Being a food blogger must be hard work. While I love to cook, trying to take pictures that look as appetizing as they taste is a struggle. Pretty much I have given up on that part. Still trying to continue to write about the food that we have been eating as we “travel” across the United States has also been a challenge. Because we have continued to eat two meals per week from various states, I am obviously behind. To save you from reading one REALLY long post, I decided to split it up. Here are five of the states that we studied in November.
Ohio
Cincinnati Chili brought the smells of fall to my kitchen. I loved this meal! Could not convince my kids to be as enthusiastic. What does that mean? I will make it again, but possibly freeze the leftover sauce. Or eat this meal for lots of days since they ate small portions.
I am not sure that you can eat an Ohio meal without buckeyes. Growing up in my family, these were known as peanut butter bon-bons. No matter the name, they are always delicious! To lighten these cookies up, I drizzled the chocolate rather than dipping them. Here is the original recipe.
We really liked hanging out in Ohio, since we also tried their Ohio Style pizza. The sauce was especially delicious, and I enjoyed trying this kind. Not adding the cheese until after it was baked was interesting, but I do think that worked well.
Louisiana
Picking a recipe from this state was a bit of a challenge. After all, they have SO many possibilities. Really to even touch all of their signature dishes, you would need to spend a week cooking Creole and Cajun specialties. Finally I went with Creole Jambalaya. With just a hint of heat, this recipe was a good one. Will definitely make it again.
Indiana
To be honest, this meal must not have been especially memorable because we were all struggling recalling it. I think that I made these Autumn Apple Onion Pork Chops. At least they look like the picture. I am more certain that I did make this Indiana Potato Salad. I had never had hot potato salad. I would say that these were fine, but we are not big mayo fans. Would probably not make it again unless we were studying Indiana again.
Sugar cream pie is a dessert that I had never heard of before. I am thinking it must basically be like a custard pie. I must confess I did use a frozen pie crust to make the process a bit easier. I thought it was good, but if I was going to the trouble of making a pie, I might pick a different cream one.
Mississippi
Pan fried chicken. Mashed potatoes. White gravy. Corn. Pretty traditional food around here. I was slightly disappointed with how these favorites turned out this time – I think my seasoning needed a bit of help. One fun addition was this recipe: Bacon Collard Greens. I really liked the greens, and they were healthier than I anticipated. Have a bit of work to convince my children on this one! 🙂
Illinois
Having just eaten an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza weeks before, I was excited to try to make my own. While this recipe cannot quite compete with these restaurant classics, I did think that this recipe for Chicago Deep Dish Pizza was quite yummy. I did make the crust and I omitted the mushrooms. Plus I also added pepperoni. But I did keep the basic concept – putting the dough in a 9×13 pan was brilliant. The pizza was quite delicious. I would make this style again!
What a fun round up of recipes. I’m not sure how I feel about the cold pizza toppings though. I think I will let Ohio have that.
Actually the toppings themselves were not too cold – just warm instead of piping hot. I think it might have highlighted the flavors more. My favorite kind of pizza this fall was the Vermont white cheddar one with sausage and thinly sliced apple. Yum!