February 2019 Facets

FACETS

FEBRUARY 2019

The magazine for women.

13 Can you guess the owner of these shoes?

SEE PAGE 13 to find out who!

FACETS 2 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

The magazine for women.

Contributors

MARLYS BARKER LYN KEREN RONNA LAWLESS ROBBIE SEQUEIRA BARB MCBREEN LEXIE TROUTMAN LYNN MARR-MOORE Design

ALEX FELKER Publisher

SCOTT ANDERSON Tribune Editor

ADVERTISERS To advertise in Facets magazine, contact Tory McKay at (515) 432-6694 PHONE (515) 663-6923 ADDRESS 317 Fifth St. Ames, IA, 50010 EMAIL news@amestrib.com ONLINE www.amestrib.com/sections/ special-sections/facets

MICHAEL CRUMB Facets is a monthly publication of GateHouse Media Iowa Holdings.

A UNIQUE IN-HOME BUSINESS

See page 6

ON THE COVER:

Haley Wedemeier decorates a cake in her new bake shop in Huxley. See page 8 for the full story. PHOTO BY LYNN MARR-MOORE

FACETS Table of contents Women in Business 4 5 6 8 9

PhotoSynthesis celebrates 10 years in business

Ames Main Street design shop owner shares her story.

Collins woman pursues her dreams with quilting business

When a shoulder injury caused this hairstylist to change course after 37 years in that profession, Miriam Titus decided it was a good time to follow her heart.

Nevada woman’s artistic passions evolve into a unique in-home business

In 2018, everything that one Nevada woman is passionate about started to click into what became a unique business venture.

Haley Wedemeier finds a home in Huxley for Stallie’s Sweets

Getting the inspiration to bake was never a problem for Wedemeier.

Main Street welcomes TRIAD Chiropractic

Dr. Erin Thomas has left the Texas heat behind.

Features 10 J-Term project brings a joyful noise to downtown Downtown Story City has been echoing with music for the past few weeks, since two Roland-Story students installed their J-Term project outside of The Yellow Cup Cafe.

13 Beloved Story County doctor returns to Iowa and joins Story Medical’s team

One of Story County’s most well-respected doctors returned to central Iowa last fall.

16 Ames Police LGBT liaison role is a step to improve LBGTQ+ relations

In 2017, the city of Ames held its first LGBTQIA+ pride festival, which was a large step toward the representation of the LTBGTQ+ community in Ames.

18 Three women connect through Story City Norwegian group through DNA testing

Three women from Washington and Alabama learned they were related through DNA testing and the Sons of Norway group in Story City.

20 Sewing team assembles 3K feminine hygiene kits for girls in underdeveloped countries The Ames Days for Girls sewing club hit a milestone by assembling 3,000 feminine hygiene kits for girls and women in need, in three years.

Warm Eats 21 Black bean soup, shrimp is a whole meal in a bowl

22

23

Hearty black bean soup becomes a welcoming dinner.

Homemade biscuits, homemade butter and homemade jam

It’s the ultimate breakfast treat.

Tapas meatballs

A great item for party nibbling.

FACETS

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 3

Women in Business

By Lexie Troutman GateHouse Iowa

Below, PhotoSynthesis manager Emma Schwaller and owner Lisa Hovis. PHOTO BY LEXIE TROUTMAN/GATEHOUSE IOWA

A look inside PhotoSynthesis, 317 Main St., on Jan. 3, as the business prepared to celebrate its 10-year anniversary with an open house.

PHOTO BY LEXIE TROUTMAN/GATEHOUSE IOWA

PhotoSynthesis celebrates 10 years in business

L

isa Hovis first opened the doors of PhotoSynthesis on Jan. 5, 2009, and she celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the business on Jan. 5 of this year.

Before it became PhotoSynthesis, the printing shop, at 317 Main St., was called Walden Photo. It was a place that Hovis went to often to print her own designs that she sold online when she moved to Ames in 2007.

The owners told Hovis that they would be closing the shop soon, and the final day Walden Photo was open was on Dec. 31, 2008. With Christmas being her busiest time, Hovis knew that she needed to think of a way to keep the printing shop alive in Ames. So, she bought it.

Within one week of Walden Photo closing, Hovis had PhotoSynthesis up and running.

“I purchased all of the printing equipment and mounting equipment and that type of thing that I could reuse, and then I just opened and winged it,” Hovis said.

She was never afraid of the sudden shift of going from running an online business to running her own store. Hovis said that she grew up helping her father with his businesses, and she learned from his mistakes and his triumphs. He helped her negotiate prices for the business and the equipment, and she went from there.

4 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

Throughout the years, PhotoSynthesis has become a Main Street staple where residents can bring their photographs and keep their memories preserved through photo designs, Hovis said. The design world constantly changes, and Hovis said that she keeps her eye out for new trends in the market that she believes her customers would like.

The support of the community has kept the business running for 10 years, and that calls for a celebration, Hovis said.

At the Jan. 5 open house, there were giveaways and hourly drawings. People were able to hear live music from local artists, Matt Woods and Hawk McIntyre, try out snacks at the Photosynthesized chili bar and explore the parts of the shop where the employees produce their work.

For Hovis, 10 years of running the shop has flown by.

She said that while she always looks for new ideas in the design world, the main objective of her business has stayed constant.

“I want them (my customers) to look around and see the different options and be inspired and create something that’s going to bring them happiness or good memories,” Hovis said. ·

Women in Business

Collins woman pursues her dreams with quilting business

By Marlys Barker GateHouse Iowa

W

hen a shoulder injury caused this hairstylist to change course after 37 years in that profession, Miriam Titus decided it was a good time to follow her heart.

A 33-year resident of the Collins area, Titus, 59, said she had always dreamed of having a quilting business, and she began her in-home business, Stitch Crazy Quilting, in July of 2017.

“I had thought of starting a long-arm quilting business many years ago,” she said. “I wanted to keep working, but have the flexibility to spend time with my grandkids, and this seemed like a good fit.”

Since her family — which includes husband, Jeff; daughter Jana and son-in-law Nathan; son Brian; and two grandchildren — sometimes joked with her that she was a crazy quilt lady, she decided to incorporate the word crazy in her business name.

“I have always loved to sew,” she said.

“Both my grandmothers sewed and quilted.

I started (sewing) as self-taught but have taken many quilting classes throughout the years.”

With her business, Titus can take in quilt tops and quilt backs from people and quilt them on her computerized quilting machine. “I quilt an edge to edge or allover design on the quilts,” she explained.

She also carries 80/20 batting at a discount for her customers and that can be used on these tops.

“I can make quilts for customers from start to finish,” she said. “My most popular quilts to make are T-shirt quilts of all different types and sizes.” The most popular quilting request she has from customers, she said, is to make T-shirt quilts for graduations. “I can usually have them finished within three to four weeks.”

When it comes to her favorite quilt projects, Titus gives a simple, honest answer. “My favorite quilt is always the current one I am working on.”

