College Cuisine: American Soul Food

So, tonight was a theme night in my college dining hall and the theme was...you guessed it "American Soul Food." Now, I had to check out the menu beforehand to get an idea of what would be served and then I realized it was typical "southern" cuisine. Never have I lived in the south, visited the south, or been served a meal by someone from the south, so this was all new to me and I was excited to try a few things I hadn't before.

Here's a run down of the menu:

• Corn on the Cob
• Collard Greens
• Fried Chicken
• BBQ Baby Back Ribs
• Stewed Black Eyed Peas with Rice
• Hush Puppies
• Spooned Bread

I looked at this and immediately noticed some things that I had no idea existed. Namely the spooned bread and hush puppies. I mean, I'd heard of hush puppies before, but had no idea what they actually were. I bit into the small, dense ball of some cornbread-looking thing only to find that it pretty much was cornbread. I hope I'm not offending any hush puppy lovers out there, but seriously, I wasn't impressed. Neither was my stomach actually. I could only eat one of the dense little bread balls to save myself for dessert! Maybe our dining hall version of this just isn't up to par. Wouldn't be the first time...

Anyway, next I moved onto the spooned bread, which again, resembled a pan of flat cornbread, just not in a ball form. By this point I was wondering why they didn't just make cornbread.  I was surprised however, and didn't think it was too bad.  I picked up sort of an eggy, salty flavor that was slightly different than the sweeter, fried flavor of the hush puppy. Meh, it's something I could live without.

Recipe from KFC here (from the Colonel himself :P)



When I saw the collard greens I almost jumped for joy! I am ashamed that this is my first time trying them, I feel like all chefs know how to cook simple collard greens. They just never looked exciting to me. I was wrong. They were great! They didn't even need a lot of flavor to them and I was happy eating them mixed with the black eyed peas/rice mixture.

After a hearty meal with my stomach full of soul, I moved on to the dessert counter and spotted what I knew I had to try: Sweet Potato Pie! Just imagine a pumpkin pie here, but darker more sweet-potato-ey. It was alright, the spices were nice, but I have an inkling the dining hall just bought a bunch of packaged pies. Oh well, it was a nice way to end the dinner.

Overall, I would have to say this dinner inspired me to try more of this southern style "soul food." I will have to experiment with collard greens myself when I get home. I'm not even sure I've seen them in our grocery store. Hm, going to have to do some hunting... Anyone have any opinions or recipes they'd like to share? I'm a good listener and I'm still looking for that first comment/follower. Come on, you know you want to be the first right? :)

Eat Hearty and Be Healthy!

Stephanie, WWT

Facebook, YouTube, and Skype! Oh my!

I found these "vintage posters" on http://www.ufunk.net/en/insolite/des-affiches-publicitaires-vintages-pour-facebook-skype-et-youtube/

I thought they were great because they look like some of the old ads from 60 or 70 years ago. Enjoy these!

Facebook

YouTube

Your films will last forever! lol

Skype

"the healthiest, most economical, and secure way to keep vigorous family bonds miles away."

Only recently did I actually use Skype for the first time. I must say it was fun to see and hear people talking on your computer screen, but I'm not sure it's completely necessary unless you're communicating long distance. Still fascinating though.

I hope you had a laugh at these, I know I did. Just think how far we've come with regard to technology and communication. You can count it as a blessing or a curse, but this innovation is amazing and ever-expanding.

Stephanie, WWT

What is American Cuisine?

I have managed to keep up with my blog twice in one week! Yay! We'll see how long that lasts...

Anyway, today got me thinking about food (naturally) and all of the diverse types of cuisine that we have here in America. I'm not necessarily talking about Panda Express and Pizza Hut kind of stuff, but real, authentic cuisine from countries all over the world. Maybe I notice it more where I live in California because my town contains families from all different backgrounds. It's a fact however, that I can choose from Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Italian, and many more restaurants that exist within a mile radius of each other.

This begs the question, what surrounds the American culture in terms of cuisine? Sure, we have thousands of pizza places across the nation, many of them chain restaurants, but we attribute their food to the Italian culture. So naturally when we think American we think hamburgers, french fries, hotdogs - cheap things you can get at any sporting event.

I truly think that the beauty of American culture is that it is so diverse. We can't make up our mind as to whether we want Chinese, Japanese, or whatever food tonight for dinner. The multitude of choices available to us make us who we are. We have the opportunity to experience other cultures here (maybe not actually authentic foreign cuisine) even if it's just by ordering some tacos at a local chain establishment. The best thing about our culinary culture is that we have influences from everyone else. Every country has a place in our nation's foodie hotspots which in turn makes us more open and respectful to others in my opinion.

These new fusion type restaurants that attempt to blend cuisines from different cultures are a blessing to people who love to try new things like me. I don't know about everyone else, but I always go into a restaurant with a mindset that urges me to look for the most unique dish on the menu. So in honor of these pioneers that seek to bring people together with food, lets all go out there and try something unique!

Last week I was fortunate to try Yucca Root, not the most common thing found in the supermarkets. I was amazed at how normal it seemed. It reminded me of a potato, perfectly seasoned with simply salt, pepper, and cilantro. It is always a splendid surprise when we find something new that can spark our interests.

Let me know what new foods you have experimented with and tried! Or if anyone has some suggestions for a new food I can try please share! I'm always looking for new ingredients to incorporate into my cooking.

Chow down on diversity America,

Stephanie, WWT