What is it with tempting me with food descriptions lately? I was listening to the radio on the way home last night and the station was detailing this "Livin' Large" party they are going to be throwing later this month. The lucky radio listeners get to go spend two hours gorging themselves on a room full of stick-to-your-ribs (in my case "stick-to-your-thighs") downright grubalicious food! Chicken friend steaks. Biscuits and gravy. Pecan pie! Chocolate cake! Homemade ice-cream! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. And here I sit stuck at work with hours to go til lunch. Frick!

Maybe not ludefisk, but lefse, certainly. And Matt's Juicy Lucy's, which may be trademarked. And hotdish.
And tuna noodle casserole, and whether peas are too gaudy in same. And the Jello!

I am a generation-removed Southerner, born in California. Talk about a lucky combination. Granny's farm meant deep-fried peach pies, watermelon with salt, and sliced tomatoes. Then we could get perfect fried chicken in our own kitchen in CA by my mom's own hands. . . aaaaaah.

My in-laws don't get the weird CA/TN food mix, but they're from Pennsylvania. Not an artichoke or avocado or moon pie to be found!

Great networking, Laurie!

I live in a teeny, tiny town in NW Washington that no one has ever heard of. I grew up in Georgia, and there are about 20 people around here from Georgia! Where in Gods green earth did all these 20 somethings hear about this town, that is a tourist, ski town? When did southerners learn to ski, for god's sake? Or snowboard? I own the local liquor store and when they come in, we ALWAYS talk about food. Fresh tomatoes, field peas, sweet tea, fried okra. Because since we live in north of nowhere, and it is cold, you can't grow a decent tomato, corn or okra. We fantasize about having a dinner for all of the southerners in the group, with cornbread, biscuits, and all the other good stuff.

So, yep, it's all about the food when southerners find each other.

Get two or more Philly residents more than two hours away from the Greater Delaware Valley, and cheese steaks, soft pretzels and Tastykakes will be the topic that outlasts the football game!

Love you, LOVE your cats! That Soba is a BEAUTY!!

i get all misty eyed over dunkin donuts and real roast beef sandwiches.

and fried clams.

and fresh maine lobster. and maple syrup right out of the tree.

i miss new england.

I'm with the cats...more fried chicken and more bacon.

MMmMMmMmmmm.

Congrats on dealing with the "difficult" woman. Isn't it great you got to prove your boss wrong?

Oh Kendra...yeah, I would miss the fried clams too.

Yum.

Hey, I just moved to Arizona, from TEXAS! My girls and I cried all the way out of the state. There are NO DONUT SHOPS in Flagstaff, AZ. You can go to the grocery store, and get a Krispy Kreme that came from Pheonix. Well, whoopee dingbat! I looked in my old phone book, and there were 24 donut shops listed. Now it's true Tyler is a bigger town than Flagstaff, but you'd think they'd have ONE donut shop! They have bicycle shops instead. 7 of them. We had one. Do the math. Donuts, 24, bicycles, 1.
This is the basic difference between Southerners and the rest of the world. Y'all need to get your priorities straight! I am surrounded by health freaks and they are going to starve me. No BBQ, no decent hot sauce...grumble, grumble...(that's my stomach, y'all)

More business gets done going through the pleasantries and establishing a relationship than just outright asking! It is all about personal relationships.

Yes, all people talk about food or the size of mosquitoes in Minnesota! Not lutefisk (since most Minnesotans haven't actually eaten it) but other things!

My Portugese side of the family is like that. The events are about the food and every conversation turns to food at some point. My dad (who is the non-portugese side), while dating my mom, said that the Portugese mating call must be "EAT! EAT!"

I'm a New Englander now, but I grew up in Hawaii. I think Hawaii people are the same way about the food. I read a Hawaii food blog, but it is painful for me because I miss that food so much.

Go Purl Go! Southern or otherwise, you proved that 'difficult' people aren't always problematic if you take the time to connect with them -- something Southerners are also very good at doing & Californians (esp. Southern Californians) are not.

When my aunt passed away in Iowa, I was blown away by the number of people that brought over food to my grandmas or just came to sit with us. Wouldn't happen (as much) in CA.

I am always stunned at how many people think that this kind of chat is 'inefficient'. They also put coffee breaks and going out of your office to eat lunch in that category. But it is this little bit of socializing that provides all the grease to make business (and education, and healthcare and whatever) run smoothly. It builds trust. That's why you got 4 style sheets quickly and didn't think Trish was difficult.

I once had a boss who commented in my appraisal on what a good network I had (he was newish). I told him flat out that that was because I drink coffee and eat lunch. I don't go meet people only when I need something from them. I meet them all the time in the coffee room or the cafeteria. Funnily enough, I then know a lot of what other folks do and sometimes and identify who might help us with a particular thing. And when I approach those people they are more likely to say yes, because they know me too.

Management is not rocket science, but sometimes you wonder.

Michiganders are the same way. First of all, it's not a real funeral if there's no food. You have to bring food--homemade, not storebought unless it's a salad (which always magically appears).

Meatballs in the crockpot, casseroles of various types, brownies, and all sorts of stuff that tastes good but probably isn't good for ya. We're known for pasties, but most people I know haven't eaten them. I make them myself (can't have meat or dairy, so I have to make them myself).

We have the best produce, though. Asparagus right off the truck, fresh-picked cherries and apples . . . I had to do some serious research to find good food in Ohio when we lived there and finally just talked my hubby into moving up to Michigan instead. I missed it too badly.

Never been to southern US before, let alone Lousiana....but the food you were mentioning is making me REALLY hungry. You know, my mum used to say to me that we Thai say "Have you eaten, if not, we should go eat," instead of saying: "How are you?" Funny thing, but true. It seems that we also think about food all the time and we can eat whenever we feel like it. ;) Maybe I'll blog about this properly later.

Oh my gosh! I grew up in Louisiana, lived there for 30 years until 4 years ago when my California Yankee husband moved me to Florida. Now while Florida might be a southern state geographically, is is NOT s SOUTHERN state. And the food is crap.

Christy
Missing a good ole crawfish boil.

I would kill for some banana puddin right now.

Purl, you gotta venture out Pico way more often. There are a number of places that serve fried catfish, greens, black-eyed peas (no, not the band!), etc. I never grew up Southern (although I lived in Virginia for a while - does that count?) but I love me some sweet potatoe pie. Oh, and did I mention the BBQ joints?!

I'm a New Englander born and bred but I've lived in New York City for the past ten years and I can say from experience that if you put 2 expat NE'ers in a room together you'll get to one topic in about 30 seconds flat - baseball! The Red Sox are our religion.

That's not to say I wouldn't gladly discuss the obvious superiority of NE clam chowder over Manhattan's lame-o version any day.

Oh my god, I am SO SO SO HUNGRY now. I want hush puppies.

I've lived all over the northeast, and can attest to the New England food bonding (Dunkin Donuts! fried clams!) and Philadelphia (Yuengling! Tastykakes!). Most of my growing-up was done in New Jersey and New Mexico. New Mexicans everywhere will talk about green chile and sopapaillas and how Mexican food just isn't the same. New Jersey doesn't have quite the same regional cuisine (it overlaps with NY and Philadelphia), but another Jersey friend and I have managed to reminisce about breakfast sandwiches with Taylor ham for a while.

I'm a native Texan, and my grandfather was from Kentucky. I was shocked to discover that frychickenriceangravy was not really one word.