At this point in time, she admitted, she has made too many quilts to count. Her projects have included lots of baby quilts for family members, and quilts that have won ribbons at the Iowa State Fair. “I was pleasantly surprised I got two ribbons with two quilts I entered into the Iowa State Fair in 2017. Competition (at the state fair) is always tough.”

Titus said the nicest thing about her new occupation is that she never has to work. “If you love your job, y0u never work a day.” What she loves about quilting, she said, is the creativity that comes with it. “The sky is the limit from choosing the patterns to the fabric to the borders and the quilt top design. Quilting is relaxing for me.”

To contact Titus, call or text her at 515-291-5130; and/or message her through her Facebook page, under her business name.

“I would be happy to talk to anyone about an idea they have that they’d like me to create in a quilt.” ·

Miriam Titus opened her in-home quilting business, Stitch Crazy Quilting, in July of 2017. Titus previously had been a long time hair stylist in Story County. PHOTO BY MARLYS BARKER/GATEHOUSE IOWA

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 5

Women in Business

By Marlys Barker GateHouse Iowa

Passion in photography

By Marlys Barker GateHouse Iowa

Nevada woman’s artistic passions evolve into a unique in-home business

I

Above, one of Nicole Parham’s clients, Rebecca, and her son, play the piano together.

PHOTO COURTESY NICOLE PARHAM DOCUMENTARY PHOTO & VIDEO

n 2018, everything that one Nevada woman is passionate about started to click into what became a unique business venture.

It was May of last year when Nicole Parham, 28, officially started her in-home business, Nicole Parham Documentary Photo & Video.

Loving creative work and originally starting out as a photographer, Nicole said everything changed in terms of what she was doing in her professional life when she began searching for more ideas and ran across other photography work that “made my heart skip beats.”

She realized “that what I loved about photography was capturing real moments of our own family. I started looking more into photojournalism… I also ran across family video sessions that I really connected to.”

Important for her, she said, was that she needed to stop thinking that she had to do what everyone else was doing and just do what she loved, which is documenting life.

That realization led her to open her documentary photography and videography business.

The Parham family, which also includes Nicole’s husband, Joshua; and children, Calen, Faith and Ellaine, moved from Ames to Nevada in 2014. Nicole said she and her husband are originally from southwest Iowa.

6 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

Nicole describes herself as someone who has always been involved in the arts in some form. “I’ve taken some art classes, was part of marching and concert band in high school, as well as concert choir in college,” she said.

After her first child was born, it was important to her to document his growth. “My grandparents bought me a new camera and around the same time, my mother asked me to take my brother’s senior pictures.” Their family photographer Claudia Thompson, who Nicole said is a talented professional senior portrait photographer in the Des Moines area, offered to help with her brother’s photographs. “She had me shadow her as I took his pictures,” Nicole recalled.

From that point, Nicole studied photography on her own. “I studied it like I studied for my degree in human services,” she said. “I read about color theory, light theory and photography. I gained a lot of valuable constructive criticism from other established photographers.”

Like any art, Nicole said, “you gain valuable experience and enjoyment from practicing your craft and being aware of what drives you personally to do the work you do. Your art style slowly emerges and evolves over time.”

She started off in photography creating family portraits and doing some landscape photography. “While it gave me great opportunities to meet some wonderful families and

Women in Business practice my trade, I didn’t have the passion I wanted to feel for posed portraiture. A lot of it felt forced for me as well as my clients.”

The full evolution had not yet happened.

After a few years of posed photography, Nicole took a year off to care for her new baby, her youngest child, and to explore what photography meant for her. This is when she started looking at more ideas. And came across photo and video work about special moments and times in people’s lives.

“My passion is for people to love themselves as they are and remember that time period of life. I used to think my degree in human services may go to waste, but I can see how my love of people and life has somehow merged my degree and photography together,” she said.

She also is strong in her faith. “The truth is that I believe God has aligned everything from the start of my hobby to the business I am running now.”

Videography, she said, is dramatically different than photography.

A lot of practice has been necessary. “Learning to take video has been a challenging and rewarding journey of its own.”

The rewarding part of it, she explained, comes from “seeing my clients’ eyes light up or the happy tears when they see part of their life story captured forever.”

She added, “Creating a finished heirloom so meaningful makes every other part of running a business worth it. I also really enjoy getting to see others’ lives. It takes me out of my small world and gives me a wider view and greater appreciation for life.”

Nicole Parham Documentary Photo & Video can be hired by the hour for documentary photography and videography services.

“Just a one-hour service is great for shorter events like birthdays, a family picnic or baptisms,” she said. No matter how many hours she is hired for, Nicole said,“My clients are given full service. This means we have a pre-session consultation to make sure that I am capturing what is important to them. Once their session is edited, I come to their home and reveal their photographs or video. Clients invest only in family heirlooms that they absolutely love. They are able to choose from archival quality albums, canvases and framed prints.” Nicole said she finds that her clients especially love photo slideshows set to music.

Clients can have their purchase delivered by Nicole personally if they live close, or the work can be delivered to them straight from her lab.

To contact Nicole, you may go through her website: www.nicoleparham.com, or call her at: 515-450-7241. You can also message her on her Facebook business page. ·

Nevada businesswoman Nicole Parham shows a client’s son the photograph that she helped him take of his mom. She finds that kids are often curious about a camera and love to see the photographs they take or even some of the photographs she takes. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

This family’s son has a lot of energy, so capturing him climbing furniture was a perfect representation of their family life story. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 7

Women in Business

By Lynn Marr-Moore Contributing Writer

Stallie’s Sweets Haley Wedemeier finds a home in Huxley

H

aley “Stallie” Wedemeier, owner of Stallie’s Sweets in Huxley, makes her way around her new bake shop with ease. One would think that she has been doing this for a long time. She started what was her homebased business several years ago and admits that she has baked in several different locations around Iowa.

“I moved around a lot the past six years, so even though I now have a physical storefront, I have been filling orders from all over the state,” Wedemeier said. “At this time I don’t really feel like I have limits. If you want Stallie’s Sweets, there is usually a way I can get them to you.”

Getting the inspiration to bake was never a problem for Wedemeier. She said that she always wanted to bake for everyone, but now being paid on top of that is a huge bonus.

The storefront Stallie’s Sweets is located at 105 South Main Ave., in Huxley. Although she explains that it’s not the typical bake shop with customary store hours.

“For the time being, there will not be any store hours,” she said. “The shop will be open for any special order pickups and for wedding tastings. Around the holidays, I will have ‘holiday’ hours. I can say that there are more ideas regarding hours in the planning stages.”

What inspired Haley to open a business in Huxley?

Much, she explains, was the desire to bake for everyone.

“Stallie’s Sweets was inspired by wanting to bake for everyone I knew,” she said. “I wanted to further my business and having a shop to bake out of just seemed to be the next step. Then I was approached with an amazing opportunity and I could not pass it up, especially since it was right here in Huxley.”

Wedemeier grew up in Charles City.

She attended DMACC, where she received her degree in entrepreneurship. Married and living in the area, she continued to do what she loves best — bake for everyone.

