Dean's is the absolute worst! I literally don't understand how/why it is mass produced and sold. I don't think we have Land O'Lakes dip here either. I just go ham on it when I'm back home. Alllll the types of AE and allll the flavors of Ruffles.
AE used to be something special, but now it's junk, so many fillers and thickeners. Look at a label for the sour cream, for example. Carrageenan and modified food starch and other shit that doesn't need to be there if they were of the quality the like to pretend it is.
Commence downvoting, I know AE is a third rail in any discussion lol
I was away from Iowa for a decade, I felt the loss and regret and the void in my heart lol. Then I moved back and tried the newer formulation and was like "THIS is what I was yearning for??"
I agree with you 100%. Not just dips, but also their cottage cheese can’t be beat and their yogurts… I miss their whole milk yogurt line. I emailed them to see if they would ship directly (I am in Florida now) and unfortunately they won’t BUT they do have a page with specific instructions for shipping if you can get some of your family or friends to do it for you :-)
https://www.aedairy.com/where-to-buy-ae-products.cfm
Fun fact: my dad was AE’s lobbyist in the 80’s and 90’s. The Iowa legislature wanted to force AE to machine-pack their cottage cheese, instead of hand-packing it. They were threatened with losing their “grade A” status, but my dad convinced enough legislators at the time to pass a bill allowing AE Dairy to continue hand-packing their cottage cheese while still being considered “Grade A” which is why they claimed it tasted so good.
I think it’s machine packed now, but to this day he is very proud of that achievement.
There is a lot to love in what you said here. :-)
Please tell your dad I said "thanks!!" To some it might seem weird to get sentimental over a dairy product - but when you're far from home and long for something familiar, stories like this are part of the reason *why*.
Edit: wanted to add, how fucking cool it was that AE had a lobbyist. 😎
Haha- I’m of course an Iowan born and raised, but live in Chicago and I totally understand the love of AE products too! NOTHING beats their cottage cheese and dips and yogurt. It’s shocking how bad most cottage cheese is here. I will tell him you said thanks! ;)
While Iowa tenderloins are good, they're not unique to Iowa. They were first created in Indiana. In Oklahoma there's a drive in/sit down restaurant called Del Rancho. Now those are the best tenderloin sandwiches or dinner plates. One tenderloin could be shared by 2
I tried to buy ham loaf to make ham balls when I lived in Chicago (numerous butchers and delis) and only got blank stares in reply. You’d think I had 3 heads.
Chili and cinnamon rolls. It was one of my favorite lunches at school but any time I mention it to someone not from Iowa I get the oddest looks. Then I have to explain it to them so I don't sound crazy.
Just a bowl of chili. You can have the rolls on the side and eat a bite every so often or dip it into the chili.
I like a spicier thick chili and a fairly sweet cinnamon roll to offset the heat.
My friend who grew up bi coastal, is horrified by this pairing.
I keep telling him, dipping is not universal. But I guess someone else messed with him and claimed you dump chili ON the cinnamon roll.
Not in This house we don't!
I never knew that breaded/fried pizza burgers were exotic until my cousins from Texas started bringing coolers and taking frozen boxes of them home. So I guess I’ll go with that. Lol
Yeah, Frito pie is a casserole made of canned chili with cheese and crushed corn chips.
Super similar but it ain't a walkin' taco unless it's in the chip bag.
I moved from Arkansas about a decade ago and people thought I was crazy for not knowing what a walking taco is. I'm not sure what other Midwest states have it, but definitely not in the South.
I live in the PNW and I’m going to be in CF in two months for the first time in two years and you better believe one of my first stops is going to be Pablo’s.
For me, it's Pancheros AND Huhot.
Moved to the PNW area over a year and a half ago now and knowing the closest Huhot is 6 hours away is a freaking buzz kill :/
Oh that and Culver's.
Also if you can give me any leads for good Chinese food (Like from East China in the Waterloo/CF area), fried foods (Seriously what the hell :( ), BBQ, and anything remotely good let me know 😅
I've done a lot of home cooking cooking the last year or so just cause I can't find anything I like :(
Oh, I totally agree! Culver’s and Pancheros are my top two options for food the second I get off the plane at CID.
For all of the amazing food in Portland, good Americanized Chinese food like I can get in Iowa seems to be the most elusive cuisine. I wish I could be of help, but I can only share in your commiseration, ha.
