share! Everyone has a story, and we hope you will help us tell the tales of a variety of Des Moines cooks. Please send us your ideas. Tell us the names, contact information, and a little about your cooking friends. Send to Recipes@DesMoinesCooks.com. four of kathleen's recipes: Kathleen tries to keep up with new trends and ideas, and focaccia is among the new varieties that bread lovers have embraced in the past few years. She has perfected this recipe, which she promises is easy for even a beginner to make. Focaccia Bread 1½ teaspoons dry yeast 1 cup warm water 3 cups bread flour ½ cup olive oil 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning Topping: ¼ cup olive oil 1½ teaspoons dried oregano ¼ teaspoon minced garlic Grated Parmesan cheese      In a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water (110°F to 115°F). Let stand 5 minutes.      Add 1½ cups of the bread flour, olive oil, sugar, salt, and Italian seasoning.      By hand, stir until smooth. Gradually stir in the remaining flour to make a firm dough. Knead about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. Cover; let rise at room temperature until double, about 1 hour.      With oiled hands, evenly press dough into a round circle on a baking stone.      Cover; let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until double in size.      While dough is rising, heat the ¼ cup olive oil in a skillet. Stir in the dried oregano and minced garlic. Remove from heat immediately.      Use fingers or handle of wooden spoon to press dimples or indentions into the dough. Spoon warm olive oil mixture evenly over dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.      Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until done. Makes one round loaf. Whole Wheat Bread 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) orange juice 1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water ¼ cup (2 ounces) butter 3 cups whole wheat flour 3 tablespoons sugar ½ cup potato flakes ¼ cup nonfat dry milk 1¼ teaspoons salt 2½ teaspoons dry yeast      Lightly grease an 8½x4½- or 9x5-inch bread pan.        Combine all ingredients, mix, and knead by hand until you have soft, smooth dough. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 2 hours or until it’s puffy and nearly doubled in bulk.      Gently deflate dough and shape it into a log. Place it in prepared pan.      Cover it gently with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it is crowned, about 1-1/2 inches over the rim of the pan, about 1¼ to 2½ hours. Near the end of the bread’s rising time, heat the oven to 350°F.      Uncover and bake bread for about 35 minutes, tenting it with aluminum foil after 15 minutes. Bread is done when it is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. Remove it from the oven and, after a minute or so, turn it out onto a rack. Brush with melted butter, if desired; this will keep the crust soft. Cool bread for 30 minutes before slicing. Makes one loaf. Pumpernickel Bread 1⅔ cups warm water (80ºF) 2 tablespoons cooking oil ¼ teaspoon molasses 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons dry milk ¼ cup cocoa powder 2 teaspoon instant coffee granules 2 tablespoons caraway seeds 1½ cups rye flour ½ cup whole wheat flour 2¾ cups bread flour 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast      Place ingredients in bread machine according to manual that came with the machine. Usually all liquid ingredients are put into the pan first, followed by dry ingredients, except the yeast. Place the yeast on top of the flour.      Let it mix and rise once and then remove. Knead and shape into an oblong and place in 11½x6½-inch pan. Let rise for an hour until double in size.      Bake at 350°F for about 35 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool. Makes one loaf. Swedish Pepparkakor (Christmas Ginger Cookies) 3¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons ground cloves 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg ½ cup molasses      Sift first five ingredients together and set aside.      Cream butter and sugar, gradually adding egg and then molasses. Blend well.      Add flour mixture gradually to other ingredients, beating well after each addition. Wrap dough in waxed paper; chill overnight or for several hours.      Preheat oven to 350°F when ready to bake. Roll out part of the dough at a time on a floured board. Use favorite cookie cutter. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.       (Note: I like to roll the dough to ⅛-inch thickness or slightly thicker and bake for 8 minutes.) Danish Rolls 2 packages instant dry yeast ½ cup warm water 1/3 cup sugar ¾ cup cold milk 2 eggs 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 pound butter (you can use margarine—margarine is much easier to work with but not as tasty.) Do the following before starting to mix dough: Make a template 12” x 12”. Slip the template under a piece of waxed paper which is twice the size of the template. Take the 4 sticks of butter from the refrigerator and immediately put them on the waxed paper. When the butter has softened a little, flatten it to reach the very edge of the 12” x 12” template. Cover with the excess waxed paper. Refrigerate at least 60 minutes. This must be cold. Sprinkle yeast into 1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees) in a 1 cup measure. Stir in 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand undisturbed until bubbly and double in volume about 10 minutes. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, and salt. Add yeast mixture, cold milk and cold eggs and beat with mixer about 3 minutes on medium speed. Beat in remaining flour (1 ¼ cups) with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until dough is shiny and elastic. This takes about a minutes. Dough will be soft. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Turn dough onto floured surface; sprinkle flour on top of dough and roll to size 24” x 13” rectangle. Brush off any excess flour with a soft pastry brush but be careful to use just enough flour to keep dough from sticking. Remove butter from refrigerator. Lay the butter on the center of the dough and peel the waxed paper from the butter. Fold approximately 6” of dough from each side so they meet and cover the butter. Be sure the butter is covered. Turn dough clockwise so open side is away from you. Roll out to a 24” x 12” rectangle. Fold rectangle in thirds. Again turn dough clockwise so open side is away from you and again roll to a 24” x 12” rectangle. Fold in thirds. Place back in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Repeat this paragraph two more times. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before shaping into rolls. I like to do this much one evening and then shape the rolls the next day. Shaping—Divide dough in half. Roll to a 15” x 6” rectangle. Cut with a pizza cutter in ½” strips. Hold strip at both ends and twist opposite directions. Coil in a circle and lay on greased cookie sheet. Do the same for the other half. You will have 24 rolls. I like to use three cookie sheets 14´wide x 15 ½ “ long. Let rise about 1 hour at room temperature. Do not put near heat as the butter will start to melt. To check if they have risen enough press your finger on the side of a roll. If it leaves a dent they are ready to bake. Press down a section in the center of each roll and put a spoonful of filling of your choice (I use Solo fillings) Bake 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes. Cool. Frost with the following icing: Mix together: 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream ½ teaspoon vanilla Spread a light coating of icing on each roll. Note—I have worked several years to perfect this recipe and believe it is a very good Danish. I adapted this recipe from Family Circle magazine in the 1970’s.

