text:
Regional "food quirks"
I am sure that in nearly every area of the country there are things people do with food that perhaps aren't seen or done in other areas of the country.
While growing up in eastern North Carolina and working on my grandparents tobacco farm, one of the things I got accustomed to during work breaks that has carried over into my adult life, was to pour a package of salted peanuts into my coke. Today I still find it both a good treat and a comforting memory of "the good old days". Anyone have any others to share?
I'm not sure if it's just a Philadelphia thing or an East Coast thing, but some of us here put ketchup on scrambled eggs.
re: Ray
In that same "ketchup weirdness" category, I like ketchup on my fried rice (to my mother's horror).
I also like ranch dressing on my pizza (a California thing) and mayo on my french fries (something I picked up from a South Carolinian, although I hear the French and Canadians do the same).
re: nooodles
re: nooodles
re: Christine
Me either. Pizza?
Though, the original Ranch Dressing is a California product (Hidden Valley Guest Ranch near Santa Barbara) (thought that guy at Hidden Valley actually first made it in Alaska).
Anyway, I think Ranch Dressing can be considered a California thing (that has since travelled). And, they put it on darn near anything. Especially buffalo wings. But, I have not heard of putting it on pizza until now.
re: nooodles
re: MidtownCoog
Good to know y'all are doing pizza right in TX! I thought ranch+pizza was a universally loved combo until I was eating pizza with some East Coasters and they looked at me like I had a monkey up my butt.
Maybe they just don't know what's going on over on that side of the continent.
re: nooodles
re: Keely
re: maria lorraine
re: maria lorraine
re: maria lorraine
re: maria lorraine
re: maria lorraine
re: maria lorraine
re: aynrandgirl
We have Round Table up here in Washington, but I haven't ever seen them use ranch dressing as a sauce on pizza here. The Sam's Club here makes a "Buffalo Chicken" pizza as a take-and-bake. I tried a sample, and that pretty much put me off the idea of ranch dressing as a pizza sauce forever.
re: maria lorraine
re: nooodles
re: DB
re: starlady
re: starlady
re: chef chicklet
All you need to make yourself a poutine (which won't be exactly like the ones in Quebec but close enough to get the general idea) is: French fries, brown gravy poured generously over top and (this might be harder to find) white cheddar cheese curds (no mozza is not authentic "poutine" cheese).
There are regional variations of "poutine" and imho it's just not made right at New York Fries or McDonalds...best place for poutine is in Quebec...ask just about any Quebecer and they'll have their fave place for poutine that they're fanatically loyal to.
Oh, and one tip: If you're ever in say Montreal and order a poutine please make sure you don't pronounce it "Pooh-tain" that is a french slang for a "working girl." The easiest (safest) english pronunciation is "Pooh-tin" :-)
re: starlady
re: starlady
re: starlady
re: nooodles
re: Candy
re: Candy
re: Candy
Vinegar on fries is actually a British thing; my mom and dad (both basically English, though born in Canada) thought ketchup on fries was an abomination. Vinegar (and preferably malt vinegar) with lots of salt was the only way to go. I have to admit, nowadays, I go either way; some times the vinegar, some times the ketchup. Haven't tried the mayo yet, but it sounds interesting.
And of course poutine is the definitive French-Canadian dish.
re: nooodles
re: petradish
Fry sauce is fabulous, and all fries in Utah come with it, which is strange, because the moment you leave Utah, you must learn to make your own! (ketchup and mayo. really not that hard) but everyone will look at you funny when you do.
I lived in Utah for one year in high school, and still sometimes think that I wouldn't mind being offered frie sauce with my fries!
re: nooodles
re: msmissislippi
I love thousand island (preferably homemade, not bottled) and pizza! My sister and I eat it. We had a babysitter in Virginia when we were little who got us started on it. People always look at us like we are crazy, and then they are eating it with us by the end. We are in Cali now and I hate Ranch on pizza. But, Im not really that big of a ranch fan in the first place...
re: nooodles
re: nooodles
re: nooodles
jfood, I'm a Nutmegger who transplanted to the Midwest 8 years ago, and I've never seen a sloppy joe here. The natives prefer what they call a Maid-Rite, or a loose-meat sandwich, which is essentially a sloppy joe sans sauce. They're actually pretty vehement and regionalist about how their sandwich is NOT a sloppy joe, as if they would never deign to sauce their beef.
re: nooodles
In the college town in Texas where I live, tortilla chips and salsa are served at practically every restaurant - but some people (namely, the college set) like to eat tortilla chips with ranch dressing, hence the nickname "sorority sauce" for ranch. And we have ranch on pizza here, too.
re: nooodles
re: Ray
re: Gary Soup
re: Gary Soup
re: Matt
re: mrsbuffer
re: janethepain
Jane, my dear, get yourself to a specialty food store, and buy some "HP" (House of Parliament) Sauce. You will never go back to eggs with ketchup again.
And Matt: no mustard on a hamburger?! You need to cut the usual greasiness of the meat and the blandness of the bun with the sharpness of the mustard. That's what makes the real balance between a classic and another work-a-day meal.
re: Ray
re: Ray
re: Zoe
Each to his own taste.
A UK opinion:-
I often have tomato ketchup with a fried egg and don't consider this 'quirky', nor does my wife who wouldn't use tomato sauce but rather one of the UK 'brown' sauces.
I dislike malt vinegar on most things, especially chips (fries), Her Majesty feels that chips are not the same without it.
I read with horror the amount of pepper sauces that Southern USA seem to need to lash on perfectly good (I presume) food.
The US fascination with 'dogs' and 'burgers' and how they should be served amuses me (but I have to admit that UK is perhaps catching up in the case if the latter.
I could go on, but I'll get my coat.
re: Bob Moffatt
re: Bob Moffatt
re: shoo-bee-doo
the most common brown sauce is HP brand (house of parlament) similar to A1 steak sauce. should be able to get in in a English import shop, if not at your regular grocery store near the ketchup. I drown my eggs in HP, also great on Cheese on toast.
Also.. as to the ranch on pizza ....eeewwwww :( yuck..... but i have tried golden honey on pizza and it's pretty fabulous!
re: Bob Moffatt
re: Bob Moffatt
re: Bob Moffatt
the strangest food I encountered in the UK was, (besides the scary tablets that dissolve the mushy peas) was beans at breakfast. And once found my visiting English friends clustered around a packet of "English Muffins" at my local grocery in Oklahoma poking at them with a finger wondering what on earth they were supposed to be.
re: ajs228
When I was in college in the UK, I used to come home for summers, and British friends from college used to come visit me in Canada. One summer, and English friend came to visit, and we got to talking about English muffins, and I told her that in England, they were just called muffins. She denied that such a thing existed, and was actually quite rude about it. When I went back at the start of the next term, I arrived at my house to a package of English muffins - the label read 'Muffins'. And on top was a note with an apology!
So, in England, English muffins are just called muffins, even if English people don't realize it.
re: Betty
re: hrhboo
re: hrhboo
re: Bat Guano
Is kedgeree more than cooked rice, flaked cooked salmon, butter, hard boiled eggs and peas? It just sounds so boring. What am I missing? What makes it divine? I always just assumed the reason it was popular with upper class Brits was that they all seem to love the nursery food their nannies fed them in early childhood. But, I'd love to try making some kedgeree f you'd like to post your recipe on the hoome cooking board here. On this board you could list the ingredients if that would be easier as I'm guessing exact amounts are not critical.
re: Bob Moffatt
Yes, staying at a St. Andrew's B&B a few years back, I was introduced to UK "brown sauces" (in Canada, we only had HP; who knew?). Still prefer that to ketchup with any type of egg.
No malt vinegar on chips? You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I consider this one of life's greatest pleasures (mostly because so few places in Canada offer it as option).
And for hot sauces? There's a lot of medical literature that shows that hot sauces stimulate the brain's pleasure centres. Although I admit, I usually only put it on fried chicken. And for an even guiltier admission, I sometimes put honey and hot sauce on my fried chicken (only Popeye's - Church's seemed to have disappeared from Canada, even though I thought they were better in every way - never KFC.)
Hope you got that coat - it's minus 20-C in Toronto today.
re: Ray
That is not wierd or regional at all.
But growing up I often had ketchup omelettes (ketchup cooked into the omelette, like a stuffing - then some of the ketchup would ooze out into the pan, ...mmmm burnt ketchup) and jelly omelettes, and of course salami n' eggs. I guess we didn't call it a salami omelette because the salami was fried in the pan first and then the egg was poured all over it.
re: Steve S.
re: Ken
I've lived in NYC all my life, and I feel like I've never seen a cream cheese omelet on a menu. Goat cheese or feta is normal, but cream cheese??
I was so grossed out by seeing someone put ketchup on their eggs, but now I love it. In fact, I probably eat eggs mainly for the ketchup.
re: janethepain
In Ocean City MD there is a restaurant calloed Generals Kitchen, that Makes Creamed Chipped Beef Omelettes - CCB in the middle as a filling with a little more on the top when it is served.
Also in reply to others putting Ranch dressing on Pizza, I had a friend when I was growing up that put mustard on his pizza crusts and said he felt like he was eating a soft pretzel - i gotta say I thought so too.....
re: Ray
2 north/central NJ items come to mind.
italian hot dog - served on a roll that is more like pita with french fries and sauteed peppers and onions
sloppy (or smokey joe) - both are 3 layer cold sandwiches
- sloppy has one layer of turkey & russian dressing, 1 layer of swiss, 1 layer of rare roast beef with cole slaw.
