50 States; 50 Meals: Nevada

Well it's a good thing that we weren't actually in Nevada for this meal because it didn't have the "stay there".  Get it?  Bad Joke.

So obviously when anyone things of Nevada they think of Las Vegas and when they think of eating in Las Vegas they think of All-you-can-eat buffets.

Our buffet included the basics you would see on any buffet.  I wanted to keep everything an appetizer size because we were decorating our Christmas tree at the same time.  It is our family tradition to have an appetizer dinner (aka Pickies; aka Appy's; aka Mrs. Flax dinner, Mermaids movie anyone) while putting up our tree so this worked out perfectly.  We had:
99-Cent Shrimp Cocktails
Steak Bites to stand in for Prime Rib
Grilled Mushrooms
Veggies
Summer Sausage - This was to fulfill another Christmas tradition


I filled the green dish with ice and then placed the shrimp on top in effort to make it look like a buffet chafing dish. 

I used Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond's recipe for the steak bites.  They were amazing.  Butter and Steak.  What could be better?  To add on to the steak I also cooked up some button mushrooms in some butter too with a splash (or two, or three) of red wine.  I have to say as we get closer to New Year's Eve those steak bites I have been on my mind. 

It was a  very delicious dinner.  We all got to keep our money but I would have liked to catch Britney Spears residency show or the Blue Man group. ;)

Next, we head back to New England for a mapley dinner.

50 States; 50 Meals: Nebraska

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! It is a great season for foodies for sure.

We had a simple meal for our Nebraska dinner.  It was a very Cornhusker dinner, if you will.  We had corn dogs, homemade popcorn and Eskimo Pies for dessert.A corn dog (just in case someone doesn't know) is a hot dog dipped in a cornmeal batter and then deep fried.

When I don't use the air popper I make Olive Oil Popcorn.  I follow the same instructions as you would to make popcorn with a canola oil but with a healthier oil.

Olive Oil Popcorn
1/4 Cup Olive Oil into a skillet
Add a single kernel of corn
Cover and heat at medium heat
When the kernel pops add enough corn to cover the bottom of the pan
Cover and shake
When the popping slows down, remove the pan from the heat
Salt to taste



Then for dessert we had Eskimo Pie ice cream bars.  Christian Kent Nelson, a school teacher and candy shop owner in Iowa, invented the Eskimo Pie in 1921, when a boy in his shop couldn’t decide between an ice cream and a candy bar. But it wasn't until Nelson traveled to Nebraska, where he met Russell Stover who helped him patent the idea and dub it “Eskimo Pie.”

Next up is a state famous for their buffets.

50 States; 50 Meals: Massachusetts through Montana

Oh man has it been busy. Things have been so crazy since August for multiple reasons. Both girls are now in school, dance and Girl Scouts. I knew it was going to be crazy but I have been living day by day for months. I need to visit some organizing blogs. So let me catch you up on the last six states.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts was a whole day affair for us. We started with Dunkin' Donuts Boston Kreme Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts opened In Quincy, Massachusetts in 1950.


Then for lunch we had Fluffernutter sandwiches. This is one of the best sandwiches ever. Bread, Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Fluff. So yum.  The fluffernutter was invented after a man named Archibald Query (that's some name, huh?) invented marshmallow cream in Somerville, Mass.
For dinner we had Boston Baked Beans, of course, and Kelly's Roast Beef Sandwiches.  Kelly's claims to have created the Original Roast Beef Sandwich in 1951.  If you visit Revere Beach you can still pick up a sandwich at their first store.  And how do you have a Massachusetts dinner without having Sam Adams!  It was a wicked awesome foodie day!



Michigan

When most people hear Coney Island Dog they think New York but this hot dog actually originated in a Greek American style restaurant in Michigan.  They call these restaurants "Coney Islands".  There is a debate of which Coney Island actually created this hot dog, also called the Michigan hot dog, but they do agree on the recipe.  A a natural-casing beef hot dog, topped with an bean-less chili (or Michigan sauce), white onions, with one or two stripes of yellow mustard.  The hot dog is steamed and served on a steamed bun.