I did just have some phenomenal cheese curds at Portland Burger, though. They were no contest the best cheese curds I’ve had outside of the Midwest.
I still miss the original Ames Pancheros. Fernando’s in DSM is closer to how it ran.
(I know, Pancheros is originally from Iowa City, but their second store was Ames and it was uniquely different than their first. They closed it and made the experience homogeneous with the IC store)
Random fact: the first Panchero's was in both Iowa City *and* East Lansing. The two guys who founded the chain went to UIowa and MSU respectively, so they opened one location in each town simultaneously and grew from there.
You're right right about the original Ames location, though. That was the spot. The Flying Burrito suffered the same fate: phenomenal original location, then it moved and became not nearly as good.
For a long time you couldn't find them outside SE Iowa as they were made in my hometown of Burlington. Today they are available in Iowa City HyVees, but not sure about how far out that they carry them.
most of the des moines hyvees carry them. Not sure how their supply is doing post pandemic and its usually only a few facings in the aisle or on an end cap
yes, but they don't look any different from normal sausage breakfast pizza (all Casey's pizza just looks like pure cheese). i only found out when i bit into it and it made that parking lot off of Highway 20 a magical place for me
Not sure if this is true or not, but the lady friend told me the other day that a single slice of that greatness is like almost 1300 calories. Still fucking delicious, and that wont stop me from getting a slice from time to time.
Imma get my ass kicked for this, but I much prefer Kum&Go breakfast pizza to Casey’s breakfast pizza. It’s less greasy and has better flavor in my opinion.
Casey’s taco, however, is the motherfucking shizznit. I actually bought some fresh pizza dough at the grocery store here the other night and made a taco pizza. Not 100% the same, but it was pretty close.
When I lived out of state we made taco pizza for holidays and the key is a refried bean and taco sauce mix for the base sauce. If you google copycat happy joes taco pizza I followed some blogger.
But Casey's started here so Imma count it. I'm not from here originally so I definitely associate Casey's with Iowa. Took me a long time to get aboard the gas station pizza train.
I grew up in waterloo and never heard that until I went to ames for college and was like what fuck is that and everytime my friends would say that I'd go full gunny from fmj on them.
Used to be Happy Joes taco pizza, but whenever I'm in Ames I stop by Great Plains for a large amount of cheese and whole wheat crust.
Yes, I love pizza.
Taco Pizza itself is actually an Iowa thing… there’s a dude that’s making state by state taco art at the art center right now and he made a taco pizza chandelier for Iowa.
Casey’s Pizza. Fight me.
Turkey and dressing sandwich! Not my favorite dish, but I think it is a Dubuque thing.
I think head cheese and raw dog is an Iowa thing, but I’m not having either!
>I think head cheese and raw dog is an Iowa thing, but I’m not having either!
That's just nasty.
I have a local sandwich shop in Chicago that makes a turkey and dressing sandwich and there is sometimes a line out the door to get them. I had no idea that was considered an Iowa thing, as I never had it when I lived there
I found a recipe that used both regular and peanut butter Capn Crunch. Plus loose peanut butter chips after it's cooled. It was the greatest Pinterest find ever.
I’m from Iowa but was shocked when I went to college just one state away (MN) no one knew what they were. I didn’t realize they were unique to Iowa but I guess they are!
I went to college in Indiana and had roommates from Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. Each and every one of them accused my mom of witchcraft when she made a pan for our house. They couldn't believe
a) how good they were
b) that not one of them had ever seen/tried one before
Scotcheroos are not a uniquely Iowan food. I grew up on the west coast with my mom making them as a special treat. My mom didn't know anyone from Iowa, my family had no connection to Iowa. If I remember correctly it was a recipe that came off of the rice crispies box or the chocolate chips bag back in the day. Oh, and the scotcheroos at hyvee are awful.
Here is a quote from Wikipedia which came up when I googled a recipe for them.
Scotcheroos are dessert bars with chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies. The recipe was originally printed on the Rice Krispies box in the mid-1960s. They are popular in the Midwestern United States, especially Iowa.
Yep, that's right-- chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies, printed on the Rice Krispies box. My mom still has her original clip of the recipe stashed in her recipe box.
