W4- "American" Food

When I think about "American" food my first thought is food stolen from other countries and then Americanized. A great example would be the Mexican food that we eat in places like Taco Bell, it really doesn't taste like authentic Mexican food. Also, the United States of America is a young country and most popular foods that are eaten here where eaten long before the United States gained its independence. So most of the foods included in such a menu would be stolen, slightly altered foods from other cultures.

My menu would definitely include a lot of meat. The first item would be a juicy 16ounce New York Strip. It would be prepared with a lot of garlic and spices so there would be no need for steak sauce. This would be served with the choice of either a baked potato or a serving of mashed potatoes. It would also come with a dinner roll similar to those served at Bob Evan's.

That meal alone would be enough for me, but for those who aren't feeling steak I would include the following to the menu:

• Grilled Chicken
• Country Fried Steak
• Chicken Salad
• Chicken Alfredo
• Spaghetti with Meat Sauce 
• Turkey with Homemade Noodles and Gravy (No American menu could be complete without a Thanksgiving meal.)
• Barbecue Ribs
• Grilled Chicken and Bacon Sandwich (with Swiss Cheese, Onions, Lettuce and Barbecue Sauce) 

For the sides options I would include:

• Mac'n'Cheese
• Rolls
• Mashed Potatoes
• Baked Potato
• Corn (on and off the cob)
• Green Beans (with bacon)
• Peas
• Onion Rings
• Sweet Potato

The dessert section would feature the following:

• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Birthday Cake
• Apple Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Chocolate Pie
• Pumpkin Pie
• Milkshakes (Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry)

The beverages would be the normal restaurant options:

• Sweet or Unsweetened Tea
• Coca-Cola products
• Water
• Lemonade or Pink Lemonade
• Budweiser
• Bud Light

Overall, I think that would give a fairly decent representation of what American's like to eat when they go out for dinner. Obviously this doesn't represent a portion of the public that is vegetarian or vegan but I think the majority of Americans would be satisfied to see this menu if they went out to dinner.

W3- Teachers

The person that has taught me the most when it comes to cooking is easily my mother. I have also learned a few things from my grandmas and aunts, the older generations. I have tried to learn from my girlfriends, but to be honest those lessons have been more detrimental to my cooking knowledge than helpful (probably why to this point I have chosen to stay unmarried). Another place I was supposed to learn about cooking was my World Foods class in high school. Unfortunately, I didn't pay very close attention and therefore have no idea how to prepare the African, European or South American foods we made in that class. But the teacher and the lesson that I remember best comes from my all-time favorite movie The Sandlot.

The scene takes place in the team's clubhouse (a treehouse built overlooking the sandlot) while the boys are having a camp out to explain to the new kid, Scott Smalls, why he can't climb over the fence to retrieve lost baseballs. However, the best thing Smalls (and myself) learned in this scene was the proper way to make s'mores.

The lesson starts with Hamilton "The Babe" Porter asking Smalls if he wants a s'more, to which Smalls replies "Some more of what?" To this Porter repeats his question while pointing to the ingredients on the table. Smalls still clueless answers, "I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

The second reply clearly hits Porter's last nerve as he swallows and then exclaims "You're killing me, Smalls! These are s'more stuff. Ok? Pay attention. First, you take the graham. You stick the chocolate on the graham.  Then, you roast the mallow. When the mallow's flamin' you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then, you stuff."

I'll admit this scene wasn't the first time I was given instructions on how to make a s'more, but it is how I remember now. Plus every person that I have ever taught to make s'mores has heard a loosely quoted version of these instructions.

In closing I am sure that anyone who reads this would shout a "You're killing me, Smalls!" if I didn't include a video of this scene, so here it is.

W2- Family Food Cultures

Although it could be bought at any restaurant, gas station or convenience store the food/drink that is most important and divisive in my family is the sweet tea. We are not a southern family, both of my parents and I graduated from Federal Hocking High School. I have spent basically my entire life in Athens County, but sweet tea is still a mainstay in our house.

Interestingly enough out of the seven inhabitants of 5700 Gursslin Road only two drink it: me and my father. But no matter what if you open the refrigerator at our house you will always see a pitcher of sweet tea (maybe not always, but if you don’t see one turn around, either someone is pouring a drink or there is a pitcher being made). I quit drinking pop (proof I’m not from the south) three years ago and have since became a strict “water and tea guy.” I don’t mind drinking water when I’m thirsty, but when it’s time to eat I have to have sweet tea.

Mom usually makes the sweet tea because she pretty much dominates the kitchen, however when given the chance (and the desire) dad and I will take a crack at making it. This diversity in makers leads to a diversity in taste. Mom’s recipe for two liters is one and a half cups of sugar and six tea bags, while dad likes it stronger (and cares less about the cost) so he uses nine tea bags. The real difference is with me. Because my only other option is water I like my sweet tea to be more of a snack or sorts, so I add another ¼ cup of sugar and usually rest somewhere in the middle with eight tea bags.

No matter who makes it one thing stays the same, it’s great. A cold (refrigerated not filled chilled by ice, it dulls the flavor) glass of sweet tea with lunch or dinner (or sometimes breakfast, if I get up late enough) can be the best part of my day. If I know I won’t be home for a meal I bring alone a bottle of tea to drink with my meal. When I lived away from home for my first two years of college my apartment always had tea ready to go. I don’t feel a meal is complete without the sweet chill of tea washing over my mouth and down my throat carrying whatever my saliva didn’t pick up with it on the way to my stomach. Maybe that description didn’t work for you, but it does for me, just like the McCune family sweet tea.

W1- Remembering Home

As with most families, there are several dinnertime favorites in the McCune household. But the one that sticks out to me the most is mom’s chicken pot pie. This food jumps to the front of my mind for several reasons; the main one may be that I haven’t had a plate of hot, steamy pot pie in a while, or that it just brings back so many memories.

The crust is the key to mom’s pot pie. It’s the same homemade crust she makes on all her apple and pecan pies that garner so much praise around the holidays. The crust is flaky on the top, but underneath where the crust meets the broth it becomes somewhat chewy, not unlike the center of a perfectly baked cookie. The interesting part about the crust is that you would heat up leftover pot pie for the next two or three days and it would still be good, not the crust perfection it was fresh but still better than most.

The inside of the pot pie is pretty basic, a simple broth, shredded chicken, carrots, potatoes and peas. But over the years the insides have changed a bit. I have always hated peas; I was also a stubborn child who would refuse to eat foods I didn’t like. So, after pot pie meals you could often find peas on the floor around my dinner seat that I had “accidentally” dropped off of my plate. Then as my older brother and I got older and began eating more one batch of pot pie wasn’t enough so mom started making a “pea free” pot pie just for me. When I found out about this invention I was excited because now I could eat my favorite dinner without painstaking searching through my plate to make sure I removed every last pea.

Over the years I have grown out of my selfish pickiness and man-up, put on my big boy pants and eat the peas that cover the pot pie. However, mom still doesn’t get a break because two of my three little siblings refuse to eat carrots in their pot pie. Perhaps it’s because mom makes the best pot pie ever. Maybe it’s because everyone in my family loves a good crust with broth, chicken and potatoes enough to put up with carrots and peas. Or it could be because mom keeps adapting it to keep everyone happy. Whatever the reason chicken pot pie will always be a meal that will bring back memories of home.