Off Hours: Celebrate the perfect birthday with cookies, cakes, shakes — and a few banned books, too

Greetings loved ones! I’m Courtney Crowder, the Register’s Iowa Columnist, and I can’t get enough of monologues in pop songs. Yes, Ms. Spears, please cut the track, let that astronaut down easy and walk away with his Titanic jewelry. Now, let’s take a journey…

Welcome to Off Hours, your free weekly newsletter from the Des Moines Register that showcases all things fun in central Iowa. If you sign up for our newsletter, you get to see this early Thursday morning in your inbox.

The Deal

Here’s the deal: Nearly all of the birthday cards I received this year made mention of the occasion being a “national holiday.”

This is your first hint that when I birthday — I birthday HARD.

I’ve been smitten with birthdays ever since a very un-ninja-like man showed up to my 6-year-old celebration dressed as the Green Power Ranger, eating (my parents tell me) more than his share of off-brand Chuckie Cheese pizza. Honestly, all I remember is his complete mastery of the “It’s Morphin’ Time!” catchphrase.

Since then, I’ve learned to strecccchhhh that sugar-induced birthday delight out over 12 days. Yes, nearly two full weeks of all things Courtney, dubbed in official correspondences as The 12 Days of Courtney. (Or just The 12 Days, if ya know.)

Now, the #12Days have rules: On each day, I have to either hang out with someone I love or do something new.

This year, a pack of my best friends went to the Des Moines Symphony’s free pops show featuring the catalog of Whitney Houston. We danced and we laughed and we wistfully eyed the geniuses behind us who brought a literal table for their snacks, complete with tablecloth and stemmed glasses.

I ventured to Kinship Brewing for the first time and stumbled upon a bingo fundraiser for childhood cancer. I did my face and put on heels for a date night at Django, where I ordered an insane cheese tray and a cherry sundae. (You can keep your entrees — though, of course, they are delicious at Django — I’ll take an entire meal of appetizers and desserts, please.)

We took a daytrip to Omaha for the immersive Van Gogh exhibit, which has been on my list to see since it opened. And we took a few-day trip to Minneapolis, Des Moines’ most distant suburb, where in addition to just walking the streets, we took a ghost tour of St. Paul, saw the Twins play and ate at the Guy Fieri approved Kramarczuk’s deli. (Courtney’s rules of domestic travel include eating at one restaurant that proudly displays its Flavortown badge and taking a ghost tour; you still see all the same sites, but with added spookiness.)

And on the final day, a friend coaxed me on a bike ride across Iowa’s High Trestle Trail. Dodging kids and slow riders, we launched ourselves onto the bridge, cares be damned. In the split second that the trees gave way to a cavernous gorge, I swear I was flying.

I’m in my 30s now, finally realizing the “settling down” stereotype comes from truth. Age brings responsibilities, bills, stress, more opportunities to despise what I see in the mirror. Add to that I’m a Midwesterner and a woman and the tendency to seek permission to take up space grows — if you don’t stop taking it up all together.

So, for 12 Days a year, I say HELL NO. For 12 Days, I say this day is unlike any other day.

For 12 Days, I relish in all the wonderful quirks that make up my closest friendships while creating brand-new memories.

On the drive home from my outings (or Uber home, please drink responsibly), I often reflect on the triumphs of the year past and make plans for the year to come. In the stillness of that ride — away from those bills, responsibilities, stresses — I can see clearly just how full of joy and laughter and love my life really is.

And I always come to the same conclusion: I’m so grateful to be here, one year older.

Do you love your birthday as much as I do? Tell me how you celebrate at ccrowder@dmreg.com or slide into my DMs @courtneycare.

My top three desserts to celebrate birthdays in Des Moines:

1. Cheers to cake!: A Des Moines staple, the Champagne cake doesn’t taste exactly like your favorite glass of bubbly, but it does have a tangy vanilla sweetness that blends nicely with its creamy custard filling and smooth buttercream frosting. The most iconic Champagne cake is the Bake Shoppe’s bright pink confection — which is serving me all sorts of Disney princess fantasies.

