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Category: Iowa Food
Take the Local Holiday Challenge!
Get signed up with a free 6 month trial membership and celebrate locally this year.
Take the pledge and help boost Iowa’s local economy by $50,000.
Click the image for more information and to get started.
Local Thanksgiving Challenge
Shop products from over 125 Iowa farms and support the local food economy this holiday:
Sign up for a free trial membership
Fill out the form and be on your way.
Make a list, check it twice, then shop
Order through Sunday, Nov. 17. See our Thanksgiving Shopping List, then check the product listing to order
Your Local Foods Thanksgiving Headquarters
Check out this visual guide to shopping local this Thanksgiving. Shop online until this Sunday, November 17, and delivery is at one of our five locations on November 21-23. See the checklist here, then go shopping here.
Heritage turkeys are going fast! Order now.
How about a capon instead of turkey this year? Matt of Holdeman Poultry promises you’ll never go back.
See the selection here.
Don’t forget the pie! This one from Gardner’s Harvest. Check out our entire selection of Iowa made pies.
Fresh greens from Iowa; no need to outsource here.
Browse.
Cloverleaf dinner rolls for your table.
See the entire selection of breads and rolls.
Free-range eggs for all your baking needs.
Check them out.
Greg Maxwell of Maxwell Farms suggests Iowa grown potatoes for your dinner. More varieties than the grocery store, that’s for sure.
This butterkin squsah from Glenwood Century Farm is part butternut squash, part pumpkin. Or choose a Long Island Cheese pumpkin from Quaking Bog Botanicals for your homemade heirloom pumpkin pie.
Start baking local pumpkin pie here.
Fresh herbs take your cooking to another level.
Shown here is sage from Red Barn Produce.
Carrots are a must. Chemical-free as well. Baby carrots also available.
Don’t care for turkey? Why not ham? Or perhaps a pork tenderloin?
Iowa-made Gouda cheese is welcome at any table. Their newest addition is black pepper Gouda.
Summer sausage keeps the guests happy while dinner cooks.
The secret to the best apple pie? Local apples, of course!
Tip: Greek yogurt makes incredible mashed potatoes.
Pumpkin Pie Pecan Toffee. No explanation needed.
Also consider a donation to help families in need purchase local food. The current statistic is that 1 in 5 Iowa children goes to bed hungry every night.
Try our membership for free, which means all you have to do is complete the membership form, go shopping, and pay for what you buy. You’ll enjoy a free membership for six months!
Your Local Foods Thanksgiving Checklist
The next distribution cycle is timed so pick-up will happen the Thursday before Thanksgiving. The cart will open on Friday of this week (the 8th). It’ll close at midnight on Sunday Nov. 17th with distribution on Thurs. November 21. We’ll send out the cart-is-open email at the end of this week.
Here is a list of holiday-related foods that are available through the IFC; as always, feel free to contact producers if you have something particular that you need for your holiday celebration, they often welcome custom orders.
Be a part of our Thanksgiving recipe swap!
We’d love to add your recipe to our collection, please email us directly at wayofbaking@gmail.com or submit your recipe via our handy recipe form: https://iowafood.coop/submit-a-recipe/
Sorghum–the Local Superfood Sweetener
When you meet Jennifer Kramer manning one of her sorghum syrup tables, she will probably invite you to try a small taste of molasses and then one of sorghum. While molasses might not be as popular as it once was, it is still a crucial ingredient in brown sugar, graham crackers, gingersnaps, and even barbecue sauce. A small tasting spoonful (or pretzel stick, another item she uses for sampling) of molasses will be sweet at first, with a little acidic quality, but nothing too remarkable. The next taste of Maasdam’s sorghum syrup, however, will taste monumentally different; smooth, complex, and pleasantly sweet, without being overwhelming or seeming astringent. It’s all in the flavor, and once your tastebuds are awakened, molasses will probably be an ingredient of your past.
What is sorghum?
- Sorghum is a syrup made from sweet sorghum cane used as a table syrup and can be used in baking. Example: Use sorghum syrup on pancakes, corn bread, and bread. Use sorghum syrup in baked beans, cookies, BBQ sauce and popcorn balls.
- Sorghum syrup is made from sorghum cane, not corn or sugar cane or grain sorghum. Sorghum cane grows 12 to 15 feet tall. The stalk is pressed for the juice.
- Sorghum syrup and molasses are not the same. Molasses is a by-product of the sugar industry. Sorghum is the juice from the sorghum cane that is boiled to produce the syrup.
- Sorghum does not need to be refrigerated. It does not mold like maple syrup, but could sugar. If this happens, just reheat it back to liquid form.
- Sorghum is healthy for you. It contains iron, calcium and potassium.
(http://www.maasdamsorghum.com/)
What is the story behind Maasdam sorghum syrup?
The Maasdam Sorghum Mill is a family owned corporation. The family has made sorghum every year since 1926. The 7th generation is now starting to learn the process of this-old fashioned product.
The Maasdam Sorghum Mill is directly involved in the making of sorghum from start to finish. We raise the cane, harvest it, press it, boil it, bottle it and deliver it. We take pride in the process and want our customers to be 100% satisfied with the quality of the sorghum.
(http://www.maasdamsorghum.com/)
Not yet sold? Try our recipe for Sorghum Chocolate Chip Cookies, which is also egg-free and dairy-free (and gluten-free if needed).
Check out the entire Maasdam product offering through the Iowa Food Coop shop and taste the difference–the sweet and local difference.
Iowa Caprese Salad
Ground Lamb Curry
Lasagna, Iowa Food Coop Style
Member and volunteer extraordinaire Jamie took on the challenge of transforming a favorite lasagna recipe to use as many Coop products as possible. Here is what she used:
- Ground beef from Broadhorn Farm
- Italian Gouda cheese from Frisian Farms
- Lasagna noodles from ZaZa’s Pasta
- Tomato basil sauce from ZaZa’s Pasta
- Ground beef from Broadhorn Farm
- Italian Gouda cheese from Frisian Farms
- Lasagna noodles from ZaZa’s Pasta
- Tomato basil sauce from ZaZa’s Pasta
IFC board treasurer Carrie approved!