djbeers

I see that no one has mentioned those "machine cuisine" treats that I know as "banana flips". These are the sponge cakes that are folded like tacos, with creme filling in the middle. They have about 800 calories, with 1200 of those calories being fat and sugar <g>. But they sure are good....best with a huge cup of strong, black, coffee. Take a bite of the flip, then fill your mouth with coffee, work it around a little bit, then swallow both at the same time.

When I was stationed in the Philippines (Subic Bay) I remember we loved to get a bag of hot pandesal rolls and a jar of Cheese Whiz and eat it all up. At first I wondered why Cheese Whiz was so popular and available at just about every sari sari store. I eventually stopped wondering about it and enjoyed the fact that a piece of home was always available. I also like to get a fresh loaf of Wonder Bread and make Fluffernutters, which I guess were most kid's first "bizarre bits between bread". Marshmallow Fluff is not available in my area of the south, so I have to order it from King Arthur Flour's website. And it has to be Fluff.

I am partial to Boar's Head and Sabrett's. Nathan's are a close third. Being in the south, I have to get Sabrett's via FedEx. I prefer them fried up in a little oil, with spicy mustard (I am partial to Mr. Mustard hot style), a good-sized pile of chopped raw onion, and maybe a little sweet relish to balance out the hot mustard. I like to toast the rolls. I don't understand the mayo and ketchup people. My wife does this. My son does the yellow mustard and ketchup deal. I have seen people order meatball subs with mayo (well, it was a Subway). This was quite unnerving. But at times I like to put two dogs in rolls on a plate, cover it with canned chili with beans, dump on some onion, and cover the whole mess with sharp cheddar. This is then broiled to a bubbly, browned finish and then devoured using a knife and fork. Cheap American beer is a natural with it. Please don't tell anyone.

Hmmm, Stouffer's. I've always liked Stouffer's. I keep several of their offerings in the freezer. My favorite is macaroni and beef - probably because it reminds me of Mom's "goulash".

How about crudite? "Yeah, I'll have the crew dites appetizer."

For half-time: Barbecue - aka pulled pork sandwiches (I am smoking the boston butt today). Baked beans Cole Slaw For snacking before and during the game: Smoked Chicken Nachos (the chicken is being smoked today too) Stuffed Mushrooms Crudites and dips For drinks: Assorted beers Frozen daiquiris Champagne

I remember watching that show when Bourdain ate the cobra heart. It sure beat my unusual eats, which are bested by many in this thread and mine aren't really that strange to begin with: chicken feet and balut - both of which I ate with some regularity (ha ha) in the Philippines when I was stationed there in the 70's. Tossing down some White Castle whiskey with the balut helped immensely.

Many white families in Alabama include macaroni and cheese with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Potato salad too. As a "damn yankee" I still don't understand it, even after 20 years of living down here. Sometimes the menu looks more like a picnic than a sit-down dinner. The family I married into feels cheated if someone forgets to bring the macaroni or the tater salad to the family get-together. Me? I have to bring my own turnips and bread dressing (I don't care for cornbread dressing) to the meal. I always get suspicious looks. As for "meat and three"......we have many places around here (north Alabama) that also go with a "meat and two". And many include sweet tea with the plate lunch. Most of these places seem to do land office business from around 10am to 1pm. Dave

It is sultry in the summer, but definitely not in the winter.....at least in north Alabama. 58 degrees when I woke up this morning. A cold front is moving through and it is now 43. Sunday we will be lucky to get above freezing. Summers are typically in the 80's to 90's, with high humidity. Enough for the weather report! There are no special ice cream desserts around here, summer or otherwise. Most people just eat it straight. However, I am willing to bet that southerners are more apt to make homemade ice cream as opposed to people in other parts of the U.S. I think everyone I know has an ice cream bucket (both hand-cranked and electric).