[caption id="attachment_797" align="aligncenter" width="176"] Michigan Hot Dog w/ Michigan Sauce[/caption]

Michigan Sauce Recipe

Minnesota

The Minnesota HotDish is what the rest of the world would call a casserole.  Simple as that.  Stealing from Wikipedia, "The history of the hotdish goes back to when “budget-minded farm wives needed to feed their own families, as well as congregations in the basements of the first Minnesota churches.”  It seemed that when I Googled HotDish I was finding a beef, green bean, corn concoction with tator tots on top so that was what we made.  It was alright.  Probably won't make it again and I wished I had used the recipe I had gotten from my Minnesota friend.

[caption id="attachment_798" align="aligncenter" width="112"] HotDish[/caption]

Mississippi

So truth telling time.  Anther reason I am behind on this blog is because I got stuck with what to make for Mississippi.  I knew my family wouldn't eat Catfish Po Boys and I didn't have time to make homemade Tamales.  We had this conversation in church one day and my friend suggested that we make Elvis' favorite sandwich.  We aren't sure what exactly is Elvis' favorite sandwich because there are tons of variations.  We ended up having fried smashed banana and peanut butter sandwiches.  I think they would have been better with some of Archibald's marshmallow fluff.

[caption id="attachment_800" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Elvis Sandwich[/caption]

Hubby also made Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert.  Here is the recipe we used.  I didn't prefer the crust because it was so crumbly but it tasted very good.

[caption id="attachment_799" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mud Pie[/caption]

Missouri

I broke my rule of going out and buying the food instead of actually making it and it totally backfired.  So far I have made pizza for Connecticut and Illinois and now we have another style of pizza for Missouri, St. Louis Style Pizza.  This style has a very thin crispy crust and uses Provel processed cheese.  The pizzas  are cut into squares or rectangles instead of wedges.   Does this remind you of any famous pizza chains?

Missouri is also know for Toasted Ravioli, which I love.  However, the grocery store was out of cheese ravioli (I find that odd) and they didn't have Provel cheese.  I knew just the place that has toasted ravioli and thin crispy crust pizzas so we went to Ledo's pizza.  Here comes the backfirst part... They changed their crust so it is now thin and soft.  Doh!  Oh well, at least I had a night off from cooking.

Montana

Yay! I'm at Montana!  Okay so it was a pretty quick decision.  As soon as I read Bison Burgers off the list to my husband his eyes got all big and he nodded his head yes 50 times.  He prepared them the way he would prepare an everyday "cow" burger.  We didn't tell the kids about the meat change and my oldest picked up on it the texture change pretty quick.  They both liked them but were grossed out when we told them it was bison.  I have no idea why eating a cow is any better but I'm thinking it is just because that is what they are used to eating.

[caption id="attachment_803" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Bison Burgers[/caption]

Cauliflower is currently in season for Montana.  I had just seen a recipe for Cauliflower Tots on the blog Skinnytaste.  They were really good.  It was eating a handheld squash casserole because the flavors reminded me of my sister-in-laws squash casserole.

There!! Caught up!! The oven is preheating for our Nebraska dinner as we speak.  Or as the girls call it... fair food dinner.

50 States; 50 Meals: Maryland

I don't think my husband and I can hear someone say crabcakes with out saying that line from Wedding Crashers.  We ate from our home state of Maryland this week and how fitting was it that this week was the start of Preseason football.