Y'all weren't wasting time, you were passing the time.

Laurie, if you substituted "Jewish" for "Southern" you'd pretty much have our own food conversations pegged. Except maybe for the crawfish etoufee. Replace that with "kugel" or maybe "shakshuka" and set those mouths a-droolin. Oy. Mazel Tov, shayna maidel.

Have you tried Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles? That was some pretty damned good fried chicken - and I'm from Alabama I know mah chicken.

When I meet someone from my area of California, we generally talk about coffee and microbreweries, and about how much we miss bright overcast days, skiny dipping, and the ocean. Food doesn't dominate so much as nature.

Monkey, I used to try every so-called soulfood place around here (people who are from here are always taking me to places they think have "soul food" but there's just something different about it.) Like everyone raves over Roscoe's chicken, but to me it's greasy and not floury enough. I think it's a regional thing? The food is good, but not the same.

Which in the end is probably best because you know. I can gain weight just standing in the same room as gravy.

excellent essay

Put two Boston expats in a room together and they'll start reminscing about pubs and pints. Eventually getting around to Dunkin Donuts coffee, Legal Seafoods, how Fenway Pahk has changed and latest the Big Dig update.

hee heee, you said "firm"....

Noelle-- I have been to Roscoes many a time but it's not the same to me. Maybe I'm just spoilt rotten from homemade chicken.

You know, there is deep-fried sushi...

I think I grew up in too many different places to be that connected to one type of food. I'm mostly New Englander (but absolutely not a baseball fan), but my parents are from NYC and the moderately-south Virginia, plus we lived in West Virginia for a while. And I went to school in Ohio. I'd say reminiscing about college is more likely for me, although it wouldn't be surprising for food co-op discussions do be part of that.

CHICAGO PIZZA: Ahhh....Deep Dish Pizza - for real deep dish, not just too fluffy chewy crust and a minimal amount of the good stuff. I'm talking 2 inches of cheese with stacks of pepperoni (oops! the veggie didn't say that)stuffed to the brim with gobs and gobs of sultry, savory tomato sauce...Or the super-thin Fox's style, which has it's moments too. But there ain't nothin' like Chicago pizza. Sorry, New Yorkers (luv ya!)

Chicagoans can talk about pizza for hours. I.Kid.You.Not.

I'm not so sure many of us scandinavians of THIS generation eat the lutefisk... (ick)....
but here in Western Pennsylvania we definitely have our local "cuisines" that people are fond of where ever we may wander....
love.those.kitties!

Coconut cream pie.......grits with butter and fried eggs....biscuits.....mmmmmmmm....(though you can keep the collards all chopped up and boiled for a week with fatback, even as an adult greens are hard work for me.)

What a good story! I bet those style sheets are rocking the house.

Whoa! I almost forgot chicken fried steak! and hot-water cornbread (pones are the best!) And coconut cake...

I've never met a Jewish New Yorker who couldn't bond over the joys of real deli, commiserate over the lack of real bagels in the rest of the country (hey, that aren't even what they used to be in NYC), where the best smoked fish is found and more. It's a ritual.

I grew up (mostly) in California, and the food conversation always comes back to the great Mexican food. My mom and I became Mexican food connoisseurs, and I haven't found any place yet that can compare with Southern California for good Mexican food. (Obviously, I've never been to Mexico. Hrm...must remedy that.)

Oh, I get you on the food! My husband and I grew up in Tennessee and now live in NYC. When we go home, we fill up on all the good Southern food (and always gain weight).

I think the reason Southerners are so obsessed with this is that it's a large region with similar foods and we're always competing with each other about whose ribs/fried chicken/pecan pie is best.

Girl, I brought a casserole to a funeral in Connecticut, and they looked at me like i had nine heads. I mean, I was the ONLY person who brought food. WTF is wrong with these people? In Virginia, you had to go buy a new deep freezer if there was a death in your family because of all the leftover food!

God, am I hungry now. I would love a hot cup of coffee and a pecan pie...not a slice, the whole damn pie.

Thanks for the yummy entry.

PS: Arizonans often talk about the fact that Mexican food in California just isn't the same as the stuff we know and love. It's the same food, but prepared differently. E.G., peas and carrots in Mexican rice. What's up with that?

I can't get over what cuddlebunnies your cats are! Mine will "share" the bed but that's about as close and they'll get to each other. Yours are very sweet!

Hey love your blog haven't been reading all that long but love it. And the southern thing well I can relate to the conversation part but I am still here in the south so.... I can still get the food which causes me not to miss it yet! I have to comment on your cats they are so cute. What kind of cat is the gray one? All I can say is WOW!

I've spent nearly my entire life in Northern CA, I did move to Boston for a couple of years and yes - I did have the food conversation with a coworker who was from Oklahoma.
My grandparents were from OK & TX so I grew up with cornbread, hominy, grits, greens, black eyed peas, hush puppies, fried chicken and the like. I had no clue that this was "soul food" - to me it was just my grandmothers wonderful cooking.
In Boston a lot of the people I worked with had never heard of a corndog. It was so sad.
Now that I'm back in CA I do miss some of the things from Boston. Dunkin Donuts coffee, roast beef sandwiches from Kellys, and most of all - - sweetened ricotta cannolis from Mikes Pastry in the North End.
and yes - you ALWAYS take something to a funeral service! Its only proper etiquette!

I'm a Hoosier (currently in the Northwest) and I miss casseroles. Noodles + cream of mushrooom soup + crushed up Ritz (or corn flakes) & cheese on top = heaven. I can't exactly say that when finding another Hoosier that we break into song about Indiana food, but I do love me a good casserole.

Heh, the Californian expats living in other part of the country reminisce about sushi, Mexican, and In-n-Out.

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it's all about the pasties (short "a" vowel sound) -- not to be confused with Las Vegas pasties (long "a" vowel sound). Luckily there's a place in my hometown that ships pasties out daily whenever I need a fix. They aren't as good as the ones fresh out of the oven but they'll do in a homesickness pinch. Most yoopers debate each other over whether the proper topping for a pasty is ketchup or gravy...

OyVey is so right on with the deep dish pizza thing. I'm from Chicago and thankfully I can make a mean homemade/from scratch deep dish pizza since I now live in Colorado!!

Ok. I give!! What the heck is a pasty????

I'm with the other Kat up there being from Minnesota...Just get me going about cheese curds & deep fry those babies! And Hot Dish, oh I love a good hot dish. My roommate alwways bring Lefse home with here...

Though after we talk abouit the foods we miss then we turn to the great things in San Francisco we can't get back in Minnesota like a decent burrito...

I would agree with the other Bostonians - ex-pats will talk about pubs, pints, the Sox, Dunkin Donuts, fried clams and chowder. I would add that most ex-pat Bostonians I've run into during my times living away will also miss Boston bands, fresh lobster, Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins, serious book stores (unless they live in NY), and the weather for those three weeks of perfection that are known as "fall."

I don't care about baseball, but I do care about food. I've found that the sort of New England food I grew up on in the seventies was already old-fashioned then, so it's rare I can find someone my own age who gets as nostalgic as I do for baked beans and brown bread, gingerbread, cheese muffins and blueberry grunt.

I'm with the other Kat up there being from Minnesota...Just get me going about cheese curds & deep fry those babies! And Hot Dish, oh I love a good hot dish. My roommate alwways bring Lefse home with here...

Though after we talk abouit the foods we miss then we turn to the great things in San Francisco we can't get back in Minnesota like a decent burrito...