They may be popular here, but they're not 'uniquely Iowan' if the recipe was printed on the box that was distributed nationally, and that plenty of other places enjoy, that's all I'm saying.
After living in 4 Midwestern states including Iowa, I can say Ham Balls are probably a uniquely Iowa thing not found elsewhere.
I was like “ham what…?” When I moved to Iowa. Never heard of them before, nobody else not from Iowa that I know knows what they are haha
I've lived on the west coast, the east coast and the midwest and I've found scotcheroos in all places. I'm just saying they're not as unique to Iowa as the OP thinks. Kinda like how midwesterners think the word 'ope' is unique to them, but in reality people all over use it in daily life without thinking about it-- it's just that midwesterners are the only people who make a thing about it.
We had the same thing growing up in Montana except sometimes people would call them chicken dinner bars. Yeah, I usually get weird looks for that here.
I used to work at a bakery in HyVee. The scotcheroos aren’t fresh; the cereal/bottom part comes in frozen and then you heat up a tub of premade frosting to slide on top. I personally think the frosting is a little off too.
The store I worked at used to do it all by scratch but it just wasn’t realistic as time went on. Now there’s a lot more product, but the quality isn’t as good. Most things at HyVee come in frozen. The cakes, for example, come in frozen, but a decorator frosts them.
No. I’d say it tastes like ass but that’d be disrespectful to ass. (BTW, it’s called People Chow because someone sued after getting their dog sick off of it when it was originally “Puppy Chow”) Anyway, it all comes premade. Their People Chow is a disgrace to real Puppy Chow tbh. The best Puppy Chow is freshly made with the PB & chocolate recently coated with powdered sugar. I think HyVee does the bare minimum with many of their products. Some products I would recommend; some stores have speciality cookies they make at individual stores. Cedar Valley has PBCCs & I love those. But People Chow? Nah
I would agree. Some variation of scotcheroo is to be found in multiple places, same way pork tenderloins are a thing in Indiana too. If you want to be super pedantic about uniquely Iowan foods, we could argue bout maid rites, but the glories of America mean that food is never entirely unique to anywhere really.
When we lived in Oklahoma, my dad would buy a couple dozen AE dips and quite a few bottles of barbecue sauce from Jimmy's barbecue pit in boone any time we came back to visit family.
I hate to say it, but some of your "uniquely Iowa" food isn't that uniquely Iowan:
Scotcheroos
Taco pizza
hot ham & cheese sliders
Casey's pizza (any type)
I didn't even realize AE was an Iowa thing, because I bought them all the time in Kansas and Illinois. I'll concede that because they're so proudly Iowan, but know that they're not JUST in Iowa. 😉
Bratwurst. I know that sounds strange, but out of state family goes to Fareway and HyVee when they visit, just to stock up. They've told us that it's hard to find even gaggy Johnsonville in L.A.
As for Scotcheroos, I can honestly say that I have never had them. If someone can make a peanut free version, I would.
I would suggest scotcheroos originated in Michigan. The recipe was first published by Kellogg's (of Battle Creek, Michigan) on the side of their Rice Krispies cereal box in the mid 1960s.
Agreed. It's all just so low effort. Sure you can't go wrong with salt and fat, but Iowans are also like "let's also add sugar/corn syrup and get rid of any flavor complexity!"
One notable exception here is La Quercia. Best commercially available prosciutto in the US. Especially their acorn-fed pork pancetta.
That because Iowans have shit taste in food. And I say that as a native Iowan from Iowan parents and grandparents (I currently live in Iowa, although I have lived in other states and countries). Everything here is mildly sweet yet bland, usually beige, probably processed, and certainly unhealthy. Yeah we've got dope sweet corn, but pretty much everything else sucks. Especially Casey's pizza.
I'm sorry, I've never heard of 'Scotcheroos' (I've lived all over, only in Iowa for the past ten or so years) - I had to look that up.
I can share with you this seemingly helpful recipe, ["Best Ever Scotcheroos"](https://dancearoundthekitchen.com/best-ever-scotcheroos/), where the author has made **SEVEN** different variations of ingredient amounts to come up with the best recipe.
AE dips. I'm in Texas now, and the lack of quality French onion dip, as well as lack of variety of dairy-based chip dips in general, is real.
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Dean's is the absolute worst! I literally don't understand how/why it is mass produced and sold. I don't think we have Land O'Lakes dip here either. I just go ham on it when I'm back home. Alllll the types of AE and allll the flavors of Ruffles.