There doesn't appear to a rule to the recipe for a Maryland Crabcake which has been unheard of in the other states.  The must haves seem to be, well, crab, mayonnaise and Worcestershire.  Other than that anything goes.  Crackers vs. Breadcrumbs; Milk vs No Milk; Dry Mustard vs. Dijon Mustard; Veggies vs No Veggies.  You don't even have to be consistent with the type of crab.  You just need a pound.  And it doesn't stop there.  You have choices when you sauce your crabcake.  There's lemon, remoulade, tartar sauce, mustard, cocktail sauce or ketchup.  (Please don't use ketchup or mustard for that matter)  There is also two ways to prepare the crabcakes.  There is "Boardwalk" way or the "Restaurant" way.  The crabcakes are breaded and deep fried the Boardwalk way.  The Restaurant way uses lump crab and uses little to no filler.

Really, Maryland?  Take a vote and pick "the" recipe.  With so many choices I was so happy I could turn to my friend Angie and ask her for her recipe.  Angie and her family are awesome crabbers and awesome crab cookers!  I was so jealous when I bought my can of crab.  Why?  Because they never buy crab.  They catch them.

I have never been able to make a pretty crabcake in the past but I think I pulled it off this time.  Must have been the excellent coaching I received.

[caption id="attachment_771" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Maryland Crabcake[/caption]

Angie's Crabcake Recipe

[caption id="attachment_782" align="alignright" width="150"] Natty bOh[/caption]

Of course, we needed to wash that crabcake down with something.  Why not a beer originally brewed in Baltimore?  National Bohemian AKA Natty Boh.  Or if you are an Orioles fan AKA Natty bOh.  Or for federal employees AKA Furlough Beer because of the cheap price tag.

We finished off the meal with a slice of Smith Island Cake.  This cake is popular for its many layers.  The cake can have between 8 to 15 layers.  There is a layer of creme or frosting in between each layer and then frosted with a fudge frosting.  I was so excited to find out that one of our grocery stores sells actual Smith Island cakes.  I ordered an original vanilla and chocolate.  When the lady asked if I wanted the small I didn't picture it being this small but with the fudge icing being so thick it was perfect for our family of four.  I was just sad there wasn't leftovers.

Next we head back to New England for a wicked good dinner.

50 States; 50 Meals: Maine

This week we headed to New England and made a Maine meal. You can't have Maine meal without Lobstah!
We had Lobster Rolls. Not being a fan of celery I searched and searched for a recipe that would prove that you don't have to have celery to have a good Lobster roll. I actually found a few but the day before our State dinner night I got emailed a pretty simple recipe from Spoonful by Disney. This recipe actually spoke to me because the first thing it said was that there are many lobster rolls and they all claim to be right. I already felt more comfortable about not having celery. I did have all the other necessary components. We had the New England style hot dog rolls, the lobster (of course) and mayonnaise.




I used frozen lobster to keep our grocery bill down. My husband is a furloughed federal employee.
Side Note: we have been able to keep our food bill down by using recipes from the Born Free blog.
My girls actually enjoyed the lobster before I add the mayo to it. I couldn't really blame them for liking the lobster in its natural form. I had a hard time with the texture of the hot dog roll with the lobster. My hubby liked it.

Along side the lobster rolls we had B&M Baked Beans. Burnham and Morrill Company is based out of Maine. They began packing their brick oven beans in the 1920's. We had never had this brand before. They were good beans.

For desert we had Whoopie Pies! Whoopie Pies are two chocolate cake like cookies with cream in the middle. There is some argument of who can claim the Whoppie Pie. Maine or Pennsylvania. Maine went ahead and made the the Whoopie Pie it's official state treat. I totally used the Pillsbury Kit.




Next up we head to another state known for its crustacean.

Best Mail Day Ever! Email vs Snail Mail It's a Draw!

50 States; 50 Meals: Louisiana

This week I tried cooking food from the bayou. Something I have always thought about doing but was afraid to because I didn't think it would be kid friendly enough. I always assumed the flavors would be too strong or too spicy. Well you know what they say about assuming. For our Louisiana menu I made Jambalaya and Shrimp Po Boy Sliders.