2. Central Standard’s milkshakes brings all the Courtneys to Waukee: The keyword for these swoon-worthy concoctions is and — as in take that delicious ingredient and add this scrumptious component and top it all off with alllllll theseeeeee mouthwatering bits. Fruit lovers will fall for the Lemon Blueberry shake, garnished with slices of lemon cheesecake and a sprinkle of crushed Lemonheads; while Chocoholics won’t be able to resist the Chocolate Brownie, trimmed with luscious dark cocoa brownie pieces and Kit Kats. Don’t sleep on Birthday Cake, which comes adorned with literal slices of confetti cake and a sparkler. Perfect for the ‘gram!

3. Cookies, but don’t leave your house: Not only does Iowa Cookie Co. make big, soft, thick cookies, they also deliver them straight to your door. The creative geniuses behind this online-only store use ingredients of childhood legend — cosmic brownies, blueberry pie filling, frosted animal crackers, Little Debbie's oatmeal crème pies, naming just a few — to create flavors and combinations are that completely unique to Des Moines’ increasingly busy cookie market. Orders open on Friday night and the box arrives a week later. Don't delay because they do sell out!

Eat This, Drink That

Acai bowl, $7, $9, $13: After a childhood spent on Snackwells and off-brand rice cakes, I’m wary of anything that calls itself health food. But, damn, the bowls at Big Acai are good for you AND delicious. Every bowl starts with a flavored frozen base that is sort of like shaved ice and sorbet had a baby — but a v. v. v. healthy dairy-free, USDA-certified organic baby. Then, in addition to the free banana slices and granola, select from a suite of additional toppings, including almonds, hemp seeds, coconut, goji berries, bee pollen and peanut butter, among others.

I went with a frozen coconut base topped with goji berries (gummy, sweet red berries), coconut, and bee pollen (tiny balls of pollen made by worker bees). The best bite is the one with a little bit of everything so let the bowl sit for just a few minutes and stir it all together before diving in.

Get it: Big Acai has locations all around Central Iowa. Visit BigAcaiBowl.com to learn more.

Arctic Breakfast, $6: Imagine bottom-of-the-bowl cereal milk, but alcoholic! Velvety and smooth, Arctic Breakfast has notes of chocolate, almond and vanilla. A pint is pure perfection when paired with sweaters, football and a fire. (Secondary recommendation: Yoga Pants, a pumpkin spice beer that is so not basic. And the head brewer tells me it’ll be on tap just as soon as the local grower’s crop ripens!)

Get it: Fox Brewing is just off the main drag in Valley Junction. Call 'em at 515-635-0323 or click over to FoxBrewCo.com.

48 Hours Off

Thursday night: Kick off Des Moines’ Oktoberfest weekend with dinner and a movie — and beer! Flix Brewhouse is pairing a screening of “Beerfest” with a three-beer meal including brews created just for this occasion. Costumes, appetites and Cloris Leachman lovers welcome!

More Oktoberfest: The Court Avenue District is going German all weekend long with two stages, a bunch of Deutsch-inspired treats, a whole host of Alpine carnival games and cornhole — because this is still the Midwest after all. The Golden Keg gets tapped at 3 p.m. Friday and the celebrity stein holding contest aches arms at 5 p.m. Saturday. Prost!

Saturday afternoon: Watch dozens of the region’s best high school marching bands compete in the 2022 Bands of America Regional Championship in Waukee. Preliminary rounds start at 11 a.m. and the top scorers will advance to the evening’s finals. The winner faces off against other regional bands at the national championships in November. And because there really isn’t such a thing as too much marching band, the University of Iowa band will perform a special number as well.

