THE IOWA STATE FAIR: FOOD, FAMILY AND A PIRATE QUEEN!

Last August, Kelly, my mother Judy, Aunt Janis, Lisa & myself flew out to Des Moines, Iowa where we met up with my sister Julie, brother-in-law TJ, their kids Vanessa & Thomas who made the trek by car, and last but certainly not least my Uncle Mark (our de facto tour guide) who flew in from Tampa.

Who the heck goes to Iowa in the middle of a sweltering hot August one might ask? Well to be honest us! And some of the 1,118,763 others who attended the Iowa State Fair in 2022. Yes, you read that right over 1 million people. The Iowa State Fair began in 1854 and has been held annually on the Iowa State Fairgrounds since 1886. It is based in the state capital Des Moines, Iowa over an 11 day period each August. It is the second largest state fair in the United States next to Texas and is single largest event in the state of Iowa and one of the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in the country. It is the true heartbeat of the Midwest, unequaled and unduplicated.

SPOILER ALERT: THERE’S FOOD AHEAD!

Food is one of the main attractions at the Iowa State Fair! The Fair boasts nearly 200 food stands and over 50 delectable items available on a stick.

Now everybody has their favorites but I’m gonna give you my top 5 picks of things to eat at the Iowa State Fair:

• Pork Chop on a Stick – Ooh-wee, let me tell you something, you haven’t lived until you tasted one of these! Since the introduction of the pork chop on a stick, the Iowa Pork Producers estimate they’ve sold more than 1 million, and the current estimate is 50,000 were consumed over the course of the fair. The association describes the dish as a frenched rib pork chop weighing 9 to 11 ounces. Tender, juicy, flavorful, succulent, heck I don’t even think there are enough words to describe how absolutely delicious these pork chops were. And it was on a stick! It was so good, we went back on day 2 just to get another one!

 

 

• The Finisher – The Finisher is a giant baked potato that won the 2022 Iowa State Fair People’s Choice Best New Food award. The Finisher is a combination of comfort foods, including brisket, pulled pork, and mac and cheese. It’s served with BBQ sour cream and garlic rub butter. This one is Mom’s favorite. Day one she shared, Day 2 she said, “Get your own, this ones mine!”

 

 

• Great River Maple Bourbon Aged Maple Syrup – Now, I know what you’re going to say, syrup is a condiment but this maple syrup is hands down the best I have ever had. The good people at Great River age pure maple syrup in Iowa bourbon barrels from an Iowa Distillery.  So their already delicious maple syrup soaks up the added flavor from the bourbon which which includes hints of vanilla and oak. All of their bourbon syrup is aged in small batches which gives a distinct flavor to each batch. I’ve had it on pancakes and crepes but they recommend it on vanilla ice cream and even in your coffee. you can order from their website and they will ship right to your door. Oh, and while you’re there, give the Maple Cotton Candy a try. You can thank me later!

 

 

• Barksdale’s State Fair Cookies – Synonymous with the Iowa State Fair, Barksdale’s State Fair Cookies are a popular must-have for Fairgoers each year. These soft and chewy cookies in a bucket have been made by the Barksdale family since 1993. The chocolate chip recipe is a family recipe, and was made by hand for many years. I’m shocked the bucket made it back to the hotel room.

 

• Hot Beef Sundae –  These are just like hot fudge sundaes, just with warm, hearty ingredients. Comfort food at its finest! So in a way you can have dessert for dinner! The mashed potatoes are the “ice cream.” The shredded beef and gravy are the “hot fudge.” Shredded cheese as the “sprinkles” with sour cream as the “whipped cream.” And of course you top it with a “cherry” tomato!

 

A COW MADE OF WHAT?

There are many cool things on display at the Iowa State Fair. Animals, Tractors, and even some years, like the current one, presidential hopefulls! But one of the biggest attractions at the fair is the Butter Cow. 

The Iowa State Fair’s butter cow is a famous display in the John Deere Agriculture Building. In 2022, sculptor Sarah Pratt created the 600-pound bovine. The butter cow is made from a frame of wood, metal, wire, and steel mesh, and weighs around 600 pounds, while a real dairy cow weighs more than 1,000 pounds.

