Tour of Fifty States: New Jersey's Meal

When we were visiting Grandpa John and Grandma Diane in New Jersey this summer, Bill mentioned our Tour of the Fifty States meal project.  Grandpa John immediately asked what I chose for New Jersey.  I answered, “Italian Subs”.  “Bah!” he replied, “all New Jersey is famous for is chemicals!!  There is no state food!” 

Well, I decided to stick with my original concept of the North Jersey Italian-American culture.  So here we go!

Menu:  Italian Subs, Jersey Sweet Corn, Cannoli Tart

Outcome:  Although The Garden State is famous for its Jersey Sweet Corn, I couldn't find any here in South Carolina.  We had some white corn on the cob.  We served the kids’ Italian Subs on the regular Italian bread, but Bill and I opted to use lettuce leaves to make “wraps” of our Italian subs (to save a few carbs and calories).  Yum!  The Cannoli Tart was quite good, although I found the crust to be a little too thick for my liking.  If I make this again, I will half the quantity of everything for the crust.  But it was still really good and reminded us all of real Cannolis.

Next up:  Brandi chose South Dakota!

Ignore the shadow on this lovely piece of Cannoli Tart!

Tour of Fifty States: Alaska's Meal

For this meal, I was thinking about what Alaska is famous for … Alaskan King Crab legs (way too expensive), Reindeer sausage (I’m not willing to pay those shipping fees), Salmon (too fishy for my taste), another kind of fish?  I know there are TV shows about fishing in Alaska, so I decided to go check it out. I found a recipe on an Alaskan fish company’s website and decided to give it a try.  It called for Halibut.  Of which I know nothing except that they are very, very large.

When it came time to serve Alaska’s meal and I started shopping for Halibut I found myself in a dilemma.  Do I buy 5 Halibut steaks at $9.99 each from Grocery Store 1?  Do I buy one and we all share it? Do I buy a couple of pounds at $26 a pound from Grocery Store 2?  Or at $25 a pound from the local fish market?   I checked the Big Box store and they didn’t have Halibut, nor did the Warehouse store.  Grocery Store 3’s fish guy looked at me like I was crazy. 

Then I thought, what other kind of fish is Alaska known for other than salmon?  Stumped, I typed the various fish types that the grocery store did have into my phone looking for their place of origin.  I settled on Alaskan Cod, which according to my phone, was fished in the Aleutian Islands.  It happened to be on sale BOGO, so for $9.00 I got 10 Cod filets.  Perfect … until I got home with the package and it said “PRODUCT OF CHINA.”  Oh well, at least the species is found in Alaska! 

Menu:  Spicy Denali Alaska Halibut Cod, Steamed Asparagus, Sourdough bread, Individual Baked Alaska with Berry Sauce

Outcome:  We’d never had Cod before but we can compare it to Tilapia and I’ll add it to our rotation of dinner items.   The Cod was light and mild tasting, and cooked up nicely.  The spice mixture was really spicy and I ended up scraping off most of the spice layer since my mouth was on fire.  The Asparagus was yummy, and the Baked Alaska was, “The best dessert you’ve ever made,” as spoken by Ben!  As for the Sourdough bread that was to be in honor of the Alaskan Gold Rush…it’s still in the freezer.  L

Next up:  My turn to choose and I got New Jersey!

Alaska's Meal

Tour of Fifty States: Oklahoma's Meal

Oooooklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain....  Sorry but I had to!  :)

This meal was a total hit!  We'd just watched an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" where the show had traveled to a little place in OK (Tulsa, I think) that was making the same onion burgers.  Everyone was looking forward to trying these and they were just so juicy and oniony.  

Menu:  Onion Burgers, Fried Okra, Pecan Pie

Outcome:  YUM!  

Next up:  Ben chose Alaska! 

Well, I took pictures this time:  the main and side dishes while they were cooking, and the dessert after we'd jumped into the pie...but I didn't get a "pretty" picture of the plated meal or the dessert!!!  Gotta keep working on that.  I'll get it together one of these days.  :)

Tour of Fifty States: Texas' Meal

Well, we picked the states oldest to youngest, then youngest to oldest...Bill being the oldest, we needed to decide how to choose the next state.  This round will be length of each person's name!

Texas has so many good food choices, it was hard to narrow down just one main course but after a long debate, we've ended up with:

Menu:  Chili con Carne, Tortilla Chips and Salsa, and Texas Sheet Cake

Outcome:  The chili was good, the tortilla chips and salsa were good, but WOW this cake was just super delicious.  So much better than a box cake and quite easy.  Next time I make it I will half the recipe but I'm 100% making it again.  VERY good flavor and texture!

Next up:  Ben chose Oklahoma!   

This cake is SO good!!

Tour of Fifty States: Tennessee's Meal

We've had a change in our family -- my son Matthew decided to move to Florida to live with his father, so our family of 6 is now down to 5.  We decided that we are still going to continue with our Fifty States Meal plan.  Normally if one of the kids isn't with us on a weekend when a meal is planned, we postpone that meal until we're all together.  This time is different, however;  we don't know when or if he'll be rejoining our family, so onward we go.

I just haven't had the time (or energy) to get back on here and get the pictures and recipes uploaded, but I plan to be better at doing this.  Tennessee's meal was served 8/24/14.

Menu:  Memphis Dry Rub Ribs, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Tennessee Apple Stack Cake 
Outcome:  Everyone really liked the delicious Ribs and the risotto is a family favorite!  We weren't in love with the Apple Stack cake (not sweet enough?)
Next up:  Bill chose Texas!