“Owning a business in Huxley means that I get to be a bigger part of supporting a community that holds itself on values that fall in line with my own,” she commented. “Having a substantial following before we moved to Huxley allows me to bring people here and show them why I chose Huxley for my business. I enjoy telling people why I chose Huxley, have them come to town and then before they leave, they tell me why that understand what I did.”

Wedemeier said that owning a business in Huxley makes her realize that she is a small part of something special.

8 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

She said that there is something about a community that is located between two major cities, yet has the ability to attract amazing people and businesses and still keep that small town feel.

“That is one major aspect of my business I never want to lose, the small town feel,” she added. “I want people to be able to call me to order their goodies or walk into the shop to pick up what they ordered and feel like we are old friends.”

When not in the shop creating wonderful sweets, Haley begins her day very early.

She said that at 4:30 a.m. she gets her work out done, takes care of her dogs and then starts baking.

“If the day isn’t full of orders, I am answering emails or coming up with new recipes,” she said. “I honestly don’t know what to do with myself if I don’t bake at least one thing a day.”

When asked what she considers her specialty, she said that is a hard question to answer.

“I love making cinnamon rolls and danishes the most,” she said. “I am so excited to have the shop open, because now the people that have been ordering these two items will be able to have them with cream cheese frosting. Cupcakes and cakes are probably the most asked-for items here in Huxley. Orders that come out of Ankeny are usually for cinnamon rolls. Then orders in Charles City are usually for sugar cookie bars and white chocolate raspberry muffins.”

Not everyone enjoys baking. Wedemeier is not one of those individuals.

“What I love most about baking is that I can bring a smile into people’s lives by simply doing what I love the most,” she said. “I mean, have you ever been handed something baked and not smiled? If you have, come see me. I will bake you something that will make you smile.”

To stay connected with the bakery, follow Stallie’s Sweets on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@stalliessweets), email stalliessweets@gmail.com, or call 641-330-2120. ·

Women in Business

Ames Main Street welcomes TRIAD Chiropractic

By Lexie Troutman GateHouse Iowa

D

r. Erin Thomas left the Texas heat behind and headed into the Midwest winter when her TRIAD Chiropractic practice opened in Ames.

TRIAD is located on the second floor of 130 Main St., and it operates out of Transform Healing Center.

Thomas moved to Ames with her fiance as he began graduate school at Iowa State University in the summer. Before officially moving to Iowa, she began searching for a place for her independent practice. She quickly found a space to rent, moved her belongings in and opened the business in September.

Thomas said that like any student at a university, she didn’t quite know what career path she wanted to take after school. She studied biological anthropology at Beloit College in Wisconsin. During her time there, she dislocated her right knee after a run while she was bending down to grab a water bottle.

She consulted her doctor and was told that her insurance would cover two weeks of physical therapy, she would be given pain killers but she would never run again, Thomas said.

“And I said, that’s a crap solution,” Thomas said.

Thomas consulted a family friend who was a chiropractor who specialized in sports and rehabilitation.

“He look at me and said, no, you’re not broken forever,” Thomas said.

After figuring out that she had been training and running incorrectly, which had led to the injury, Thomas said she was able to do rehab with her knee and was able to start running again. Soon after that, she decided that this was the type of work she wanted to do.

She attended Texas Chiropractic College, specialized in sports and rehabilitation, and completed the requirements to be able to practice.

After graduating, she worked for a few years at different settings, including outpatient clinics and different private practices before deciding that she wanted her own.

By having her own practice, Thomas said she would be able to work with patients on adjustments, soft tissue work and rehabilitation training. She said this would also ensure that she wouldn’t have to work with insurance companies in order for her patients to have low-cost appointments.

Thomas believes that all three areas she focuses on are crucial in the healing process. Her goal is to have her patients get to the point where they can begin to do easy exercises on their own and not have to come in every week.

Thomas does allow walk-ins, but encourages people to schedule an appointment online in advance to ensure that she will be available. “(What I love most is) helping other people the way somebody helped me once upon a time,” Thomas said. ·

Dr. Erin Thomas moved to Ames last summer and set up her independent practice, TRIAD Chiropractic, in September 2018. PHOTO BY LEXIE TROUTMAN/AMES TRIBUNE

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 9

Features

10 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

Features

J-Term project brings a joyful noise to Story City

D

owntown Story City has been echoing with music for the past few weeks, since two Roland-Story students installed their J-Term project outside of The Yellow Cup Cafe.

Emily Berggren and Amy Rathmacher, both juniors, gave a makeover to an old school-owned piano as their project.

With coats of fresh paint and designs honoring local traditions and landmarks, the old piano has a new life as a musical instrument for the whole community.

“Anyone who wants to play it is welcome,” Berggren said.

The girls were at the Des Moines Downtown Farmers’ Market when the idea occurred to them to create a community piano.

“We saw a little girl playing on a piano outside at the farmers’ market,” Berggren said. “And we thought, ‘Hey, that would be a cool J-Term project!’”

Seeing the girl reminded Berggren of a similar piano in a park in Waverly where she played as a kid when her family lived in Denver.

“That piano brought a lot of people together,” she said.

Both students hope their endeavor will bring people together around the instrument.

J-Term takes place for about a week after winter break is complete and gives students an opportunity to work on projects that are of personal interest to them. The projects included a vast array of work, including performance art, industrial art, research projects, job shadowing experiences, and improvements to the school building.

At the end of J-Term, on Jan. 9, students had their projects on display to the public for the day.

Projects were displayed in many locations throughout the school and included a wide range of media, including woodworking projects, painting, music, videos, live performances and science experiments.

This is the fourth year Roland-Story High School has offered a time for students to work on J-Term projects.

Berggren’s and Rathmacher’s piano venture is a good example of the skills students learn and/or practice in the course of completing their projects.

They had to acquire a piano. They found an old piano that had been used by the band and chorus, but the school district was looking to get rid of it.

“The piano is probably more than 40 years old,” Rathmacher said. “And the school agreed this would be a good use for it.”

After getting permission from the school, Berggren and Rathmacher approached Shannon Hayden, owner of The Yellow Cup Café on Broad Street, to see if she would allow them to put the piano in front of her business.

“I was all for it right away,” Hayden said. “But I told the

girls they’d have to check with Mark Jackson and make sure they had permission from the city. And they’d need to check with the GCC. “They needed to do their due diligence because you can’t do something like this just because you want to. It has to follow the rules.”

Hayden is hoping other business owners in the Main Street District will get on board with the idea of community pianos.

“It would be neat to have a few of them in different parts of downtown,” she said.

Aside from getting the proper approval, Rathmacher and Berggren needed to find the appropriate materials to use to keep the piano as weatherproof as possible.

“We got a lot of help from Josh at Lowe’s,” Rathmacher said. “We used a sealant that is weather resistant and a primer that will stop mold from growing.”

The words “Story City” are painted prominently on the face of the piano, and the Yellow Cup’s logo is on the top of the upright. Other designs include a modern yellow abstract to complement the colors of the café as well as a carousel horse, theater masks, the Story City water tower, the Swinging Bridge, wind turbines and a Broad Street sign.

