Kirk

It was sad to see Kirk go home on this week's episode of the Bachelorette, but I must say I enjoyed the hometown visit! It reminded me of when I was younger and all the animals dad had done at the taxidermist hanging around the house. Looking back on it, it was a tad creepy but totally makes me laugh. Kirk you and your dad's stuffed animals will be missed, but I am sure you will find some great Midwesterner woman back home that can appreciate it! In case you missed it...

Southern Food pt. 1

The title of my blog reflects my favorite food groups from back home and food is on my mind again. The hubby had time off this weekend and made me breakfast Sunday morning and it was so good. That got me thinking about my favorite foods from back home and from here in the south.
Beer soaked grilled brats were the meal that I requested for my birthday meals and any other special event. They are usually the highlight of my trips back, along with some fresh squeaky cheese of course! Yes I can buy brats at the stores here, it isn't the same, but that is okay it gets me by in a pinch. I have found that I have an interesting problem when I go home to the dairy land and that is how much I miss some of my favorite southern foods. Southern bbq is an entire food group itself and I am pretty sure I could eat it everyday if I could. When I go home, I have to take some of Uncle Adam's bbq with me or else I won't survive. I have to admit it is sad when you have to plan what food to take home with you. The other food that I can't live without now is biscuits and gravy. Holy moly what a wonderful creation. I am lucky that my husband makes a killer gravy, so as long as he is with me we are only a few ingredients from a yummy meal. However, should I be home with out him Cracker Barrel has yummy biscuits and gravy or Upper Crust restaurant near where I used to live has a pretty good substitute.
Now that my stomach is growling I am going to try to focus on a few non food related tasks today. 

How to celebrate cows in the south :)

I love me some beef but I love me some Chick - fil - A

http://www.cowappreciationday.com/

How we do the 4th of July

I have been chomping at this post all week. I received this picture Sunday with a caption "how we do the 4th in Wisconsin". I feel like I should have something witty to say about what it is like to celebrate the 4th back home in WI and how it is different here. I have struggled to come up with a list of things you can do here as a substitute for that which you are missing from back home.  Truth is though I don't really think there is much different. When I think about celebrating this holiday when I was in WI, we grilled out, hung out with family and friends, lit some sparklers and watched a few fireworks. Ironic how I do that very same thing here with a few differences of course. My blood family isn't here, but my own family and my friends who are like family are here and I enjoy my time with them as much as I did the clan back home. Are the things we put on the grill slightly different than back home - sure, but if you really want brats they sell Johnsonville at the local grocery store. We have fireworks and act goofy. I guess if I have to be honest, there is one thing missing, cheese curds, but you can't win 'em all right, so I deal.

I guess my philosophical view of this situation (yikes did I really just say that) is that is doesn't matter where you are, it just matters to appreciate our freedoms and remember those who have made it happen and continue to protect it. Hope you all had a happy 4th of July!

Tiger Meat

Tonight the hubby and I are watching one of our favorite shows, No Reservations. Anthony Bourdain is visiting the rust belt which includes Detroit, Baltimore and Buffalo. While in Detroit he is eating at an Iraqi restaruant and they bring something to the table that looks familiar to me. Hubby says "hey honey it's tiger meat" and sure enough it is, well at least a version of it. I am so proud of hubby because I taught him that term and he remembered it! So where did I learn about this dish and what is it are the questions we need to address.

When I was growing up we always had Christmas Eve at my grandparent's farm. Grandma made tons of little cookies, ham sandwiches, fruit and veggie plates, cheese and venison sausage spreads, and this weird thing called tiger meat. I loved our Christmas Eve meals with the exception of that meat stuff. Everyone breathe, it is not literally tiger meat but it is instead a mixture of raw, fresh beef mixed with seasonings and a binder (probably egg) and then put on crackers - seriously gross in my opinion but my family seemed to like it. I have to be honest and say I did not actually try the stuff. My mind just wouldn't allow me to. Eventually I ignored it really well or it disappeared from the menu because I don't remember it being around for quite some time. As I got older, I actually didn't know if tiger meat was what it was truly called but sure enough when you Google it, the dish I am describing pops up. I learned that it appears to have a German heritage, which is why Grandma would have made it, and very local to the Midwest states of WI, MN and the Dakotas. Good thing I am in AL now!

This is not a dish I would seek out, but it seems that there are other people and cultures that have a similar take on this meal. As a Midwesterner living in the south, I am supposed to advise you where you could seek this option out. However, this dish still gives me the heebie geebies so I won't be doing that, but I welcome anyone to share if they have any thoughts on tiger meat in the south!

It's ok when...

...you talk about someone in a not so nice way as long as you say "bless their heart" somewhere in the sentence. This is an important lesson to learn if you are going to successfully adapt to living in the south. I say that for two reasons. 1. You can talk about someone without offending anyone and 2. you can know when someone is talking about you in an offensive way. In my opinion it was more important to know when I was being talked about!

I have been doing informal research in the last two weeks about this phrase. I am told by using this phrase you have free reign to say whatever you want about a person and it is OK.  Urban dictionary list three definitions for this phrase and they coincide very well with what I found in my research (mostly).  1: phrase used by Southern women to excuse themselves for speaking ill of someone else. 2: an expression of sympathy or pity. 3: a polite way to respond to an ignoramus, particularly male, who showers upon you flattering but unwanted compliments. They even list examples for us!

1: "She's as ugly as a mud-fence, bless her heart."
2: "Well, bless your heart, that must have been terrible!"
3: drunk fella: "I think you're beautiful! Even if you were ugly, I'd STILL think you were beautiful!"
recipient: "...bless your heart."

 

My research would suggest that it is both men and women who use the phrase, not just women as the Internet says. And to think I believed everything I read on the Internet! Also, since #3 is situational and I apparently just don't have many friends who have run into this form of the phrase because it never came up but I can see how it fits in that situation as well.

There are critics who are against using this phrase. They call the disease BHHS, bless her heart syndrome, and believe it can only be used when talking negatively about someone. These critics are obviously not from the south, bless their hearts, or they would understand that it isn't just a negative phrase used to soften an insult.

*We have to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for an important announcement* I just took a work orientated phone call and the person on the other line dropped the BHHS line and I about spit out my coffee. Would have been a waste of good coffee for sure! Sorry for my random Friday ramblings. It has been a long week and my brainwaves aren't connecting all the dots, bless my heart. (sorry i couldn't resist)

OK back on track now. This is a true southernism and I actually enjoy hearing it. People in the south pride themselves on being polite and welcoming and while this phrase could be used in a very mean spirited fashion, I am lucky enough to know people who use with the best intentions at heart.

 

For a bit of humor today

A little bit more humor

Have a great 4th of July!