- smoky has 1 layer of lox, 1 layer of whitefish, 1 layer of cream cheese.
re: pebbles
re: flavrmeistr
Curried pickled herring! To die for. and it doesn't take long to marinate either. I often make some before I go to work and then pop it in the fridge there - in tupperware. Tke bread and some onion in a sandwich bag. Toast the bread put on the curried pickled herring nad onions. YUM. Course you have to have a very forgiving workplace (which I do) and no meetings in the afternoon - don't breathe on anyone :)
re: pebbles
re: HungryRubia
the hot dog discribed above is really a Newark regional dog and called an italian dog. it really is completely regional to the Newark/belleville area. The bun is more like the kind of bread you get with a donar kabab, 2 fried and very skinny hotdogs layed down at the bottom, topped with fried potatoes, topped with ketchup, topped with fried onions and peppers. Best spot to get it is at a greasy joint called "dickie dees" in Newark.
re: sixelagogo
there have been several threads about the italian dog and the real sloppy joe recently. coming from elizabeth jfood might argue with you on dickies as the "best" but heh newark and elizabeth have alway had a little competition. likewise the threads on sloppy joes get very chest pumping amongst the people from elizabeth, union, south orange and millburn. then the southern tier chimes in as well.
most important is that our region has given two GREAT additions to American cuisine. Drat the miswesterners to take our perfectly named, beautiful sandwich and turn it into something that even college students frown upon when presented in the cafeteria. blech.
re: jfood
Interesting article in the New Yorker mag. a week or so ago about Turkish hot dogs as served in Istanbul, where they are served from sidewalk stands and thought of as exotic foreign forbidden fruit, because the meat used is suspected of not being hallal or Islamic kosher, so Turkish moms are constantly living in fear that the kids might be gastronomically sullying themselves on the sly. Probably the forbidden aspect adds to the overall mystique, because from the description they do not sound all that attractive, if a hot dog can be thought of as being attractive under the best of circumstances...but, what a turkish hot dog is, is a skinny sausage rendered leathery on a grill and then sent to purgatory to soak for long periods of time in a vat of sweetish tomato sauce (ketchup?) until they are uplaoded to a bun and graced with the kind of fixin'ns we'd associate with a Chicago hot dog - mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles - probably to disguise the questionable character of the actual sausage meat, of which the Turkish mothers are probably rightly suspicious.
re: niki rothman
re: therealbigtasty
I just came back from a week in Turkey, and remember their 'hamburgers' looking like the saddest, most unappetizing looking things. The image of a bunch of them sitting on a tray under a light, grayish meat and helplessly wrinkled and otherwise mangled-looking buns, has been burned into my mind. Needless to say, we never tried them.
re: pebbles
My SO is from NJ and one of the first times I went to visit him and meet his family, I was told they were serving "sloppy joes". Not my favorite meal and, duh, very messy to eat when trying to impress your SO's parents! But I was presented with a wedge cut from a family-sized round, cold sandwich and was relieved that this was what they called a sloppy joe. From the Jewish deli, apparently and described well by pebbles, above.
re: Ray
re: Spoony Bard
re: Spoony Bard
re: Spoony Bard
re: Spoony Bard
re: sfbecky
It's a great hot sauce, maybe the best commercially available. I don't like Tabasco - too vinegary. But, have you tried Trader Joe's red jalapeno sauce. It's really delicious - not quite as sweet as Sriracha, which I would actually like to be a touch LESS sweet. But, I could always just dilute the bottle with some water. One nice thing about Sriracha that no other hot sauce I know of has is that it has a garlicky undertone - but I was VERY surprised to hear it's so very popular now.
re: niki rothman
O yes. Even here in the Middle of Nowhere, Iowa. I need another bottle because mine's almost empty.
here lately I'm trying to be healthier, and I've been drinking some V8 juice every day--the low sodium kind, which to my salt-addled taste buds seems insufferably bland. So I put a little Sriracha in it, which makes it all better.
re: revsharkie
you're just adding the sodium back in.
1200 sodium mg in 100 grams of sriracha; some portion added to 140 sodium mg in 8 oz. of low sodium v-8
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/equivale... (re: sriracha)
http://www.foodprocessing.com/industr... (re: v-8 formulations)
re: revsharkie
growing up in south florida, i added the cornbread dressing on the turkey sandwich with mayo, along with a slice of the jellied cranberry sauce. mustard didn't even occur to me. (not big mustard eaters growing up -- mom didn't like, and dad was into meat and potatoes).
mayo went on lots of stuff, including (and i know what you will say), hot dogs!
re: Ray
re: Ray
re: niki rothman
re: niki rothman
*raising hand* I don't put ketchup on my scrambled eggs, or any eggs, for that matter. I like the eggs just plain (don't even much care for omelets).
On the other hand, I do put ketchup on hot dogs, grilled sausages, and turkey sandwiches. Not really regionalisms, though, just quirks of me.
re: lollya
re: chef chicklet
re: chef chicklet
re: chef chicklet
Oh yeah baby. ketchup on scrambled eggs. The looks jfood recieves from many is silly. Most times jfood shies away from that when traveling with colleague, not a good way to start the day with those "looks". Best way to hide it is to arder on a roll and then place the ketchup on the egg sandwich. noone seems to get offended by this method.
re: Ray
Leaving aside for the moment strictly ethnic home-cooking specialities, New York City has at leats two dishes that, as far as I know, have been ours alone.
One is chow mein on a bun, most prominently at Nathan's, the Coney Island hot-dog emporium: classic Chinese-American vegetables topped with fried noodles on a soft burger bun, preferably washed down with Nathans' pineapple drink. A somewhat more assimilated cousin of a dish, still a fixture at delis, is roast (Chinese) pork and plum sauce on garlic bread.
re: bob oppedisano
As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"
Chow mein sandwiches, exactly as you have described them, have been eaten in Rhode Island for decades, apparently since the Depression. We used to get them at a place called Chin's in Pawtucket back when I was in junior high school around 1974. Price: $0.15
re: bob oppedisano
re: lucia
re: Striver
"What I remember about Rockaway was a place on the Boardwalk that served chow mein not on a bun, but in an edible cup made of chow mein noodles. I think they called it a "tiki cup" or something like that. This would be in the late 50's."
My husband grew up in NYC but I got here after graduating high school, when my family moved from western PA. He used to tell me about this and I thought he was making it up! Now I'll have to go home and apologize for doubting him.
re: Deenso
My husband grew up in Bayside, Queens, and he said there was a truck that used to go around and sell "chow chow cups," which is what they called the chow mein in noodle bowl. I remember, growing up on LI, there were a number of "truck" options, including the guy who came (Thursdays?) and sold pizza from his truck. And, of course,there was the Dugan's cakes guy, Bungalow Bar (now that was an intereting looking vehicle!), and all the other usual suspects. Memories.
re: Deborah
Wow!!! and a hearty Southern California O-M-G to that. I went to high school in Bayside and grew up in Little Neck. I hadn't thought of Bungalow Bar in so long I don't even want to say. But I quickly drew on a picture memory of the truck. Certainly was something unique and unforgettable.
re: Deborah
The name "Bungalow Bar" sounds vaguely familiar but I don't remember a truck so I googled and here are a couple of pictures of it (I still don't remember it after seeing it, I guess they weren't in my neck of the woods on Long Island.)
Another picture of the truck (middle of the page)
re: James
re: James
In 1962-63 Bungalo Bar trucks came around my wife's neighborhood in Brooklyn at dinner time so they had their ice cream later when good humor came. They sang this refrain when the Bungallo Bar man drove by,"Bungalllo Bar tastes like tar, the more you eat it the sicker you are."
On an episode of the Sopranos when Tony is being queried by non-mob Italians as to whether he ever met John Gotti, He says,"At the auction for the last Bungallo Bar truck, John outbid me, but he let me ring the bells all the way home.
there you go
re: Deborah
Growing up in Queens we had both Bungalow Bar and Good Humor trucks crusing the streets all summer long. I vaguely remember Good Humor as being more of a company operation (conservative) and Bungalow Bar as being more edgy withyounger operators, better able to relate to us kids.
My favorite treat was the Good Humor vanilla sundae, a small cup of vanilla ice cream topped with a layer of choclate fudge, You'd let it melt a little and then mix in the fudge. I can taste it now.
re: Deenso
re: lucia
re: bob oppedisano
re: bob oppedisano
re: bob oppedisano
re: bob oppedisano
The biggest thing that stands out as a generalization is the use of malt vinegar on fries on the east coast. When I first moved there from the midwest I was appalled (I knew ketchup of course and loved mayo with them - never saw vinegar). Now I love them with vinegar, especially the thick kind fried in peanut oil.
A local fav from my hometown is the stretch:
hash browns topped with eggs topped with chili topped with cheese, onion and green pepper topped with tobasco.
When I make it at home I make my eggs overeasy and use jalapenos (veined and seeded) rather than greens.
In St. Louis, where I grew up, we had toasted ravioli. Now it seems that they serve it at the Olive Garden. (Sheesh, my second post involving the Olive Garden today. What has become of me?)
People also use a ton of Provelle cheese. It is the cheese on St. Louis style pizza (Provelle Cheese, round, thin crispy crust, sliced into squares). I have no idea what it really is. I just remember one of my friends was ranting about people in St. Louis and their "Un-natural obsession with Provelle cheese." The woman at the table next to us started laughing and my friend (out of character for him) turned and yelled "What?!" at her. She just replied "No. You're right. They do!"
re: ChefElias
re: maria lorraine
re: PhoebeB
Growing up in Vermont, sharp Vermont cheddar was the only accompaniment to my mom's incredible apple pie.
Also...in late February through April.....sugar on snow is a great Vermont treat! Brand new maple syrup boiled to soft ball stage served in communal pitchers...each person gets a big bowl of snow and a fork. Pour the syrup over the snow in patterns...pick it up and twirl it onto the fork. Traditionally served with plain, homemade cake doughnuts and sour dill pickles. The pickles are a Vermont version of a palate cleanser of sorts.....a thrifty Yankee way to be able to "eat more for your money".
In Pittsburgh, it's a tendency to put french fries on sandwiches or salads. I'm still trying to get used to it.
re: klumppilston
re: klumppilston
re: klumppilston
re: klumppilston
re: mhiggins
And we also have French Fried Potato Po' Boys.
French Fries (in the old days it was handcut real potatoes - oh, what I would give for one of those now!) on French bread smothered in roast beef gravy. Dressed. Which includes mayonaisse, lettuce, tomatoes which go on top part of the bread.
re: mhiggins
This has changed, but as a Californian, I used to get very odd stares from friends in the East when I would ask for a side of 1000 island dressing for my hamburger. (late 1970s)
RFL, you made me smile. I grew up near Raleigh, and although I've been living in New York for ten years now, given a packet of peanuts and a bottle of cola (they let y'all have Coke? We were a strictly Pepsi household, as at the time you got more fizzy water for the same money) I do the very same thing.
To the eternal amusement of my wife and co-workers.
- er
I went to a pub last week that had a peanut butter burger on the menu. I took the bait and I was delightfully surprised at how good it was. Classic burger with lettuce, toms and onion with a scoop of crunchy peanut butter. This is a quirk I could live with in Boston.