Assisting on the project were freshmen, Ellie Erickson, Annie Selby and Reagan Barkema. “They helped a lot with the painting,” Berggren said.

Dylan Ihle and Wyatt Bunn were also helpful with the piano. It was delivered to Broad Street from the school by Darrin Berggren, Tyler Frederiksen and Alex Cunningham.

“Mrs. (Amber) Doyle was also a huge help,” Rathmacher said. “She let us use the art room and answered questions when we had them.”

Several city officials were on hand at the installation of the piano on Jan. 9 and expressed approval of the addition to downtown.

“I’m thrilled that high school kids would show this type of creativity and community spirit,” said Connie Phillips, a member of the city council.

“It’s a nice addition to downtown Story City,” said Mayor Mike Jensen. “They really did a good job on it.” ·

By Ronna Lawless GateHouse Iowa

A carousel horse, flags of Scandinavian countries, a Norse “RS” and the Swinging Bridge are featured on one side of the community piano. PHOTO BY RONNA LAWLESS/ GATEHOUSE IOWA

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 11

In Brief

By Robbie Sequeira GateHouse Iowa

Margaret Sloss Center’s change in name is a shift in inclusivity The recent name change of the Iowa State University’s Margaret Sloss Center for Women to the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity isn’t just a change in name, but an act of inclusion.

“We don’t provide services for just one gender or group,” said Director Sandra Looft in early January. “We also serve our transgender students, as well as our non-gender conforming students.

The name change was made effective Jan. 7, aligning with national trends of colleges and universities to provide inclusive representation for its students, regardless of gender.

But for The Sloss Center, its work and services are geared toward more than just ISU students.

“I think sometimes college can be seen in a bubble, but we make our services available to students as well as the city of Ames and provide a safe space to anyone who seeks it,” Looft said.

While the name on the building may be different, Looft assured that the center’s mission statement will remain true by creating and promoting a welcoming and inclusive environment at Iowa State through a gender equity lens.

“Gender equity subscribes to the idea that there is inclusive and equal treatment to all people regardless of their

12 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

gender,” she said.

In the past, the Sloss Center has held events that aim to celebrate all genders, including Equality Day, Equal Pay Days, and women of color workshops, as well as various all-inclusive open houses.

In 2019, the Sloss Center will embark on new wrinkle to its curriculum with something called Smart Salary Negotiation Workshops.

With the help of a successful grant, the center will team up with Women in Science and Engineering to provide workshops to help students negotiate for fair salaries, as well as information on pay-gap inequalities.

“Our main mission is to provide students the tools to navigate in the world, and not have their gender disable them from the opportunities that they’ve earned,” Looft said.

Features

‘I found retirement to be boring...’

By Marlys Barker GateHouse Iowa

Beloved Story County doctor returns to Iowa and joins Story Medical’s team

O

ne of Story County’s most well-respected anything. There was absolutely nothing wrong doctors returned to central Iowa last fall with them. My in-laws failed to fail.” after what some may have mistakenly In the meantime, one of Story County Medical thought was his lasting departure from the area Center’s nurse practitioners, Mary Carr-Peterson, who practices in Maxwell, had been staying three years ago. in contact with Leeds about women’s health care In a turn of events that even he couldn’t have predicted, Texas native Dr. Timothy Leeds is back questions she had. Leeds at first kidded her that he wasn’t doing that anymore, but he admits, he in Story County and practicing medicine again, really liked hearing from her and continuing to this time in Nevada. play a part in women’s health. “I got to realizing Leeds, 59 — who worked for 23 years as an I was looking forward to her questions.” EventuOB/GYN doctor at the Doran Clinic in Ames and ally, he just asked Carr-Peterson, “Why don’t you delivered somewhere around 4,000 babies — is excited about his renewed career at Story Medical offer me a job, and (Story Medical) did and here I Clinic, located in the Story County Medical Center am.”

The best part of Leeds’ current on the southeast edge of Nevada.

“I wanted to get position with Story Medical is that “I found retirement to be boring … some of us are good at retiring. back to Iowa ... I it doesn’t mirror the type of incredbusy schedule he had when he I would have been bad at retiring,” spent 23 years here ibly was seeing patients and delivering said Leeds, who sat down recently telling everyone I babies in Ames. to share the story of how it is that “I now have nights, weekhe left the Doran Clinic to go back was from Texas, and to his home state, and then realthen I got homesick ends and holidays free,” he said. ized he was homesick for Central His wife, who moved up here in for Iowa.”

Iowa.

November (he moved up sooner Dr. Timothy Leeds, “It’s the people,” he said, about when he started work at Story Story Medical Clinic why he’s decided he’s really an Medical in September) is trying to Iowan at heart. “I wanted to get get used to the idea of him actually being around and being alert when she sees back to Iowa. … I spent 23 years here telling him, because he has a job that isn’t requiring him everyone I was from Texas, and then I got homesick for Iowa. (Here) when people see you and say to work long and crazy hours all the time. “Five ‘welcome home,’ they mean it and that’s the best years ago, she looked at me and said, ‘You’ve been part of it.” sleep-deprived the whole time that I’ve known The reason Leeds and his wife, Barbara, left you.’”

Ames three years ago was to be close to her aging As to whether they would live in Ames again, parents. In January 2015, they moved back to or somewhere else, that issue was decided when the state they were both raised in and settled in they found the right home in Nevada. In fact, it’s Round Rock to help her parents, one 90 and one a home once featured in the Nevada Journal — 87. Leeds worked for the first year-and-a-half at a the old Spike Speckeen home, that is rumored clinic there, but that clinic wasn’t really his style, to have once changed hands following a poker he admitted. So he was basically fully retired for game. Barbara Leeds, being a lover of genealogy the past year-and-a-half. When it came to helping LEEDS, page 14 his in-laws, he chuckled, “They wouldn’t let us do Dr. Timothy Leeds has returned to Iowa and is now practicing in women’s health care at Story Medical Clinic at the Story Medical Center in Nevada. PHOTO BY MARLYS BARKER/GATEHOUSE IOWA FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 13

Features LEEDS, continued from page 13

and history, saw that the home was for sale and wanted to have a look. “Before we bought it, she did an ancestry of the house,” her husband noted.

Leeds and his wife married while they were both college students at Texas A&M University. In fact, he said, they had already had their three children when he attended his first lecture in obstetrics. “Our last (child) was born prematurely at 34 to 35 weeks, and it was the first time I realized obstetricians did something,” he said with a laugh. “That’s what started my interest in (that type of medicine).”

He knew before starting college that he wanted to go into medicine, he just wasn’t sure which area. But his interest in being a doctor came from a tragedy suffered by his mother. “My mother was in an ammonia truck accident on the freeway (in Houston, Texas).” He said it was a devastating accident, with several killed and many injured. His mother burned out both corneas in her eyes and scarred both lungs, “so I took care of her eyes for the rest of my high school time. … That was my first taste of medicine, helping mom.”