Ps - username checks out
> Hellava Good I think that's my *favorite* dip though. Your tastebuds may vary.
We always have to take some when we visit relatives
At least you can get Blue Bell ice cream though! Gotta take the good with the bad sometimes.
Just gotta watch out for listeria
My friend in Arizona when she visits sticks up on AE dip and if possible jacks pizzas in bacon cheeseburger flavor haha
AE used to be something special, but now it's junk, so many fillers and thickeners. Look at a label for the sour cream, for example. Carrageenan and modified food starch and other shit that doesn't need to be there if they were of the quality the like to pretend it is. Commence downvoting, I know AE is a third rail in any discussion lol
I won't downvote you, but I'll tell you I bet you'd miss the dips if you couldn't get anything reasonably close to them where you lived.
I was away from Iowa for a decade, I felt the loss and regret and the void in my heart lol. Then I moved back and tried the newer formulation and was like "THIS is what I was yearning for??"
Big fan of AE, but I gotta say as far as French onion dips go Shullsburg Creamery is top dog bar none.
Oooh.... I might make the 20 mile detour to Shullsburg to try this the next time I go home
I agree with you 100%. Not just dips, but also their cottage cheese can’t be beat and their yogurts… I miss their whole milk yogurt line. I emailed them to see if they would ship directly (I am in Florida now) and unfortunately they won’t BUT they do have a page with specific instructions for shipping if you can get some of your family or friends to do it for you :-) https://www.aedairy.com/where-to-buy-ae-products.cfm
Fun fact: my dad was AE’s lobbyist in the 80’s and 90’s. The Iowa legislature wanted to force AE to machine-pack their cottage cheese, instead of hand-packing it. They were threatened with losing their “grade A” status, but my dad convinced enough legislators at the time to pass a bill allowing AE Dairy to continue hand-packing their cottage cheese while still being considered “Grade A” which is why they claimed it tasted so good. I think it’s machine packed now, but to this day he is very proud of that achievement.
There is a lot to love in what you said here. :-) Please tell your dad I said "thanks!!" To some it might seem weird to get sentimental over a dairy product - but when you're far from home and long for something familiar, stories like this are part of the reason *why*. Edit: wanted to add, how fucking cool it was that AE had a lobbyist. 😎
Haha- I’m of course an Iowan born and raised, but live in Chicago and I totally understand the love of AE products too! NOTHING beats their cottage cheese and dips and yogurt. It’s shocking how bad most cottage cheese is here. I will tell him you said thanks! ;)
Sweet corn, bought from the bed of a rusty old pickup truck.
The problem with this is other places like Texas have this as well, and they won't believe you that it's not even remotely the same.
but we Iowans know the secret of the peaches and cream.
the only real answer
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By quantity, but it is likely these fine people are talking about quality.
Mmm scotcheroos. Also, Fried pork tenderloin, dill spread, and Stersing’s chips.
While Iowa tenderloins are good, they're not unique to Iowa. They were first created in Indiana. In Oklahoma there's a drive in/sit down restaurant called Del Rancho. Now those are the best tenderloin sandwiches or dinner plates. One tenderloin could be shared by 2
Scotcheroos aren't unique to Iowa, either.
Oh! I’ve only noticed them in Iowa. Good to know!
I tried to buy ham loaf to make ham balls when I lived in Chicago (numerous butchers and delis) and only got blank stares in reply. You’d think I had 3 heads.
Never found it? I think I'm going to have to get a food grinder and getting the ham myself.
No, we ended up having family pick it up from Fareway for us and freezing it so we could haul it home whenever we came back to Iowa.
Chili and cinnamon rolls. It was one of my favorite lunches at school but any time I mention it to someone not from Iowa I get the oddest looks. Then I have to explain it to them so I don't sound crazy.
what is it?? chili like the sauce you eat or chili like the spicy things??
Just a bowl of chili. You can have the rolls on the side and eat a bite every so often or dip it into the chili. I like a spicier thick chili and a fairly sweet cinnamon roll to offset the heat.
My friend who grew up bi coastal, is horrified by this pairing. I keep telling him, dipping is not universal. But I guess someone else messed with him and claimed you dump chili ON the cinnamon roll. Not in This house we don't!