I think that it's a cultural thing but not every culture shares it. I'm not Southern myself but I have Southern family and I spent half of every summer with them growing up and Lordie, it shows when I meet another Southerner because we do indeed get to talking about the food. Not so much with the Jewish part of my family because, well, gefilte fish. 'Nuff said.

But yeah, Southern food. Dinah's over by the airport does a fairly decent fried chicken. I keep meaning to get over to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, I've heard that's not bad. Y'know what I have yet to find in this godforsaken desert? Decent gravy. Nobody here knows how to make it.

As I have a split personality, I can tell you that it happens with Texans, and it happens with New Englanders. But while it may involve food, it may also be "did you see that one Texas-OU game when..." (Texas) and "do you know that bakery that used to be in Melrose but now is in Somerville" (Boston). So, as different as we are, we're all the same. :)

ok how weird is this? i posted the comment about cheese curds & it says it's from Kathleen & I think kathleen posted about dinah's by the sirport & it says it from me!

OK everyone! California is King. We have so many different nationalities living here, so we have the best of all kinds of food represented! There are so many Texans and Louisianans living here! They have brought their expertise with food with them to SoCal. I agree with Monkeygurrrrl...come on over to our 'hood and taste some great Southern fried food. One of my favorite BBQ places is Phillips in Leimert Park, along with JR's on La Cienega between Pico and Jefferson. Also, Pann's Coffee Shop on La Tijera and La Cienega has MARVELOUS fried chicken (better than Roscoe's IMHO)...Pann's is also expert at salmon croquettes, greens, grits and mac 'n cheese. For authentic N.O. food, you can't beat the shrimp po' boy (fully dressed) at Uncle Darrow's on Lincoln, north of Washington Blvd. near Marina del Rey (www.uncledarrows.com). For more Louisiana style food in L.A., check out Chuck Taggart's website (www.gumbopages.com).
I'm a native of Los Angeles. I'm always comparing tacos with other Angelinos. Many of my favorites are listed on Bandini's blog (tacohunt.blogspot.com).
Let me know when you'd like an ethnic food tour of Los Angeles....I'm happy to oblige, Auntie Purl!

I would positively KILL for a plate of hush puppies and fried okra and oh... some chicken fried steak! Holy hell I'm hungry now!

Thanks for the memories Laurie! This is one Texas/Mississippi ex-pat who totally gets the Southern food thing.

Laurie, go to www.pasty.com. There's a picture of a pasty in the middle of the page next to the Order Now arrow.

I'm a New Englander too, as you may recall, but having worked one summer at a Dunkin' Donuts I will never be nostalgic for them. You are correct that New England is identified with a few specific foods (baked beans, New England clam chowder) but there is no regional cuisine per se. This does not mean I don't do food, however. In the early years of our marriage (which is to say about 20 years ago) DH and I arrived at the Columbus, OH airport to visit his parents the morning of Christmas Eve and were promptly informed that there would be no home-cooked Christmas dinner but we would all go out for highfalutin food the day after. No, they did not actually say highfalutin. As soon as we got to their house, however, I made DH borrow his dad's car keys and drive us to the grocery store, where we bought all the fixins for Christmas dinner. It is **not Christmas without home-cooked Christmas dinner**, people! We did a pretty good job, considering our inexperience. We made a goose, because the store had geese and we figured we were no less knowledgeable about cooking a goose than cooking a turkey.

I also realized pretty early in my party-giving career that if you have way more food than your guests can possibly consume during the party, things will go fine. Make that food and drink.

Let's hear it for you and Trish! If I ever meet her I'll be as polite as humanly possible for a Yankee.

Food is a common denominator for everyone (except for a few so-called celebrities). We all have to eat. We all have fond memories of someone cooking for us. I miss my grandmother's fried chicken like you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would!). Food is the universal language!

Lordy, I'm from Savannah, so please don't forget the fried okra, red rice, and shrimp with grits!

Girl, you are a business guru! Pass the biscuits!

Can I just say, you have the best blog on the internets! You make me laugh out loud so much! Thank You Aunt Purl (and on a side note. I lurve your cheeto scarf so much, I am making one myself!) You are awesome, Laurie. Do not ever 4get that!!!!

This reminds me. I have a book I have been meaning to mail you(and some Xmas Cat Toys). It is all about Southern Hospitality! I will have to get it into the mail!

Food is supposed to be the last part of distinct culture that is lost - dress goes early on, because it's visually jarring not to fit in, and then language, which you can retain somewhat if spoken at home but still whatever new language is prominent has an influence, but food is the easiest thing to hold on to. It's comforting, it's easier to integrate with new traditions, and it's frickin' delicious. So it makes sense that, while you might dress LA and you might lose some accent (until you recharge your accent-battery by talking to someone on the phone from home or by meeting someone from home), you still want that fried chicken, made your way.

I'm from New Mexico and on the rare occassion I run into another New Mexican we talk about food. This area doesn't have good Mexican food. Even if you find good Mexican food, it's not New Mexico style mexican food. Cornbread, don't even get me started. What is with all of the sweet cornbread. Cornbread here is so sickeningly sweet it is like eating cake. I grew up on salty, spicy cornbread.

Turtle soup and Coca cola chocolate cake, ya'll. And I'm from Ohio! But I'd rather eat in Laurie's neck of the woods any day. :)

I'm from Tennessee and live in Portland, Oregon. I miss cornbread (there's not even decent cornbread mixes in the grocery stores) and biscuits and sweet iced tea. I also miss Cracker Barrell & Sonic & Chick-fil-A.

My southern accent is very strong (I grew up in Dolly Parton's home town ya'll). Now that I'm surrounded by people with NO accent, I can actually hear myself say "fur" instead of "for" and such. People are all the time asking me where I'm from and then commanding me to keep talking to them -- "Just say anything". So, I usually end up talking about food!

Being a member of a very large Italian family, food conversation is a MUST! It's almost as important as EATING the food we talk about! :-)

Good job with "difficult" Trish - - you were able to connect with her on a very personal level, and allowed her to feel comfortable with you. That makes any job much easier to accomplish! You go, girl!

Liz

The sushi place in my hometown does something called a "Teddy Roll," which is basically a sweet, battered sushi roll with, like cream cheese, and a bunch of un-sushi things in it.

If you are ever in Missouri, I'll give you directions.

Hmm, lutefisk would be scary. But maybe misty eyed over hotdish, our other regional specialty.

my family comes from france, and while on the phone together, we always inevitably talk about food. and of course it doesnt help that i married a chef, and my mom calls up not to talk to me anymore but to get recipes from the boy.

true that funerals have the best food. when my aunt passed away a couple of years ago, my mom, my sister and i cooked for three days. a hundred people came to the house, and at first they were all a bit mortified that we had all this great food out there (ham and cream puffs and crab cakes, etc). they were all being very polite and not eating at first. they thought, "How can they eat and still be grieving?". then they dove in and tore the thing up. and then we all got drunk. cos that's what we do in france. we tie one on at funerals.

"Do Minnesotans find themselves sharing a love of ludefisk that bonds them for life?"

Lutefisk - No way - Ewwwwwww

But a good tator tot hot dish might bring us to tears.

I remember the first time I ate at a seafood restaurant outside of Louisiana--everything on the menu was steamed or poached! Ew. I'll stay here and have my boiled crabs and fried catfish, thanks.