Jambalaya is a mixture of seafood, meat, poultry, sausage and vegetables, simmered with uncooked rice until the liquid (broth and tomatoes) is absorbed. My recipe called for chicken breasts, chicken thighs, turkey smoked sausage and shrimp. Between the vegetables and meats there was a lot of chopping to do. It was nice to have my husband in the kitchen acting as my sous chef. The only taste we were worried about was the thyme. It didn't seem to stop my kids.

[caption id="attachment_724" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Jambalaya[/caption]

 

Since we were having Jambalaya I decided to make Po Boy Sliders instead of a full on sandwich. Legend has it this sandwich was named in a New Orleans restaurant owned by Benny and Clovis Martin. The Martin brothers had previously been streetcar conductors. During a strike against the streetcar company the Martin Brothers fed their former colleagues free sandwiches. The employees of the restaurant called those on strike, "poor boys". That nickname then spun into the name of the sandwich. Add in the Louisiana dialect and you get po' boy. The most popular Po' boys are filled with roast beef or fried shrimp but can also include fried oysters, soft shell crab, catfish, crawfish, fried chicken or even french fries. A must for a traditional Po'boy is to serve it on a french baguette-like bread. I broke this rule. You then top it with lettuce, tomato, pickle (i broke this rule too) and mayonnaise. Onion too if you like. The girls had mayonnaise. I like to have remoulade sauce on my po' boys mostly because that is how they were introduced to me by my mom. Hi Mom! I grabbed some help from the Wegmans condiment and baking aisles and picked up Lousiana Fish Fry Products Fish Fry and Remoulade sauce (time saver even though I have a recipe to make homemade). Side note: The Louisiana remoulade had horseradish.

[caption id="attachment_726" align="aligncenter" width="168"] Louisiana at the grocery store[/caption]

I was actually more nervous about making the girls the fried shrimp than I was the Jambalaya. I used to buy them Sea Pak popcorn shrimp but they would just peal off the breading. The fried shrimp was actually their favorite part of the whole meal. The fish fry breading is a lot lighter than what you usually find on popcorn shrimp. They were fighting over who got the extra shrimp that didn't make it onto the sliders. By the way, if you are looking for a fast meal add this to your list. The shrimp fry up quickly.

Shrimp Po' Boy Slider

Ingredients

1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
Louisiana Fish Fry Products Fish Fry
Louisiana Fish Fry Products Remoulade Dressing or Mayonnaise
Romaine Lettuce - ripped to small pieces
Roma Tomatoes - sliced
Red Onion - sliced
Slider Rolls or Baguette cut into small sandwiches
Peanut or Vegetable Oil

Instructions

1. Follow instructions for frying the shrimp on the back of the Fish Fry bag. a. Cover the shrimp with fish fry.
b. Fry in oil
2. Place Remoulade Sauce on bottom of sandwich roll
3. Place two fried shrimp on top the sauce
4. Top shrimp with lettuce, tomato and onion
5. Cover with top layer of sandwich roll

Note: You can easily make this a full sandwich by placing the ingredients on a bigger portion of baguette bread.

Right there in your etouffee was said 4 times during the preparation of this meal. Three times while writing this post. Remember that commercial?

Next up were heading back east. All the way to the top!

 

50 States; 50 Meals: Kentucky

You may remember back when we ate from Alabama we did so via web cam with my Husband, youngest and the Connecticut fam.  This time we ate all together in Connecticut.  I was so excited to finally make Kentucky Hot Browns!!  I first saw these open faced sandwiches on the Food Network show "Throwdown" with Bobby Flay SIX years ago and have been wanting to make them ever since.  So a hot brown is very popular in Kentucky during the Derby.  As I said, it is an open face sandwich topped with roasted turkey, Mornay sauce, tomato and bacon and Parmesan cheese.