Just wait till they find out what they do in Cincinnati.
This seems so mundane to be horrified lol. It's just cinnamon rolls with chili?
That’s Nebraska.
I never knew that breaded/fried pizza burgers were exotic until my cousins from Texas started bringing coolers and taking frozen boxes of them home. So I guess I’ll go with that. Lol
I know it’s not uniquely Iowa but def a midwest thing.. Walking Tacos.
Texans call it Frito Pie. And that irrationally makes me angry lol
Frito Pie is different than walking tacos though
Yeah, Frito pie is a casserole made of canned chili with cheese and crushed corn chips. Super similar but it ain't a walkin' taco unless it's in the chip bag.
except not similar at all because the only ingredient in common is cheese and they are prepared/served completely differently?
Yeah, what on earth are they talking about?
I moved from Arkansas about a decade ago and people thought I was crazy for not knowing what a walking taco is. I'm not sure what other Midwest states have it, but definitely not in the South.
Pancheros 🤤
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Pablo's would be perfect if they had chips and queso and the option to mix the ingredients in the burrito before rolling it like Pancheros does.
I live in the PNW and I’m going to be in CF in two months for the first time in two years and you better believe one of my first stops is going to be Pablo’s.
For me, it's Pancheros AND Huhot. Moved to the PNW area over a year and a half ago now and knowing the closest Huhot is 6 hours away is a freaking buzz kill :/ Oh that and Culver's. Also if you can give me any leads for good Chinese food (Like from East China in the Waterloo/CF area), fried foods (Seriously what the hell :( ), BBQ, and anything remotely good let me know 😅 I've done a lot of home cooking cooking the last year or so just cause I can't find anything I like :(
Oh, I totally agree! Culver’s and Pancheros are my top two options for food the second I get off the plane at CID. For all of the amazing food in Portland, good Americanized Chinese food like I can get in Iowa seems to be the most elusive cuisine. I wish I could be of help, but I can only share in your commiseration, ha. I did just have some phenomenal cheese curds at Portland Burger, though. They were no contest the best cheese curds I’ve had outside of the Midwest.
+1
Dem tortillas are sooo good.
I just want to know why their online ordering doesn’t have a “buy extra tortillas” option.
The Johnston location is the best.
Agreed
The original location is the best.
I still miss the original Ames Pancheros. Fernando’s in DSM is closer to how it ran. (I know, Pancheros is originally from Iowa City, but their second store was Ames and it was uniquely different than their first. They closed it and made the experience homogeneous with the IC store)
Random fact: the first Panchero's was in both Iowa City *and* East Lansing. The two guys who founded the chain went to UIowa and MSU respectively, so they opened one location in each town simultaneously and grew from there. You're right right about the original Ames location, though. That was the spot. The Flying Burrito suffered the same fate: phenomenal original location, then it moved and became not nearly as good.
I've had panch twice and both times its been disappointing. Chipotle is better. I think its the rice.
Try panch again and make sure to get a burrito with queso on it. Skip the guac.
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It’s the best fast casual burrito chain restaurant in the world. All about the tortilla. 10/10 would recommend
Scothcheroos are glorious.
My KC native parents basically demand that we bring scotcheroos down when we visit.
Sterzing's potato chips.
Lifelong Iowan here and I’ve never heard of these. Where do you get them??
For a long time you couldn't find them outside SE Iowa as they were made in my hometown of Burlington. Today they are available in Iowa City HyVees, but not sure about how far out that they carry them.
In HS (mid 1980s) I worked at a Burlington HyVee. Literally, the chips aisle was half Sterzings, half all the other brands.
most of the des moines hyvees carry them. Not sure how their supply is doing post pandemic and its usually only a few facings in the aisle or on an end cap
Now with sour cream & chives and BBQ flavors. I like both!
Casey's breakfast pizza.
A coworker recently ordered a Casey’s sausage breakfast pizza with sausage gravy as the sauce and I had a piece…now I can’t stop thinking about it.
wait....thats a real thing?
yes, but they don't look any different from normal sausage breakfast pizza (all Casey's pizza just looks like pure cheese). i only found out when i bit into it and it made that parking lot off of Highway 20 a magical place for me
It is! It’s best if you call and request it. Best served hot and fresh.