I'm originally from Arkansas, and living in Ok.(Same thing, really). My Grandma is from Louisiana, and makes THE best duck gumbo in the world. Lurve it! Only thing is, now she's afraid of ducks because of that avian flu thing. OH, did you ever have vinegar cucumbers? Slice the cucumbers and some onions, pour vinegar over,(with a little water),stick in fridge for few hours. I like alot of salt on mine. Yum! Yum!

I'm originally from Arkansas, and living in Ok.(Same thing, really). My Grandma is from Louisiana, and makes THE best duck gumbo in the world. Lurve it! Only thing is, now she's afraid of ducks because of that avian flu thing. OH, did you ever have vinegar cucumbers? Slice the cucumbers and some onions, pour vinegar over,(with a little water),stick in fridge for few hours. I like alot of salt on mine. Yum! Yum!

OOPS!!

Oh. Oh. Oh! This is why I have never felt at home here in the frozen (okay, not so much this year) north of Canada. I was meant to be a Southern Girl. Pecan Pie, oh my. 'Scuse me, must... go... fry...chicken...

I find that Minnesotans (having been one all but the first 4 years of my life) tend to discuss the weather before anything else. Although, no doubt a discussion about hot dish will follow soon after that. I also find that once you identify yourself as from Minnesota, people from every other part of the country will immediately ask you what the current temp is, no matter what time of year it is.

Where do I sign up for Ellen's ethnic food tour?! I loved everything that touched my lips in Louisianna and I can never get enough of Gram's home cooked New Mexican fare and could eat a dozen sopapillas right now! I have been known to cross states and continents with my favorites packed along for the ride and now that I think about it, conversation with every one of my friends always gravitates to the subject of food! MMmmmmmmmmmmm

The best I can do is recommend Po'Folks in Annaheim. I am from the PNW but goddess help me, I love chicken fried steak!

My great grandmother shared with me over the holidays her top-secret recipe for DEEP FRIED PIES. filled with chocolate. best served hot from the grease with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

It's always a hoot to read your blog. Love your sense of humor, even in the face of unpleasant events.

A pasty is a pie crust with potatoes and hamburger and carrots and spices...like a meat pie...with ketchup is how we eat them!

I moved to Minnesota from North Dakota some 6 years ago.

North Dakota is ranch territory, so, you know we're all about hunks of meat, right? And what we don't farm, we hunt, pretty much, because, it's a huge expanse of land...more deer and pheasant than people, probably.

Minnesota is a bit weird to me as far as cuisine--it is true that nobody "really" eats lutefisk except somebody trying to prove they're a really Minn-Uh-Soh-Tun. Transplants like me? No freaking way...and hotdish? I can take it or leave it.

I am one of the simple people...Gimme a steak.

Sweet cornbread? I know how you feel, and I'm English. I drive my American husband barmy, looking for bread that is not baked with honey. Or molasses. Or high fructose corn syrup. If I was not such a lazy-arse, I would bake my own. Sigh.

My upstairs neighbor of 20 yrs was from Georgia. She didn't need to get together with another southerner to have that conversation... she'd just tell it all to us northeners.

She used to make the best homeade peach ice cream...

Here in the not so great white north I have to deal with the In-laws atrange food. (Polish) Some is good but I miss lots of things. ducan Donuts, Chick-fila, Tea in a resturant that hasn't gone sour or instsant. Pork Bar-b-que, refills on drinks, slaw beening called cabage salad, frsh sea food, fish without teeth. (yes we have toothie fish here mean looking beasts) My mother-inlaw offered BBQ for lunch once. I was beside myself I sat right dowm and she served up sloppy joes. I almost cried. I've converted them on some dishes, peacan pie, sweet potato pie, and corn bread. But others they just stare and shake their heads. We are the only people for miles to grow quainies of okra, feild peas, butter beans, and crook neck squash. We sell at the farmers market and you can spot an expat from accross the lot as their eyes light up.

Aaahhh...fried catfish and hushpuppies; pan-fried chicken (cooked in an iron skillet, of course!); grits dripping with butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper (NOT sugar and milk, that's just sacrilage); country fried steak, cream gravy, mashed 'taters, corn on the cob; fried green tomatoes; pinto beans and corn bread; dried apple pies; warm blackberry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream; peanut butter pie (my grandma made peanut butter pie to DIE for); jam cake. Food of the gods.

I wouldn't have thought you were crazy to talk food first with Trish. As far back as I can remember my family has said that our motto is "It's all about the food". :-)

I'm from New England, and although we sometimes talk about clam chowdaaaaa, lobstah etc., I'm also Italian and can usually spot one a mile away! We Italians LIVE for food - our lives revolve around food - most Italians have two kitchens in their house, one upstairs and one downstairs - just in case there is some "talking" to do, which just CAN NOT be done without food! lol :)

Laurie,
I'm a Georgian (not by birth, but my family's all from here...I'm the only one not born in the state) and after living in DC, my best friend realized there are certain things you can ONLY get in the South. Good sweet tea, fried chicken, cornbread, biscuits, and the like. I have seen others' (Yankees') recipes, and they have no idea what they're doing with it. If the recipe doesn't come from a Southerner for Southern food, don't use it! I have two great recipes...one for biscuits and one for fried chicken. I always impress when I cook those. I also have a killer cornbread and cornbread dressing recipe.

Everyone has to eat...so food is a natural bonder. Being an accountant and a people person (yes the two can co-exist in the same person), you have to learn to bond over something, and food is usually the easiest and best. I found that I can sweeten the deal for anyone with a little brownie action on the side, and it's amazing what gets done quickly. =0) Keep up the good work!

Yes, we ex-pat NY'ers talk about our regional food - decent bagels, crusty bread - PIZZA!! A rare roast beef sandwich from a deli that is not part of a supermarket..egg creams (no eggs, no cream) ...Italian food that is not made with low-fat part-skim cheese or god-forbid cottage cheese (yech)..a real party at a bar on St. Patrick's day..black & white cookies..Yodel's and Drake's Cakes.

Laurie, you must read "Being Dead is no Excuse - The official Southern ladies guide to hosting a funeral" - it's an absolute hoot and even only being a relatively new Southerner (13 yrs.) I can relate.

Here's how we do it in NC:

Breakfast - fried eggs, sliced tomatoes, homemade buttermilk biscuits, country ham (may substitute thick bacon and/or fresh sausage or even have all 3), red eye gravy, grits, and good strong coffee

Breakfast dessert - Krispy Kreme donuts

Lunch - Thick BLT (bacon/lettuce/tomatoe) sandwhich on homemade bread with lots of mayo, salt and pepper, leftover veggies from previous night, fresh sweet tea

Lunch dessert - maybe another Krispy Kreme

Dinner - Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy (in the same pan the chicken was fried in), fresh from the garden butter beans/purple hull peas/green beans cooked in fat back, more homemade buttermilk biscuits, fried squash with onions, more fresh sweet tea

Dinner dessert - warm banana pudding or freshly baked cobler of the day

Exercise = (summer only) working in the garden or the fields from sun up 'til sun down.

Funerals = days of cookin', eatin', and drankin' (in that order - heck, it ain't a proper burial 'til someone throws up, passes out, or gets in a fight over Grandma's recipes)!

Some of the best food I've tasted since moving to America has been in the South. Took a road trip to New Orleans and experienced, among other things, the muffaletta, an artfully contructed meat and cheese sandwich drooling with olive oil. I still dream about them.