Where can a person find a "grinder" on the West Coast? It's a sandwich. Is that only on the East Coast?
re: gp
We call them submarines...or just subs. Some places in the midwest call them hoagies...some places call them torpedos...some call them italian sandwiches...it's truly a regional thing but it's all the same sandwich. I know this because A) I live on the west coast and B) I just watched 'The Secret Life of Sandwiches' on the food network. *lol*
re: gp
re: Gene
re: Gene
re: flavrmeistr
re: hypertomatoes
re: misohungrychewlow
re: misohungrychewlow
re: shellyesq
I grew up in Westchester County, NY and I have never heard those sandwiches called wedges anywhere else! My friends at college thought I was crazy to call it that. Maybe Fairfield County, CT has some of the Westchester influence...but my friend who lived closer to Hartford always called them grinders.
re: Solstice444
A separate thread evolved on this subject -- the research showed that the term probably was coined in Yonkers or thereabouts and is widely used as far north as ... several train stops in CT. It's standard usage in Stamford but disappears somewhere around Norwalk; it's apparently unknown in Bridgeport, maybe even in Fairfield.
re: flavrmeistr
I'm originally from Atlanta, GA, but I moved to Connecticut twelve years ago. Imagine my confusion...
In Georgia: In Connecticut:
Subs Grinder
Yard Sale Tag Sale
Diet Coke Sorry, we don't have Coke, only Pepsi
Shopping Cart Carriage
Grits What are grits?
Sweet Tea Iced Tea (unsweetened)
re: gp
When I was growing up in Vermont, all sub type sandwiches were called Grinders. For a long time, I didn't realize they even had other names! Now there are so many "flatlanders" living here (a term for anyone who doesn't hail from Vermont) that the term "sub" is just as popular, if not more so, than "grinder".
When I worked at a small country store that also sold sandwiches, the most often requested order was an Italian Grinder with Oil.
My first thanksgiving at my IL's in Northern MD consisted of all the regulars but also sauerkraut. Bizarre! Oh and the salad was green jello with bits of carrots and other veggies in it and some kind of creamy stuff running through it. Nasty.
Of course breakfast the next day included scrapple
re: foodiex2
Growing up in Northern Maryland, our school cafeteria Thanksgiving meals always included sauerkraut along with all of the traditional items. At that time, I thought that it was a standard part of the meal and couldn't understand why Mom (a transplant from Pennsylvania) never made it for our Thanksgiving meal at home.
And yes, I still have sauerkraut on turkey day.
re: SuzyInChains
I'm in MD and it's not Thanksgiving in our family without sauerkraut and kielbasa. I cook my kraut in beer, with caraway and celery seeds, then add in the sausage.
What few leftovers there are don't last for long. It's especially good on a big pile of mashed potatoes with a hefty pat of butter between.
re: Christina D
re: bitsubeats
When I go to other people's Thanksgiving I always found it wierd that they didn't have it. It is so so good with your turkey and mashed potatoes. Def an amish thing, there is a large amish population in MD/PA. Another New Years tradition is black eyed peas for good luck.
Also pepperoni rolls are regional. My west coast friends are now hooked on them. I couldn't imagine life without pepperoni rolls.
And of course Old Bay on everything mmm MD.
re: ktmoomau
re: ktmoomau
re: ElsieDee
re: Solstice444
No, No, No!!!!
Pepperoni rolls hail from West Virginia. Actually Fairmont West Virginia to be specific. It comes from many Italian coal miners wives who wanted to make something the workers could take for their lunch. They are made with normally regular bread dough surrounding either multiple slices or a log of pepperoni baked in the middle so the juices go into the bread. Some people also will add a little cheese or some hot or sweet peppers. They look like little rolls a little longer and skinnier than a dinner roll. You probably won't find many outside WV, Western Maryland or parts of Pennsylvania. You can mail order them.
I think they are now on wikipedia.
I think I like Old Bay as much on non-seafood as seafood. But I do like some on my crabs. Not tons, but enough. I really like it on boardwalk fries, though. I will even put it on buttered popcorn.
re: ktmoomau
In that area they seem to derive from self-contained miners' foods, much like northern Michigan pasties. But NYC pizzerias certainly do serve up the spiral thing as described above, which is called a "pepperoni roll" around these parts. Usually found in the case at the counter with the other "rolls," calzones, etc. and heated in the pizza oven before serving to customers, often with a side cup of marinara sauce for dipping.
re: ktmoomau
re: atraxia
I googled, hope this helps:
I try to look for places from Fairmont. I think I listed some on another thread, I can't find the one I really like I will keep looking I thought it had green and red on the site. I will try to search the DC/Baltimore board I think I listed it there, but maybe they changed their website.
I just got to have some this weekend so good, but I only got to have one as they ran out quickly at the party so I might have to make some. I don't order them as much anymore because I make them.
re: ktmoomau
Here is the other one. They have classic and with cheeses.
Other places may make something they call a pepperoni roll, but this is the real deal history wise. If it is made with pizza dough then it really is probably a calzone or variation and not a roll made with roll dough. Oh now, I am hungry. These are so addictive.
re: foodiex2
re: deibu
re: Mickie
re: Mickie
I grew up in north Florida with parents and grandparents from Georgia and North Carolina. We had baked dressing made from cornbread, not white bread. And there were no potatoes or rice at Thanksgiving dinner. The dressing was so yummy we didn't need any. We put the giblet gravy on the dressing and the turkey.
Then we had turkey sandwiches in the evening with the inevitable discussion about whether they were better with mayo or mustard. I always only used mayo.
re: foodiex2
re: MommaJ
My Vermont Grandma was passionate about molded Jell-O salads with various canned fruit added...usually either green or red Jell-O. My mom dutifully made them for her every Christmas, and I must admit that I kind of miss the gloppy things. They were a festive, if tacky, bit of color at the holiday table. But...I don't miss them enough to include them in my own family's Christmas dinners!!
Our "festive" Christmas dinner appetizer always was Cranberry Cocktail, mixed with a bit of ginger ale for fizz and topped with a scoop of lime sherbet. This could also be ordered at area restaurants!!
The area my family is from in south eastern Arizona always made flat stacked enchiladas. Stacked up like pancakes and often there was a fried egg served on top.
They are called Sonoran enchiladas and I never saw rolled enchiladas until I was about 17 and visiting family in Anaheim. They were a surprise to me.
re: Candy
re: e.d.
They are made with corn tortillas. Fry the tortilla lightly in oil and then dip into enchilada sauce and place flat on a plate. Top with shredded cheese and chopped onions. Repeat until you have as many stacked up as you like. Place in a hot oven to melt cheese and heat. Top with a fried egg and garnish with chopped lettuce.
To me if it is in a four tortila it is a burrito or something on the way to being a chimichanga and not an enchilada. I think Texans use flour more than we did.
Growing up in Utah, the standard french fry accompaniment was "fry sauce", a mixture of ketchup, mayo, and (I believe) pickle juice. All local burger places served fry sauce. Not exactly revolutionary, but I've rarely seen it elsewhere.
Also, "scones" were deep-fried puffy breads similar to sopapillas. There was (is) even a local chain called Sconecutters that served sandwiches on these types of scones. It wasn't 'til I left Utah that I realized that the Queen probably didn't deep-fry her scones and eat them with honey-butter.
re: Yclops
I'm a native Utahn (rhymes with crouton) too! They actually serve fry sauce at some McDonald's in Utah just like they serve regional specialties at other branches of the chain in different states (lobster rolls at Mcdonald's in New England).
I didn't realize until I moved away that many people outside of Utah consider Jell-o a dessert. I had grown up thinking it was a salad, even without the traditional Mormon add-ins.
re: Yclops
Growing up in Buffalo, we used to visit the Northern Lake Erie shore and there were a couple of Drive Up stands that had Canadian Bacon subs which you washed down with a Loganberry. I think the Logey is something you won't find anywhere else. This may not be that unusual, but it sure was good and would love to have one of those subs now. BTW everyone up there had vinegar on their fries, we always thought that was a typically Canadian thing.
Speaking of Canadian things, how about having chocolate with your beer? It wasn't until I actually tried this with a nice stout a year or two ago that I realized how good it was.
I'm also surprised no one's mentioned fried brain sandwiches from the Evansville, Ind. area. Now there's something that's strange. I can't say too much about it because I've never gotten the courage to actually try one. As you can imagine, its cholesterol city.
re: Jambalaya
There is a diner in Bloomington that offers fried brains.
And then there is the state special, tenderloin sandwiches. The best i've ever had are at the Gnawbone (IN) Marathon Food and Fuel gas station. They make them by hand. They actually got a write up by the Stern's in their roadfood column in Gourmet a few years ago.
In Cincinnati, green peppers are referred to as mangoes, as in stuffed mangoes. If you want a real mango, you have to ask for a "fruit mango."
In central joisey certain bakeries advertise a "buttered roll and coffee" as a breakfast special. I've only seen it in this area and have yet to figure out why it's considered a special. In Pennsylvania we put mustard on our soft pretzels and cheez wiz on our steaks.
When we were young (50's)we had a small restaurant and used to make our own pies. Everyday a gentleman would come in to have a piece of apple pie with....homeade brown gravy. He was from Missouri.
Another put pepper in his coffee. Don't know where he was from. I accidently did this once instead of adding cinnamon as I usually do and it wasn't bad.
And yes, growing up in New Mexico, we also, had pancake style enchiladas and also fried our rellenos on the griddle.
Made our own tortillas in those days.
Now THAT is quirky!
In Western Maryland and into southern PA they serve "steamer" at auctions and church bazaars. It's vaguely spiced ground beef served on a hot dog roll, but without tomato sauce like a sloppy joe. Looks similar to Roseanne's "loose meat sandwich." I don't recommend it.
re: Ellen
That sounds like what I grew up calling a "gutbuster" or a "guttie". My Dad's family is from Hanover PA and this was hamburger meat on a hot dog roll with sauce (sort of like chili but not really) diced onions and mustard. I really loved them, but it's sort of an aquired taste. You could also get the sandwich with a hot dog instead of the hamburger meat.
Some Northern NJ specialties
At a diner you definitely order cheese fries and (brown) gravy.
Also, I have yet to find taylor ham anywhere else but in Northern Jersey.
Sloppy Joes - a Northern Jersey deli specialty, not taco meat on a bun. A triple decker sandwich consisting of turkey, roast beef, and corned beef, cole slaw and russian dressing
In sweden, you get mashed potatoes with your hotdog instead of a bun, topped with either sweet mustard or ketchup and fried onions. plus, when you order pizza, they streak it with pre-made cheese based "sauce" that is squeezed out from a tube-much like toothpaste.
i also knew a girl from Michigan who made Thanksgiving yams with marshmallows.
re: melissa
re: melissa
"i also knew a girl from Michigan who made Thanksgiving yams with marshmallows. "
Doesn't everyone? :)
re: melissa
re: Davey
Actually no. What is sold in the American supermarkets as Yams are really sweet potatoes. I think it was the Louisiana growers who wanted to set their sweet potatoes apart from all of the other states sweet potatoes and started calling thiers yams. A true yam is a different plant species and not widely available in the US, but if they are they are found in ethnic markets. They have more natural sugar than sweet potatoes and have fewer amounts of vitamin A and C. There are over 150 varieties and are mainly cultivated in Central and South America. The flesh can be white, yellow, purple or pink and the skins are off white to dark brown. They can range in size from the size of a regular potato to up to 150 lbs.
re: Candy
re: Candy
re: Candy
re: Sam Fujisaka
I think "Yam" came to be a Southern catchall term for all sweet potatoes because it's short and catchy--as "Coke" was the word for any carbonated drink when I was a kid in Texas.
My mother called them yams until she died last May at age 97. And though we know better my kids and I still debate the best way to fix the Thanksgiving "yams". (I'm of the whipped-with-orange juice/orange zest/nutmeg/Five Spice school and the grandkids, of course, are of the marshmallow school.
We compromise by doing them my way with a generous layer of mini-marshmallows on top so the non-mm contingent can just dip from underneath the topping.
re: PhoebeB
re: PhoebeB
PhoebeB, no self respecting Mississippian would ever call sweet potatoes yams. They are properly called sweet 'taters. "Yam" is not part of my Southern upbringing. Why Sugar, a Mississippi town, Vardaman, even lays claim to the title of "Sweet Potato Capitol" of the world. And, each March southern humor writer, Jill Connor Browne, marches in her full "Sweet Potato Queen" regalia in the St. Paddy's Day Parade in Jackson. She is just darlin'! Now Honey, if you are ever in these parts around Thanksgiving, come and have some of my famous (at least within my family) sweet 'taters with bourbon and pecans. They'll make you slap yo' momma, they're so good!
re: Sister Sue
Well, OK Sister Sue, they are both sweet potatoes, but if you want the ones with the dark purple skins (which most people outside Miss. call yams) instead of the light tan skinned ones we call sweet potatoes and you need to send your husband to the store with a list, what do you write on it so he brings home the right thing?
re: niki rothman
Beauregard is the variety primarily grown in Mississippi. It is tan skinned. That is the only variety that I have ever found at the state run Farmer's Market that supposedly only sells state grown goods in Jackson, where I buy most of my produce. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen anything other than tan skinned ones at the grocery store. I have only found the purple skinned sweet 'taters when I have gone to N.O. or Atlanta or somewhere else out of state.
re: melissa
When i visited Switzerland and went skiing in the Alps with a bunch of Swiss High School students (I was in HS too at the time..a zillion years ago..eek) our mid-ski snack served outside on picnic tables halfway up the mountain...was baguettes with pate that was squeezed out of tubes also like toothpaste. Our apres ski snack was always chunks of good Swiss chocolate on baguette washed down with pitchers of hot sweet tea. mmmmmmm
Not so much a wierd-thing-to-eat but...
I took an Ohioan buddy of mine out to eat in Baltimore. Of course, she ordered a crabcake. The octagenarian waitress asked "how you want that crabcake, hon?" This means; do you want that fried or broiled?
Not knowing the protocol, my friend answered "medium rare".
Growing up in Texas, I got used to chicken fried steak that was real steak, dipped in flour and pan fried and of course the potato wedges had white gravy on them as well as the steak. In Missouri where I am now, if you order chicken fried steak, you usually get what I call a deep fried fritter which is not nearly the same. I do miss those chicken (or country) fried steak dinners!
re: Darlene
If I were on death row my last meal would be a real Texas Main St. cafe blueplate special chicken-fried steak, with mashed potatoes, thick creamy peppery pan gravy made w/the skilllet deglazings, green beans cooked butter-tender w/salt pork and onion, a couple of slices of ripe beefsteak tomato on the side.
I'm making me cry.
re: PhoebeB
re: starlady
It is steak that is dipped into seasoned flour, egg wash, then back in the seasoned flour, then pan fried until golden and crispy... and when the steaks are done cooking you make cream gravy in the same pan.
I moved to Texas when I was 15 and didn't try it until I was nearly 30.... to be quite honest I was scared. A native Texan friend of mine heard that and made up a batch for me... and while I LOVE hers I'm still scared to try it anywhere else!! Her husband lvoes when I come to town because she makes up a big ole' batch for me.
re: Foodie in Friedberg
CFS can be very good or very bad. It should be clarified that it's usually a fairly tough steak (perhaps a round) tenderized, then prepared as mentioned. Also, by pan fried they mean in shallow oil, not just oil to coat. Since it is work intensive many restaurant versions are deep fried and use a packaged gravy. This is not a true CFS.
re: kindofabigdeal
PLEASE tell me that most of the oil from the pan is poured off before the cream gravy is made??
Also cream gravy? I have seen a white-ish "gravy" on telly and wondered
a) what it tastes like (looks a little scary to me, but then so does CFS)
b) what is in it?
Gravy to me is...well...brownish in colour (for lack of better descriptors)
re: starlady
Yes, most of the oil is poured off. Just enough is left to make a roux (not that anyone making it would dare call it that). The primary flavor in the gravy is from the fond and often copious amounts of black pepper. Instead of stock or broth as a liquid, you use milk. If the gravy is nearly white, you'll know that they've used a package gravy. Proper cream gravy will have gathered enough color from the fond to be nearly light brown. That gravy you've seen on the telly is probably the same thing.
re: kindofabigdeal
The French word "roux" would be in common usage in the Southern parts of the US anywhere where the Arcadian (Canadian) French who were expelled from Canada by the British background Canadians settled after their forced diaspora many years ago. This is why some of the best cooking in the US, which is heavily French influenced, comes out of New Orleans. Chef Paul Prudhomme, one of my herores, in his wonderful cookbooks, gives instructions for making the several different types of roux that result from the length of time and level of heat at which the fat and flour is fried. The lightest being blond and the darkest being a very, very dark brown.
re: niki rothman
re: thenurse
Hi, I'm a nurse too!
I looked up both words and Acadia is now more common, but Arcadia was the first spelling, according to the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography" given by an early explorer, and survives in place names in Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Louisiana - all as one might suspect given the sad dispersion of the French Canadian outcasts. The Arcadian spelling is seen less frequently than the Acadian spelling, but is actually, in terms of etymology, the more authentic spelling, according to Wikipedia, refering to the beauty of the trees in the area reminding early settlers of the Ancient Greek Arcadia. Similarly many place names in the New World reference names from Greek mythology.
re: Foodie in Friedberg
And you consider yourself a CH?
Anywaaaaay.... I interpret the name as a Hamburg or similiar Steak that is cooked in the same technique as Fried Chicken... "Chicken Fried" the adjective describing the technique.
So there is REAAALLY nothing to worry about. Even in East L.A. I grew up with the occassional CFS.. particularly in a sandwich.
re: Eat_Nopal
re: Foodie in Friedberg
re: Eat_Nopal
It was probably an irrational fear on my part since I have no hard evidence of anyone hiding shoe leather (or worse!) under that crispy coating. And since I I do love the stuff but would hate to burden my friend with being the sole source of CFS for the remainder of my life, I might just give a restaurant version a try next time I'm in Texas.
re: Foodie in Friedberg
This exchange was amusing and appreciated. CFS is the official "state meal" of Oklahoma (as if our legislature has nothing else to deal with). I almost never ever order it in a restaurant, for all of the reasons listed above by others and, for one, nobody will ever make it like my mama did., nobody will ever make gravy like my daddy did. I don't use the "right" cut of meat for it myself (I use arm roast, I know, shocking isn't it!). But when it is done authentically and WELL, it is a delicious, satisfying dish made from a poor cut of meat and made for people who have been doing manual labor all day. I recommend only Del Rancho for the sandwich version (Braum's if Del Rancho isn't available) and "Granny Had One" on Harrison St. in Guthrie OK for a slightly different but well done version (they change their menu regularly so I'm guessing it is still there) and RJ's Cafe, 4221 N. Santa Fe, in Oklahoma City for the classic "cops and state capitol workers' lunch" version. (The state of Oklahoma would grind to a halt without RJ's and Leo's, although it would be hard to tell)
re: starlady
At home in hawaii, we mold rice into a rectangular shape, fry sliced spam in teriyaki sauce, put it on top of the rice rectangle and wrap it with nori (seaweed). And there you go, spam musubi!
We also eat a lot of shave ice, I suppose it is similar to snocones except the ice is shaved down to a powdery consistency and served in a cone or cup with azuki beans and condensed milk on the bottom, topped of with a mound of shaved ice and a generous squirt of syrup, such as li hing mui or rainbow flavor. So good when its burning hot outside!
Growing up in SC, we looked forward to Saturday's at a Pete's Drive-in where we would order a chili-cheese (cheeseburger with chili--no beans--mustard and onions) and an order of half and half (half french fries and half onion rings).
Boiled peanuts at the ballgames...and some friends would swear by fried bologna sandwiches (YUCK!)--with mayo and ketchup and a cold RC Cola and a Moon Pie.
I don't think anyone has mentioned this one...I lived in Seattle for a while and it seemed that everyone dipped french fries (and any other fried thing) in tartar sauce.
re: srr
re: flavrmeistr
Okay, don't get it.. Fries with vinnegar? (usually malt vinnegar) Not that unusual if you've ordered fish n chips in a pub.
Not to mention the tartar sauce that can get on your fries too!
Fries + gravy has, for as long as I can remember always been around (20+ years).
Add some cheesecurds, and voila, poutine!
At Taco Hell here, you can get "Fries Supreme".. ground beef, cheese, sour cream and onions over fries instead of nacho chips. (I DO find it odd that you can't get fries in american taco bells tho!)
Fries + mayo, while not as popular, everyone has heard of at least.. (you can get fry mayo at the dutch grocery store)
re: Don
re: Don
in the taco shops of san diego (also spreading north into OC & parts of LA) there are "california burritos" filled w/ carne asada, french fries (or chunks of potato), cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa mexicana/fresca. "carne asada fries" are fries smothered with the above, minus the tortilla.
re: srr
re: srr
I do this fairly often (I suspect it's something that originally probably came out of the fish-and-chip places like Ivar's) although I haven't ever noticed it to be something that would be peculari to the Pacific Northwest. The fries they serve at Red Robin are particularly good with tartar sauce though.
re: srr
Midwesterners use salt or sugar on sliced tomatoes and salt on watermelon. Salt on grapefruit.
