Interview and Profile by Caitlin Zawodny
Food shapes a community. It nourishes, it builds connections, and it can bridge generations. Through her “My Favorite Recipes” column in the Storm Lake Times Pilot—over the last thirty-two years—Mary Cullen has showcased how food can unite a community as diverse as Storm Lake. Her recipes are often attached to lighthearted profiles of those in town, documenting recent weddings, family vacations, and welcoming newcomers. “I think the recipes are important,” Cullen said recently, “but I like to think it’s more a story. Everybody has a story.”
Cullen’s own story began in Pocahontas, thirty-five miles east of Storm Lake. The oldest of five siblings, of Dr. Justin and Isabelle Tolan, she moved away to the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota for a year, later graduating from the University of Northern Iowa. Following graduation, she taught elementary school in Varina and Fonda OLGC, and then moved to Storm Lake in 1978 to become a children’s librarian. “Kids and books,” she said. “Is there anything better?” Her role as a librarian at the Storm Lake Public Library eventually led to meeting her future husband, John Cullen.
When he began the Storm Lake Times in 1990, she stepped down to care for their two young children full-time, and eventually setting off on a new adventure: a column devoted to the recipes and stories of town residents. John showed her the ropes, she recalled, and told her, “You’re going to interview people—your friends and people you know.” Mary laughed at the memory, and asked, “Yeah, but after that month, then what?”
Thirty-two years later, “My Favorite Recipes” still stands strong. Cullen has met so many people around town because of skills at finding a good story. Residents often share names with her, of those who haven’t been interviewed yet, and she keeps a close eye on local happenings to find potential features. In the interviews for her column, Cullen focuses on the interviewee’s own families, interests, hobbies, clubs, and biographies. Those featured in these profiles can range from someone whose family has lived in Storm Lake for generations to someone who moved only recently. Often, the interviews center around a life change for a resident, like a new job, the recent birth of a baby, or big achievements. The recipes are a window into Storm Lake’s residents and its multicultural, ever-changing community.
Cullen takes great pride in her job and cares deeply about doing it right. “When people tell you their story,” she said, “you want to tell it correctly. It feels like a responsibility because you want to get it right.” Even through the COVID-19 pandemic, Cullen continued “My Favorite Recipes,” conducting interviews over the phone in a time where human connection and community were acutely needed.
Cullen has not always been the interviewer, though. In 1983, Barbara Kearney wrote a column on Cullen’s love of traveling and life, followed by three of her favorite recipes at the time: a decadent turtle cake, a broccoli casserole, and lasagna. Although Cullen’s cooking and favorite recipes frequently change, the turtle cake has remained a favorite.
In the spirit of pure, intensive, academic research—one can never be too rigorous—I decided to bake Mary Cullen’s favorite and famous turtle cake recipe this past summer. Baking it gave me a greater understanding and appreciation for recipes shared in newspapers. Nowadays, whenever I am in the kitchen, I can easily find a recipe on Google. But reading the directions in a newspaper, and seeing a photo of the person who shared the recipe—and learning more about her history—offered a deeper personal connection. I was no longer just baking a cake. Instead, I was getting to know Mary Cullen a little better.
The recipe itself was fairly straight-forward, and one that Cullen said would satisfy my sweet tooth. Who can go wrong with caramels, pecans, and chocolate chips on a German sweet chocolate cake? The results made it clear why this recipe was so popular. The cake itself was decadent and sweet, with layers of caramel and chocolate. It became a quick hit in my house, and I now have a go-to cake recipe to impress any visitor.
She insisted; I complied.
If you live in Storm Lake, chances are you or someone you know has been interviewed by Cullen for her column. Hasn’t she covered the entire town by now? Not quite, but Cullen does on occasion interview someone twice, especially when they’ve blossomed into a new career or recently developed a new interest or hobby. She says it’s always interesting to see how their lives have changed and to share these changes and growths with readers. “My Favorite Recipes” allows Storm Lake readers to get to know their own neighbors a little better and to get a sneak peek into their lives through the food they cook and stories they share. Her work is one motivated by love for her community. “I love meeting people,” she said. “It’s a fun job.”
