Montana - The Treasure State

I spent a few days in Montana in 2010.  I arrived at 10 pm in Bozeman after driving for 10 hours with a girlfriend and 5 cranky kids in a minivan.  There were no affordable hotel rooms and it looked like we were going to have to drive for a while to find a place to stay.  My friend Lisa called her cousin who happened to lie in Bozeman and they put all 7 of us up for 3 days.  Needless to say I fell in love with Montana and the people who lived there.  They are some of the nicest folks I have ever met.

Our Montana meal was really easy to prepare and everybody ate everything.  We decided that we had to have bison burgers for dinner since we saw a lot of buffalo while we were there.  The kale chips were fantastic, even Will liked them.  We rounded out the meal with baked potatoes.  I searched all over for huckleberries but they aren't in season.  The kids had Flathead Lake Monster Huckleberry Soda (which they have had before and loved) and I had a Black Star Golden Lager (it was OK).  



We listened to Hannah Montana, who I don't think is from Montana but it was fun music to listen to since the kids actually liked her a number of years ago.  For dessert since I couldn't make a huckleberry pie I made Montana Monster Cookies.  They were delicious, easy to make and gluten free.  I will make them again and again.

Montana is a great state with a lot of good food and sweet memories

Nebraska - The Corn Husker State

N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥

We finally have moved out of the "M" states and now have 8 "N" states... Here we go!  It has been a few weeks since we had a states dinner, life happens and it is really difficult to find a night where we are all home and can eat dinner together, that is part of why we are doing this.

I ordered steaks from Omaha Steaks for Nebraska.  I am not much of a beef eater, but when in the mid-west, we will eat what they eat.  Nebraska is known as the "Corn Husker" State.  We have eaten a lot of corn on our culinary journey across the U.S. and Nebraska didn't disappoint us.  We had a corn and tomato salad, which I loved but the kids didn't like it.  I also made corn fritters and corn and bacon muffins.  The kids loved both, although Conner thought the muffins needed more bacon (really! More bacon?).

N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A ♥ N E B R A S K A 

To drink we had Kool-Aid Slush.  I had my first Kool-Aid Slush this summer at the Billings so I knew what a treat this was going to be.  It turns out Kool-Aid is from Nebraska and so are Eskimo Pies.  I searched the Seattle area for Eskimo Pies and finally found some.

Next stop is Nevada, my choices are either Basque cuisine or an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Missouri - The Show Me State & My Birthday

 M I S S O U R I ♥ ♥ ♥ M I S S O U R I ♥ ♥ ♥ M I S S O U R I ♥ ♥ ♥ M I S S O U R I ♥ ♥ ♥

The cuisine from Missouri surprised me. I was expecting BBQ and Budweiser but ended up with Toasted Ravioli and Shock Top Raspberry Wheat Ale. Kansas City, Missouri is famous for its BBQ so we decided on KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce on Rib Eye Steak. I am not a big fan of beef but the kids really liked it. St. Louis, Missouri is famous for Toasted Ravioli. I never would have thought to fry ravioli but it is delicious.


We rounded out the meal with a St Louis Salad and some Missouri Beer Bread, both of which were great. For dessert we had Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream in a Cone. It turns out the Ice Cream Cone and Peanut Butter originated in Missouri. Missouri is a comfort food state.

Next up, Montana…We will all be wearing bandanas.

♥♥ B I R T H D AY ♥ ♥ B I R T H D AY ♥ ♥ B I R T H D AY ♥ ♥ B I R T H D AY ♥ ♥

My darling kids planned a surprise dinner party for me for my birthday.  Conner and Ted cooked lobster tails, which I loved. Soren made the salad, which was fantastic (Karen gets credit for telling him how to prepare it).  Louise and Sydney organized the evening and prepared the Sweet Potato Fries and Rolls, Conner made the chocolate cake, Ted made the best Whiskey Sours, Will set the table and I just sat back and enjoyed the evening.  I felt so loved and honored!

 

M I S S I S S I P P I - The Magnolia State

M ♥ I ♥ S ♥ S ♥ I ♥ S ♥ S ♥ I ♥ P ♥ P ♥ I ♥ ♥ ♥ M ♥ I ♥ S ♥ S ♥ I ♥ S ♥ S ♥ I ♥ P ♥ P ♥ I ♥


Mississippi was everything I expected it to be, Southern Comfort Food!

We decided on Fried Catfish and Hush Puppies, Collard Greens and Mississippi Mud Cake.

It turns out it is extremely difficult to find catfish in Seattle when there is a snow storm.  I ended up using cod and we pretended  it was catfish.  Everything was delicious, what's not to love about fried food.  Sydney actually said the greens were almost as good as Allen's, which for me is a huge compliment.

The Mississippi Mud Cake was Paula Dean's recipe and it was fantastic, actually it was too good.  We drank Barq's soda which is from Mississippi (although Louisiana makes it too).

I have never been to Mississippi and I'm not sure I will ever visit but I definitely appreciate the cuisine.

Minnesota - The Star of the North



♥ M ♥ I  ♥ N ♥ N ♥ E ♥ S ♥ O ♥ T ♥ A ♥

It turns out that I love Minnesota.  It is a great state, with fantastic people and really good comfort food.  Minnesota is famous for its hot dish, wild rice, walleye, morel mushrooms and blueberry muffins.  I couldn't find any walleye or morel mushrooms so I went with hot dish.  Hot dish is known elsewhere as a casserole, but in Minnesota it is called a hot dish.  The whole meal reminded me of a church potluck.