In California, we squeeze lime on melons, probably originated in Mexico.
And fried pork rinds always eaten with salsa if not cooked in red chile.
Cooked greens...I prefer a little vinegar but many like hot sauce. Where are these preferences used?
In Minnesota they stuff turkey with a ground meat mixture called 'hot dish' rather than traditional stuffing/dressing
re: AimeeP
re: starlady
Interesting question, "..but what is 'traditional dressing?'.
The first Thanksgiving at Plymouth featured wild turkey with cornbread stuffing since corn was the only grain they had But cornbread/sage dressing somehow came to be considered a Southern thing. No one I ever met in New England or most anywhere north of the Mason/Dixon line (I and three of my daughters married Yankees and we've spent the last many years in Michigan and New England) ever thought of making it with cornbread until they tasted ours.
Wonder how that happened?
Berkeley : brown sugar offered with the other stuff at the "cream & sugar" area in a cafe
Asian enclaves/markets in CA: pandan flavored(they're green) waffles eaten as a "to go" snack
everywhere in CA: Ranch dressing with everything...pizza, fries, sandwiches & even salads
New England: you can have your coffee sugar & creamed for you in the drive through at Dunkin Donuts
Dunkin Donuts: the donut with "the handle" built into it's design for dunking
East Coast: coffee milk concentrate sold next to the Nestle Quick. Their milk shakes are just that, not with ice cream, those are called a frappe.
re: gp
re: Karl S.
re: Bob W.
re: Miss Needle
I suspect that in RI at least, coffee with cream and sugar is the bridge between coffee milk (milk with coffee syrup, which is delicious) and unsweetened coffee.
The end result is a state full of people who are addicted to coffee before they are out of their teens.
I agree, the name is odd. But then again, so is RI.
re: Miss Needle
re: Miss Needle
re: Bob W.
re: Karl S.
from toronto/ontario/canada
Ketchup on Kraft Dinner (macaroni & cheese)
A Ceasar (like a bloody mary but with clam juice (clamato))
Beer & Clam (3:1 beer to clamato juice)
Pad Thai in Toronto has a ketchup based sauce
Ketchup flavoured potato chips
Toronto style bagels (doughnut shaped bread, baked and not boiled)
Low fat chocolate milk (they use 1% around here)
Sadly, it sounds like were ketchup crazy up here!
re: Monte
re: Monte
re: John Manzo
re: Davey
About is full of crap- it's not even known in the states. What rubbish. Clamato is correct since Marco's was set to open at the hotel and the drink was created at O.N. to commemorate.
To clarify (from wiki):
The cocktail, known in the U.S. as a clamdigger, was invented by bartender Walter Chell at the Owl's Nest Bar in the Westin Hotel in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1969, to accompany the opening of a new restaurant, "Marco's". In its original form, it contained tomato juice and mashed clams; Clamato had only just been released (with the assistance of Chell) by the American Mott's company that very year, and was not yet widely known or available.
re: Monte
re: Monte
I don't know if this is regional. I grew up always putting ketchup on my eggs at breakfast. I've seen others do this, but I've gotten a lot of people actually grossed out by it too. How common do you think this is?
reading down, there are lots of posts about french fries, or, as we say on the other side of the pond, chips. in ireland, we eat them with everything - ketchup (red sauce), mayo, but most of all, LOTS of salt and vinegar - all Irish and lots of Scots, English and Welsh do this. we also eat chips in sandwiches - a chip butty! another speciality, really good after a few pints, is a 3 in 1, 1/2 fried rice, 1/2 chips (thick cut fries), drenched in a curry sauce that you only get in chinese take-aways. on really bad days i add a good spinkle of grated cheddar cheese!
If you're ever in eastern Canada, specifically Nova Scotia, and you're drunk, try a donair. It's a pita stuffed full of mystery meat shaved off a rotating vertical spit, topped with onions, tomatoes and sweet donair sauce (usually containing Carnation milk, vinegar, and sugar - absolutely nothing like tzatziki). Some donairs are much better than others. I'm not sure if gyros or doner kebobs are similar.
People on Cape Breton Island also like fried bologna with their breakfast. They bake "brown bread" containing molasses, not bran, and "porridge bread" containing leftover oatmeal.
A traditional South Shore dish called "tongues and sounds" contains the tongues and lungs of codfish. Fried cod cheeks are another delicacy!
"Pork pies" are actually filled with dates.
Green tomato chow-chow is a typical condiment. Traditionally, it was served with salt herring and blue potatoes. Mustard pickles are always served with corned beef and cabbage.
~Food Tourist
re: Food Tourist
re: Food Tourist
I've been following your posts about "donair" meat (waiting to see if someone knew more than me) and I have a feeling that they are probably using the pre-processed "gyro meat" which is made in Chicago by Kronos . Especially as you mentioned Donner kabobs, that's a Turkish version of gyros, but made as shish ke bob. Not a bad product for what it is. It's either sold in 4 oz portions ( beef only I think) or single 1 oz slabs (which are beef and lamb). As I said, if you go into a deli or such and they have gyros, this is what you are getting, it's pretty good, and the food cost is so low it makes up for anything else they loose that day. Here in New York, they sell gyro meat, or other pre-cooked meat toppings like chop meat or sausage, which are made for the pizza trade: Mexican or anyone will use also, and there is nothing wrong with it. There is little chance of food poisoning. I also still know a FEW places that will buy a leg of lamb, marinade it and put it on the vertical rotisserie, but they are few and far between. The health inspector will be watching them like a hawk.
Anyway, Kronos also sells the Tzaiki sauce which is refrigerator stable for at least 6 months, so even if you're not into Greek cuisine, it's an easy thing to add to your menu, just to have around.
re: Food Tourist
re: thenurse
re: kindofabigdeal
I'm not sure who/what you're referring to as 'our', but I live in Little India in Toronto, and the Indian influence is from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. No brits here (yes in Toronto, but not this neighborhood). I think originally (pre-1980's) there may have been some british Indian influence, but that's long gone since a large influx of SE Asian immigrants.
Excellant thread. I have also done the peanuts in
coke and ketchup in eggs, scrambled eggs, omelette
etc growing up in the 50's and 60's In school we
used to have coke & peanut fights, putting the peanuts
in (hmm), covering the bottle opening with your thumb,
shaking it, and releasing the thumb, with the bottle
in the direction of the target -Messy and stupid, no
Bob W. your chow mein sandwiches priced at $ 0.15
back in 1974, while I dont know if this would qualify
under the regional foods quirk or not, as kids,
growing up in Pakistan, there used to be these coconut
sellers who would come around like clockwork every
afternoon on a donkey cart, laden with freshly picked
coconuts. You bought the coconut, then he would take
a pick-axe and deftly shave off the fibres at one end,
chop the end to open the nut, and with a spoon (made
from the chopped skin) you would first guzzle down
the coconut water, return the coconut to him which
would then be cut into two equal half-cups which you
then used the spoon to eat the fleshy part of the nut.
Cost: $0.01
I think some of these guy's are still around today
but the cost is probably around $0.40
re: Amin (London Foodie)
re: kc girl
Amin,You are often impressive in your accuracy and
detail. Now the invention of peanuts in Coke make a
little more sense. UQ
Hey kc girl, just saw your above response.
you are one cool girl (guess the ''c'' in kc
represents ''cool'' -right ? )
I think coke does rock with peanuts in it -try it.
Michigan (and no doubt elsewhere)
Vernor's Float (Vernor's with Icecream scoops)
Pickled ring bologna in a jar
Northern MI (UP specifically) Pasties.
re: wolf
re: wolf
re: wolf
Oh, yes! Pastys. My mom ( a CA girl) said she first found them in the South (Georgia) when she was in College. She made them a few times (in CA) just to show us what they were. Really good. And portable, too. Though, I never really had a need for "portable" food in those days.
re: wolf
Years ago we had dinner at the home of my husband's co-worker and she made spaghetti for us. It was made with tomato sauce and topped with salted peanuts which we were told was a very common accompaniment to spaghetti where they came from. This was around 25 years ago and we think she was from somewhere like Ohio or Chicago. Anyone ever heard of salted peanuts on spaghetti?
A guy I used to work with, from Kentucky, used to drink half beer, half lemonade, with ice in the summertime. Two great tastes that do NOT taste great together, in my humble opinion!
re: Qwertyy
re: SLO
And in Germany (Bavaria, Munich to be precise), this combination (well, lemon drink I believe), is called Radler -- very tasty IMO -- course that might be only in germany with fresh helles beer.
I've tried to re-create it here, and I just don't get the wonderful flavor I remember. Guess I'll just have to visit Germany again.
re: SLO
re: Qwertyy
What a wonderful topic!
The Midwest -
On Thanksgiving, my Ohio relatives always, always, always brought Three P salad (peas, pickles & peanuts in mayo on lettuce) and persimmon pudding.
The South -
My southern belle grandmother always served white rice w/sugar and butter as a *vegetable*.
Orange County, Southern California -
In the day when there were more orange trees than people, there was *Orange Ice*. A small wooden booth by the side of the road next to the home adjacent to the orchard would be manned by a member of the family. They would squeeze some fresh orange juice and pour it into a cup over hand-chopped ice chips.
Hawaii -
The chinese brought char siu bao with them (pork buns) and it became manapua. Every day, the manapua man would go through the neighborhoods, with a bamboo pole on his shoulder, swinging two pots on each end, one containing hot charcoal and the steaming buns above.
Kalua dog. The Hawaiians raised a special breed of dog that was the preferred meat at luaus. With the European invasion, that practice became frowned upon and went underground.
When my hubby was growing up in Hawaii, his best friend's golden retriever disappeared one day. A bit later, they found the collar and dog tags at the bottom of a fresh imu pit.
They did get their revenge, though.
re: Gypsy Jan
re: Spoony Bard
A lot of houses in Hawaii were/are still built up on stilts. The luau was a party to celebrate the housewarming for this brand new dwelling.
The house was very expensive, floored and furnished with a lot of local and imported hardwoods that were the pride of this family.
My hubby and his buddy went out and found a very large, termite infested log, transported it to the property, and when the house was empty, strapped it up to the underside of the house, out of sight.
Within a year, the house had to be torn down.
I grew up in California, where my friends and I would dip our McDonald's French fries into our chocolate milkshakes.
My mom grew up eating peanut butter and mayonaise on white bread.
