2008.11.30
I did NOT "slather"!
For those faithful readers who give me good-natured guff about my lack of appreciation for unsugared grits and sweet tea:
I had biscuits and gravy this Thanksgiving weekend. Granted, it was that prefab stuff at a Bob Evans in suburban Detroit.
I carefully pried my biscuits apart with a fork and spooned my sausage gravy on top. Then I cut the bread into small, bite-size pieces and ate it with my fork. No slathering.
Does this weekend indulgence improve my "southern" cred or am I still a hopeless "Yankee"?
doesn't matter what you eat, and it certainly shouldn't matter WHAT you eat, i think everyone is just jealous that you get paid to write about what and how you eat, and they don't, i was born in Georgia and raised in Virginia and about as backwoods as you can possibly be, but i still eat with a fork
Comment by chrissy — November 30, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
You're getting there!
Comment by Debbie — December 1, 2008 @ 10:22 am
Shanna,
Biscuits and gravy at a Bob Evan's is getting there, even if it WAS in Detroit. You couldn't help where you were born and raised, you got down South as soon as you could. While by local definition you are a d*** Yankee (definition of a d*** Yankee, one who moves south of the Mason/Dixon line and remains here, a plain ol' Yankee is one who visits and goes back up yonder to wherever it is they came from), live here long enough and the Yankee-ness begins to wear off and eventually your Northern relatives will start to kid you about your Southerness. Especially the first time they hear you use the word "ya'll"......
Comment by Purvis Ledbetter — December 1, 2008 @ 11:39 am
As a hopeless Yankee myself, I freely admit and declare that I prefer my biscuits without gravy at all...I slather butter and am proud of it. I'll even go so far as to say that I don't like sausage gravy. Let the insults fly!
Comment by heatherfroeschl — December 1, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
Well Shanna...I hate to say this ....I think you may still be a Yankee.....in the South we "spoon" nothing on anything....we POUR.....DROWN....COVER....cause it to do the back stroke etc......but we never just SPOON anything on! LOL
Comment by reed — December 1, 2008 @ 4:06 pm
I believe you'd fit in almost anywhere.
Comment by Mike — December 2, 2008 @ 2:44 am
Not just your eating habits but your stands on local issues.and references to "Yankeeland"..prove you are indeed a "hopeless yankee"you know what they say..well no I guess you dont"..the only thing we want to give a Yankee down here is a Bus ticket home.....Ill pay if youll stay..
Comment by R Gibbons — December 2, 2008 @ 7:51 am
No not hopeless but we will bring you around it just takes time to get there. Happy holidays
Comment by charlie — December 2, 2008 @ 9:49 am
Shanna, I was born in Georgia and grew up in southern Virginia, with exception to a few years spent living outside of Detroit and in Italy before I was 5. I do not drink sweet tea at all, I just can't stand that much sugar in a drink unless it's an ice-cold Coke. I also don;t sugar my coffee, for the same reason. I can tell you that once someone masters the art of biscuit making and cooking a good sausage gravy, anything from a restaurant or store falls extremely short and isn;t worth the bother most times, unless you're on the road, extremely hungry, and all you have is napkins and ketchup packets in your car. As for grits, I'll take them numerous ways: salt & butter, with some cheese, and every so often with a touch of maple syrup. It mostly depends on what I feel like doing that morning, but grits are pretty good for breakfast if they're cooked right and not too thick or soupy. Again, it's an art form. Andother good breakfast staple we do often at my house is white rice, usually with a little butter and sugar. I added some chipotle hot sauce to mine for a kick, and it's a darn tasty addition to any breakfast plate.
Comment by Other John — December 2, 2008 @ 10:08 am
Shanna,
It all depends...could you still see the biscuit after you "spooned" the gravy on? You can eat with a fork...you don't have to sop up the gravy (is that what you meant to say instead of "slather"?)...Just as long as you slather the gravy on. tee yee
Slather it on, sop it up. But a fork is okay, too.
There's a Bob Evans in Detroit??