She has a lifelong love of good bread. In all honesty, Kathleen Olesen doesn’t remember the last time she purchased bread at a store or a bakery. “There simply hasn’t been a need,” she says. “I have always baked all our bread.” Kathleen grew up in the Postville area of northeast Iowa with a bread-baking mother. “She never taught me about bread, always wanting to handle that herself. She always told me to make the cookies. If I wanted to learn to bake bread, it would be on my own.” Undaunted, Kathleen did teach herself in 4-H competitions. Later, after marrying Rodney in 1963, she perfected her skills by entering the Wisconsin State Fair, the All-Iowa Fair in Cedar Rapids, the Jackson County Fair, Van Buren County Fair, and also a variety of smaller contests at the local level. In June of this year, they will mark their 47th anniversary. The couple moved around a lot, from various spots in Iowa—Sumner, Keosauqua, Maquoketa, and Cedar Rapids—and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for Rodney’s various accounting jobs in hospital administration. In all of those communities, new friends would pick up on Kathleen’s baking abilities. It’s not surprising that her Danish rolls (“I worked years to perfect those.”), cinnamon rolls, pecan rolls, crispies, and even lefse, a Scandinavian specialty, found fans. Kathleen has even given lefse-making classes in her home. “When we moved to Des Moines in 1994 for Rodney’s work with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, I knew I would have to get involved in competition at the Iowa State Fair.” And she has, becoming a veteran winner. Every year, she displays her ribbons from that year’s competition. Last August she entered about 40 items and placed in more than half of the contests. “I absolutely love the challenge,” she says. “It is so much fun to meet new people and see other competitors year after year. We almost become family at the state fair. Plus, on some occasions, it’s fun at the fair to meet and talk with some of the sponsors. I love that.” But in the quiet of her kitchen, Kathleen loves the therapeutic value of kneading dough. “Every loaf is different, even as long as I have been baking. It’s great fun for me to bake at least twice a week.” She uses a bread machine for some recipes and has loved keeping up with trends. Early on, she only made white bread. Now she rarely makes that, opting instead for more-healthful options such as multigrain and whole wheat. She is constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try. Rodney loves her pumpernickel for sandwiches. “There’s not much better than a sandwich made with pumpernickel, ham, cheese, and a little onion,” he says. “I’ve been pretty lucky, always having homemade bread at hand.” Kathleen has a new audience now. The couple’s daughter, Dr. Kaaren Olesen, an ob/gyn, and her husband have two sons, Hans, 8, and Moses, 4. The family has welcomed Moses from Ghana. “The boys love cinnamon swirl bread,” says their proud grandmother—and, of course, her unending supply of cookies. Kathleen encourages everyone to try making homemade bread. “I literally have made every mistake in the book over the years, but that’s OK. Failure makes for good bread because we learn from our mistakes.” She continues to share her goodies. She takes her turn at providing treats for social hour at the couple’s church, St. James Lutheran Church in Johnston. Some people check the schedule and make sure to stay for the social time when it’s the Olesens’ turn.  Kathleen and Rodney chuckle when a young man about the age of their older grandson makes sure to shake Kathleen’s hand during the “sharing of the peace” handshake at church. “He absolutely loves Kathleen’s snickerdoodle cookies,” Rodney explains. “He knows he’ll get a little package with his own stash of cookies to take home.” Rodney says she also makes fantastic Swedish limpa bread. “But she gives that to the pastor because he has Swedish heritage.” Kathleen admits she’s not a pie baker. “But that’s OK,” says Rodney with a chuckle. “Our neighbor brings me a pie occasionally.” While Kathleen sometimes says she’s not going to enter competition again, it’s clear that she’s already looking forward to this year’s Iowa State Fair.