I started writing for a magazine put out by a nonprofit called the Iowa Barn Foundation. The foundation is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to preserving Iowa’s iconic rural buildings. It raises money to provide matching grants to help property owners restore their barns and educates the public through the magazine and barn tours.
For the Fall 2025 tour, I visited the Platz Barn north of Waterloo, Iowa. The barn is a commanding presence on the wide-open landscape with its white paint, green trim and a uniquely angled roof that was the result of a sawmill apprentice error when the barn was built in 1894.
I had a delightful visit with Miriam Neessen and Marie Schildroth who are twin sisters who grew up in a giant house on the farm with their grandparents Levi and Elizabeth Platz, parents Clarence and Blossom, Aunt Edith and Uncle Ray. Their grandparents purchased the farm in the heart of the Great Depression in 1932 and raised crops, dairy cattle, hogs and chickens.
The family had a smokehouse to smoke hams and grew produce in three large gardens along with an apple and cherry orchard. Miriam recalls, ”We raised raspberries and strawberries and we shucked peas until you thought you couldn’t shuck anymore. We canned a lot of apple sauce and Aunt Edie canned cherries and made pies from them.”
Aunt Edith was the last remaining sibling and she continued living on the farm until she passed away in 1999 at the age of 97. For the tour, Marie and Miriam made Aunt Edie’s recipe for sugar cookies in the shape of a barn and decorated them in the white with green trim color scheme their farm is famous for.
The cookies had a good buttercream frosting, but since I don’t have the family recipe I did not include one here.
Ingredients:
- 3 ½ cups (420 grams) All-purpose Flour
- 1 ½ cups (297 grams) Granulated White Sugar
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 cup (226 grams) Butter
Directions:
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and cream of tartar. Add vanilla and eggs. Cream in butter until well mixed. Chill. Roll into small balls and flatten. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookie.
Schmecken! 