Butterhorns, Barn Fires & Darth Vader’s HR File: This Week Around Iowa
...your Flipside edition
To our new subscribers: Welcome to the Iowa Writers' Collaborative. We publish twice weekly: the Midweek edition—out Wednesday mornings with stories on food, arts, travel, humor, and heart—and the Sunday Roundup, which takes a deeper dive into politics, climate, business, and the issues shaping Iowa and beyond. Tell your friends!
Welcome to Around Iowa—
From barn fires in Buggy Land to fine dining in downtown Des Moines and late-night talk show grievances, this week’s lineup from the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is a smorgasbord of voices, views, and a few vintage recipes.
Local food with a statewide impact
Quilting typos and team assists
Emotional homecomings and musical Tuesdays
Garden-inspired songwriting
Some solid HR complaints against Darth Vader
And reflections from rally lines, fiddle strings, and kitchen disasters turned poetic.
Whether you're here for the farming insights, the family ties, the humor, or the heat (literal and figurative), there’s something for every curious Iowan.
Introducing Connie Taylor and Grandma’s Recipe Box
Where food, memory, and love are always on the menu.
Pull up a kitchen chair and meet Connie Taylor, the newest writer to join the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative—though if you’ve ever tasted her Butterhorn Rolls, you might swear she’s been part of the family all along.
Here in the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative editors circle, we have learned that readers crave nostalgia and family recipes, so we are adding these ingredients to the groaning board of content offered here on the Flipside edition.
Connie’s new Substack column, Grandma’s Recipe Box, is precisely what it sounds like: a love letter to the recipes passed down through generations and the stories that rise along with the dough. From her grandmother’s kitchen in Deloit, Iowa, to the tables where her grandchildren now gather, Connie’s writing is a celebration of family, food, and the bonds that stick to our ribs and hearts.
Her debut story starts with her grandma’s famous Butterhorn Rolls, served with equal parts butter and nostalgia. But that’s just the beginning. Connie’s vision—sparked by a suggestion from the inimitable Connie Wimer—is to build a community around these edible heirlooms—a place where we can all share the recipes that connect us to the people we love and the stories that make those dishes unforgettable.
We’re thrilled to welcome Connie to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, and we can’t wait to see what’s cooking.
✨ Start reading Grandma’s Recipe Box on Substack today—and maybe dust off your own recipe cards while you’re at it. Your story could be next.
More Food & Dining
Wini Moranville
A slow-simmering collection of sharp insights and savory one-liners from Iowa chefs, served by a seasoned food writer who knows how to coax out the soul behind the stove. 🔗 Read it here
Beth Hoffman
Everyone loves "local food" and small-scale farms. Now, the Hub to Hub Network in Iowa is helping get food from farms to families and institutions like schools. Learn about the Hubs in this “At the Iowa Farm Table” episode, hosted by Beth Hoffman for the Iowa Food System Coalition.
🔗 Read it here
Julie Gammack
The Gammack Girls have one of their mom's recipes to share- Olive Tarts with just the right amount of heat—because we fixed the part that could’ve blown your eyebrows off.
🔗 Read it here
Around Iowa
Darcy Maulsby
"Me, me, me" won't cut it in team sports. A small-town Iowa athlete reminds us what guides the mind and heart of a champion—the power of the assist.
🔗 Read it here
Kurtis Meyer
Two days in the life of our columnist in north-central Iowa... re-entry from three weeks of traveling.
🔗 Read it here
Marianne Fons
Marianne Fons reports from Quiltropolis on those pesky typographical errors.
🔗 Read it here
Pat Kinney
The influence of Waterloo's five Sullivan brothers who died during World War II is strong on the new USS Iowa submarine commissioned into the Navy last weekend. Pat Kinney interviewed the granddaughter of one of the brothers; she was on the commissioning committee.
🔗 Read it here
Diversity in the Heartland
Mary Swander (Buggy Land)
A fire breaks out in an Amish barn in Mary Swander's Buggy Land. The whole community pulls together to extinguish the flames and rebuild the structure.
🔗 Read it here
Entertainment & Travel
Phoebe Wall Howard
Bill Ford leads the transformation of a storied 94-year-old hotel in metro Detroit, reflecting a bigger trend in luxury hospitality and an appetite for consumer experiences.
🔗 Read it here
John Naughton
The USS Alabama was a powerful battleship in World War II. Now, it's a museum. John Naughton visited the ship, one of eight memorials or museums of battleships.
🔗 Read it here
Humor
Daniel P. Finney
5x5: Recent Finney's 5s include "Arguments you didn't think you'd need to make," "Trade war consequences," "Bad baby names," "HR complaints against Darth Vader," and "Ways to improve late-night talk shows."
🔗 Read it here
Vicki Minor
Navigating Life's Signs
🔗 Read it here
Joan Zwagerman
Julie Gammack was lucky. Her mom was a great cook. Joan Zwagerman's mom was not, but you make a lemonade column when your mom is all lemons in the kitchen.
🔗 Read it here
Music
Chip Albright
Historian and Composer Seth Hedquist combined education, empathy and excellence to create a moving live music experience in the lush, listening room environment of Noce in downtown Des Moines.
🔗 Read it here
Maxwell Schaefer
Maxwell Schaeffer finds inspiration preparing his garden, turning the quiet magic of Winter Rye into music and meditation. Discover how digging into the soil sparks creativity—and a brand new song.
🔗 Read it here
Carol Montag
What Little I Know of Her
🔗 Read it here
Kathryn Severing Fox
From classical training to blues jamming, Kathryn Severing Fox charts her unexpected Iowa journey—where a Tuesday night at Carl’s Place and a fiddle changed everything.
National Politics
Nicole Baart
Author Nicole Baart shares about her experience protesting for the very first time—and encourages us all to get into “good trouble.”
🔗 Read it here
Tory Brecht
Davenport isn't typically a hotbed of political activity, particularly in non-caucus years. But energy—and anger—were palpable at the Hands Off rally held downtown this past Saturday. Several thousand showed up to express displeasure with the Trump administration's policies.
🔗 Read it here
Poetry
Kelsey Bigelow
There is a poem in everything, even a comment made in a workshop that turned into a self-reflective moment.
🔗 Read it here
Strictly Personal
Pat Kinney
At the start of baseball season, Pat Kinney reflects on a connection between one of his baseball heroes and his late oldest brother.
🔗 Read it here
The Iowa Angle
Christie Vilsack
In "Common Ground: USAID, the Iowa Connection," Christie Vilsack highlights how USAID embodies American values of compassion, community, and global partnership. Through personal stories and an Iowa perspective, she emphasizes USAID's critical role in education, health, and stability worldwide, underscoring its importance both internationally and at home.
🔗 Read it here
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
For a current roster of our 70+ writers, read it here.
The Sunday Roundup for April 6
Political Bullshit, Trade Ghosts & Tariff Tornadoes: This Week in American Mayhem
In this week’s national political coverage, several writers spotlight the urgency of civic engagement, the erosion of public discourse, and the looming influence of high-profile figures like Donald T…