What he’s loved most about women’s health care is talking to women. “I had three older sisters and an assertive mother … I’m used to talking to women. Men,” he said with a laugh, “I’ve got my limits on how long I can talk to guys.”

He also shared how much it meant to him to be part of all the baby deliveries he handled. “After the baby is born, for the next few days the mom is in the hospital and she’s just sitting there staring at her baby. You get to watch people fall in love (with their child).”

“Why wouldn’t you want to do this?” Then he smiles, and answers his own question, “The hours.” The long hours are the biggest drawback to it.

He doesn’t have those hours to deal with any longer.

So now, Leeds is trying to figure out some hobbies. “Being an obstetrician discourages you from picking up hobbies because you have to leave them to go deliver babies. So I’m trying to pick up some hobbies right now.”

One thing he has generally been able to make time for through the years is playing low-stakes poker with a group of guys. “We’ve never missed a month in 24 years. When I would visit Iowa for weddings and such, I planned travel around these every-other-week games,” he said.

He and one of his poker friends were also trying to come up with another hobby they could do and came up with archery. “Guns scared us, but bows and arrows felt better.

We hunt balloons … We call it ‘slaytex.’”

While in Story County previously, Leeds helped out as a volunteer women’s health doctor at the Story County Jail in Nevada. He plans to talk to the jail staff about doing that again, if they need him.

What’s really cool about being back, he said, is having some of his former patients, even from Ames and other parts of the county, driving over to Nevada to see him for their health care. “It’s good seeing pictures of their kids and catching up with them.”

As for living in Nevada, he and his wife were still busy 14 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

Dr. Timothy Leeds has returned to Iowa and is now practicing in women’s health care at Story Medical Clinic at the Story Medical Center in Nevada. PHOTO BY MARLYS BARKER/ GATEHOUSE IOWA

unpacking, when they also started making friends. One of the neighbor ladies came over to welcome them, he said, and now she and her husband come over to sit and talk occasionally, which is nice.

As for being at the Nevada hospital, Leeds feels really good about that too. He loves it, he said, because of how nice people are and how passionate those who work at Story Medical are about their patients. “People here are enthusiastic about taking care of people’s health. If that’s not attractive, I don’t know what is.” ·

A FEW MORE POINTS OF INTEREST FROM DR. LEEDS:

♦ He did his residency at Wichita State, then came straight to Ames, taking a position with Bob Doran, who was practicing solo at the time after his father’s death. He and Bob practiced together for 18 years until Bob’s death.

“Bob and I got along because we both had the same attitude toward patients.” ♦ In high school, he didn’t play sports, but he did belong to a two-guy sports announcing team. “We were the voice of the Crusaders (their high school mascot).” They even made up business cards to pass out so people knew who they were and “we were both on the yearbook staff, so we got a page for ourselves in the yearbook. Shameless self-promotion.” ♦ He initially thought he was going to be a cardiologist. ♦ His favorite medical drama was “ER.” “You could tell they had consultants on there because they got the medical things right… George Clooney diagnosed things I’d never heard about before; wow, that guy was smart!” ♦ He loved putting on “medical Jeopardy” when he lectured at Mary Greeley. ♦ One show he and his wife can watch together, “Time Team,” a British archaeology show that ran in Britain for more than 20 years. They watch it on YouTube

Features Dr. Timothy Leeds’ red Converse shoes have taken on a life of their own. PHOTO

BY MARLYS BARKER / GATEHOUSE IOWA

The Story of the Red Shoes Those who know Dr. Leeds know he wears red Converse sneakers when he’s working. But do you know the story behind those shoes?

It started when he was dealing with back pain some years ago. “I delivered a lady … and I was trying out different shoes.”

He’d worn a pair of blue Converse sneakers at the time. Well, that woman didn’t think the blue shoes “were cool enough, so she bought me a red pair.” And those became his work shoes from that point on. “I wore them until they started wearing out,” he said. His daughter was working as a receptionist about that time at the Doran Clinic, and an observant patient, who noticed his shoes were really getting worn, asked his daughter what size shoe he wore. His daughter didn’t know but told her she’d check at home. She got back to that woman, and, “I got a second pair of red Converse shoes… I thought, wow, I can get free shoes! Cool.”

The red Converse shoes took on a life of their own, he admitted. Even to the point where he rushed from church one day to deliver a woman and he was wearing his good shoes, not his red sneakers. That woman wasn’t having it. “She said she’d wait to push her baby out while I went home to get my red shoes.” So he did. “Probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done,” he laughed. He then started keeping a pair in his locker. In reference to the shoes and his scrubs, he brags, “I get to wear pajamas and tennis shoes every day.”

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 15

Features

By Robbie Sequeira GateHouse Iowa

Ames Police LGBT liaison role is a step to improve LBGTQ+ relations

I

Ames Police Sgt. Chris Crippen, left, is the law enforcement agency’s LGBT Liaison. GATEHOUSE IOWA FILE PHOTO

n 2017, the city of Ames held its first LGBTQIA+ pride festival, which was a large step toward the representation of the LTBGTQ+ community in Ames.

While a symbolic rainbow flag hangs at the Ames United Church of Christ, with a message of encouragement and tolerance, the Ames Police Department has installed efforts to ensure the safety of LGBTQ+ community members and to create a stronger relationship with members of that community.

“There’s been a constant battle for members of the LBGTQIA+ community to coexist in major cities since the ’60s, and it’s created a sense of friction with law enforcement,” said Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, executive director of One Iowa, a statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) organization, preserving and advancing equality for the LGBTQ community.

As recently as 2016, according to the FBI’s yearly Crime in the U.S., Iowa had the sixth-highest occurrence of hatebased crimes, with 17.5 percent of those offenses being targeted toward a victim’s sexual orientation.

There’s been a noticeable trend in Iowa cities in that past couple of years, and that trend is the continued efforts to include, involve and inspirit the LGBTQ+ community in various areas of their respective cities.

Ames Police installed Sgt. Christine Crippen as its LGBTQ Liaison.

“Our goal (is) to engage with the LGBT community, and Christine has attended meetings and is finding ways to continue to be a source of help for the Ames LBGT community,” said Ames Police Cmdr. Geoff Huff.

The decision to install the position is a part of an overarching theme of the department, to have resources for underrepresented groups.

“We don’t want to wait for discrimination or bias-related

16 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

crime to happen for us,” Huff said.

The Municipal Equality Index, conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, grades each major city in the United States on a five-category, 100-point scale in its resources for marginalized groups.

Ames received a score of 82, ranking it in the top-fifth percentile among all U.S. cities. The 82 score is Ames’ highest ranking in the Index’s seven-year history.

The Ames Police department scored a perfect 22 out of 22 in 2018, and much of that can be attributed to the implementation of the LGBTQ+ Liaison. The community liaison role is rooted in proactivity, with collaborations and training with inclusion groups being a major tenet of the job.

Crippen, in her role, has met with various inclusion affairs groups at Iowa State University, as well as attended programs and meetings to help combat anti-discriminatory tactics.

