Darcy Dougherty-Maulsby Books

"Iowa History one plate at a time... With Italian steakhouses, the Younkers Tea Room and Stella's Blue Sky Diner, Des Moines's culinary history is tantalizingly diverse. It's filled with colorful characters like bootlegger/'millionaire bus boy' Babe Bisignano, a buxom bar owner named Ruthie and future president of the United States Ronald Reagan. The savory details reveal deeper stories of race relations, women's rights, Iowa Caucus politics, the arts, immigration and assimilation. Don't be surprised if you experience sudden cravings for Steak de Burgo, fried pork tenderloin sandwiches and chocolate ambrosia pie, âa la Bishop's Buffet. Author Darcy Dougherty Maulsby serves up a feast of Des Moines classics mixed with Iowa history, complete with iconic recipes." -- cover page 4.

No Iowa county has influenced American history more than Dallas County. It propelled Harry Truman to an unlikely victory in the 1948 presidential campaign, following a fiery speech he delivered to 100,000 farmers on a sweltering September day at the National Plowing Match near Dexter. Just 15 years earlier, a shoot-out near Dexfield Park marked the beginning of the end for infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde and the notorious Barrow Gang. Dallas County, located just west of Des Moines, has produced several major-league baseball players (among them Bob Feller and Hal Manders), a US congressman (David Young), and Nile Kinnick, the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner and University of Iowa football legend whose grandfather George Clarke, of Adel, served as Iowa's governor from 1913 to 1917. Today, Dallas County is one of the fastest-growing counties in America and remains a region of opportunity with a rich heritage of small-town living, farming, coal mining, and the immigrant experience.