The Iowa Stater
May 2000
Just like my alma mater used to make
Last November, we asked if you recalled any to-die-for foods from the residence dining halls that you’d like to make in your own kitchens. Do you ever! We received requests for more than 20 food items.You are good dessert eaters; chocolate mint dessert was the most requested item, but cherry delight and strawberry gelatin dessert, chocolate cake and an assortment of cookies were popular, too. Your requests also included lots of memories: eating with a boyfriend, house food exchanges, sneaking back in line for seconds, hanging out in the dining room with friends.
Maybe it’s time to call up some old Cyclone pals and invite them over for dinner. Here are the most-requested recipes to get you started.
No. 1 – it had to include chocolate
When I attended Iowa State in the late ’70s, my favorite item on the menu, bar none, was the green mint dessert. I don’t know the official name. ... Luckily, my boyfriend (now my husband of 22 years), didn’t like desserts of any kind. You can be sure I always made the effort to eat dinner with him on green mint dessert days! I would love to have the recipe.
– Colleen Wise (Hort ’80)
I have fond memories of Chocolate Mint Dessert ... It had a rich chocolate crumb crust above and below a layer of mint ice cream. Yum!
– Debra Fincham
(’Fam Environ/Fam Stds ’79)
No. 2 – turkey time
My husband and I both graduated from ISU in May 1980, and we have often discussed our favorite "dinner exchange" menu – Turkey Canoes and Chocolate Mint Dessert. We hope that you receive enough requests to print the recipes for these in your May 2000 issue.
– Arlan (Indus Ed ’80) and Laura (Cochran, Dietetics ’80) Hechtner
My wife Karen, and I are both graduates from ISU in 1981. … One recipe that Karen and I talk about, even today, is "Turkey Canoe."
– Karen Kline-Jerome
(Elem Ed ’81) and Chris Jerome (Elec Engr ’81)
No. 3 – it’s a tie
[One item] that I "lived for" was the chicken-rice bake. Super juicy chicken that was served baked in the wild rice. I can still see those large silver pans filled with those delicious chicken breasts and surrounded by the rice. I have yet to find a chicken and rice recipe that comes close. Those were always second-helping days.
– Randolph N. Langer (Occup Safety ’96)
I would love to have the recipe for Minnesota Wild Rice Soup … it was the best I ever tasted!
– Mary L. Mulry (Dietetics ’45)
Minesota Wild Rice Soup Recipe
Below are other Recipes from Iowa State University Dining Services
Bonus recipes
The residence hall dining staff did its best to find as many as possible of
the recipes you requested. While we had limited space in The Iowa Stater,
below are the other recipes they found.