The role of the LGBT liaison developed in San Francisco in the 1960s as anti-gay practices, such as entrapment in private areas, was a common occurrence.

“An LGBT liaison should be a point person for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to come to for support, but also to identify issues in their town,” said Hoffman-Zinnel.

The responsibilities for Crippen and the Ames police are two-fold: outreach and protection for the LGBTQ+ community.

“Transgender woman and men have shown reluctance and fear in reporting attacks to police, and the role of a liaison to seek to find avenues to ensure their safety and prevent future occurrence,” said Hoffman-Zinnel.

While the Ames community liaison is still in its early stages, it’s a prime example of the efforts local law enforcement are making to create an equal and inclusive environment for all of its citizens. ·

In Brief

ISU student receives top honor at New York fashion scholarship fund gala An Iowa State University student received a $35,000 award for her case study through the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund in New York.

Jenny Junker, 22, is a senior in Apparel Merchandising and Design (AMD) at ISU. Her involvement with fashion throughout Iowa State has been immense.

What began as a child’s passion for working in the fashion industry, blossomed in just three and a half years at ISU and even more opportunities.

“I chose AMD at Iowa State because it consistently ranks as one of the top programs in the Unites States,” Junker said.

“When I found the AMD program at Iowa State combines business and marketing principles, I knew it was a perfect fit.”

As she began studying at ISU, she began building her leadership skills and becoming involved with the Fashion Show and eventually the co-founder of the National Retail Federation Student Association at ISU. Now she is in her second year of competing in the YMA fashion scholarship fund, which requires students to create a case study that has one specific problem for one specific company. The open-ended prompt allows students to choose from the four options of design/product development, merchandising/marketing, supply chain, and technology/ analysis.

“I think the open-ended choice to choose the company makes the cases a lot more interesting and diverse,” Junker said. “There is more opportunity for students to collaborate without feeling like they are competing, because everyone has vastly different ideas and directions they are going.”

This year, Junker chose merchandising and marketing for a case study about globalization. The national competition featured 740 students that submitted cases. The YMA has more than 60 member schools nationwide.

Those students flew to New York for a career fair and opportunities to meet people in the industry, along with a ticket to the YMA fashion scholarship fund gala. Over 1,500 people attended the gala including celebrities and high level executives like Martha Stewart and Ryan Seacrest.

Junker won the $5,000 award last year when she competed with her case study. What she didn’t know she would receive at the gala this year, was even more extraordinary to her.

“We found out at the stage at the gala (that I won). It was a total shock to me,” she said. “I scored in the top eight out of the 740, and was the winner of the top eight.”

As she continues her studies Junker said she hopes to continue working in the fashion industry while being proud of the education she is receiving.

“I’ve been so lucky and humbled to be awarded as a finalist,” she said. “My only hope is to keep representing ISU in years to come.”

By Lyn Keren GateHouse Iowa

Iowa State University Senior Jenny Junker holds her award at the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund gala in New York. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY YMA

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 17

Features

By Lyn Keren Three women connect through Story City Norwegian group through DNA testing GateHouse Iowa

Pictured from left, Norm Carlson, Sons of Norway zone director, and presenter, Don Todd, were joined by outof-state guests Cathy Chase, Kendra DiMichele and Kristi Christopher, during the group’s meeting presentation.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BY SONS OF NORWAY

T

hree women from Washington and Alabama learned they were related through DNA testing and the Sons of Norway group in Story City.

Cathy Chase, of Washington, said her mother Marilyn Jean was born in Stanhope. Chase’s grandparents were Elmer and Byrdie Nelson. Jean was one of 10 children.

Chase said she and her daughter, Kendra (Chase) DiMichele, decided to test their DNA using an Ancestry DNA kit in June. When they got their results back, they were able to view them and message any matches through the company’s website.

“I heard back from one gal and learned our great grandfathers were brothers,” she said.

Kristi Christopher, of Alabama, was originally born in Webster City. She and her father wanted to know where they were from since he was adopted and raised by his great aunt and uncle.

“After my dad’s parents (aunt and uncle) passed away and when I had two sons of my own,” she said. “He showed me a picture and some articles he had found about his presumed birth father, R.H.” Christopher only provided the initials of the individual, R.H., for privacy reasons, she said.

R.H. was of German and British descent, according to Christopher. He served in Word War II and died in a car crash when Christopher’s father was young. That knowledge changed after their DNA results came in.

“My first surprise came when Ancestry reported that my father and I were nearly 50 percent Scandinavian and from specific regions in Norway,” she said.

Christopher said she did not know of any family connections in Norway and no names or matches that corresponded to R.H. and his large family. She decided to continue her intense search for more information.

“There were numerous common cousins on both sides from the John George (J. G.) Nelson and Elizabeth Munson Union,” she said.

18 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

When Christopher received a message from Chase, they realized their connection from the Nelson and Munson union. They both planned to meet in Iowa to learn more about their family.

When Chase, DiMichele and Christopher met, Chase lent Christopher a book called, “And Then There Were Nine.” It was an autobiographical account written by Chase’s Aunt lone J. G. Nelson Wilson.

The book details the author’s life growing up in Stanhope to Chase’s grandparents.

Christopher learned that J.G. Nelson’s family were part of the first immigrants from Sogn, Norway, to settle Clear Lake Township in 1869. J.G. Nelson’s wife immigrated to America when she was 5 years old and lived in Story County where they lived a pioneer life on the plains of Iowa, according to the book.

Christopher and Chase learned more about each other’s ancestors through Chase’s relatives and more stories in the book. Chase’s daughter found an event about Norwegian heritage to attend in Story County after these new revelations.

They found the Sons of Norway in Story City, a fraternal organization principally representing people of Norwegian heritage, according to the group’s member, Ingrid Place.

The three women attended the group’s gathering to learn more about other people in Story County with similar backgrounds and stories of their trips to Norway.

“My dad, who thought he was an only child his entire life, has living half-brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews,” Christopher said.

She said her experiences with the DNA results have created a better idea of how her family portrait fits together.

Christopher said she wants to continue learning more about her family tree.

“The search has been an adventure of sorts,” she said.

“It’s left me feeling at peace with the past and has filled an empty space that I never knew existed.” ·

In Brief

Cambridge Memorial Library director retires after 47 years Watching children grow up through the eyes of a librarian has been rewarding for Janet Thorson, long-time director of the Cambridge Memorial Library, who retired Dec. 31 after 47 years.

“I enjoy the kids and watching them grow has been my biggest joy,” Thorson said. “I’ve watched kids grow up and graduate, get married and have children and I always think it just doesn’t seem possible.”

Throughout those years the library has had technological advances and moved to the new Cambridge Community Center in December of 2017. The one constant for Thorson has been a focus on children.

Thorson said that focus started with her children and when she started bringing them to the library.

“I started complaining about the children’s section,” Thorson said.

So she began volunteering to help with the children’s section and from there she began serving on the library board. After Matilda Hill retired, Thorson was asked to serve as the library director.

