I am not alone in my adoration of Iowa. The state has been immortalized on Broadway in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, in works of fiction such as Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County, in films such as Field of Dreams and in paintings such as Grant Wood’s American Gothic.

What homage to Iowa would be complete without mentioning Iowa’s contribution to our culinary lanscape? Iowa is often referred to as “the nation’s breadbasket” as the state is the the US’s #1 producer of corn, hogs and soybeans as well as a major producer of cattle & calves and dairy products. From this great agriculture comes great cooking. Today I searched amazon.com for Iowa, narrowed down by Cooking, Food & Wine, and found 1,478 results! That is a real testament to the deliciousness that is Iowa. One of my favorite cookbooks is Best of the Best from Iowa. Every recipe I have ever used from this book has been fantastic. From beverages to desserts, these recipes are infallible. These are recipes that anyone will enjoy, whether you’ve been to Iowa or not. And thanks to globalization, no ingredient is out of reach.

I encourage you to seek out and enjoy some delicious Iowa products. You’ll be glad you did.

Landscape 6 by Citizen110

I am a huge advocate of farm-fresh, seasonal, local, organic foods and I have great respect for family farmers. The idea of not knowing exactly what will be coming for me each week is quite exciting as well. It reminds me of when I was in culinary school and the chef-instructor would announce to the class that “today is Market Basket Day” and we would have free reign of any and all ingredients in the kitchen and pantry and we were graded on our creativity and use of product.

We still have about 3 weeks to go but I will be sure to report on what I receive and how I utilize it. Be sure to come back and see what’s cooking!