Thank you! I have been reading hollyeats.com for a couple years and just recently realized there were forums! I also am familiar with Invision forum software - my forum (www.sealettercruiseforum.com) uses it. Even when the city of Athens Alabama was dry it was easy to get booze. And I don't mean taking the 10 mile drive to the Madison County line, where several liquor stores are conveniently located. <g> Each of those private stores are licensed to sell beer, wine, and liquor. They also sell 7 days a week, which means they still get Athens business on Sundays. <g> There are still many bootleggers around here. Indeed, some people still use them even though they can legally buy booze in town. Why? Because some bootleggers deliver.

As an upstate NY boy, I have never fully grasped the big deal about holiday desserts in the south. I have lived in Alabama since 1984. My northern life included the usual pies for holidays (poet, no?)........mincemeat, apple, and pumpkin. My mother was quite reknowned for her apple pie, which she always made with macintosh apples and a crust that was soooooo tender. Lord, I miss those pies. For the past 19 years of wedded bliss in north Alabama, my mother-in-law has always had a 3-layer caramel cake at every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I like this cake very much. I never heard of it until I moved south. This is among about 7 or 8 different pies and cakes. My wife is always called upon to bring one of her famous red velvet cakes. I personally don't care for the red velvet - too sweet - but everyone else raves about it. There is always a pecan pie or two, a couple of cream pies, and of course a big container of "nanner puddin". Dave

I ordered an aged country ham from Burger's Smokehouse for the holidays. Now that is a ham that reaches out and slaps you! Not for the meek. I am working up the nerve to get one of their attic-aged jobbies. Man, I'll bet that is stout! Happily, I married into a southern family that knows their way around a kitchen, and they know what good ham tastes like. While it was good with the formal dinner, the best part to me was having some fried the next morning and eating it with homemade biscuits and some pan (red-eye) gravy. I had to take an extra blood-pressure pill afterwards, but it was worth it. Dave

For those who asked about Alabama liquor laws.... It is a state run thing. The state has retail and wholesale ABC stores. These sell only liquor and fortified wine. Private liquor stores are allowed, if local ordinance approves of them, but they must buy their stock from the state. There are many "local option" rules. For instance, a city of a minimum size can vote to go wet but the surrounding county can be dry. But if a county goes wet, all the cities inside it's borders are automatically wet. There are many dry counties in Alabama, mostly in the central part of the state. By act of the legislature, and with approval by a local vote, a city or county can be allowed to have liquor sales on Sunday. These are exemptions to the state law that says no sales can be done on Sunday. The larger cities all have gone to Sunday sales because of tourism business. Some counties can sell on Sunday. It is crazy at times. I live a couple miles from Madison County, in which the city of Huntsville exists. Madison County has the most liberal liquor laws in the state. Sunday sales, both for on-premises and take-out sales. Kegs are legal in Madison County (as opposed to most of the rest of the state). You can buy a can of beer or a case or more. A bottle of booze or a trunkload. Same for wine. Any day of the week. There are bars, lounges, dozens of private stores, whatever. On the other hand, my town of Athens just went wet last year. The county (Limestone) is still dry, but the city of Athens annexed some places that are really outside of the traditional city limits and guess what? That's right. Those annexed places were made part of the city so businesses in the annexed areas can sell booze (tax money!). No stand-alone bars are allowed though. No private liquor stores are allowed. Beer and wine can be sold by grocery stores and convenience stores, and one lone beer store. But they can sell both beer and wine, and their is no minimum purchase, so you can buy singles or sixers as well as cases. Liquor can only be sold at the lone state-run store. Bars can only exist in restaurants, and those establisments must have 70% (I think) of the sales from food. I am originally from upstate NY. I also was stationed in PA for a couple years (Willow Grove). I well remember PA's silly laws. Believe it or not, Alabama liquor laws are generally more liberal than those in Pennsylvania. But then again, about half of Alabama is legally dry. But you can possess booze in dry counties. An adult can have one case of beer and 5 quarts of liquor and/or wine in their possession in a dry county and it is legal. Dave