Great post Laurie! Food is a topic I think most of us could go on and on about. I’m from Minnesconsin and I do dearly miss my microbrews (I almost cried when I moved to the East coast and someone handed me a Yuengling. Piss water I tell you!) and deep fried cheese curds. Or even cheese curds right out of the bag, preferably from the Ellsworth creamery (you know they’re fresh when they squeak!) I became a vegetarian when I was 14, so I appreciate the variety and options as far as the food in SoCal that you might not get elsewhere. Vegetarianism rescued me from the annual lutefisk feast every Christmas. NO ONE likes it, I’m convinced. I’ve questioned several actual Norwegians about this and they think Minnesotans are crazy for continuing to eat the stuff. Eating it is just something people do to show how tough they are, like going to 7-eleven for milk in a blizzard ‘cause they can. My grandma makes the best lefse, I like to put some butter and brown sugar rolled up in mine, yum!

I used to work at a pasty shop, and people love their pasties. That place was jumpin’ at lunch!

Ok...so I was born in Cali and then 10 short years later moved to Arkansas. But being that my mother was raised in Cali; she never learned to cook southern food. We eat mexican all the time. I think I have only had fried chicken like twice. I am displaced.

My husband, moved here from NY. He thinks the whole corn bread and bean thing is so gross. Everyone here LOVES it. He and his whole Yankified family are crazy over sausage. They even make their own. SO WEIRD. And Hodge Podges. I have no idea.

I will stick to my tacos.

dude...it's all about food.
It is ALWAYS all about food -- at least it was in Northeast Ohio, where I was born and raised. Potato salad. Catered weddings were for Clevelanders. We all cooked, baked, and prepared for weeks when a family member was tying the knot. And funerals? Never did so much food pass through a front door than when there was a death in the family. You could feed a family of 6 for a month, if you didn't have to throw the wake. Oh, yeah...it extends beyond the South...but there is no hospitality, whatsoever, like the South. None. I cannot wait to get back there. Savannah...ah, Savannah...

When I moved to Arizona, from Arkansas, I was delighted when my momma sent care packages filled with cornbread packets (Martha White's Cotton Pickin' Cornbread) and catfish batter. Neither were available. How's a girl supposed to have a fish dinner without these vital ingredients? (I'll send some along if you want.)

The first three responses to hearing of a hometown death are:
Aw, that's a shame.
I hope his/her momma's holdin up.
I'll get a ham.

soba - I am training my new protege - will we meet again!!!! bwah ha ha ha haaaaa!!!

When I lived in the South for a while, I came to love them as my own people so far away from Iowa. I met plenty of Iowans where we remembered Iowa sugar & cream corn, tomatoes, radishes with salt, pork chops and Amana Colony steaks and apple dumplings.

It's not just a South thing, in Iowa you show up at all emergencies/deaths/celebrations with food, homemade, of course.

I'm a New Yorker living in Virginia... There is no great Italian deli here or a really good pizzeria.

Hi Laurie - I am a fellow Southerner (mmm...fried green maters), and I agree: every time I meet a fellow Southerner, the talk immediately turns to food. I have a good friend who is Southern - I currently live in Ohio - and everytime we talk on the phone, it takes about three minutes for food to become the topic.

1. How are y'all?
2. Kids stayin out of trouble?
3. What'd y'all have for dinner?

We Southerners, we sure do love our food. That said, my very best friend on earth is from Western Pennsylvania. And we talk about food. A lot. Frequently we end up telling each other about the foods we grew up with ("You've never had hot bacon dressing?" she'll say. "Oh my GOD!"). :)

Girl, dontcha know a Southern girl's way into Heaven is with a covered dish? LOL
I'm with you all the way here, lived all of my days in Texas, which equaled almost 37 years till we moved to PA 3 years ago, and it's just NOT the same! I love it here, but damn, get some real food people! Just kidding, no offense to the Yankees that have been so good to me here. :o)
I'd give just about anything for some real black eyed peas and greens, homemade peach cobbler, cornbread, gravy, and the list goes on and on forever.
Thanks for the great read, love your blog!

Having grown up in New England and now having lived in landlocked parts of the country for a while, I can say that I definitly miss fresh seafood and have been known to drive an hour for real honest-to-goodness ice-cream from a stand, which seems to be everywhere in Mass. but hard to find elsewhere. Also, my family regularly sends me whoopie pies in the mail.

Girl you crack me up!! I love to read your blog you are to funny. I am a fellow southerner who still lives here in the humid, dripping sweet, pecan pie laden south. I love my south, well some of the things I could do without. I understand being transplanted somwhere else. About 5 years ago we moved to Jacksonville, FL, you would think that being that close to Georgia and further south than Memphis the people would be southern, well NO!! These people didn't know what Rotel dip was, can you believe that, Rotel Dip?? A staple of all parties in the south. Bless their hearts they just don't know any better. Anyway we loved Jacksonville and would move back in a heartbeat but them bridges made me nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
You go girl, you keep writing and us all will keep reading.
Carol
www.stitchandprayer.com
www.stitchandprayer.blogspot.com

Hey Laurie!
I've been reading your blog for a little while now, but I didn't know you are from Looosiana. Me too! And I also live in the wonderful SFV (around same area as u) and agree that all good things are found there...except southern food! It's true, there are places out here in LA that have "reproductions" of the real thing, but it's just not the same at all. Not the same taste and certainly not the same friendly attitude that you'd get at a little place back home in southern louisiana. I miss the food so much! Although, I'm sad to think about going home next bc my trips home always included a trip to nearby New Orleans to eat...and now most of my favroite places are trying hard to recover and aren't open yet. Sniff! :(

My mom's family is of German heritage. She grew up on a small farm in Indiana. When my cousins and siblings and I get together, we fondly remember Grandpa's summer sausage, "blut-wurst" (blood sausage) brain sausage, fresh liver, sauted brains & sweetbreads, Grandma's sugar cookies, coffee cake, lebkuchen (I think there were pieces of pork fat in that, but don't quote me...)and home-made noodles.

And my dad's family is from Kentucky - let me just say "Green Beans." Of course, very COLD watermelon, fried chicken, fried okra, fried potatoes, fried fish...you get the picture. Cornbread and hoe cakes. Chicken and dumplings. And they're worth repeating..."Green Beans."

Best of all worlds! And don't diss sushi, it's my more adult food passion!

I am from Oklahoma, but lived in Idaho for awhile a few years ago. Wistful for southern food, I would try to talk about it with my coworkers. Most of them had NEVER HEARD OF fried okra, cobblers (of any variety), or biscuits and gravy. "White gravy? What's that?"
I actually learned to cook while I lived there, calling my grandma back home for advice, just so I could get some decent cornbread and cinnamon rolls!

I was raised in So Cal on fresh produce. We grew artichokes, avocados, corn, tomatoes, squash, you name it. We could grow anything. When I am away, that's what I miss. The last time I was in Europe, I was still amazed that they just don't have the produce. I can't stand to eat fried food, it tastes greasy and heavy. Fresh produce tastes so clean to me. I really don't mean to be dising Southern food. I know it's all just what you were brought up with. It may be because I have not had good Southern style food. Maybe one day I will get to try it.

