Discover Iowa: Cooking With Iowa Wines, Meats and Other Iowa Products [Paperback]

Amelia Painter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2008

Greatly expanded and revised, this cookbook is for anyone who appreciates the right combination of fresh ingredients cooked in a simple fashion resulting in fantastic eating that tickles your palate and enlivens your senses! Iowa Innkeepers love to cook and share their wonderful recipes with others. They use fresh seasonal, local, ingredients and turn them into mouth-watering delicious Main Dishes, Wine Dishes, Side Dishes, Appetizers, and Desserts. In America’s Heartland, they are embracing a great culinary tradition, and the indigenous cuisine cooked in an ordinary fashion to produce typical Midwestern fare. The cookbook is divided into categories for easily locating various recipes. There are recipes for hot or cold weather, from light starters or desserts to hot and filling. In addition to the wide range of original, and some handed-down recipes, the book also includes hints, tips, and valuable information for the taste-conscious cook. You will also find recipes shared from the personal collections of Iowa wineries and innkeepers that call for wine to enhance the flavor of the dish. Many of these recipes even give you the name of the specific wine that adds just the right flavoring to the recipe. At the beginning of the book is a listing of resources for Iowa products, and the back of the book includes a listing of all Iowa wineries as well as a directory of outstanding Iowa bed and breakfast inns.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amelia’s best known for sharing practical tips and Internet marketing hints to innkeepers in her dynamic sessions at state bed and breakfast association conferences, but she is also a staff writer for the consumer's magazine "Bed & Breakfast America. She is an exciting speaker and writer well-known for gearing her presentations to all levels of experience. She is an experienced marketing professional with a background in marketing and the Internet. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (November 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439219354
• ISBN-13: 978-1439219355
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,239,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Raised by parents with an entrepreneurial spirit, Painter learned about business at an early age. She and her her two siblings had on-going chores in the family businesses. Painter excelled in office activities, which ultimately set the pace for most of her life.

A passion for the arts began early in life, but her love of the written word and photography emerged shortly after giving birth to her first child. Once she became a parent her passion for writing and photography grew as quickly as her three children.

Painter has consulted widely with management teams across North America on the topics of marketing, sales and the strategic impact of the Internet. As a staff writer for the consumer magazine "Bed & Breakfast America" her writing expanded to include travel, hospitality, cooking and pets.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discover Iowa Could Not Be More Perfect, May 9, 2009

By 

Becky Coffield "R.L. Coffield" (Wickenburg, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discover Iowa: Cooking With Iowa Wines, Meats and Other Iowa Products (Paperback)

Amelia Painter's Discover Iowa, Cooking with Iowa Wines, Meats and other Iowa Products, could not be more perfect.

Painter has done a superb job with this project, making it truly a must have for Iowans and anybody traveling through Iowa.

This work goes far beyond the typical recipe book, and the recipes are terrific, I might add. What sets these Iowan menus apart, is that the recipes were largely contributed by Bed and Breakfast establishments which Painter also covers in this splendidly organized, useful book.

There's so much going on in this volume it's difficult to know where to start! I suppose the beginning is a good place. Here Painter lists the participating Bed and Breakfasts and Inns by city and also by name which is a great help for travelers. There's also a topical table of contents.

Now the fun begins! The pages that follow contain a photo of every participating B&B, along with all the necessary contact information including address, email, website, phone and owner names, plus a paragraph or two about the B&B and the area. This alone is a tremendous help for any traveler or tourist. Unbelievably delicious recipes contributed by the establishments are also included. If this were all, this alone would be outstanding, but Painter includes even more in this incredible Guide/Cookbook.

Recipes from Iowa Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Egg Council are included, along with cooking tips for fruit pies, cinnamon use in cooking and information about Iowa wines and cooking with wines.

In addition to the above, Painter includes tremendously interesting information about Iowa products as well as cooking tips and nutritional tidbits. I honestly don't know what the author could possibly have overlooked. This book is incredibly well organized, interesting and concise.



The index of the book is unusually helpful in its organization, and includes Iowa wineries by city, all the recipes categorized and then listed, and a complete listing of the Iowa Bed and Breakfast Innkeepers Association Membership along with their respective phone numbers.

This book is just a wonderful surprise. The selected recipes are wholesome and delicious, exactly what one might think Iowan cooking would be. Some of the recipes make rather large portions since they are served in B&Bs, but they are easy to cut down for smaller portions. One recipe I'm very fond of that I haven't been able to find is Fruit Pizza, and there it was in Painter's book, better than the original I'd been served.

I've never been to Iowa, and I have to admit it would have been one of the last places I'd have ever thought about visiting, but I'd be more than willing to go now that I've had the opportunity to read Painter's book and have seen the available, beautiful Bed and Breakfast establishments. The appetizing food and the Inns and their settings are too enticing to turn down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recipes, Helpful Lodging Info, and much more!, June 11, 2009

By 

Angela L. Roberts - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discover Iowa: Cooking With Iowa Wines, Meats and Other Iowa Products (Paperback)

As a lampwork bead artist (www.bimsbangles.com) I often travel from my home state of Florida to other states for advanced training, jewelry conferences, and fine art shows. I just returned home from a week stay in Spencer, Iowa. I was there for a one week Lampworking Master Course and came home with an added bonus, a copy of the "Discover Iowa" cookbook.

I really like this cookbook! The recipes are quick and easy, plus some are extremely unique. There is one called "Pumpkin Stew" and I can't wait to prepare it -- this one is going to be a dish the family talks about for some time.

The cookbook also contains photos and descriptions of the B&Bs that the author obtained the recipes from -- very interesting. And, I am especially glad the author added a listing of all the Iowa B&Bs and the Iowa Wineries -- these listings are going to come in handy when I return to Iowa in the fall.

If you enjoy good food and cooking, you too will enjoy this cookbook from Iowa telling you just how to cook the recipes Iowans serve.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TO DISCOVER: Discover Iowa: Cooking with Iowa Wines, Meats and other Iowa Products, April 28, 2009

By 

Stacy Lytwyn Maxwell "OhStacy!" (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discover Iowa: Cooking With Iowa Wines, Meats and Other Iowa Products (Paperback)

As the author of "Consummate Connecticut: Day Trips with Panache," a Connecticut guidebook, one of my pastimes is reading--you guessed it, guidebooks. So, although I have not made the trip to Iowa, I enthusiastically dove into "Discover Iowa: Cooking with Wines, Meats and Other Iowa Products." When I reached page 12, I had the sudden impulse to make Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast, one of the many recipes presented from local B & B owners. The Blueberry Cream Cheese recipe is from the Camp Bean Bed and Breakfast's (Albert City) collection (yes, that's the B & B's name). It seemed simple to make and had a super easy ingredient list to work with...I mean, our household always seems to have "day-old" bread around. The result? Fabulous; much like Amelia Painter's fine collection of Iowa B & B jaunts and her other amassed regional flavors.

Who better to write this kind of book other than a true B & B owner? She and her husband operate The Prairie Cottage in Fostoria. Not only does "Discover Iowa" take you on an armchair journey to some of the most enchanting accommodations on the map, it does an excellent job of providing a mouth-watering sample of recipes. One thing is certain, you will never look at the humble egg in quite the same manner; Iowa is one of the largest producers of eggs in the country. I cook with eggs all the time, and am just beginning to realize their versatility. If you never plan to visit Iowa, B & B owners are some of the best foodies on earth and if you like to cook, the book is a must-have on the recipe shelf. If you don't like to cook, this is a must-have on the shelf...you will experience a sweet, homespun journey. "Discover Iowa" is the perfect companion to curl up and discover!