When I moved to the South, I'd dip my French fries into feta cheese dressing and put salt in my beer.
re: lollya
re: jbd
re: italyinmind
re: mbfergie
re: vermontpoet
In my East L.A. neighborhood there was a Liquor / Convenience store that did a good amount of after school business. They had a whopping 6 video game machines (unmatched any where in the neighborhood)... and four tables. Most snacks were of Mexican origin plus hamburgers & hot dogs. One of their most "interesting"
and delicious concoctions was to serve skinny, salty fries with a side of chopped up deep fried chocolate pudding pie.... what a combination!
re: jbd
my dad is from the midwest..he is 86..and he always ate bread and milk...that is bread crumbled up in a bowl with milk poured over it like cereal. I have never seen anyone else do it. I grew up in NJ and learned to eat ketchup on eggs from phiily kids in college.
plus..i love ketchup on hot dogs..that is my own regional specialty. funny to me when people get all concerned about that.
re: rochfood
re: rochfood
In Southern IN where I grew up most people put only ketchup and mustard on hot dogs. There were no other toppings available at most places with the exception of relish. Never before this board did I realize this was so sinful a practice. Had the locals where I was raised seen people putting things like onions and jalapenos on hot dogs they probably would have thought them bizarre.
It's interesting for me to ponder this now, that in a dominantly German area, I lived within miles of towns such as Daubstadt and Haubstadt, sauerkraut was never even considered.
In Youngstown, Ohio some restaurants would serve the "spinning bowl" salad. From what I remember the ingredients were loads of blue cheese or blue cheese dressing on chopped iceberg lettuce with a ton of croutons. It was then "spun" somehow to make every piece coated. Looking back it was a fattening mess but a memory I look upon fondly. Plus there was a secret ingredient I never figured out.
Also, you can get Italian wedding soup anywhere in Y-town. Restaurants that weren't even Italian.
It also had Brier Hill pizza, which was a white pizza with sliced peppers.
Upstate NY- Spiedies. Not found anywhere else that I've found.
The first weekend in August is always "Spiedie Fest" weekend, which my husband fondly refers to as The Festival of Meat.
re: MMJ
re: ajs228
re: toodie jane
No, they're pork, but un-cured and un-smoked with no nitrates or coloring. Take a look at this: http://www.thecelebritycafe.com/guide....
re: ajs228
Speaking of Rochester, NY .......Sal's Birdland brings back so many college memories. A Sal's Bird is a half a (scrawny!) deep fried without batter chicken served on top of two slices of supermarket style white bread with a side of bland macaroni salad. The bird was topped with Sal's sauce...an amazing hot sauce that was equally hot and sweet. A macho guy thing was to order a "swimmer" when the chicken and whole darned mess was drowning in the sauce. Another macho thing...was for the guys to challenge each other to drink cups of the sauce and see who could refrain from the cooling slice of bread the longest.
We had a saying that on days when the sauce was extra extra hot (addition of more red pepper flakes) that Sal's wife hadn't "given him any" the night before.
A friend of a friend of a friend who worked there, "liberated" the secret recipe...and I still make that sauce on occasion for chicken, ribs, Kraft mac and cheese...(when totally broke!). Wings cooked with that sauce always get me rave reviews when brought to a party.
The rival to Sal's was Country Sweet.......a chicken wing/rib joint that used a similar sauce...but lighter on the hot...heavier on the sweet. I liked Sal's better, but Country Sweet was closer to my BF's apartment!. OMG I miss Rochester so much some times! Or do I just miss the college kid type food??
Also.......Bay and Goodman pizza.......mmmmmmmmm they overdid on the toppings ....so much so that each slice was an embarrassment of riches!
I could go on and on about Rochester food...but I'll end with .........
COs (a college term of ours for Culinary Orgasm.......forgive us ..we didnt' have refined palates at all) from the honey mustard salad dressing with bacon at Waterworks. I asked for the recipe once, but it was never the same when I made it!
re: vermontpoet
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the infamous Garbage Plate. There are at least a dozen variations around town, but the original is from Nick Tahou's. It's a meat, usually either two cheeseburger patties or two hotdogs, covered in fried potatoes, macaroni salad, onions and spicy meat-sauce.
If I order a bowl of Chili anywhere in Ontario, it probably comes with 2 pieces of hot buttered toast. When I order toast with my Chili in the States it seems to cause a stir.
Last week I saw something I haven't seen since the days of "Ladies and Escorts Only" - you know the old Ontario draught rooms, with stacking chairs, round tables and 15 cent draught in bell-shaped glasses? The guy next to me at the bar shook a pinch of salt into his pint. The tables in those old draught rooms always had a salt shaker.
The South Jersey area has muskrat festivals. The muskrat is a water-dwelling, ferret like creature. I haven't tasted one, but they say that it tastes like dark meat chicken, only slightly oilier.
Taylor ham and scrapple are also big ones.
re: Main Line Tracey
re: Main Line Tracey
Muskrat suppers are also found in southeatern Michigan south of Detroit. Especially during lent. Very similar swampy area to southern New Jersey.
You find scrapple all over southeastern Pennsylvania, south Jersey, and northern Maryland. You'll also find it in Mennonite & Amish parts of the midwest where people have come from PA.
New Haven style pizza aka clam pizza. I had it years ago in San Francisco at North Beach Pizza and was never able to find it again until I visited New Haven years later. It's amazingly good.
There is a now a place here in Chicago called Piece that serves it, but it is a pale imitaiton of the real thing.
Spam Musubi has been mentioned a couple of times already (along with shave ice). But the real crowning glory of "fusion grinds" in Hawaii is the Loco Moco. Take a generous scoop of rice, top with a hamburger patty smother entire heap in brown gravy and top with a fried egg. Oh, forgot to mention this is primarily a breakfast dish.
We also have "plate lunch" generally consisting of some type of protien - anything from teri-beef to spagetti - served with two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. It is not uncommon to get brown gravy over the whole thing... including the macaroni salad. My friends used to order "chili spagetti" with rice and a side order of garlic bread - and that was years before the Honolulu marathon was born...
Chili here is almost always served over rice. And while we are talking about chili...nothing like a healthy spoonfull of mayo mixed into your Chili to really get it to stick to your ribs. Mayo and shoyu (soy sauce) used to be a pretty common salad dressing - not so much anymore, replaced by the ubiquitous "ranch".
Hey, my dad does the peanuts in Coke thing!! In fact, I previously posted about it here on a thread about strange foods that only your family eats. I figured he'd learned it somewhere, but I wasn't sure where. If it's a Southern thing (which I suspected given the two ingredients!), he must have picked it up in the Army.
Another thing I've noticed on a couple of recent trips to Utah is that a significant number of non-chain burger joints (most notably Crown Burger, although I'm not sure if they were the ones to start it or if they just followed along) seem to also include a fair number of Greek dishes (things like Gyros and Souvlaki) on the menu. I can't think of anywhere else I've been where you would go to a burger joint for Greek food.
I have been reading this topic and postes and am really enjoying it! My family and I are from all over the globe, with mum from Hong Kong, Dad from Philippines, and we lived in both places, then Switzerland, and then in Florida and now Texas. I have observed a variety of food quirks throughout the years that my family members possess and I do partake on some of them. I have noted the interesting food habits below that I have observed from others and some of them I do myself. Here they are:
French fries and milkshakes - this one is the first one I think of because I never saw a french frie until I was 10 years old, and then met someone later when I was 17 who actually dipped his french fries in his chocolate milkshake - this blew my mind!!!! I still haven't tried it but I'm intrigued.
Saltine crackers dipped in milky English sweet tea - we grew up doing this as my Chinese side has the British influence and therefore drinks their tea with lots of milk and sugar. My great-gran and I used to spend our mornings dunking salty crackers into the steaming, milky, and sweet tea. I still have fond memories of it, but it's been years that I've done it.
Rice and ketchup - okay, sorry to offend anyone but this grossed me out. When we first moved to Houston we met a family and the kids would pour the stuff all over their white rice that had been already loaded with butter!!! I thought I was going to be ill, but my Chinese mother looked as if she'd seen a demon and nearly spit with rage. I haven't done this myself, but I will never forget seeing these kids that grew to be friends of ours eat this way. In fact, this family possesses numerous food quircks just amongst themselves that I should just write a book about! Great people, but crazy food. I shouldn't talk though since I'm sure some of the stuff I eat would scare people also... I digress.
Sweet pastries dipped in Siracha sauce - my brother and I compete with each other on who can eat the spiciest food and so far I have take the lead. Through our battles we discovered that Siracha goes really nicely with fortune cookies and other sweet items like egg tarts. Yes, strange but anyone who likes sweet and spicy might like it.
Siracha and Ketchup or Salsa - I love making my own sauces and lately I've been mixing Siracha with everything from Ketchup, to Salsa, and even with some Ranch for that extra kick. I'm a rooster sauce nut!
White bread and milk - my grandfather used to do this at night after my grandmother went to bed and I still haven't seen anyone do it since. He would take regular white bread, like Wonder Bread, and spread some margerine on a few slices, mush them into a large mug, then pour cold milk all over it and eat it like some sort of strange bready-mush. It weirded me out, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has even heard of it.
Coke and Milk - not a coke float, but just Coke with regular milk poured and mixed with it. Not as sweet as a coke float since there is no ice cream, but a very refreshingly strange drink that I've seen people enjoy and then tried myself. I haven't had one for years but enjoyed it when I did.
There are so many others that I've seen but I better take a break for now....
re: daguttgrl79
A friend of mine referred to the Coke and milk combination as "Dirty Dishwater." It's all right, but not something I would make for myself. I remember seeing this on "Laverne and Shirley" as a ridiculed drink.
One of the points issues that this topic seems to be blurring, is the line between a personal quirk and a regional quirk. Ketchup on eggs in most areas seems not to be standard, but at the same time, not unusual. Milk over day-old chocolate cake as a breakfast treat I would classify as quirk of the women of my family, and certainly not representative of any region we have lived. And cheddar cheese on apple pie tends to be a northern New England thing.