I know you don't like sushi, but there's a sushi place up here that serves Tempura California Roll (California Roll battered and fried)... it's yummy. :)

Carol -- OMG, I love how you follow up the shame of not knowing Rotel Dip with "bless their hearts!" hahahahahahahaha

Ya'll I am supposed to be on a diet. Which is why I am obsessed with food right now. mashed potatoes mountainous gravy fried anything mmmmmmmm

The first thing 2 displaced Hawaiians do when they bump into each other is ask which high school they graduated from and when ("What yeah you grad, brah?") and THEN we proceed to talk about the plate lunches, the laulaus and huli-huli chicken.

Oh. My. Goodness. Don't *even* get me started!
I am from Chicago. My grandparents were from Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. While I would run over old people in the street for some Chicago style pizza (Giordano's, back in the day, was something to write home about), my stepdad's Sunday morning breakfasts were something to write home about: fried green tomatoes, thick patties of the spicy Jimmy Dean sausges, soft scrambled eggs that just melted into perfectly fluffly rice...oh, d@mn.
I could cry just thinking about it.
And my grandma's dressing. Good Lord, that woman cooked the h-e-double ell out of some dressing. You know the recipe's got to be good when it starts, "First get a duck..."

Ok, so do you have recipes?

Pamela, where were you in Europe? Albania?

In my experience, New Englander's who happen to meet one another do not talk much about food. Nobody here really eats baked beans. Its a myth. (We don't call Boston "Bean Town" either, only people in other cities call it that.)

So what do we talk about? Most definitely the Red Sox. And how they are wicked awesome, or how they wicked suck, depending on the day. They don't call it Red Sox NATION for nothing.

haha that's great, and being it sounds like I have been in the same line of work as you I understoof perfectly what you said, just be glad they used stylesheets LOL

Note Ludefisk, though it makes for a good joke, but definitely the lefse. And, yeah, the hotdish. But don't forget the Jello dishes. Amazing how Jello can be both a salad and a desert depending on the ingredients that you add.

And forgive my spelling as well. The toddlers demand attention.

It's always about food! My son, born and grew up in Wisconsin, now lives in southern Orange County and works in Irvine---Irving, one of those! For Christmas he wanted summer sausage, there is none in California. And cheese, lots of good cheese. I thought that strange, because CA is always bragging how they are a bigger dairy state than WI. Son says they might have dairy farms, but they don't know how to make good cheese! So that's what he got for Christmas, lots of good Wisconsin sausage and cheese. Now I'm working on how to send him bratwurst!

Oh come on, not a single Indian who reads this blog? I miss the amazing street food in India. Yeah it'll probably kill you but won't you die happy?

And all that orange and brown sauce you get here ain't the real deal at all...that's Indian restaurant food, not good home cooking. There are like 50 kinds of cuisine in India. Aw, I'm all nostalgic now, and nowhere in Minnesota can I get a decent samosa. Sob. I know CA has good Indian restaurants though.

Love ya, Laurie!

NOBODY reminsces about lutefisk!!! But, yes, definitely lefser! Ah, my Mormor's lefser! And kjøttboller (and I'm a veggie)!

Philly Mom and Toledo, OH dad. Boston brown bread right out of the CAN, toasted with cream cheese. Cream cheese and olive sandwiches. Scrapple. Chipped beef on toast. Tuna casserole. Boston cream pie. Tony Packo hotdogs.
Ohio-in-season corn on the cob, tomatoes and green beans. Blue fish.

I'm one mixed up gal foodwise. I love it all. Thanks, Mom and Daddy!

I hear ya sister! I still live in Atlanta so get all the yummy southern food when I want. My husband brought me home flowers and fried chicken last night. When my cousin who relocated to Pittsburgh comes down she craves okra of any cooking and fried green tomatoes. Then there is the Jiffy cornbread, Varsity hot dogs, real BBQ ribs, sweat tea, etc.

Geeze, now I'm hungry!

Laurie, if I could send it all to you, I would! With Texans, it's all about the food! However, y'all have a few things we don't: In & Out (which we eat immediately after hitting the ground at LAX), and Roscoe's! What I wouldn't do right now for chicken and waffles!!
Tail O' the Pup is the best hotdog I've ever had (much better than Pink's, IMHO), 'cause you know we don't have hotdog stands here in Texas. See? Southerners DO talk about food, even if it's not their own!

Glad you're back!

I forgot the green bean casserole with those fried onions from a can on top!

I live in DC - on the Lox/Chittlin's Line, as my husband calls it - and I miss the food from NC something fierce! Recently a Soul Food place opened up just 2 blocks away and we had to try it. Hot plates full of BBQ baked beans, fried chicken, melt-in-your-mouth collards, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes... so good! As we waited for our food, a lady entered behind us and as she saw the line-up, she started to moan, "yes. Yes. Yes! YES! YES!!!" Yes indeed, we witnessed a real honest-to-god "Soul Food 'Gasm". It was special. I can't wait to go back.

I love reading everyone's food memories!

I moved around quite a bit but spent most of my time in Wisconsin so for me it's cheese curds (squeeky fresh or fried), bratwurst, frozen custard, and "Wisconsin shrimp cocktail" which is chunks of string cheese dipped in that spicy tomato cocktail sauce. Yummy!

I grew up, Mexican-American in Southern Cal- on tamales, burritos, carnitas, and KING TACO! (hee hee- I know you love yourself some King Taco too!)

I then went to college and Div school in Boston. Dunkin' Donuts, lobster, Legal Sea foods. Despite the fact I couldn't find a decent tortilla anywhere, I came to love New England food.

Then I moved to the South to work on my PhD.
All I have to say is Fried Catfish. I love me some fried catfish. Shrimp n' Grits, some corn (pronounced "cone") and biscuits 'n gravy. Cobbler.... Carolina Bar-be-que and the best places to eat are those shacks near the highway, where someone's grandma is cooking the food and you eat on picnic tables outside.

Now I love the Mexican food of my own culture and childhood, but Southern food.... well Southern food just might tie it. Yup

Arabella,

I have never been to Albania, although that sounds interesting. The last time I was in Europe was 12 months ago. I was in Kobenhavn. I realize it was January, but it is a big city. I have also been to England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, and Greece. At different times of the year. And, in my experience, I have not found that those places have the abundance of fresh produce in the stores that we have in California. I have even found that a lot of states do not have the abundance of fresh produce that we enjoy in California. Any more questions?

Laurie - I do believe that all regions wax poetic about ther regional foods - it's just that Southerners do it better - defending their right to eat all the wonderful tasty foods that seem to be filled with extra fat. sugar, taste and most importantly - love. Got to run as I'm need to feed the hankerin' for some mac and real good cheese.

Well, I'm a California girl born of a southern daddy. I wouldn't dream of not having blackeye peas with salt pork on New Years. But the times I've been away from dear old CA for more than a few days I miss my stuff:

good mexican food
good dark, rich coffee (Peets)
good sushi (yes, I know)
fresh produce
tomatoes that are actually ripe
a salad that isn't iceberg lettuce
imported foods in the grocery
sourdough bread
artisan bread
imported cheeses
goat cheese, period
unsweetened iced tea made with actual tea (not powder)
Fish that is not overcooked
Vegetables that are not overcooked
Vegetables that are seasonal and not frozen
People who do not call me 'hon'

you can take the girl out of new york and plant her in san francisco but there is no way to convince her that the food out here is better. i miss new york pizza, new york chinese food and new york italian food. they just don't make it like that out here.

3.5 hours to LOST!!!!!

KnitKittyKnit, I had a hot dog in New York that was so good, I almost swooned. At Katz's, I think?
Was this a one-off? All this food-swapping...time to eat!