Sunday morning: Spend the morning with Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico, a nonprofit that uses authentic dance and costumes to teach participants about Mexican culture and traditions. Then, eat your way through dozens of food vendors and learn about the diversity of Iowa’s Latino communities by perusing the cultural booths of specific Latin American countries. Stay all the way through to the afternoon for free Salsa lessons at 3:15 p.m. And, hey, if marching bands and das boots at the bier haus aren’t your style, hit up the Latino Heritage Festival starting as early as 10 a.m. Saturday.

More Latino Heritage Celebration: Dance and eat until your hearts content at the weekend’s festival, but then wander over to the Central Library to check out some books in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. I asked Kelly Marble, the face behind the library’s popular TikTok and Instagram pages, to suggest some titles, all taken from the genius brains of the Book Chat team librarians:

• "The Man Who Could Move Clouds" by Ingrid Rojas Contreras.

• "Crying in the Bathroom" by Erica L. Sanchez.

• "Woman of Light" by Kali Fajardo-Anstine.

• "The Hacienda" by Isabel Canas.

• "Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity" by Paola Ramos.

What other Hispanic writers do I need to be reading? Help me build my reading list by sending suggestions to ccrowder@dmreg.com. 

Make it Fashion

Banned Books are my favorite kind of book, so when I heard the Des Moines Public Library and Raygun were partnering on a fashion line supporting the freedom to read, I couldn’t swipe my credit card fast enough. The collection features shirts and stickers with the phrase “I Read Banned Books” or “I’m a Rosie Reader,” a nod to the library’s children’s reading mascot, Rosie the Book Monster. Profits will go straight to library programming, supplies and books — not administrative costs or salaries, says Tim Paluch, the library’s marketing director.

Public libraries have long held the line against censorship, and that’s largely due to the work of former Des Moines library director, Forrest Spaulding. (There's ALWAYS an Iowa connection.)

Spaulding created the national Library Bill of Rights, a declaration that states libraries “are forums for information and ideas” and urges challenging suppression in all its forms, proclaiming “materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”

While the library has not had a book challenged in years, Paluch says, administrators would “stand in opposition to any efforts to censor library materials.”

Respectful, thoughtful analysis of books is always welcome, of course, and in an effort to foster discussion around titles in public schools, the library is partnering with Des Moines Public Schools to give community members a chance to read books on their children’s curriculum. All of the library’s six branches will host Community Reads events where school staff and librarians will lead conversations around a specific text and its role in the syllabus.

The first book up is “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Munoz Ryan, which is being read by DMPS fifth graders.

I'm trying to expand my closet in anticipation of cozy season. What local designers do I need to check out? Let me know @courtneycare. 

Around Town

• 35 Des Moines area events for fall of 2022, from 'Book of Mormon' to the Indigo Girls

• Next generation at Scornovacca's aims to restore family-owned business to its former glory

• The 33 essential restaurants of Des Moines: 2022 edition

• Five Guys burger chain plans a third Des Moines metro location at Merle Hay Mall

• Ready for the holidays? Pentatonix is announcing a December Christmas show in Des Moines

My Day Job

When I'm not Party Rocking for my b-day, I'm the Register's Iowa Columnist — which is a fancy way of saying I'm a senior writer for the paper. Instead of a "beat," I cover stories that must be told, whether interesting places, revealing moments or people making an impact in Des Moines and beyond.

This is a fancy way of saying: If you have a tip, send it my way!

Recently, I told the life story of Des Moines' last Holocaust survivor; followed the Iowans who are fighting to make sure WWI servicemen of color get the Medal of Honor for their acts of valor; and covered Denison High School's mariachi band, which united a rapidly diversifying small town.

So, seriously, the tip line is open! Reach me at ccrowder@dmreg.com or 515-284-8360 or @courtneycare.

Next week, Dixie Longate, who's in town with her "Dixie's Tupperware Party" through Oct. 2 at the Temple Theater, talks about some of her favorite things in Des Moines. After all, she did bring her show here first in 2008 and came through Des Moines six times with her show. 

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Want to be a guest author for Off Hours? Drop our entertainment editor a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Birthdays in Des Moines: Celebrate with cookies, cakes and shakes