Grandma used to run the restaurant at the sale barn. Grandpa said that the one day of the week it was open, they’d have more people come for the food than the livestock auction.

It was nothing too fancy, just good ole Midwest farm cooking. To the unknowing, it looked effortless, but I know how much work she put into it. She loved it and it was second nature to her, but I’m sure, knowing her, she put a lot of time and effort into it.

While she loved fancy food, the cuisine she turned out for the sale barn was simple, wholesome and of the land in which she was raised.

Grandpa said she always did something special for the sale barn – dark chocolate pies, short bread cookies, a rich custard – in addition to fried chicken, roast beef, pork chops and a casserole or two.

I wasn’t a glimmer in anyone’s eye when Grandma was cooking for the auctions, but I was able to witness her care and planning when she ran the kitchen at our church camp. She would lay out a menu for each meal. The meals were all well rounded and better than anything we ever had from a cafeteria.

I remember the cookbook she used for more technical things was often open on the counter and cleanly put away when she was through – always before dinner was served.

When she passed away, I was given the cookbook. It is a mostly spotless edition with a spine that is a little worn. The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook was copyrighted in 1950, so while it is not an ancient tome, it is over 70 years old.

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Her home meals were nothing short of spectacular in taste, with that Middle America essence, albeit a little more even keeled than what is demanded today. Her dishes like white beans and ham, scalloped corn with oysters or even hamburger steak in gravy were always full of flavor.

I never understood how an Iowa farm girl was able to incorporate oysters in her culinary repertoire. At some point I realized that the months in which we ate them at her table were the months that they could be imported inland from the coast without fear of spoilage – November through February.

Since I love to eat well, I would watch her to see what she did to make everything come together so well. She was well organized and didn’t rush into any cooking endeavor. It’s hard for me not to go at full speed, but I’ve learned, by example, that an even pace serves one well.

Some of her old recipes are now part of my stock – pork roast, scalloped corn, lemon pie. I’m sure it’s nothing like the meals she served at the sale barn in Ames, but at least I have something to build on and some great culinary memories.

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