Lisa and Peter Billing came for dinner, along with 5 of their 7 children.  The Billings moved to Washington from Minnesota 7 1/2 years ago.  Lisa, who was born and raised in Minnesota helped me with the menu and even brought the Jello Salad, which is a very Minnesotan thing to do.

Menu
Minnesota Blueberry Muffins
Minnesota Hot Dish
Wild Rice, Minnesota Style
Classic Green Bean Casserole
Jello Salad (Jello with mandarin oranges and Cool Whip)
Minnesota Bars
Mini Sodas

Blueberry muffin is the official state muffin of Minnesota. The muffins were good and the blueberries I used were actually from Minnesota. I chose to do a hot dish with tator tots. My kids are not big on casseroles but they all seemed to enjoy it. I really liked the wild rice and mushroom dish but it wasn't a big hit with the kids. The green bean casserole was good, I have never made one before or even tried green bean casserole before. I can't believe I have been missing out on this.

The Jello salad (with Cool Whip) was served with dinner and not dessert. I didn't grow up eating Jello and have never been a fan, but this was delicious. I am not sure whether I will ever make Jello for dinner but I will definitely eat it next time at a church potluck. For dessert I made Minnesota bars. Minnesota bars are the second most popular potluck dish in the state. Bars are any kind of dessert that fits into a large baking dish, is easily made and requires little to no cookie dough. For example Rice Krispie treats, lemon bars and peanut butter bars are all considered Minnesota bars – brownies however are not. The Minnesota bars were OK, they were too sticky for my taste but Lisa thought they were authentic Minnesota bars.




Jonathan and Timothy with the Jello Salad



Peter with the Minnesota Plate

It was a great night and I am so happy we were able to share it with the Billings. They were able to give us insight into Minnesota and it is definitely a place I need to visit.

                              

I think this was the easiest meal I have done as far as cooking and preparation. Minnesotans make easy dishes that feed lots of people. I ♥ Minnesota. Next week, Mississippi...I am thinking Catfish and Mudpie...YUM!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Michigan - The Wolverine State

♥  M  ♥  I  ♥  C  ♥  H  ♥  I  ♥  G  ♥  A  ♥  N  ♥ ♥♥  M  ♥  I  ♥  C  ♥  H  ♥  I  ♥  G  ♥  A  ♥  N  ♥

 

We took a few weeks off due to the holidays but we are back and in Michigan.  I have never been to Michigan but everyone who I have ever met from Michigan has been really nice.  I definitely want to go there someday.  One of the most famous things to come out of Michigan is cold cereal, by Dr. Kellogg.

After doing some research and talking to people from Michigan the two foods that kept coming up were Pasties and Paczki.  Pasties are meat pies and served by Yoopers (residents of the Upper Peninsula UP).  Paczkis (pronounced Punch-Key) are polish jelly filled donuts traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday.  Michigan is also famous for cherries, beans and Vernor's Ginger Ale (the oldest ginger ale sold in the US).

The Menu
Cornish Finish Michigan Pasties
Traverse City Cherry Salad
Savory Navy Bean Casserole
Polish Paczki
Boston Cooler (a Detroit original: Ginger Ale and Vanilla Ice Cream)

Karen and Soren Pilman came for our Michigan meal.  The Pasties were OK, they were good for meat pie, but they were meat pie.  The salad was great, the bean casserole was good and the Polish Paczki were fantastic.  My kids hate jelly filled donuts and I ran out of time so the doughnuts weren't filled, they were still delicious.  I will definitely make the again.

Next week we are headed to Minnesota, another state that I have never been through.  One of my favorite families (the Billings) are from Minnesota so hopefully they will be our state guests.

  

♥ M ♥ I ♥ C ♥ H ♥ I ♥ G ♥ A ♥ N ♥ ♥♥ M ♥ I ♥ C ♥ H ♥ I ♥ G ♥ A ♥ N ♥

Massachusetts - The Old Colony State

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ M A S S A C H U S E T T S ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ M A S S A C H U S E T T S ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Massachusetts is known for Clam Chowder, Cranberries, Boston Cream Pie, Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies and Samuel Adams Beer.  I used Emeril's Boston Clam Chowder, it was delicious.  I used canned clams rather than whole clams. 

The Menu

Boston Clam Chowder

Fried Clams

Boston Bibb Cranberry Walnut Salad

Parker House Rolls

Boston Cream Pie

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Samuel Adams

Cranberry Juice

We celebrated Massachusetts with the Warrens (Louise and all 3 kids home from Auburn), The Pilmans and the Wilsons.  It is always a great time when we are together.  The soup was easy to make and turned out great, everything was good, with the exception of the Boston Cream Pie.  I had one bite, which fro me was one too many.  I hate custard so it makes sense that I wouldn't like the Boston Cream Pie.  Only the adults ate the Boston Cream Pie, I think they were being polite by eating it, who knows maybe they like custard.

As good as the meal was, the best part of the meal was the company and the conversations.  Pete showed us videos of a recent trip to Chicago where the band was staying at the same hotel as a Furry Convention. 

We are going to take a few weeks off and start up in the new year with Michigan.  I have no idea what Michigan is famous for but I sure it will be fun!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ M A S S A C H U S E T T S ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ M A S S A C H U S E T T S ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