I recently wrote about the inventor of the Green Bean Casserole. It piqued my interest in finding out more about other inventors of some of my families favorite foods. One of those foods is the Rice Krispie Treat. I love that it’s invention is credited to an Iowa State University graduate!

Kelloggs Rice Krispie Treats is a trademarked name. The recipe (cereal, marshmallows, butter and vanilla) has never changed. Many of us put our own twist on the treat by adding extra ingredients or toppings however.

Mildred Ghrist Day is the woman credited with developing the original recipe. She was born in 1903 in Marion County Iowa. She went to Iowa State University and majored in Home Economics. Even before she received her diploma she had a job secured at the Kelloggs cereal company in Battle Creek, MI. She tested recipes in the company’s large kitchen and conducted cooking schools for Kelloggs across the country.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies cereal was developed in 1927 and came on the market in 1928. By 1939, Mildred and a co-worker had created the Rice Krispies Treat. History has it that the recipe was possibly inspired by an earlier recipe that had puffed wheat and molasses in. Mildred felt marshmallows would be less messy than molasses and began experimenting. Mildred’s daughter, Sandra, remembers that about six months after the invention, Kelloggs received a call from a Camp Fire girls organization looking for ideas for a fundraising project. The Rice Krispie treat was originally known as marshmallow squares and Kelloggs decided to test-try the product for the Camp Fire girls request. They sent Mildred, with a giant mixer and huge baking trays, to the Camp Fire girls in the Kansas City area. Mildred made many batches of the then known as marshmallow squares. The mothers of the Camp Fire girls would wrap the treats then send the girls out to sell them door to door.

Although the recipe had been published in newspapers earlier, in 1941 Kelloggs put the recipe on the side of its cereal box for the first time. They remain popular to this day.

In honor and memory of Mildred, Iowa State University students created a gigantic Rice Krispies Treat as part of the VEISHEA celebration in 2001. It weighed 2,480 pounds and was made from 818 pounds of Rice Krispies cereal, 1,466 pounds of marshmallows and 217 pounds of butter. What an accomplishment!

Marcia Steed

I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Home Economics Education. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and traveling.

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We get more calls about curdled food this time of year than any other time. Callers are frustrated when their homemade tomato soup curdles. It can be annoying when making tomato soup or scalloped potatoes to have the product look curdled and lumpy. It certainly is not an appetizing way to serve a meal.

You should know that the protein in milk is likely to clump together or curdle, when exposed to acid or salt. A number of things can help you avoid this situation. When making cream of tomato soup, try adding the tomato to the milk rather than the opposite. Remember to have both the milk and tomato hot, and thicken either the tomato juice or milk before they are combined. Do serve the soup promptly.

If you are baking scalloped potatoes, avoiding high oven temperatures and long cooking time will make the milk less likely to curdle. Parboiling the potatoes shortens the cooking time and the likelihood of curdling. Using evaporated milk further aids the product.

If ham and scalloped potatoes are baked together, curdling will occur. Ham contains curing salts, which make the milk protein extremely unstable and causes them to curdle easily.

Think through the recipe and directions before you start cooking; you should be able to avoid curdling in your dish.

Liz Meimann

I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Food Science at Iowa State University. I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home.

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With the beginning of a New Year, many of us are looking to eat healthier but also want recipes that are simple and easy to prepare with quick clean-up. For me, sheet pan cooking is a good solution. You can have protein and vegetables ready in a short time for dinner. It is also a great way to use any leftover vegetables you might have in your refrigerator.

The concept is pretty straight forward but there are a few tips to keep in mind for more successful sheet pan cooking. First of all you will want to use the right pan – it should be sturdy, measure 18 by 13 inches, and have a one inch rim all the way around it. A half sheet pan is ideal. Jellyroll pans will look similar but in general are smaller and flimsier than half sheet pans. The size is important so your ingredients can spread out. This will help them roast rather than steam which causes mushiness.  The rim is important to allow air to flow across the pan which helps the ingredients brown and get a bit crispy. The sturdiness of the pan is important to allow for high oven heat and sometimes the broiler. For speedier and easier clean-up, line the pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

When selecting vegetables to use, remember denser vegetables (potatoes, carrots, etc) take longer to cook than softer vegetables so you will want to roast the denser vegetables for 30 minutes or more before adding the softer vegetables to the pan. This sometimes takes trial and error so write a few notes down as you are trying various combinations of vegetables. Choose vegetables that are in season that you like to roast and cut them into roughly the same size pieces for more even cooking. You may want to consider adding fruits to your sheet pan dinner as well. Grapes, apples, pears, peaches and plums all roast nicely. They will cook more quickly so add them at the end of the cooking time.

Once you have your vegetables and fruits prepped, toss them with oil to completely coat them. This helps keep them from drying out. You can use olive, grapeseed, coconut or canola oil. Put the cut up vegetable and fruit pieces in a large bowl, pour your choice of oil and any seasonings you may be using over them, and stir with a spoon or your hands to cover the pieces with the oil. You may want to coat the denser pieces first then use what is left in the bowl to coat the softer pieces that will be added later.

It is best to avoid cuts of meat that require braising when you are doing sheet pan cooking. If you are using breaded chicken or fish, use a wire rack to keep the breaded ingredients above the moisture in the pan. This will help the meat keep it’s crisp coating. You would also want to use a rack if you are roasting a cut of beef or pork so the ingredients get basted with the juices and the meat gets browned.

If your sheet pan meal looks too pale to you when you take it out of the oven, try putting it under the broiler for a short time for color.

There are many recipes available online from many sources to help you get started. The possibilities are practically endless!

Marcia Steed

I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Home Economics Education. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and traveling.

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One of my favorite things to make are scones. I like to make them enough that I have even purchased an official scone pan that makes 16 small scones from one batch. The scone pan is not necessary but it makes all of the scones the same shape and size so I look like a professional even though I am not! I have experimented making many different kinds including orange, vanilla, chocolate chip and lemon but my favorite one is a mixed berry scone that I found when looking at recipes on the internet. Through trial and error, I know that adding sour cream to a recipe makes them extra moist and delicious so I like to add some to all of the recipes I try. I know that the dough will be very crumbly and that if I over mix it will cause them to be tough. I thought I would share with you some of the techniques so you can try making some at your house.

First measure your dry ingredients into a bowl. This includes flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Grate butter into the flour mixture and blend into flour with your fingers.  Be sure that your butter is very cold!

Grating the butter makes it blend into the four much easier than cutting it into small pieces.

Mix wet ingredients together in another bowl. This includes milk, sour cream, egg and vanilla.  Add the liquid ingredients and the frozen berries (I used frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries). Don’t let the berries thaw or they will color the dough and you will not have any whole fruit pieces in your baked scone.

Mix until just combined. Do not overmix or the scone will be tough.

Shape into a square on a floured cutting board. I then cut it into 16 pieces (four squares with four triangle shapes).  If you wanted larger scones you could cut them into 8 instead of 16.

After putting the pieces in the pan I sprinkle with a course sugar before baking.

Bake at 400° F. for about 18 minutes until the scones are just starting to turn light brown. I cook mine in my convection oven at 375° F. for approximately 15 minutes.

If using a pan, allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan and place on a cooking rack.

Making scones is easy and fun!  Try it out for yourself!

Beth Marrs

I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Adult Home Economics Education. I love to cook and entertain and spend time with my family.

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