It's been about two years since we spent any time in Des Moines - that's crazy! We have passed through Des Moines a few times in the past few years, but these days we mostly see my parents up in McGregor or as they are passing through Iowa City on their way home. Well, I decided that was long enough to stay away, so we found a weekend where my parents were actually going to be in town :) and made the trip.
One of Brandon's favorite things about Iowa in the summer...is the Iowa State Fair! In fact, that's what we did the last time we made it to Des Moines. But we decided to change things up a bit this visit. I had heard great things about the Downtown Farmers Market, so that's where we headed Saturday morning. The skies were threatening rain - but it actually worked to our advantage because it kept the crowds away. And it didn't start raining until we were safely in the car and on our way home! Impeccable timing on our part.
The Farmers Market did not disappoint! Now, Iowa City has a rinky-dink farmers market of its own...but there's nothing terribly exciting about over-priced vegetables and (admittedly tasty) farm-fresh brown eggs on a single level of a small parking garage. I suppose it guarantees you won't get rained on! Okay, okay - it's not a terrible farmers market. But we wouldn't do our weekly shopping there.
The Downtown Farmers Market, on the other hand, would be a fun place to get my summer produce. It stretches for several blocks down Court Avenue, as well as reaching into several side streets. The place was hopping with a different live music set-up every couple blocks. The plentiful vendors seemed to keep produce prices almost grocery-store low. There was also a large variety of grass-fed meat available, as well as all kinds of handmade goods and sweet treats. The prepared-food vendors were tempting...but we mostly stuck to free samples. Besides, we had a mission: Forage for our dinner (like true hunter/gatherers).
We systematically walked past every vendor (per Brandon's request) before making any decisions. But we settled on a pork shoulder roast from Crooked Gap Farm, which we cooked with locally grown carrots, parsnips and onion, and a rub I found here (but we used lemon instead of lime, and cooked it in the crock pot - it was wonderful, in case you are looking for something to make for dinner). We also picked up some fresh peaches and sweet cherries. And even though my dad didn't join us at the Farmers Market (who works on a Saturday morning?! Lame.), we picked up a Dutch crumb peach pie from Iowa Orchard because he LOVES pie. After Jonah was asleep for the night, we enjoyed our spoils for dinner. It was a delightful meal, with wonderful conversation, and we introduced my parents to a new vegetable: the parsnip. Brandon first discovered this root vegetable the first time he was in Hungary, and as the literal translation of the Hungarian word for parsnip is "white carrot" - we incorrectly assumed this was its name for many years! I suppose it's an apt description.
Sunday's adventure was a trip to Principle Park to watch the last home game for the Iowa Cubs - a Triple-A team in the Chicago Cubs' franchise. I haven't been to a game since I was in college. It was fun, but hot. We didn't arrive until the sixth inning, but that was probably perfect timing. I'm not sure Jonah (or the rest of us) would have made it through the whole game. Spoiler: the Cubs didn't win. But it was an exciting ninth inning, and a good time was had by all. I did manage to take a few pictures at the game:
One of Brandon's favorite things about Iowa in the summer...is the Iowa State Fair! In fact, that's what we did the last time we made it to Des Moines. But we decided to change things up a bit this visit. I had heard great things about the Downtown Farmers Market, so that's where we headed Saturday morning. The skies were threatening rain - but it actually worked to our advantage because it kept the crowds away. And it didn't start raining until we were safely in the car and on our way home! Impeccable timing on our part.
The Farmers Market did not disappoint! Now, Iowa City has a rinky-dink farmers market of its own...but there's nothing terribly exciting about over-priced vegetables and (admittedly tasty) farm-fresh brown eggs on a single level of a small parking garage. I suppose it guarantees you won't get rained on! Okay, okay - it's not a terrible farmers market. But we wouldn't do our weekly shopping there.
The Downtown Farmers Market, on the other hand, would be a fun place to get my summer produce. It stretches for several blocks down Court Avenue, as well as reaching into several side streets. The place was hopping with a different live music set-up every couple blocks. The plentiful vendors seemed to keep produce prices almost grocery-store low. There was also a large variety of grass-fed meat available, as well as all kinds of handmade goods and sweet treats. The prepared-food vendors were tempting...but we mostly stuck to free samples. Besides, we had a mission: Forage for our dinner (like true hunter/gatherers).
We systematically walked past every vendor (per Brandon's request) before making any decisions. But we settled on a pork shoulder roast from Crooked Gap Farm, which we cooked with locally grown carrots, parsnips and onion, and a rub I found here (but we used lemon instead of lime, and cooked it in the crock pot - it was wonderful, in case you are looking for something to make for dinner). We also picked up some fresh peaches and sweet cherries. And even though my dad didn't join us at the Farmers Market (who works on a Saturday morning?! Lame.), we picked up a Dutch crumb peach pie from Iowa Orchard because he LOVES pie. After Jonah was asleep for the night, we enjoyed our spoils for dinner. It was a delightful meal, with wonderful conversation, and we introduced my parents to a new vegetable: the parsnip. Brandon first discovered this root vegetable the first time he was in Hungary, and as the literal translation of the Hungarian word for parsnip is "white carrot" - we incorrectly assumed this was its name for many years! I suppose it's an apt description.
Sunday's adventure was a trip to Principle Park to watch the last home game for the Iowa Cubs - a Triple-A team in the Chicago Cubs' franchise. I haven't been to a game since I was in college. It was fun, but hot. We didn't arrive until the sixth inning, but that was probably perfect timing. I'm not sure Jonah (or the rest of us) would have made it through the whole game. Spoiler: the Cubs didn't win. But it was an exciting ninth inning, and a good time was had by all. I did manage to take a few pictures at the game:
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| This was Jonah's first professional sporting event |
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| The action on the field |
Thanks for a great weekend, Grandma and Grandpa!!
Hopefully it's not two more years before we make it back to Des Moines again!!
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