One of her favorite stories is when a junior high school student named Steve Weatherman volunteered in the mid1970s to do the children’s summer program for one week.

She and her husband, Roger Thorson, were leaving for a

By Barb McBreen Contributing Writer

one-week vacation. Janet said she normally had 30 children in the program, but that week 40 kids showed up.

“He thought he could manage it, but he said he was never doing that again,” Janet said.

The annual Easter egg hunt is one of the children’s events Janet implemented as part of the library’s activities. Now, every Easter weekend for the past 16 years the library board has sponsored the Easter egg hunt at Ballard East Elementary School.

Janet grew up in Spokane, Wash., and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School before her family moved to an Iowa farm in McIntire in 1954. She started working at Donnelley Marketing in 1955 and married Roger in 1957. The couple moved to a farm east of Cambridge in 1960.

Janet said she plans to keep busy in retirement. Along with other activities she organizes deliveries from the Iowa Food Bank to the Cambridge Food Pantry, which is located in the Cambridge United Methodist Church.

Jay Robinson from Baxter started working with Janet on Dec. 1 and took over as the new library director on Jan. 1.

The Cambridge Memorial Library Board hosted a retirement party for Janet Thorson on Dec. 9. The board, from left, includes Dona Cowman, secretary; Wendy Dubberke, president; Angie Fleener; Janet Thorson; Crystal Hughes, treasurer; and Connie Harper. PHOTO BY BARB MCBREEN

• Co Companion io & Re Respite it Ca Care • Personal Care • Transportation Services • Hourly Rate and No Contracts • Laundry and Housekeeping • MD appts • Errands

515-292-2650 • Ames 515-963-4410 • Ankeny

www.athomecareco.com FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 19

Features

By Lyn Keren GateHouse Iowa

Local sewing team assembles 3,000 feminine hygiene kits for girls in underdeveloped countries

Ames Days for Girls sewing club has volunteers and collaborators throughout Central Iowa.

PHOTO BY AMES DAYS FOR GIRLS SEWING CLUB

T

he Ames Days for Girls sewing club hit a milestone by assembling 3,000 feminine hygiene kits for girls and women in need, in three years.

Days for Girls is an international organization, teaming with chapters across the world to achieve the goal of every woman in the world having access to feminine hygiene by creating safe, durable and educational hygiene kits.

Each homemade kit includes a drawstring bag with hygiene items, reusable and washable products, and an educational instruction sheet.

The Ames Days for Girls team began in April 2015, and has grown into a collaboration of churches and community service organizations looking for volunteer opportunities.

St. Cecilia, Bethesda Lutheran Church, Collegiate Presbyterian and the Nevada Memorial Lutheran Church are local organizations with active volunteers in the Ames team.

St. Cecilia’s St. Louis room is home to the sewing club’s location in Ames. Mary Ross and Carol Helland are co-leaders for the team.

Ross began researching leaders in central Iowa who were involved with the Days for Girls project and ultimately met Helland. The two began creating a team and project center in Ames.

Helland said she was able to see firsthand the need for education and supplies to women in developing countries after visiting South Africa in 2016 to distribute kits.

“When you can go and be a part of a distribution and the instruction that goes on and see the reaction that they (girls and women receiving the kits) have,” she said. “That (reaction) is confirming to our ladies that this isn’t just a nice little thing we do, but they are thrilled to receive them.”

The giving doesn’t end with distributing the hygiene kits to schools and communities. Helland, along with other distributors, teach a class to educate the girls in those locations about basic sex education.

20 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

“We would tackle some of the myths that they have in that area or remote areas of Africa,” Helland said.

A lot of girls and women in underdeveloped countries do not have access to suitable feminine products, Helland said. They resort to using items that are a potential health hazard, or the girls stay home and miss four to five days of school.

She said the name Days for Girls comes from the loss of days a girl has to miss of education due to the lack of resources for feminine products in those countries.

“By giving them a suitable, washable, reusable product,” Helland said. “You are literally giving them back days of their lives.”

The sewing team also works with local community service organizations such as Altrusa, Iowa State Cy-Serve and the Iowa Rotaract Club, who serve as volunteers for the team’s mission.

Although most volunteers for the project are girls, Ross said there are boys who participate and learn to sew the hygiene kits.

“The boys had sewed too,” she said. “In their class they had operated a sewing machine, and they were willing to try anything.”

Helland said many of the women who are involved in the project feel a sense of connection to the issue, making them even more invested to volunteer.

“It’s hard enough to have your period,” she said. “And then you don’t have products … It’s life changing (to see).”

Helland and Ross said they admire the women who created the Days for Girls organization and the success it’s achieved. They said seeing that passion in their volunteer was the true backbone of the project’s success.

“This one woman saw a need and said something should be done about it,” Helland said. “And now, a year ago, we passed the one million mark of kids that had distributed (kits) around the world.” ·

Warm Eats

Black bean soup, shrimp is a whole meal in a bowl

H

earty black bean soup becomes a welcoming dinner.

With the addition of shrimp and rice, it’s a whole meal in a bowl. Best of all it takes only 20 minutes start to finish. Soups are great family fare, but usually take too long to make for a midweek meal. This quick one fits the bill.

Black beans are becoming popular as we discover that they taste great and are packed with fiber and protein, about 15 grams per cup. This is the type of meal you can make without a trip to the supermarket. Keep canned beans, any type can be used, frozen shrimp, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and rice on hand. Also keep frozen diced onion and minced bottled garlic on hand for many other recipes.

HELPFUL HINTS:

n Any type of canned tomatoes can be used. n Brown rice can be substituted for white rice. n Hot pepper sauce is added at the end. The heat is up to you. n 4 crushed garlic cloves can be used instead of minced garlic.

By Linda Gassenheimer Miami Herald

spray with olive oil spray. Add shrimp and saute 2 minutes, turning after one minute, or until they turn pink. Remove to a plate. Add the onion and saute 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook 1 minute. Add the black beans, tomatoes, chicken broth and rice. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes or until rice is cooked through. Add cumin, salt and black pepper to taste. Return shrimp to soup for a few seconds to warm through. Add hot pepper sauce or place on the table for each person to add. Serve in large soup bowls and, if using cilantro, sprinkle on top. ¡ Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 548 calories (7 percent from fat), 4.5 g fat (0.6 g saturated, 1.8 g monounsaturated), 276 mg cholesterol, 57.7 g protein, 73.9 g carbohydrates, 20.9 g fiber, 503 mg sodium.

COUNTDOWN:

n Saute shrimp. n Cook remaining ingredients.

SHOPPING LIST: To buy: olive oil spray, 1/2 pound peeled shrimp, 1 can reduced-sodium black beans, 1 can diced no-salt added tomatoes, 1 bottle ground cumin, 1 can low-sodium chicken broth, 1 bottle hot pepper sauce, 1 package frozen diced onion, 1 container minced garlic and 1 bunch cilantro (optional).

Staples: long-grain white rice, salt and black peppercorns.