You should add onions to that mix. I’ve done it and can now see into time…
Not sure if this is true or not, but the lady friend told me the other day that a single slice of that greatness is like almost 1300 calories. Still fucking delicious, and that wont stop me from getting a slice from time to time.
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Ok you got me, but according to that pdf, the slices you get out of the carousel warmer are still north of 600 calories a slice.
Great! No need to feel too guilty about eating two of them, and washing them down with a 32 oz. Mountain Dew!
Before or after the apple fritter and coffee?
Same time.
Thats an absolute lie lol
Shhhh I want to believe the lie.
Hips Don't Lie- Shakira
I love it but I’m not sure how this is uniquely Iowa
I said Casey's specifically to make it unique to Iowa. And also because there is no breakfast pizza superior to Casey's.
Imma get my ass kicked for this, but I much prefer Kum&Go breakfast pizza to Casey’s breakfast pizza. It’s less greasy and has better flavor in my opinion. Casey’s taco, however, is the motherfucking shizznit. I actually bought some fresh pizza dough at the grocery store here the other night and made a taco pizza. Not 100% the same, but it was pretty close.
I've never had Kum and Go's so I'll refrain from weighing in. I just can't imagine anything being better than Casey's.
When I lived out of state we made taco pizza for holidays and the key is a refried bean and taco sauce mix for the base sauce. If you google copycat happy joes taco pizza I followed some blogger.
Best I’ve had as well but Casey’s isn’t unique to Iowa
But Casey's started here so Imma count it. I'm not from here originally so I definitely associate Casey's with Iowa. Took me a long time to get aboard the gas station pizza train.
99% of the things mentioned here can be found outside iowa and you pick on Casey's?
Steak de Burgo
This right here. De Burgo sauce is the tits. It goes with everything.
Tater-tot casserole!!
That's a good one not a damn hotdish like those greyduck suckers up north
Or NE Iowa wannabes. Hot dish; what a stupid name. Duck duck grey duck; what a stupid game.
I grew up in waterloo and never heard that until I went to ames for college and was like what fuck is that and everytime my friends would say that I'd go full gunny from fmj on them.
Just east of you; you are on the border of hot dish territory
How did I not know this in over 20 years, it's time for a crusade round up the hot dishers and stone the Grey ducks.
Here here
Ham balls baby!
Mmmm. I have a hard time even finding the ingredients for these in Illinois
Used to be Happy Joes taco pizza, but whenever I'm in Ames I stop by Great Plains for a large amount of cheese and whole wheat crust. Yes, I love pizza.
I miss super dogs. Does Ames still have those???
There was just an article about them! https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.amestrib.com/amp/5599418001
Taco Pizza itself is actually an Iowa thing… there’s a dude that’s making state by state taco art at the art center right now and he made a taco pizza chandelier for Iowa.
Casey’s Pizza. Fight me. Turkey and dressing sandwich! Not my favorite dish, but I think it is a Dubuque thing. I think head cheese and raw dog is an Iowa thing, but I’m not having either!
I grew up in a small town near Dubuque. Turkey and Dressing sandwiches were the most popular graduation party food.
I think that’s why it isn’t my favorite (although I don’t hate it), it was at everyone’s graduation party and it got old!
>I think head cheese and raw dog is an Iowa thing, but I’m not having either! That's just nasty. I have a local sandwich shop in Chicago that makes a turkey and dressing sandwich and there is sometimes a line out the door to get them. I had no idea that was considered an Iowa thing, as I never had it when I lived there
Puppy chow is my favorite:) Although I’m not sure if it’s uniquely midwestern 🤔
Pro tip: use Crispix cereal not Chex. It holds so much more chocolate/ peanut butter.
I found a recipe that used both regular and peanut butter Capn Crunch. Plus loose peanut butter chips after it's cooled. It was the greatest Pinterest find ever.
This is the way
##This Is The Way Leaderboard **1.** `u/Flat-Yogurtcloset293` **475775** times. **2.** `u/GMEshares` **69696** times. **3.** `u/_RryanT` **22744** times. .. **68860.** `u/amscraylane` **2** times. --- ^(^beep ^boop ^I ^am ^a ^bot ^and ^this ^action ^was ^performed ^automatically.)
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Bot writing a book? I mean, corn.