You're right--I didn't sop OR slather! (There was leftover gravy.) And Ed S., don't be patronizing to your northern countrymen: OF COURSE we have Bob Evanses!! We have to get our biscuit and gravy fix SOMEWHERE cuz you know we're not going to make it from scratch!--s
Comment by Ed S. — December 2, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
R. Gibbons: You don't have to pay for her to stay. "Y'all elect me Guv'nor and I'll go down there and stand in the door if she tries to leave" hahahahahahahaha
Comment by Percy Kution — December 2, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
Although they serve "southern" sytle entrees, Bob Evans is based in Gallipolis, OH (well, that IS in the "southern" part of Ohio, close enough I guess). Problem is, they are d*** good at it. Oh, well. At least Shanna made the effort, no matter how she went about it, she tried. Maybe she should try eating at a Cracker Barrel? They are at least truly a southern chain, based out of Tennessee...... For those reading all these posts and wondering why all the fuss, ever hear anybody bragging about Norhtern/Yankee cooking or dishes? NOT......
Comment by Purvis Ledbetter — December 3, 2008 @ 10:21 am
Well with people threatening to ship Yankees out of town, who would dare brag about Northern cooking? Me! I learned a mean goulash recipe living up in Vermont, some hearty German recipes growing up on Long Island, and can appreciate the nuances of New York pizza and bagels. Funny enough, every meal I've had at Cracker Barrel has so seriously reminded my of my New Yorker, German stock grandma's cooking that I felt I had to clean the plate or I couldn't leave the table (she was very strict). Not sure how far down the Scotch-Irish and German settlers came, though the Shenandoah Valley seems to have been a major settling area, but those folks started out living in New York and Pennsylvania. Perhaps the traditional recipes in some southern homes are really northern? Hmmm? Pass the butter please; the only gravy I like is beef or turkey flavored.
Comment by Heather Froeschl — December 3, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
Well, it's time to set me straight. What "original" dishes come from the "nawth"?
I've heard there are few original American food/dishes. The only two I can think of offhand are barbecue (which I believe is southern as I heard it originated from slaves slow-cooking the tough cuts of meat they were given), and cranberries (which come from bogs). And I just read on Wikipedia (not an authoritative source, but good for some things) that cranberries are a major crop of northern states. So I guess we're 50/50.
Most of the "northern" dishes I know are imports from other cultural dishes. Irish (potato cakes), German, Greek, etc. What do we have other than barbecue? "Snack cakes"?
Shanna, didn't mean to insult anyone about the Bob Evans comment. I noticed something interesting one trip back to Roanoke to visit family. We often go to the McDonald's at the intersection of King St and Orange Ave(? where Kroger used to be) for breakfast, as my mother-in-law rarely gets it. They have biscuits and gravy on the menu there. It is nowhere to be found on the menu at any of the McD's I've been to here in nawthn VA. I just didn't see anyone with a "fix" for biscuits and gravy in the Detroit area. But again, I've never been there.
First of all, Ed S., you didn't insult. I was just sticking it back to you. As for fine northern cuisine, haven't you heard of coney dogs!? How's about Philly cheesesteaks? Help me out, fellow Northerners!--s
Comment by Ed S. — December 3, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
I've spent some time in Manhattan and there's no better pizza on earth than Ray's at West 57th or Sixth Ave and 11th St. West. The carnegie deli easily beats most southern food, Il Cortille is the best Italian cuisine around and if you like Chinese the choices are endless. Top your meal off with a canoli from Balduccis at 6th ave and ninth street west. If steaks and seafood are your weakness, try Ben Benson's, the Palms or Palms2, the Four Seasons and many more. I once read that if you ate in a different restaurant in Manhattan each day (not counting turnover of establishments) you'd be 63 years old before you dined in one twice. Avoid Mamma Leone's the Stage and most of the uptown eighth avenue "establishments".
Comment by Mike — December 4, 2008 @ 3:21 am
Having a wife who is a Long Island native, I should have known better. How could I also forget "New York Pizza", which is not unlike sweet tea in that it is apparently in a separate category. ("Yeah, that pizza is okay, but its not New York Pizza".)
Comment by Ed S. — December 4, 2008 @ 7:12 am