Don't even get me started on Fried Green Tomatoes..Mmmmmmm. But, even though I'm from Georgia (and live there now)I lived in Wisconsin for two years and miss the hell out of cheese curds..(mouth watering!!).

I grew up in New England--what I wouldn't give for a whoopie pie or p.b. & fluff here in New Mexico. Then I spent 15 years in NY. I haven't had a decent slice since I left (ok, Luna's in CT rocks), and I haven't gone out for any other Italian since I've been here. No way they can do it better than I can.

When I was living with my Dad (a Miss expat) I did most of the cooking. Every now & then he would ask me real sweet for a "southern meal. I'll clean up." Fried chicken, and all the fixin's and he was a happy man.

Oo! I just felt my arteries click.

We Singaporeans also talk about food just at about every turn! LOL

The only food I really wax poetic about is Mexican. Gringo Mexican, Tex Mex, New Mex Mex, AZ Mex, I want it ALL.

I'm a proud Minnesotan and for me, the food of my childhood, the food I can't get enough of is Port Wine Cheese Spread. It isn't a holiday in Minnesota until someone breaks out the Port Wine Cheese Spread. Oh Yah, hotdishes are good too, and pigs in a blanket made with a hotdog, a strip of processed cheese, and a croissant from a tube wrapped around it. It really doesn't get any better than that, doncha know!

I'm a firefighter from Ohio, and if there's one regional dish for us its' cheesy potatoes. Required at every firefighter potluck, period. More than likely there will be three or four diffrent dishes of it. And yes, also a requirement at funerals.

We can still get "classic" Faygo flavors here in glass bottles. Mmmm.... Black Raspberry....

Oh, girls and boys, I love me a moon pie and a RC cola. And first thing on New Year's Day, I hope y'all have black-eyed peas cooked up with a little hammy-hocky or salt pork. Reminds you of humility, and sets you planning for prosperity in the coming year. It's good luck. I grew up in California, but my mother taught me these traditions. Then I moved to TX, and NC, and other southern places my ancestors came from. . . and just like my mom and me, my little boys would not think of eating a THING on New Year's Day before their black-eyed peas. That's right, for breakfast. And then they're comfy all day up here in cold CT.

So glad to have you back Laurie. Being from New Orleans, I have to say that good southern cooking is hard to find anywhere else but here. You know it's good when the re-opening of restaurants here make the news. Can't even begin to tell how many tears I've shed the past few months thinking of all the restaurants that have been closed. But they are rebuilding and re-opening. Red beans(Camillia brand is back in operation) and rice with smoked sausage is such a big thing here. Always on a Monday! With a fried Hubig pie for dessert.And an ice cold Barq's root beer. Hubig's made the front page last week with the announcement that they would be in stores. I promptly went out and bought a dozen.....Central Grocery in the Quarter for Muffulatta's, and cannoli's from Brocato's. Lived here all my life except for 2 years in Arkansas. Had my Mom ship Camillia red beans from La. to Ark. every 6 months. Oh, almost forgot, King cakes are plentiful right now. Mardi Gras is the end of February. Don't forget the Popeye's chicken..

Sweet tea. Fried okra. Gumbo (about the only other use for okra). Everyone has a tomato plant in their back yard. The various incarnations of barbecue, and which is best. Fried chicken with honey. Potato salad with mustard. Hush puppies. Biscuits and corn bread.

Dammit, now I'm hungry for some Pierce's Pitt BBQ (www.pierces.com). Do I eat pork any other time? No. Does that matter when it comes to Pierce's? No.

And oh yeah, the importance of having cole slaw on your BBQ sandwich. Must not forget about that.

With your love of food, you should fit right in on your trip to France. You may not want to mention the hushpuppies, but otherwise...

Definitely. Even Southern Californians (or Texans) get crazy in New England (or the "REAL" South, for that matter), wondering where you can get good Mexican food.
Smart ploy to soften up the difficult woman!

It's a bit like that up here in the Maritimes (VERY much like that in Newfoundland). We LOVE our salted meats - corned beef, salt cod...

It seems like I can be anywhere on the phone with a customer service rep at a call centre, and they always seem to be from my region. (Atlantic Canada is the mecca for call centres since the resource industries started failing).

Actually, if you are anywhere in the Atlantic Can province, I don't think that it is that different than the south in many ways (people are just people). However, it is much, much colder and the accents are different.

I'm a Yankee, lived in North Carolina and Texas and married a Texan. If I could make a living in North Carolina...I'd be back in an instant...if for nothing more than Country Ham and the biscuits!

Expat NYers kvetch about pizza and bagels. We're hopeful when we spot a "New York Bagels" sign but we're always disappointed.

And don't get us started on pastrami.

I grew up in Detroit, MI. And JoVE is right, it ain't a proper funeral without food.

We had a neighbor from Mississippi, so I learned about proper hush puppies. My grandfather grew up on the Indiana-Kentucky border, so I learned about red-eye gravy. When I got my second part-time job in a hospital kitchen, 2 of the cooks were from Alabama, so I learned about grits, succotash, and fried chicken.

I was really lucky to learn about Southern cuisine from good people, to the point where I won't eat it if the cook ain't Southern.

That is one damn fine story.

On Christmas Eve, my business partner and I were in a little gift store that sells some of our felted handbags and this man walks in with his sister. She's shopping. He's looking bored. I say hello and get the sweetest hello back--in MY language (meaning, I'm from Charlotte, NC and he's from Tennessee, so we're talking southern). We talked about barbecue for at least half an hour--you know, tomato based versus mustard based and where on the eastern seaboard one can find great barbecue and where one can't (like Pennsylvania). Turned out that he is one of those guys that travels from festival to festival doing barbecue cook-offs, so we talked about that some too. I love running into one of my people!

Pasties are like empanadas: good pastry wrapped around a meat filling. Good stuff. Albie's aren't bad, if you have them at your store.

Seriously, though, I make the best tuna noodle casserole. I make my own mushroom base (can't do dairy). Even Hubby, who didn't like it when we got married, can't eat enough.

Ahem. To the Bostonian who claimed Bostonians didn't eat baked beans: We did. Every single Saturday night of my childhood. Beans and brown bread and hot dogs.

I am a CA native but my parents are from GA and VA. Oh, and my stepmother is originally from LA. Therefore, most food discussions centered around Southern cooking.

mmmm pasty. --> true Michigander here. and i grew up in the middle of the east side of Detroit, so seeing fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread was nothing out of the ordinary.

and im 1/2 italian, so cut me and i bleed red sauce. and my aunt Vita Josaphine (italian much?) makes the BEST cannoli you will ever taste.

then there is my Syrian side, so tabbouli and hummus, kibbi, fatoosh, and all those crazy names are delish! then thank the lord i am still close to Dearborn, aka mini middle east, so i can still get some decent pita bread and tawook. mmmmm i think im going to order some sharwarma for lunch now!

Holly, do you go to that great place in Dearborn, La Shish? Best food ever. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Yes, as someone said earlier, deep-fried sushi does exist. I ate it once up in Oregon.

It's really strange because you expect the sushi to be cold . . . and it isn't.

I loooove sushi, but I refuse to eat raw fish. It's just - icky. My favorite sushi restaurant is in Southern California. It's in Garfield or Alhambra (I'm horrible with directions).

I just found your site. Too cute. Just had to comment because I'm from Louisiana too.