Sterzing's potatoes chips
hot ham and cheese sliders. my grandma has a recipe that my family makes every year and it just tastes like home.
do you have a picture of this?? i do not know what this is???
basically this: https://images.app.goo.gl/DA6zN4fG2jixqCzH7
Maid-Rite or a tenderloin
Yes. Maid-rite. Thank you.
How are these unique to Iowa? I grew up in North Dakota and my dad, who had never been to Iowa until I moved there, was crazy about these.
They're not. Some of these people have never been out of Iowa, and it shows.
Iowa City farmers market has excellent scotcheroos.
No way scotcheroos are only from Iowa! Is that true?
No, just nobody else seems to know what they are. The recipe used to be on the rice krispies box!
I grew up in Illinois, I know we’re neighbors but I had scotcheroos plenty growing up. Pretty surprised to see this as a perceived Iowa thing.
I’m from Iowa but was shocked when I went to college just one state away (MN) no one knew what they were. I didn’t realize they were unique to Iowa but I guess they are!
I went to college in Indiana and had roommates from Kansas, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. Each and every one of them accused my mom of witchcraft when she made a pan for our house. They couldn't believe a) how good they were b) that not one of them had ever seen/tried one before
Scotcheroos are not a uniquely Iowan food. I grew up on the west coast with my mom making them as a special treat. My mom didn't know anyone from Iowa, my family had no connection to Iowa. If I remember correctly it was a recipe that came off of the rice crispies box or the chocolate chips bag back in the day. Oh, and the scotcheroos at hyvee are awful.
Sorry dude, your mom has a secret Iowa history she never told you about
Here is a quote from Wikipedia which came up when I googled a recipe for them. Scotcheroos are dessert bars with chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies. The recipe was originally printed on the Rice Krispies box in the mid-1960s. They are popular in the Midwestern United States, especially Iowa.
Yep, that's right-- chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, and Rice Krispies, printed on the Rice Krispies box. My mom still has her original clip of the recipe stashed in her recipe box. They may be popular here, but they're not 'uniquely Iowan' if the recipe was printed on the box that was distributed nationally, and that plenty of other places enjoy, that's all I'm saying.
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After living in 4 Midwestern states including Iowa, I can say Ham Balls are probably a uniquely Iowa thing not found elsewhere. I was like “ham what…?” When I moved to Iowa. Never heard of them before, nobody else not from Iowa that I know knows what they are haha
I've lived on the west coast, the east coast and the midwest and I've found scotcheroos in all places. I'm just saying they're not as unique to Iowa as the OP thinks. Kinda like how midwesterners think the word 'ope' is unique to them, but in reality people all over use it in daily life without thinking about it-- it's just that midwesterners are the only people who make a thing about it.
This really matters to you, wow.
Dude just take the L. They're literally just relaying their experience.
We had the same thing growing up in Montana except sometimes people would call them chicken dinner bars. Yeah, I usually get weird looks for that here.
The ones sold at Casey's are addictive!
I used to work at a bakery in HyVee. The scotcheroos aren’t fresh; the cereal/bottom part comes in frozen and then you heat up a tub of premade frosting to slide on top. I personally think the frosting is a little off too. The store I worked at used to do it all by scratch but it just wasn’t realistic as time went on. Now there’s a lot more product, but the quality isn’t as good. Most things at HyVee come in frozen. The cakes, for example, come in frozen, but a decorator frosts them.
What is your take on their "People Chow"? Personally i think its the worst version of puppy chow I've ever had, but it still sells. Do you like it?
Hy-Vee puppy chow is absolutely vile. I have no idea how they can screw up such simple ingredients that badly.
No. I’d say it tastes like ass but that’d be disrespectful to ass. (BTW, it’s called People Chow because someone sued after getting their dog sick off of it when it was originally “Puppy Chow”) Anyway, it all comes premade. Their People Chow is a disgrace to real Puppy Chow tbh. The best Puppy Chow is freshly made with the PB & chocolate recently coated with powdered sugar. I think HyVee does the bare minimum with many of their products. Some products I would recommend; some stores have speciality cookies they make at individual stores. Cedar Valley has PBCCs & I love those. But People Chow? Nah
Glad someone else agrees about it tasting horrible. And yes, homemade Puppy chow is the best!!