Contrast this with spiedies, a food I've heard of nowhere except the Binghamton area. Fish tacos are starting to appear on the east coast over the last 5 or 6 years, but I thought that they were very regional to Southern California earlier and have only recently begun spreading. So many regional quirks may diffuse with time
re: thinks too much
re: thinks too much
I've notice that since I've been living in the U.S. that I have a hard time determing what any regional foods are since it seems like you can get pretty much everything, at least here in Houston. That has been my experience and I feel pretty lucky to be able to sample foods from all over the place, but I never know if it's coming from a place or a person. I've put ranch on my pizza and I'm not from California and that just came to me one time on my own. French fries have always tasted better to me with other stuff on them, and I've enjoyed it all from vinegar, to more Ranch, to gravy, to mayo, to honey mustard, to siracha, and more. So I guess that makes me wonder since I'm not eating everything based on the region and just based on taste, would that not just make it all personal preference? I know that we eat a lot of kolaches here in Houston and none of my brothers and sisters in other states know what those are. They are not exactly regional though because they originated from Czech or Poland, but either way they are really popular in certain ares of Texas. They even have a kolache festival in Caldwell and I went one year and they played Polka!
re: daguttgrl79
Well, the U.S. is made up of people and cultures from all over the world. Still, one can have experiences like yours, daguttgrl. There was a huge influx of people from Czechoslovakia into Houston, TX so that's why there's an availability of kolaches there. Whereas I have lived in D.C. and now live in L.A., both very international cities, and I only recently heard about kolaches and have never tried one. So, kolaches may not originally be from Texas, but they have become part of the regional food landscape there now!
re: sarahvagaca
Too funny. My grandparents (dad's parents) came to this area (Pittsburgh) from what was then Czechoslovakia, and they weren't the only ones. Last I knew this area has the highest concentration of Slovak population outside Slovakia itself.
Now I don't know if the kolache is more Czech than Slovak (sometimes different even though there's plenty of overlap), but either way the funny thing is this area had no availability of kolaches until about 5 years ago when a woman moved from Houston and opened up this shop http://www.cafekolache.com/
So kolaches are from Houston, of course. ;-)
re: daguttgrl79
So funny. My brother lives just outside of Shreveport, LA and my parents live there part of the year. My dad kept going on and on about this new donut shop called LA Donuts, says how great it was -- the regular donuts and the kolaches. He was surprised that I knew what a kolache was. Well, he forgot my boyfriend is 1/2 Polish as is one of my best friends. When we were home for Christmas, we came down one morning after a night of drinking to hear dad yelling that he "went to LA Donuts and everything's warm". The BF and I ran downstairs and grabbed a fabulous donut and then moved on to a great ham and cheese stuffed pastry -- kinda like a croissant, but not exactly. Dad asked how we liked the kolaches. We told him we hadn't tasted them yet. As he walked in and saw us eating the ham & cheese pastries, he says, "You're eating one now!"
So, this donut place in Shreveport, LA is serving a ham & cheese croissant and calling it a kolache. Did I mention it's owned by a Filipino family? Go figure.
re: daguttgrl79
Hahaha, this made me laugh because so many of these have happened in my house just by chance. My mother makes a stir-fry she swears by using soy sauce and ketchup, and when we ran out one day, it became ketchup and siracha--Sirachup. sometimes when there is only a little Siracha left, we use the rest to create a bottle of sirachup.
The white bread and milk, funnily enough sounds basically like bread pudding...change the milk out for egg and cook it, and that is what you have...as a love of bread pudding, I think it sounds fabulous!
re: dagoose
In India it is common to to dunk bread (sometimes buttered) in tea or milk and eat it.
Here's a new one (not mentioned in this thread yet): Until I went to college the only French toast I knew was the kind my mom made - crack egg(s), add salt + pepper + cayenne (maybe green chilies), dip bread in the mix and cook, eat with ketchup (preferably spicy). For some reason I was never exposed to the sweet kind of French toast eaten with syrup.
I was enlightened in college when I offered to make French toast for breakfast for my rommmate and myself. He took one bite and nearly choked. Since then I've actually come to like the sweet French toast :)
South Dakota oddities: Rocky Mountain Oyster Feeds, usually only rural manly men attend, I've never imbibed, but it is deep fried beef testicles, to put it poliely. They drink tons of beer with it to try to forget what they are eating, I think.
A funny nomenclature, I've moved to the west coast, but still call a sloppy joe/barbecue a tavern, which is what they're called in SD, anybody else call it that? Taverns used to and some still do serve these free on Fridays to bring in the customers.
Milk Toast - my dad ate this when he was feeling not so good, with lots of butter and salt and pepper, hot milk, not bad.
Hot Dishes - so funny - lots of church cookbooks reference ChowMein as "Ethnic" Chinese dishes that are basically hamburger, celery, rice, soy sauce and ChowMein noodles.
And my all time favorite - RED BEER - 90 percent beer (preferable bud on tap) with a dollop of tomato juice, plus salt.
re: archangelcat
I think you notice these things more as a kid, because you're horrified to find out that families do things different from your own.
I was HORRIFIED as a first grader to see people order hot dogs for lunch with ketchup.
At summer camp, I'd never seen anyone put sugar from a bowl on cereal.
Or ketchup on noodles (they were from upstate NYC, I was from Italian-dominated Jersey).
I didn't even see cream sauce on pasta or mac and cheese till I was a teenager, and I still despise the stuff.
I don't 'get' ham with sticky, gooey toppings--never ate it.
I have seen lots of cream cheese and jelly omplets in NJ diners.
And a nearby deli still serves beef briscut between 2 massive potato pancakes--like it as a kid but can't imagine injesting it now!
re: archangelcat
at Fiesta in San Antonio my white bread sister who was pretty food phobic got intrigued by the "Bull Fries" that were being grilled and ordered some. She gobled them up quickly and went to find her husband to come try this, best steak she had ever eaten. When he informed her of what she had eaten (testicles) "she turned a whiter shade of pale" but ordered more. Maybe those rural manly men are trying to keep them all for themselves.
re: archangelcat
Rocky Mountain Oyster Feeds! Hilarious! Because I'm from Texas, and we call them calf fries. And the event in which people come out and eat calf fries (like a festival, nearly, usually involves lots of beer and a concert) is referred to as a Calf Fry. There are about 200,000 people in my hometown and we have 2 different Calf Fries every year, put on by 2 different organizations. And they're surprisingly good, if you dont' think too much about what you're eating! :)
When i was a kid in the south and youu could still get real buttermilk a great treat would be a tall glass of cold buttermilk with crumbled cornbread from the previous nights supper crumbled in. Eaten with an iced teaspoon of course. It is not lost to me, that cultured stuff is nothing like what real buttermilk was.
re: Candy
Candy, that was my Texas parents/grandparents favorite light supper after a heavy dinner. Some of them liked the cornbread crumbled in sweet milk, others in buttermilk.
(Sunday nights most often since our biggest meal of the week was "Sunday Dinner", i.e. Sunday after-church lunch. In Texas and Oklahoma at least, the big meal of the day was always called dinner and--esp. in farm country --was the noon meal. The evening meal was always called supper, whether heavy or light. The only time the word "lunch" was ever used was at school or for summertime noon sandwiches.)
re: PhoebeB
When I was a kid (Austin TX area, not too long ago) "cornbread and milk," preferably fresh, hot cornbread w/ honey on top, was a big treat for breakfast.
Common traits food quirks I've noticed among Texans:
They put Rotel tomatoes in everything.
When out of the state, they will always complain about the lack of Blue Bell ice cream.
"Coke" refers to any soft drink.
Breakfast tacos (usually in a flour tortilla, eggs + any of the following: chorizo, cheese, potato, bacon, refried beans, breakfast sausage) are ubiquitous.
Picante sauce or salsa on your eggs, none of this catsup nonsense.
I've only seen this in Austin: queso w/ black beans, guacamole, and pico de gallo in it, yuuuum! popular post- drinking snack. Where else do ya'll have this?
re: ryocat
re: PhoebeB
That's a good list of quirks. The Blue Bell one has always puzzled me. It's good ice cream, but that good? It's kind of like the Texan 20 something male's bond with shiner bock. However, I would never expect a Dr. Pepper if i said coke. I would expect a coke. I would ask what kinds of coke a place has.
re: kindofabigdeal
That WAS a slight exaggeration about "Coke" always meaning DP, though we never drank anything else either in the home I grew up in or in my own home. When we started vacationing in Maine back in the late 60s we had to bring a 6 wks. supply with us from Dallas. Now it's most everywhere up here..
Bluebell is good, but I like Breyer's as well or better. The Bluebell flavor everyone is nuts about is the Homemade Vanilla, which is the cooked custard kind I've never liked because it doesn't have the clean cold taste & texture my mother's had.
She made 2 crank freezers of ice cream every other summer night when we were kids (alternate nights we had watermelon), and she never cooked it. Four eggs whipped frothy with 1 1/2 C. sugar and pinch of salt, add several C. of whole milk and a TBSP of vanilla extract, pour into can and add milk to the 2/3-3/4 full line (depending on whether you're going to add fruit). Crank until you start feeling some resistance, take lid off and add a pt. of heavy cream and maybe bananas or peaches or strawberries or crushed peppermint sticks. Cover again and crank til you can't crank any more even with a child sitting on a pillow atop the freezer, remove paddle and lay on platter (huge squabble about who gets to clean it w/a spoon and lick the platter), plug lid hole with wad of waxed paper, cover with brown paper grocery sacks/ice/blanket. Have supper, eat ice cream, lick spoons sadly when it's all gone, wait for Mama to say, "Well, the freezer's still cold and I might as well mix up another batch".
We could eat only about half of the second gallon and Mama packed the extra in ice trays covered w/wax paper and put it in the tiny freezer compartment of her pride & joy Frigidaire. There is NO sweeter moment in life than waking up on a muggy already-85-degrees August morning in pre-AC Dallas and remembering that there is PEACH ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!
Breyer's Natural Vanilla/Natural Peach/Natural Strawberry taste more like Mama's than any commercial kind I've tried.
Black beans in queso are fabulous. I make white queso with green chile, black beans, Monterey Jack cheese (and of course Rotels :o). Can't get real Mex. white cheeses here in Maine, but if you add a little flour when you saute the onion/garlic/chile the MJ works just fine.
re: ryocat
re: PhoebeB
In north Florida, we grew up calling the meal eating at noon on Monday through Saturday "lunch". But on Sunday, we had a big meal right after church (noon) and called it dinner. On Monday through Saturday, our big meal was in the evening and it was called "supper". On Sunday night after church we had sandwiches or leftovers from "dinner" and didn't really call it anything. Weird.
I'm originally from Central Pennsylvania. Here are some "quirks" from PA:
Already mentioned - Ketchup on eggs
Salt AND PEPPER on cantaloupe (I catch a lot of grief for this in NY)
Honky Eggs (also Hunky Eggs, Honky/Hunky Potatoes) - an omelette with onions, green peppers, and ham with home fries cooked into the omlette.


text:
Public Mum At Hearings On 30 AFD Applications
- Last Updated on 12:00 AM 03/03/10
- BY Paula I. Bryant
No one spoke at public hearings on 30 agricultural forestal district applications when the county board of supervisors met Monday night in Halifax.
