Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2002
 

 


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Cindy Parks and sister Andrea in 1969

A daughter's memories: Cindy Parks Hamilton

Cindy Parks was 11 years old, and well accustomed to her Ames home on Westwood Street, when her father, Bob – who had been a teacher and administrator at Iowa State since 1958 – was named president of the college in 1965. Moving to the Knoll was an event.

“At first, the Knoll seemed intimidating. But my mother’s plan was that it would be our home, and it was. I was never told, ‘These are public spaces, and these are private spaces.’ My mother was a very warm person, and the house reflected her personality. We lived all over the house.

“The first day we moved in, my best friend, Mark Fisher, and I found rope ladders in the attic. We threw them out the window and climbed down, and later used them in a tree house in a big maple on the south side of the house.

“I remember skating on the creek behind the house and falling through. I remember sledding down the hill, and hot chocolate, and Iowa State students caroling at Christmas.

“I came back to the Knoll after my daughter, Ellen, was born, while my husband, David, finished his dissertation at the University of Iowa.

“The Knoll is a beautiful place, and growing up there was idyllic."

***

Hot Chocolate

Ellen Parks’ “Knoll Hot Chocolate”

Ellen Parks’ recipe is not your ordinary hot chocolate. Mounds of chocolate cream are piled into steamed vanilla milk. Last Christmas, the old tradition returned to the Knoll.

Cocoa mixture
2 cups cocoa; 3 1/2 cups sugar; 2 cups water; 1 Tbsp salt
Mix together, cook to 218-220 degrees in double boiler. Do not scrape sides of pan. Chill overnight.

Chocolate cream
1 quart whipping cream; Cocoa mixture, chilled
Whip cream until soft peaks form; fold in cocoa mixture. Keep chilled until needed.

Steamed vanilla milk
1 gallon milk
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla extract
Heat milk until hot. Add vanilla.

To serve: Place one heaping spoonful of chocolate cream into each cup. Add hot milk and stir. Makes approximately 32 servings.

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