The butter cow is a tradition that dates back to the 1920s. A new butter cow is made every year at the state fair and is usually made using the butter from the previous year’s sculpture. The butter can be reused for up to 10 years.

 

 

POOR, POOR AUNT JANIS

From the early stages of planning this trip out to the mid-west, all Aunt Janis would talk about is that she couldn’t wait to get some deep fried butter on a stick! “Butter Fried Butter!” she would say with a smile on her face, every time we saw her.

For months every phone call ended with “Butter Fried Butter!” In the car on our way to the airport, and again when we got on the plane, “Butter Fried Butter!” Finally, the day had come we were at the fair and Jan would finally get her coveted deep fried butter on a stick! All those months of waiting, the anticipation, the craving, all to find out that deep fried butter on a stick was discontinued in 2013.

We all felt terrible for her, poor poor Jan! Then we went to the Craft Beer Tent had a few beers and all was right in the world again!

 

 

BOUTON, IOWA BIRTHPLACE OF MY GRANDMOTHER

 

 

The day after we went to the fair, Uncle Mark guided our small 2 car caravan 35 miles north west of Des Moines to the small towns of Bouton, and Perry, Iowa. We drove through corn fields and down dirt roads and after a few u-turns we saw the house where my grandmother was born.

 

She only lived there a short time before her family moved a few miles down the road to Perry. 

We then went to Violet Hill Cemetery in Perry, Iowa, the resting place of my great-grand parents and many other relatives on my maternal grandmother’s side. My Great-Grandmother Ellen was an O’Malley and we were able to trace that line all the way back to the first O’Malleys who settled there from County Mayo, Ireland.

 

 

DESCENDANTS OF THE PIRATE QUEEN

Uncle Mark was lucky enough to visit the area with my grandmother while she was still alive and he had inherited information from her regarding her family history. He was kind enough to make packets for all of us which included personal letters from relatives, a family history summary as well as a family tree of John O’Malley Sr. (1774-1887). Yes, you read that right he lived to the ripe old age of 113. Amazing!

O’Malley may well be said to be Irish of the Irish. It is one of the few O names from which the prefix was never widely dropped.  It is not specially numerous, but it is very well known.  It belonged exclusively in the past to County Mayo, and this is almost equally true of the present day.

There is quite a bit of legend to the O’Malley surname.  One of the most notable O’Malley’s being Grace O’Malley, or in Irish, Gráinne Ní Mháille. Grace was the daughter of Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máille, and raised in the area surrounding Clew Bay in County Mayo. Her father was chieftain of the Ó Máille clan, and a direct descendant of Máille mac Conall, King of Uí Máille who died in 812. Grace O’Malley is one of the most famous pirates of all time. From the age of eleven she forged a career of seafaring and piracy and was considered a fierce leader at sea and shrewd politician on land.

 In 1593, O’Malley sailed to England to petition Queen Elizabeth I for the release of her brother and sons. The historic meeting with Queen Elizabeth I and the ‘pirate queen’ took place at Greenwich Castle. Their conversation was carried out in English, as Grace spoke no Latin and Elizabeth spoke no Irish. The encounter was a success for Grace as Elizabeth granted each of her requests on the condition she ceased all rebellion against the crown. However, several of O’Malley’s other demands remained unresolved. Grace realized that the meeting with Elizabeth had been useless, and her clan supported the Irish insurgents during later clashes with the English.

Grace O’Malley successfully defended the independence of her territories at a time when much of Ireland fell under the English rule and is still considered today ‘the pirate queen of Ireland.’

Although I live quite far from the Emerald Isle, it is very likely that I am related to the legendary Pirate Queen and Chieftain Grace O’Malley, and like her, a descendant of Máille mac Conall, the King of Uí Máille, from the Clew Bay area of Ireland’s County Mayo.

 

THE MACHINE SHED 

The Machine Shed is a farm-themed American restaurant chain that offers traditional American food. One could say, (me being the one) it’s Cracker Barrell on steroids. They have locations in Davenport, Iowa, Urbandale, Iowa, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, and Rockford, Illinois. So, if you find yourself near any of those places, you must eat here! This place was so good we ate dinner there twice, some of us 3 times (Uncle Mark). Some of my recommendations are: