Iowa, Pt. 1: Cousin Margot of West Bend

Upon leaving Illinois, we drove up to visit my mom's cousin Margot. She lives in an old farmhouse two miles out from the town of West Bend, population 834 at the time of the 2000 census. Cousin Margot was very matter-of-factly pleasant in manner, and was overwhelmingly hospitable with her time and her table.

One day she drove us over to town to pick up the keys to the local museum and gave us a private history tour, which also included the old one-room schoolhouse and ity-bity original post office and the historically-built pioneer sod house seen above, complete with native prairie grass.

Cousin Margot giving the history lesson. The intense mannequin is modeling the actual outfit worn by the last schoolteacher on the last day the school was open (I don't remember the actual year the schoolhouse closed, but it was not as far back as you would think--the 30's or 40's perhaps).

The view from the teacher's desk. Note the bonnets hanging in the back, ready for when the students leave--and the communal water pail and dipper on the table at the right.

Then Cousin Margot took us downtown to the soda parlor/gift shop for refreshing, old-fashioned ice cream cones, malts and root-beer floats. The only flavor of ice-cream on hand--the only one needed--was of course vanilla.

Actually, during our two day visit, much of my attention was fixed on gastronomic delights. Even with all the fun and interesting things we did and saw while there, Cousin Margot's homecooked Iowan food was the most fascinating and memorable experience for me. In a very, very good way. Our first dinner there the table was loaded with dishes, no less than three of them involving bacon, including the vegetable and lettuce salad. In fact, bacon and white sugar played a very large role in every meal we had at Cousin Margot's table. Fittingly, I ate like a pig, and would have needed larger pants if we had stayed any longer.

Two words: Butter Braid

Cousin Margot's Green Salad.

This colorful gelatin salad comes with a funny vignette. At lunch when this was served, G ate a good meal of everything put before her, and was eagerly anticipating a lot of dessert in reward. Cousin Margot was offering a rhubarb ice-box dessert, chocolate cake, cookies, and two kinds of ice cream. I told G she could choose two. She thought about her options, and then slyly asked me if she could have some of the gelatin dish in addition to her two chosen desserts. I laughed and said no, that she had to limit herself to two desserts. Cousin Margot looked at me strangely and corrected me, saying, "It's not dessert, it's salad."

Recipes, much anticipated, I am sure, to follow.

Butter braid photo from West Bend own butterbraid.com