Finished Sandwich

But... I didn't use the Bobby Flay recipe.  I went with one from Southern Living to be more traditional.  We couldn't find a turkey breast to roast so we cheated and bought turkey breasts from the rotisserie section of the grocery store.  I'm not complaining.  Less work for me.  One word of advice.  If you double the recipe don't double the Mornay sauce recipe.  I had a ton left over.

Hot out of the Broiler - Turkey and Mornay Sauce

In case the Hot Browns did not go over very well we picked up a bucket of fried chicken.  Not just any fried chicken... KENTUCKY Fried Chicken.  Original recipe, in case you were wondering. 

You can read all about how Harland Sanders, aka Colonel Sanders, first started making his chicken at a  service station and how he became a Colonel on the KFC website.

I headed back to the Derby for some more inspiration and decided to make a family-friendly Mint Julep.  I a friend of mine had shared this Pin with me around the Derby.  It is a Disneyland recipe.  Though we could not find creme de menthe syrup (vs. liqueur) anywhere.  So I improvised and used a can of mojito concentrate to get the mint flavor.  Our Mint Juleps were not as green as Disneyland's but they were still tasty.  I understand Maker's Mark makes a good Mint Julep bourbon too, just sayin'.

Next up is some Louisiana nawlins food.

50 States; 50 Meals: Kansas

Well we didn't go over the rainbow but the food was so good it made us do a happy dance.  Disclaimer: I make most of my meal choices from the Cooking Channel's website.  They had listed Kansas City-Style Ribs as a Kansas "food"; however, when I started doing my research it looked like this was really a Missouri food.  If anyone can educate me on which is right or if both are right I would really appreciate it.  So whether or not it was right we had ribs.  And they were goooood.  I looked at the recipe for making your own rub and sauce.  They way surpassed my acceptable amount of ingredients so on to the Wegmans website I went.  McCormick Grill Mates Pork Rub  and Wegmans Kansas City Style BBQ sauce were added to my online shopping list.  Done.  Other than that we stuck to the Neely's recipe.

[caption id="attachment_690" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Kansas City-Style Ribs[/caption]

Knowing that my youngest isn't the greatest fan of ribs I picked up a box of White Castle sliders.  The first White Castle opened in Wichita, Kansas in 1921.  It was the first fast-food hamburger chain. The first to sell a million hamburgers. The first to sell a billion hamburgers. And the first to sell frozen fast food. Which I bought and we loved.  I may have hidden the fact that they had cooked onions and the kids totally housed them onions and all.

[caption id="attachment_689" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Can you find Butter Boy?[/caption]

Next up is Kentucky and I finally get to make something I have been wanting to make for a long time.

50 States; 50 Meals: The Rest of the I's

Happy Summer everyone!

Yes, I have been keeping up with the meals bu with the end of the school year it was just too crazy to sit and write about it.  Between three weekends with visitors (loved having you), my 3# birthday, a Nationals baseball game, a grad school graduation party, a preschool graduation, a Daisy bridging ceremony, two dance recitals and, oh yeah, the shingles who can sit to write?  We are too busy having fun! Minus the shingles.

The rest of the I states would be Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.

It was hard to decide what to make for Illinois.  There were so many choices.  Do you make the deep dish pizza or the hot dog or Italian Beef?  I had made the Sandwich King's Italian Beef last year so I took that off the list.  And I thought there were some toppings on the Chicago dog that the girls wouldn't like so I went for the pizza.  I was pretty excited because I used my new Kitchen Aid stand mixer that my mom had just given me to make the dough.  It was much easier than when I made the Apizza's.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="alignleft" width="257"] Building Chicago Deep Dish Pizza[/caption]

So interesting enough the chain restaurant Uno's is actually who invented the Deep Dish Pizza.  I think this is the first time that a chain created our state dinner.  Truth be told I was very tempted to just load everyone in the car and head to our Uno's.  But it wouldn't be the same so I picked up a 12in cake pan and set out to learn about deep dish pizzas.  The crust is obviously different than NY style but another difference is that is made backwards too.  The order is crust, cheese, sauce (I used strained San Marzano tomatoes with spices added), and then parm cheese.  If you make it with sausage it would go before the cheese.  Find the recipe on my Pinterest page.

[caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="244"] Look how cheesy[/caption]

Honestly, the next two states is really the reason I hadn't been blogging.  I was not excited about the next two states but  I was pleasantly surprised with the Indiana Pork Tenderloin sandwich, as was the family.  I was a little worried after the Steak Fingers but it was actually really good.  You

[caption id="attachment_668" align="alignright" width="224"] Indiana Pork Tenderloin Sandwich[/caption]

flatten pieces of pork tenderloin.  It's going to look to big for the bread but apparently you are supposed to do that.  It marinates in buttermilk and spices.  Then you dredge it in flour, egg and breadcrumbs. After frying the tenderloins build the sandwiches by putting the cutlets between the burger buns and garnishing with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayonnaise and mustard.  It was really tasty.

[caption id="attachment_669" align="alignleft" width="224"] Hoosier Pie[/caption]

For dessert we had Hoosier pie.  What is a Hoosier you ask?  Simply put it is a person from Indiana.  Compare it to a Yankee from New York.  The Hoosier pie is also called a Sugar Cream pie.  It was really easy to make and I got to use my new Kitchen Aid  again!  This pie was weird.  We thought the mix tasted great but after baking it we didn't really care for it anymore.  The texture was odd and the flavor didn't mix well with the salty crust.

For the last "I" state I got my Roseanne on and made Loosemeat sandwiches.  These are NOT Sloppy Joes.  The "sauce" is made out of vinegar, yellow mustard and water.  They were just okay.  The meat tasted much better on the bun.  Sorry Iowa, I'm sticking with Sloppy Joes.  Iowa is also know for Pork Tenderloin sandwhichs.  I should have just made those again.

I hope you have enjoyed your June.  Next we are going somewhere over the rainbow.

50 States; 50 Meals: Idaho

We had our Idaho meal last night.  We had potatoes, obviously.  Idaho Nachos to be exact.  They are like regular nachos except you use waffle fries instead of tortilla chips.  And instead of chili you use bacon.  Then you finish top them off with black olives. jalapenos, tomatoes, green onion and sour cream.



Along side our Idaho Nachos we had Idaho-Style Finger Steaks.  It's what your thinking.  It is like a chicken finger made out of sirloin or cube steak.  The finger steaks were first made in 1957 when the owner of Milo's Torch Lounge, Milo Bybee, was looking for a use for tenderloin scraps. No offense to Mr. Bybee but I think we will continue to grill our steaks.



So I as you can see Idaho was just okay for us.  Next we head to the Windy City.

 

50 States; 50 Meals: Hawaii

Aloha!  I am so behind I don't even remember what night we had this dinner last week.  Picking this menu was so difficult mostly because I didn't think the girls would like the traditional Hawaiian fanfare. When I looked up the meals my choices were raw tuna (Ahi Poke), shredded Salmon (Lomi Lomi Salmon), Spam made to look like sushi (Spam Musubi) or something called a Loco Moco.

None of those sounded "kid-friendly" so I decided to play it safe and decided on Hawaiian chicken and pineapple skewers.  I couldn't help feel like I was taking the easy way out and not really making true Hawaiian food and kept thinking about the Loco Moco.  A Loco Moco was first served on the big island in 1949.  It is white rice topped with a burger patty, gravy and a sunny side up egg.  My hubby was on board but I was sold when my youngest said boldly that she would try it.  That NEVER happens.  I went the easy way since I still planned on making the chicken skewers.  I used frozen hamburgers and jarred gravy.  Sidebar: Ballpark makes a frozen precooked burger.  It came highly recommend from the gentleman working at Wegmans and he was right.  We used the left over burgers for a busy dance class night.