OMG, y'all, I'm dying of hunger over here after reading all this. I feel compelled to stand up for Florida cuisine (although - I'm from Northwest Florida, which is basically Alabama). Grill me some amberjack or grouper with some hush puppies & ore ida crinkle cuts, follow it up with key lime pie, and I'm in HEAVEN.

I now live in Philadelphia - and would y'all believe there's actually a decent barbecue joint up here? It's no Kinfolks (in Ft. Walton Beach, FL) or Sprayberry's (in Newnan, GA), but damn, it does the trick in a pinch. www.tommygunns.net. And - they even deep-fry macaroni & cheese!

I'm a Native New Yorker in So. Cal and in the 5 months I've been here its been difficult to find a decent slice of thin crust pizza. Who knew it would be so difficult? I ran into a guy at Starbucks my first week here who graduated from my high school just after me, and we immediately went into food reminicing. Dunkin Donuts are big in NY too, pizza,and real Italian bread. Also the Chinese food here is different from that in NY somehow although it really doesn't make sense to me. I miss my pizza.

I am a native of Atlanta and still live here. Do other southerners get in debates with northerners about what "barbecue" is? My ex-husband (he was from NY, bless his heart) insisted if you cooked something on a grill it was barbecue. I told him barbecue is slow cooked meat with barbecue sauce. If you cook something outside you've merely grilled out, not barbecued. My grandpa used to make the best vinegar based sauce and the best homemade ice cream on earth. We also used to eat watermelon out in the yard (so we could spit out the seeds y'all) with salt on it and then make "false teeth" out of the watermelon rind. Anyone else?

Oh my god..you've never had hot bacon dressing???? (western pennsylvanian here obviously) that stuff is so good that I told my girl friend to take it on her honeymoon to use it as a marital aid.....

I was raised in the farmlands of Iowa and my mother was and is not domestic at all. Can't cook a lick, but I can. I have always felt that there was 'suthern in me because I have lived by the motto if you cook it they will come. It worked for all my boys and their friends. Every Friday morning before school for years I would cook hash brown potato casserole, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, sausage, cheese grits, bacon, overnight french bread with fruit smoothies and orange juice. Some mornings I would have 18 boys for breakfast and never had less than 10. They would sit and eat and talk and pat their stomachs. It even got a two page layout in the yearbook. I learned to cook grits in Garden City, SC from a salty sea captain with pale blue eyes and an infectious smile. I could hardly understand him sometimes but I learned alot of great souther cooking from him. Love the South!!!

this is one of my favoritest ever posts about you!!

my my, what a cancer you are: the kindness, the love of food, home and family... and sweet holy jeebus... the way you translate memory to story!

how lovely and vivid and inspiring.

xo,
your fellow crablet,
riseyp

p.s.

we kind of have the same job!!

When I moved from Virginia to Hawaii I was so homesick for a Southern accent I'd turn on reruns of the Waltons to hear their fake "y'alls", which was better than nothing. And then one day, I had to call the phone company about a problem with my bill, and dontcha know, the gal on the phone was Southern? We had a wonderful chat about how we were sick of "pidgin" and missed the South and hearing southern accents, etc. Alas, we didn't get so far as to discuss food, but I don't have the same fond childhood food memories as you do, being as both my parents came from the midwest -- the geographical food equivalent to England, (read: blahhhh).

My aunt moved to Ohio. So they don't have all the good stuff we have in Tennessee. So everytime her and her hubby come for a vacation, we have to have all the great southern meals they can't get. Pinto beans, cornbread, fried okra. And anything else we can throw in a pot and fry.
:)

I know I am a day late and a dollar short to comment, but I want you to know I'm going to go make mac & cheese now. Having relocated to upstate NY from SC a mere 2 weeks ago, I'm hurting!!

There is a little joint in Montrose called Blue Fish that has several deep fried sushi concoctions. I highly reccommend it. Ask for Johnny, the head sushi chef and he'll give you lots of free food and even make you a rose out of aluminum foil. It's my new favorite Friday night hang out! You should check it out. I'll be the redhead sitting at the bar with the giant Kirin Ichiban in front of me (I never liked sake).

Don't let the Minnesotans here fool you - except Karen, she speaks the truth. We love our hot dishes, yes, that's a regional specialty, and lefse, and cheese curds, and whatever gawdawful thing we ate as kids, but it's NOT THE SAME as the way the Southerners love their regional foods.

We save that sort of intensity for our obsessive love/hate relationship with the weather. Temperature, humidity level, snowfall - we've got decades and decades of it stored up in our heads. Real Minnesotans will remember snowstorms that occurred while they were still in the womb. I, personally, recall in micro-detail several weather occurances that were experienced by my grandmother in her youth.

There is nothing more obnoxious than a Minnesotan in a weather pissing contest. You can't win. Our weather is *always* colder, hotter, more humid, more dry, more miserable than yours.

You can keep your Corn Bread and your Pecan Pie. *I* ran out of candy during the Great Halloween Blizzard of '91...

The places I've lived and the food I identify with them:

1) Minnesota -- I'm with ya' on the lefse. Spread with butter & several shakes of cinnamon & sugar but deep fried cheese curds? No way! Cuz they're from...

2) Wisconsin -- (see aforementioned cheese curds). Bratwurst, Frank's sauerkraut, and BRAT BUNS, PEOPLE!!! Not some floppy wonderbread roll that turns to goo when merely set upon the same table as a jar of horseradish mustard.

3) England -- Oh Shelley, I hear you sister. I pine for Safeway's granary loaf. Get yourself a breadmaker. 5 minutes measuring, 3 hours waiting, and you can have a HFCS*-free proper savory loaf of bread (bearing in mind that some sugar is actually necessary to feed the yeast but I'll spare you the biology lesson)

*High Fructose Corn Syrup

4) New England -- I have yet to witness anyone here eat beans ('cept when they take out of town friends to Durgin Park) and I've lived here for 15 years. New Englanders eat Italian food. OK, and maybe those fried clams a few other people talk about in other posts. I know a group of New Englanders who travelled to Texas -- and ate Italian food. They travelled to Hawaii -- and ate Italian food. They travelled to Louisville -- you guessed it.

Dunkin Donuts coffee rules. In fact, the funniest thing about the expansion of Krispy Kreme into Massachusetts was the opinion expressed by everyone who tried it: Coffee isn't very good. (Yeah, but what about the Doughnuts?)

I'm a misplaced Louisiana girl living in SW Washington (for 6 months now!) and I swear every conversation I have with my family back home revolves around food. "Your daddy made potato soup with his cornbread." "Ice tea too?" (I'm addicted to Ice tea - I am in a continual search for good restraunt Ice tea outside the south - I knew I was doomed once when upon asking for ice tea the waitress looked back at me and said "Hi-C?" - I just said "nevermind, I'll have a coke" (which spawns the whole issue with me calling every soft drink coke and expecting the waitress to respond "what kind?" like the ones back home - oh gracious South where art thou?))

ANYHOW. "We had 10lbs. crawfish last night and another 10 of crab" "Really? Can you ship crawfish?" "Why don't you just come visit?" "Because I want more than I can eat in one visit." And then the times I tackle a good southern recipe with non-traditional ingredients (have you noticed that most supermarkets only carry the little tiny bags of white cornmeal - which my daddy insists on for cornbread) like at Christmas when I made my Nanny's cornbread dressing instead of traditional stuffing. Momma called, "How did it come out?" "Ok, It wasn't like home". Ain't it funny how you can be homesick for food?