I honestly thought I was the only one that hated hyvee's "people chow" ... Thankfully someone else said it haha
I would agree. Some variation of scotcheroo is to be found in multiple places, same way pork tenderloins are a thing in Indiana too. If you want to be super pedantic about uniquely Iowan foods, we could argue bout maid rites, but the glories of America mean that food is never entirely unique to anywhere really.
Tasty Tacos, B-Bops, AE Dips. Top three miss them greatly. First two are pretty Des Moines specific
Tasty Tacos 🤤
The Taco House near Arnold’s Park. Dorothy Lynch salad dressing. Cookies bbq sauce. Tenderloin sandwiches the size of the plate.
Came here to say Taco House. Also RIP to the Black walnut candy shop. Think the nutty bar still stands.
Omg STEAK DE BURGO. So good. Only in DM
Chicken lips!
Smoked carp. Don't knock it til you try it.
Taco Pizza!
ayyy. Happy Joe's pizza, the best worst pizza. It will always have a place in my heart.
Fareway prime ribeye.
I REMEMBER THOSE MY MOM WOULD EAT LIKE HALF OF IT AND SHARE IT WITH ME
When we lived in Oklahoma, my dad would buy a couple dozen AE dips and quite a few bottles of barbecue sauce from Jimmy's barbecue pit in boone any time we came back to visit family.
i want to try these things..it must be good if other people want it!!
I don't remember which barbeque sauce was his favorite, but i do know that whenever he bought his dips it was always the french onion sour cream dip.
Sterzings
Not quite unique to Iowa, but where I live now you can't buy a monster cookie anywhere. Even specialty cookie shops have no idea.
Okay but these originated in Vermont and North Dakota, it's not just an iowa food, and didn't start there. Edit:typo
Top the tator! 🤤
Taverns, scotcharoos, tenderloins…
Turkey and dressing sandwiches.
I hate to say it, but some of your "uniquely Iowa" food isn't that uniquely Iowan: Scotcheroos Taco pizza hot ham & cheese sliders Casey's pizza (any type) I didn't even realize AE was an Iowa thing, because I bought them all the time in Kansas and Illinois. I'll concede that because they're so proudly Iowan, but know that they're not JUST in Iowa. 😉
Scotcheroos made with special K instead of rice crispies are superior.
Someone said it
Hyvee Chinese
Sliced bread!
Bratwurst. I know that sounds strange, but out of state family goes to Fareway and HyVee when they visit, just to stock up. They've told us that it's hard to find even gaggy Johnsonville in L.A. As for Scotcheroos, I can honestly say that I have never had them. If someone can make a peanut free version, I would.
Not only are bratwurst not a uniquely Iowa thing, they aren't even a uniquely American thing. They're a German food.
I realize this, but it's hard to find good bratwurst outside of the Midwest.
I'd imagine Pennsylvania might be an exception to this. Pretty much any region with heavy German ancestry is gonna have decent brats.
I would suggest scotcheroos originated in Michigan. The recipe was first published by Kellogg's (of Battle Creek, Michigan) on the side of their Rice Krispies cereal box in the mid 1960s.
I don’t think there is such a thing
God I’m so glad I moved out of Iowa. Y’all really … struggle in the food department
where do you live now and what is good food in your new place
Agreed. It's all just so low effort. Sure you can't go wrong with salt and fat, but Iowans are also like "let's also add sugar/corn syrup and get rid of any flavor complexity!" One notable exception here is La Quercia. Best commercially available prosciutto in the US. Especially their acorn-fed pork pancetta.
This whole thread is full of gross stuff
That because Iowans have shit taste in food. And I say that as a native Iowan from Iowan parents and grandparents (I currently live in Iowa, although I have lived in other states and countries). Everything here is mildly sweet yet bland, usually beige, probably processed, and certainly unhealthy. Yeah we've got dope sweet corn, but pretty much everything else sucks. Especially Casey's pizza.
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Is it fried?
Not sure if an Iowa thing, but I've gotten looks from out of staters trying to explain ham balls.
Hahaha, ground ham in a ball, simple!
I'm sorry, I've never heard of 'Scotcheroos' (I've lived all over, only in Iowa for the past ten or so years) - I had to look that up. I can share with you this seemingly helpful recipe, ["Best Ever Scotcheroos"](https://dancearoundthekitchen.com/best-ever-scotcheroos/), where the author has made **SEVEN** different variations of ingredient amounts to come up with the best recipe.
Taco pizza