So there is a Loco Moco.  You may not be able to tell but I plated this dish in a bowl.  A coworker of mine was stationed in Hawaii while he served in the Navy.  He told me the best way to eat this meal is to cut it all up in the bowl so the egg yolk gets over everything.  I made one sans egg for my youngest to eat.  Both girls loved this meal and actually wanted to have it again this week.  I'm so happy I made it.

I did still make the chicken and pineapple skewers.  I got some help with a packet of McCormick Grill Mates Hawaiian Luau for the chicken.  I marinated the pineapple in soy sauce and brown sugar.  I skewered them separately so we didn't have to worry about the cooking times.  The chicken was so good I enjoyed it a few more times on top a salad for lunch.

  So I had to throw some Spam into the mix since Spam is so popular on the big island.  I picked up a single serving package of Spam and fried it up real quick.  My oldest housed it!  Loved it.  I would eat it again if I was stranded somewhere and it was the only thing left to eat.

To finish off our feat I broke out the Hawaiian sweet rolls.  My daughter loved the rolls so much she kept asking for me to use them as sandwiches in her lunches.

Here's our feast

50 States; 50 Meals: Georgia

You know the song "The Devil went down to Georgia"?  Well I think the Devil must still reside there because the Devil was in the details this week.
First off, I had such a hard time finding recipes for this state.  Yes internet, they eat peaches and love pimento cheese, I get it!
So on my menu I had broiled peanuts, pimento cheese, biscuits and peach pie.  But that is not dinner.  Lucky, for me my boss is originally from Georgia so I went to him for some help.   After about 30 mins I left his office knowing that I should cook some kind of pork.  I settled on Smothered Pork Chops.

I made the peach pie and the pimento cheese the night before.

Devil detail #1:  Refrigerated pie dough (No, I didn't make my own) needs to be refrigerated.  When the groceries got put away the dough did not get put in the refrigerator until bringing it home much later.  It must have been longer than I thought.  The dough smelled funny the whole time.  I thought maybe it was because I was using an all natural brand instead of Pillsbury but it donned on me what had happened as the pie was just about to come out of the oven.  It was a beautiful pie and the dough was crispy and flakey.  It just smelled like feet.  So dear husband went out for more ingredients and brought back Pillsbury this time.  It didn't smell like feet but I wasn't as impressed as I was with the Immaculate dough.

As I was making the pie, I kept thinking about the part in one of my favorite movie's, A League of Their Own, when Kit yells, "I'm a Peach!"



Isn't that pie so pretty.  Good thing you can't smell a picture.  I adapted this recipe to use with my store bought crust.  I add to substitute a bag of frozen peaches since they are not in season yet.  I let the peaches thaw in a colander for about an hour and 30 mins.

During all that I also made the pâté of the South, pimento cheese.  This cheese gets tied to Georgia because back in the 1900's the pepper was grown and packaged there.  During that time there were several local mayonnaise's and orange cheddar was the only cheese sold.  So I guess you could say they were just doing the best with what they had.
We ate our pimento cheese with tortilla chips as an appetizer and then the next day the hubs and I had it on left over biscuits for lunch.   One suggested way we really want to try is on top of a hamburger.



 

Devil Detail #2 - Read your recipe! Everything was going so well.  Everything was going to be done at the same time until I saw put pork chops back into gravy, cover and let cook for ANOTHER HOUR!  Okay, so who wants appetizer number 2?

Boiled Peanuts.  Can't say I'll ever have them again but I wasn't scared from trying them.  They taste like baked potatoes and are VERY salty.  We had a few and them I bagged them up for my southern coworker.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally dinner was done!  We enjoyed our Smothered Pork Chops in Onion Gravy!  Not sure if it is a "Georgia" dinner but it was pork and covered in gravy so it was definitely southern, in my book.



After this work I wish I heading off to next week's location, for real!  Hawaii!

50 States; 50 Meals: Florida

I was very excited to make our Florida meal.  The Cuban or Cubano is one of my favorite sandwiches!  Most likely if I see it on a menu I'll get it.  The Cuban  is a popular sandwich in Tampa and Miami.