Prior to holding the hearings, supervisors honored the memory of the late James Kelly McKinney who served on the county board from 1988 to 1995.
Flanked by her two sons, Gerald and James, McKinney's widow, Mary Louise, accepted a resolution of commendation honoring the many accomplishments and efforts of her late husband.
The former ED#5 supervisor was recognized as a county native who resided in Halifax County for 84 years.
"Mr. McKinney was a faithful member of Scottsburg United Methodist Church providing outreach assistance to those in need," Supervisor Chairman William I. Fitzgerald said.
McKinney further contributed his time and talents as a member of American Legion Post 8, VFW Post 8243 and the Clover Lions Club.
He served his country with honor earning the U. S. Army's Bronze Star during World War II, Fitzgerald added.
In addition to serving on the board of supervisors for two terms, McKinney also served on a number of committees of the board including the solid waste and personnel committees.
Fitzgerald expressed appreciation to McKinney's family for sharing their husband and father with the county and noted his contributions to the success of Halifax County.
Following the presentation of the resolution commending McKinney, Chairman Fitzgerald opened the floor for comments from the public on the 30 advertised agricultural forestal districts (AFD) recommended by the advisory committee and planning commission telling those in attendance that no action will be taken on any of the applications until Monday, April 19.
Hearings were held Monday night on the following 30 AFD parcels:
Burnett, 473.06 acres; Roanoke District, 1,704.2 acres with the following contingency: removal of PRN #20944 and PRN #32144 which appear to be solely residential; Crews/Midkiff, 438,82 acres; Hickory Hill, 378.81 acres with the following contingency: removal of PRN #26720 which appears to be solely residential (reference to Deed Book 1045, page 611); North Halifax Tobacco, 511.06 acres; Liberty, 713.37 acres; Hunting Creek, 334.34 acres; ED #1, 374.74 acres; Pine Ridge, 203.24 acres; Blanes Mill, 385.68 acres; Sandy Level, 1,500.15 acres; Piney Grove, 282.77 acres; Pearce-Huff, 402 acres; Slick Rock Farm, 397.92 acres; Hartland, 337.82 acres; Sandy Ridge, 347.66 acres; Halifax Properties, 250 acres; Bent Creek Farm, 443.04 acres; Wind Rock Farms 292.99 acres; Mt. Carmel, 349.71 acres; Bill Crews Conservation District, 873.83 with the following contingency: exclude PRN #28475; Buler/Conner, 599.77 acres; Tuck, 253.93 acres; Paces/Sutherlin, 400.18 acres with the following contingency: exclude PRN # 19935, PRN #21557 and PRN #20426; Hudson Road, 567.78 acres; Flintstone District, 318.54 acres; Wilson District, 229.07 acres; Pine Knoll, 339.22 acres; Snake Ranch, 451.9 acres; Millwood, 961.37 acres; and Reedy Bottom, 275.5 acres.
Later in the meeting, supervisors agreed to hold public hearings at their April 5 meeting on 20 additional AFD applications that have been referred by the AFD advisory committee.
Supervisors are expected to take action on the total 69 AFD applications received in 2009 when they meet April 19.
At the conclusion of Monday's public hearings, Planning/Zoning Administrator Robbie Love explained the county opted to participate in the state AFD program that promotes the conservation of open space and farmland preservation.
Citizens volunteer for the program by making an application, Love explained, noting the county then holds public hearings such as the ones held Monday night on the proposed AFD applications.
Following the public hearings, ordinances will be drafted for each district.
Residents putting their properties in AFDs agree not to subdivide or develop their land in a residential or commercial manner and in return they will be granted land use taxation.
Love further explained that land use taxation offers the landowner a reduced tax value on the farmland included in the AFD but does not reduce taxes on homes or improvements to their properties.
He noted he already has taken five applications for AFDs to be considered in the 2010 application process.
Also during Monday night's supervisors' meeting, board members received a monthly status report from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Residency Administrator J. D. Barkley II who said construction on the Route 360 permanent bridge over the Banister River is expected to start in the spring.
A pre-construction hearing has been set for March 12 on the project, Barkley said, adding, "I feel like we are at a point of no return, and we are going to replace that bridge."
According to Barkley, two bridge projects on Route 659 over Birch Creek and Miry Creek on River Road were advertised in February, with bids to be opened this month and construction to begin this spring or summer.
The bridge replacement on Route 688 over Toby Creek on Goode's Road is expected to get under way this month with completion anticipate June 10. A detour is being provided on Routes 659, 662 and 658, Barkley explained.
Construction on Route 716 over Clardie Creek on Falkland Road is expected to be complete next month, Barkley said, adding that VDOT also is anticipating starting its surface treatment and plant mix schedules in April.
Barkley also informed supervisors this year's Six-Year Plan process will be unique because in the residency administrator's words, "The funding is not a lot."
He explained only about $500,000 is budgeted for the six-year period.
Barkley asked supervisors to set a public hearing on the Six-Year Secondary Road Plan.
In years past, he said VDOT has done Six-Year Plan presentations and then a priority listings of roads presentation and then received requests for rural additions.
"We don't have a lot of funds, so I didn't think the board would want to do the priority listing or roads or rural additions because we're not adding anymore," Barkley added.
Acting on a motion by ED#8 Supervisor W. Bryant Claiborne, supervisors unanimously approved setting a public hearing on the Six-Year Plan for their April 5 board meeting.
ED#1 Supervisor J. T. Davis was absent from Monday night's meeting.
In other action Monday evening, Douglas Powell, chairman of the War Memorial Oversight Committee, presented the committee's annual report that offered two current recommendations requiring board action.
The first seeks $2,050 for light replacement at the park, and the second gives County Administrator George Nester the responsibility of reviewing the appropriateness of requests to use the park facilities and authority to approve or deny such requests.
Supervisors agreed to both requests.
According to Powell, since the completion of the park, the general properties staff has wrestled with a continuing problem with the failure of the installed lighting to illuminate the flags on the three flagpoles.
The lights provided by the park landscaping plan are recessed in the ground beneath the flag poles in a depressed area, Powell said, adding that these lights stay covered by wind blown leaves and debris.
County Properties and Maintenance Director Bill Wolfe has developed and presented a proposal to have a qualified electrical contractor replace those lights with fixtures that will be above ground and with a design that will complement the existing features, Powell told supervisors.
Supervisors approved the War Memorial Oversight Committee suggestion to pay the $2,050 expense using funds from the project account that currently contains $16,993 and is retained for such park non-maintenance expenses.
Powell, who also serves as chairman of the board of equalization along with members Sam Watts and Clifford Somerville, reported that barring any further issues, that board's work is complete after meeting for five days to hear appeals.
According to Powell, the board of equalization heard appeals from 31 owners involving 63 parcels. Five additional owners cancelled their appointment, and one was a no-show.
"The number of appeals this year was significantly less than in some previous reassessments," Powell said. "My observations were that the three of us brought to the table a very diverse background, and I can report that every decision in every case was a unanimous decision among the three of us."
He said several changes were made with some assessments going down and one went up.
"What we found is that a number of landowners don't understand the process of tracking," Powell explained. "It is surprising to many people that we have a number of people in the county who do not know where their property is."
In other action Monday night, County Administrator George Nester reported on a request to discontinue a portion of Christie Circle Road (Route 862) in Virgilina.
By concensus, supervisors authorized the county administrator to notify affected property owners by registered mail that VDOT is being asked to discontinue seven-tenths of a mile on Christie Circle Road.
Supervisors also took the following actions during their meeting Monday night:
• Agreed to participate in a Regional Hazardous Mitigation Plan with Southside Planning District Commission at a cost not to exceed $2,800;
According to the county administrator, the plan will assess and identify what type of natural threats this community faces such as wildfires, snow and icy conditions, tornadoes hurricanes, etc.
Southside Planning District is updating its Regional Hazardous Mitigation Plan document that it adopted in 2006, and the county can participate through this regional plan that is currently in place, Nester explained.
• Set a public hearing for the April 5 meeting on a conditional use permit for an RV campground in ED-7;
H. Reed and Leigh Edwards have submitted an application to locate an RV campground with three additional camper hookups on the north side of Ramble Road (State Route 730) at 3132 Ramble Road in Virgilina.
• Approved a revised FY 2011 budget calendar that calls for a budget work session to be held next Monday, a reassessment public hearing set for March 11; a public hearing on both the county and school budgets to be held on March 22 at 6:30 p.m. and adoption of the county budget and tax rates set for March 29;
• Authorized the county school board to carry over the current year's appropriation from the county into the next school year allowing the schools more flexibility on how to spend their share of county funds;
• Recognized Donnell Correll who they contracted with to serve as the fair committee chairperson and consultant charged with working with the fair committee and county staff to coordinate the 100th anniversary of the Halifax County Fair;
"She's got quite an impressive resume'," according to County Administrator Nester. "She helped coordinate the Sundance Festival for some movie star named Robert Redford. She does have a lot of experience in that area."
Correll was one of two applicants for the position, but she was deemed to be "the most responsive to the needs of the board," Nester said.
Correll will work with a budget of $56,000 to promote and market the Halifax County Fair as well as add two new programs to be held at the fairgrounds on an annual basis, the county administrator said.
Correll will use the budgeted appropriation to cover such expenses as maintenance, security, marketing, promotion, advertising and to sell sponsorships for the event, Nester added. She will be allocated $4,200 per month through November to cover these expenses.
According to Nester, the county already has committed $35,000 to provide three nights of entertainment in the grandstand, $6,000 for lighting and $2,800 for management of the exhibit hall.
• Made appointments to fill vacancies on the following boards and commissions:
• Airport Commission – Appointed Will Solomon to fill the unexpired term of the late Kenneth Cassada that ends Jan. 31, 2011;
• Improvement Council – Appointed Willie D. Blakey to fill the ED#3 vacancy for a term that expires Jan. 31, 2011.
• Library Board – Appointed Bee Espy to fill an at-large vacancy with a term that ends June 30, 2011;
• Recreation Commission – Appointed Woody K. Bane to fill a two-year term that expires Feb. 28 currently held by Catherine Duffer in ED#4, and reappointed Harrison Conner in ED#6 and Ed Owens in ED#8.
• Heard a request from Carlyle Wimbish for the board to appoint an alternate to replace James Edmunds on the Old Dominion Resource Conservation and Development Committee; and
• Were invited to attend a week of events April 5-11 culminating with the pre-installation ceremony for the Rev. Frank Coleman, pastor of First Baptist Church on Ferry Street.

subset: commoncrawl