travel section.)image

Pinicon ridge Park near Central City, north of Cedar Rapids, – four cabins along a river with one of my favorite names – the Wapsipinicon. Three have heat and AC. The River Otter Cabin is more rustic.

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September 1, 2014 · 1:15 am

Trout Run Trail, Magpie, sugar Bowl ice cream,– Decorah

Dunn's Spring

Dunn’s Spring

Trout run trail, Decorah

Trout run trail, Decorah

Along trout run trail

Along trout run trail

We have been on a lot of bike trails in Iowa but Decorah’s new Trout Run Trail is the most consistently gorgeous. It is only an 11 mile loop but what an 11 miles.We rode along the rushing waters of the Upper Iowa, past high stone bluffs furry with trees, past picture postcard farmsteads, (the white farmhouse, red wood and stone barn, the black and white grazing cattle), through dazzling fields of tall corn and soybeans and almost psychedelic-green grass.  We stopped at the top of a high hill and looked out for miles across the rolling fields. Later we stopped at a large trout hatchery with pools full of jumping rainbow trout soon to be in Iowa steams.

For breakfast we got lucky at Magpie, a coffee house with excellent French toast and scrambled egg wraps and surprisingly swift service,  given the crowd that arrived. We also enjoyed Agora Arts,  a terrific crafts gallery; the Oneota Community Co-Op, Dunn’s Springs (the closest to Ithaca’s falls I’ve seen in Iowa), Seed Savers, and the Sugar Bowl ice cream shoppe (sitting on the second floor balcony watching the action on water street, the main drag).

sugarbowlphoto (90)

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September 1, 2014 · 12:56 am

canoeing on the upper Iowa, fern hollow, rubiyat: Decorah Iowa!

image image

Fern hollow, Decorah

Fern hollow, Decorah

It is very dark and very quiet, except for the pulsing sound of crickets outside our screen windows in this charming back-to-basics, almost -off-the grid room of blond wood, ceramics, antiques and crafts. we are staying in the room for rent (via air b&b) of a family’s handmade wooden house deep in a wooded hollow (hence the name: fern hollow).

It always impresses me when I visit a place like this, that a family has made a place so uniquely theirs, making such a commitment to creating the life they want, living with the courage of their convictions. In this case, there is a strong sustainable living and ag vibe here (we peed in a toilet filled with sawdust. Reminded me of kitty litter — apparently to save on water…which is better than the option for the family staying deeper in the hollow in a restored 150-year old cabin built by the owners’ Norwegian ancestors. They have to walk in the dark to an outhouse). I feel a bit sheepish typing on this iPad but I won’t be able to post. No wifi, no cell phone calls. Which is refreshing. A ceramic bowl full of red and gold raspberries from the bount20140831-194829.jpgiful garden here was waiting for us in our room.

We had a nice easy float on the upper Iowa river on a spectacular day. It finally stopped raining so everything is very green and the sky was finally bright and blue with huge puffy white clouds above green but yellowing fields of tall corn. We hired a canoe for two hours at one of our usual spots – chimney rock. All good except for some obnoxious rowdy fellow canoeists – but hey it’s Labor Day weekend. Paddling past the high stone bluffs and grassy banks, we saw an eagle soaring high above us and blue egrets flapping and little goldfinches darting here and there. Lovely.

Dinner in Decorah at rubiyat was excellent. Such a pretty town full of beautiful old homes, a very well kept downtown with brick storefronts almost all filled with small independent businesses, some mom and pop types that have been here for years, plus good galleries, a food co-op, a diverse smattering of restaurants including my favorite name for a soft serve ice cream stand : the whippy dip!
Now if you will excuse me, I have to leaf through a photo book about tree houses that I found on our book shelves.

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August 29, 2014 · 7:20 pm

Okoboji in the NYTimes travel section

Good travel story on Okoboji and the Iowa Great Lakes in the NYTimes (which unforunately I didn’t write – but could have if I wasn’t so busy riding my bike through northwest Iowa on RAGBRAI last June!)

see: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/travel/in-iowa-an-oasis-of-family-vacations-past.html?ref=travel

 

IF YOU GO

Where to Stay

Fillenwarth Beach (87 Lakeshore Drive, Arnolds Park, Iowa; fillenwarthbeach.com; from $160 in summer).

Crescent Beach Lodge (1619 Lakeshore Drive, Milford, Iowa; crescentbeachlodge.com; from $370 in summer).

Where to Eat and Drink

West O Beer (503 Terrace Park Boulevard, West Okoboji, Iowa; westobeer.com). Microbrewery and taproom.

Restaurant 1856 (Central Emporium, 144 Lakeshore Drive, Arnolds Park, Iowa;restaurant1856.com). Modern American cuisine, sunset views.

The O’Farrell Sisters Restaurant (1109 Lake Shore Drive, Okoboji; parksmarina.com) has been turning out breakfasts and lunches for nearly 70 years.

What to Do

Arnolds Park Amusement Park (37 Lake Street, Arnolds Park; arnoldspark.com). The Legend roller coaster is $8 a ride. Some attractions, like the Tipsy House, are free.

University of Okoboji merchandise is available at the Three Sons (902 10th Street, Milford; thethreesons.com).

A version of this article appears in print on August 31, 2014, on page TR9 of the New Yor

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