BLACK BEAN SOUP AND SHRIMP Olive oil spray 3/4 pound peeled shrimp 1 cup frozen chopped onion 2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cups rinsed and drained reduced-sodium canned black beans 1 cup drained canned no-salt added diced tomatoes 2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth 1/4 cup long-grain white rice 1 teaspoon ground cumin Salt and freshly ground black pepper Several drops hot pepper sauce 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional) Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 21

Warm Eats

By Daniel Neman St. Louis PostDispatch

It’s the ultimate breakfast treat: homemade biscuits, homemade butter and homemade jam

E

Homemade biscuits, strawberry jam and butter. PHOTO

BY HILLARY LEVIN/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/ TNS

very once in a while, my father would bake biscuits for breakfast. He made them the only way I knew they could be made: out of a box.

Only after I was grown did I realize that box-made buttermilk biscuits was merely a way of approximating something that could be done by hand.

And it was not until even later that I came to know that homemade biscuits can be made with hardly any more effort and time than it takes to make the boxed version.

But that’s not all.

We slathered my father’s hot biscuits generously with butter — butter that we had acquired the way Nature intended, at a store. I knew that farmers of an earlier time churned their own butter, but that always seemed quaint to me, and cinematic.

It never occurred to me that I could make my own butter at home with the use of a common household appliance, and in less time than it takes to make biscuits.

And even that’s not all.

Once the butter had melted into those biscuits, we would spread each half with jam. The jam, obviously, came in store-bought jars. I realized that many people make their own jam, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I tried to do it myself.And yes, it was easier than I thought.

Honey, also, is a great topping for homemade biscuits.

But let’s leave that one to the bees.

Needless to say, homemade biscuits are better than biscuits made from a box or a tube. Homemade jam is far brighter and fresher than jam from a store.

Homemade butter, however, tastes just like butter. On the other hand, making it gives you a great sense of accomplishment. Plus, it’s something to brag about casually when you serve it to guests. “What, this butter? Oh, I made it myself. I do that, you know.”

This week, for breakfast — the best meal of the day — I made what no one but me calls BB&J: biscuits, butter and jam.

22 | FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019

I began with the butter. I poured two cups of heavy cream into a food processor and turned it on. Voila, butter.

Actually, it’s a little more complicated than that, but not much. The food processor separates clumps of butter from buttermilk. You pour off the buttermilk (but keep it, because it’s buttermilk and you can cook with it) and press together the butter clumps until all the remaining buttermilk squeezes out.

And now it’s butter.

One advantage to making your own butter is that you can control just how much salt you put into it, if you want salt. But a disadvantage is that it can cost more than storebought butter, depending on where you buy your dairy products.

Next, I made the jam. I used an all-purpose recipe that makes jam out of any kind of fruit, but I chose strawberries because it is January and I could find them, and also because I love strawberry jam.

Making your own jam at home does take some time, but it is not at all difficult. All you need is a simple mathematical formula.

For the amount of fruit you use (I used three pounds of strawberries), stir in one-third of that weight in sugar and one-third of the sugar weight (or one-ninth of the fruit weight) in lemon juice, plus a little bit of salt.

You let that sit for an hour or two, and then you simmer it all together for another hour or two. After it cools, you have brilliant, fresh-tasting jam. And you don’t even have to use pectin.

With the butter and jam in the fridge and ready to go, I tackled the biscuits.

Biscuits are fun. You get to play with your food, and you end up with something incredibly buttery and flaky and delicious.

To assure the ultimate in flakiness, I make my biscuits like I make a pie crust. Actually, I make them like I make puff pastry.

First, I make sure that the flour is cold (I measure it out and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes) and so is the butter (I cut it into small cubes and put it in the refrigerator for the same time. I rub the butter into the flour (plus baking powder, baking soda and salt) with my fingers.

You could use a food processor, but the friction may cause the butter to soften, and cold butter makes flaky biscuits.

As with pie crusts and puff pastry, I try to work the dough as little as possible. But, in order to get layers, I fold the dough over on itself several times.

Your house may never smell as good as it does when you are baking buttermilk biscuits. But as wonderful as they smell, they taste even better.

I like them with a smear of homemade butter and a dollop of fresh jam. ·

Warm Eats

These tapas meatballs make great party nibbles

Ellie Krieger Washington Post

A

batch of these saucy, Spanish-style meatballs could serve you well in multiple ways. They can be made several days in advance so they are ready in the refrigerator, waiting to answer any number of calls for good food fast, with just a quick reheat.

Their mini size makes them a toothpick-friendly party food — one that is enthusiastically embraced at a potluck or as a casual nibble for friends who drop in for drinks.

They are a lip-smacking dinner-at-the-ready served in a bowl with a simple side salad and some crusty bread for sopping up their smoky, tangy tomato sauce. And when you can’t stop to sit down, you can pile them — hot or cold — into a whole-grain roll, maybe topped with some fresh spinach leaves, and wrap it up to go.

Also, I have been known to pregame by nibbling a few before an event when I am unsure if or when food will be served. Using a mix of light- and dark-meat turkey keeps these meatballs lean and well in the healthy zone, but insures they are also quite moist and tender.

They are so good and so versatile, you might want to make a double batch. · Make ahead: The formed, uncooked meatballs need a 30-minute chill in the refrigerator.

PHOTO BY TOM MCCORKLE/ THE WASHINGTON POST

Nutrition: Per serving (based on 12): 120 calories, 9 g protein, 5 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 2 g sugar

INGREDIENTS Makes 6 to 12 servings, as an appetizer or main-course; makes 24 meatballs n 1 pound ground turkey, all dark meat or a mix of light and dark (92 or 93 percent lean) n 1/3 cup dried whole-grain bread crumbs n 1 small onion, half of it minced and half of it cut into small dice n 4 cloves garlic, minced n 1 large egg, lightly beaten n 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley n 1 1/4 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika (sweet; pimenton) n 1 teaspoon salt n 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper n 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil n 15 ounces canned, no-salt-added tomato sauce n 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar n Pinch cayenne pepper, or more as needed n Water

STEPS 1 Combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, the minced onion, half of the gar-

lic, the egg, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of the smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the black pepper in a mixing bowl, then use your clean hands to mix and create a well-blended mixture. Form into 24 small meatballs of equal size (about 1 inch in diameter). Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (to firm up).

2

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add half the chilled meatballs to the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes, turning them two or three times, until they are browned all over. Transfer them to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet, then repeat with the remaining meatballs, adding them to the others once they’re browned.

3

Reduce the heat to medium; add the diced onion to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until it has softened a bit. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.

4

Add the tomato sauce (it will sizzle and splatter a bit), the vinegar and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the cayenne pepper. Once the sauce mixture is bubbling, reduce the heat to medium-low; carefully return all the meatballs to the skillet, tossing to coat them (the sauce will not cover the meatballs). Cover the skillet and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and reducing the heat further as needed, until the meatballs are cooked through, and adding water a tablespoon at a time to loosen the sauce if it seems too thick. Taste, and add a bit more cayenne, as needed.

FACETS | FEBRUARY 2019 | 23