The sandwich has layered pork cooked in mojo, ham, swiss cheese and a pickles  and then pressed between cuban bread.  I couldn't find cuban bread so I used Italian.  Just look how pretty.  I used a Cooking Light recipe but it tasted just like one at a restaurant. I also just bought Goya Mojo instead of making my own. 

Cuban Sandwich

I turned to Nellie and Joe's Famous Lime Juice for dessert.  We had Key Lime Pie, of course!  It was pretty quick and easy to make.  We have so much juice leftover I may have to make an adult beverage! Or more desserts.  I found tons of recipes on Nellie and Joe's website. I love that their website is keylimejuice.com.  They own the key lime business.  haha Who knew you could do so much with key lime juice?

Key Lime Pie

Whew... All caught up.  Next up is Georgia.  I have a feeling I'll be making another pie.

50 States; 50 Meals: Delaware Part 2

No one suggested it as being a top Delaware food, but knowing that there are many Scrapple plants in Delaware I had to cook it too.  Scrapple is a controversial food because of what it is made out of.  If you don't know don't Google it.  But if you have been raised on it you don't care what it was made of because you love it too much.  I really think that if they had given it another name it wouldn't have the bad wrap it does.  Think about it, people love sausage and that it wrapped in intestine lining.  I bet if sausage had been called stuffed intestine lining it wouldn't be as popular.

My kids loved it!  I told them it was a cousin to sausage which they love.  My oldest liked it so much she had me cook up some more.  If anyone tells them what it made of I will hunt you down.  I'm thrilled they are following our family tradition of loving scrapple.  It is something I look forward to after coming home from Black Friday shopping in Delaware.  My aunt buys the good stuff not that Napa stuff.

I was so excited that Wegmans also offered Habbersett Scrapple.  It is a Philadelphia company but the plant is in Delaware.

I found a recipe on Cooking Channel's website with some not so scary ingredients if you want to try making your own.

50 States; 50 Meals: Delaware

I'm behind!  Life got so busy all of a sudden.  My oldest and I went camping with her Daisy troop last weekend so instead of blogging I was preparing for the trip.  Ugh camping!  You need so much for one night.  The girls had so much fun.  They can't wait to do it again.  We have also added swimming lessons to our Tuesdays.  Tuesdays were our best days to cook the 50 meals dinner so now we are on a rotating schedule.

But back to Delaware!  My father's family is from Delaware.  When I think of foods from Delaware I think of Thanksgiving dinners, chicken and dumplings, lima beans and scrapple.  My research suggested Vinegar French Fries, aka Boardwalk fries, and broiler chickens.

I am a little confused as to why I was pointed to I was pointed in the direction of the boardwalk fries as my research showed these fries were created by a man named J.T. Thrashers.  Any good Marylander knows the first Thrashers was opened in Ocean City, MD.  There is a Thrashers in Rehobeth Beach, DE but it was not the birthplace of the best type of french fry, in my opinion. Get the full history story here.

Cooking these boardwalk fries brought back memories of me and my dad getting a big bucket of fries and then sitting down to people watch.  I was excited that they turned out so well.  I used the left overs to make cheese fries, yummo!

Vinegar French Fries

We had broiled chicken with our french fries.  Broiled chicken is prepared using a smaller bird called a "broiler".  The broiler chicken industry started in Sussex County during the 1920's.  It is also where the Dealware Blue Hens mascots gets its name.  We were only able to find a kosher broiler chicken at our Wegmans.  It smelled so bad after opening the packaging that I couldn't get close enough to even prepare the chicken as instructed in the recipe.  So we followed plan B as suggested in the recipe and used a regular quartered chicken.  The skin came out so crispy it was better than rotisserie! One of the chicken breasts was so large I was able to make two cups of chicken salad.

Broiled Chicken