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Good eats: Iowa cookbooks online

May 14, 2026
Good eats. Iowa cookbooks online. Gelatin mold with orange slices to garnish.

The University Library’s Iowa Cookbook Collection of approximately 1,250 volumes dating back to the late 1800s, documents the culinary heritage, agricultural production, and ethnic traditions of Iowa. For many years, in order to view the collection, you’d have to visit Parks Library on the Iowa State University campus.

Thanks to a digitization effort spanning more than two years and involving staff from numerous library departments led by Erin Ridnour, a digital scholarship librarian, over 200 volumes (approximately 40,000 pages) can now be viewed online from anywhere in the world.

The late Diana Shonrock, a research and instruction librarian, developed the physical collection in 1993 after receiving a large collection of cookbooks from Robert F. Smith from What Cheer, Iowa.

To celebrate the conclusion of the project in January, Ridnour invited library staff to explore the newly digitized cookbooks and choose a recipe to prepare and share with colleagues.

Attendees contributed nearly 30 dishes to the potluck spread including: Popcorn Cake from the 1984 Eddyville Oregon Trail Days Cookbook, Scandinavian Kringla from a 1982 Friends of the Octagon cookbook, and an intriguing noodle dish called “Zimmy Zammy” from the 1977 Ruth Circle Cookbook from Nevada, Iowa.

View digitized items from the Iowa Cookbook Collection at digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/cookbooks or visit Parks Library for access to the entire collection.

To celebrate the conclusion of the project in January, Ridnour invited library staff to explore the newly digitized cookbooks and choose a recipe to prepare and share with colleagues. Attendees contributed nearly 30 dishes to the potluck spread including: Popcorn Cake from the 1984 Eddyville Oregon Trail Days Cookbook, Scandinavian Kringla from a 1982 Friends of the Octagon cookbook, and an intriguing noodle dish called “Zimmy Zammy” from the 1977 Ruth Circle Cookbook from Nevada, Iowa.

To celebrate the conclusion of the project in January, Ridnour invited library staff to explore the newly digitized cookbooks and choose a recipe to prepare and share with colleagues. Attendees contributed nearly 30 dishes to the potluck spread including: Popcorn Cake from the 1984 Eddyville Oregon Trail Days Cookbook, Scandinavian Kringla from a 1982 Friends of the Octagon cookbook, and an intriguing noodle dish called “Zimmy Zammy” from the 1977 Ruth Circle Cookbook from Nevada, Iowa.

To celebrate the conclusion of the project in January, Ridnour invited library staff to explore the newly digitized cookbooks and choose a recipe to prepare and share with colleagues. Attendees contributed nearly 30 dishes to the potluck spread including: Popcorn Cake from the 1984 Eddyville Oregon Trail Days Cookbook, Scandinavian Kringla from a 1982 Friends of the Octagon cookbook, and an intriguing noodle dish called “Zimmy Zammy” from the 1977 Ruth Circle Cookbook from Nevada, Iowa.

To celebrate the conclusion of the project in January, Ridnour invited library staff to explore the newly digitized cookbooks and choose a recipe to prepare and share with colleagues. Attendees contributed nearly 30 dishes to the potluck spread including: Popcorn Cake from the 1984 Eddyville Oregon Trail Days Cookbook, Scandinavian Kringla from a 1982 Friends of the Octagon cookbook, and an intriguing noodle dish called “Zimmy Zammy” from the 1977 Ruth Circle Cookbook from Nevada, Iowa.

Computers reading cookbooks.
Scan to check out the project’s progress, including an article on the recipe that launched a nationwide craze for molded gelatin salads that lasted well into the 1960s.

Erin Ridnour, a digital scholarship librarian, is using Python and natural language processing tools to analyze the library’s cookbook collection for shared food traditions, trace how dishes evolve over time, and identify common and culturally distinct recipes across Iowa communities.

Scan to check out the project’s progress, including an article on the recipe that launched a nationwide craze for molded gelatin salads that lasted well into the 1960s.