More yummy goodness

I can tell you since i moved south there are two restaurants that i really miss getting to eat at. The first is Perkins, oh what i wouldn't give for their breakfast and a blueberry muffin. The second and most important is Culvers. Oh how i miss Culvers. We will talk about this more in an upcoming post but today I was reminded of Culvers when i saw this coupon. They are famous for their butter burgers. It makes me drool just thinking about it. Well Steak 'n Shake has a Wisconsin butter burger substitute. Though it isn't the same, if you are in the south where Culvers has not yet moved, this burger is a good start. Now if i could just find some lemon ice...

Spotted

One of the things I promised was to post when I find Wisconsin related items (usually food) available here. Last weekend the hubby and I went out to lunch at a nearby sports bar and I found this on the menu. While it really is only the Wisconsin dog because it has lots of cheese on it, I appreciated that they gave credit to the good ole dairy state!

Vocabulary lesson for the day

So is it a buggy or a cart? I am not sure why but in the south a shopping cart is referred to as a buggy. Sure I had heard the term back home but not in common usage like it is here. I have actually had people correct me when I called it a cart. When you look up the term buggy as a quick internet search, you end up with things horses pull, things you put babies in and fun machines you drive on sand dunes.  In comparison when you look up cart it shows thing obviously intended to be used to carry items not people in.

Interestingly more research shows that the original shopping cart was named a "Folding Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores" in the late 1930s and early 1940s when the patent was applied for. Men didn’t like them because they were girly and women did not like them because they seemed to mimic a baby “buggy”.  Ahhh there is that buggy thing again. No matter that they were not received well at the beginning, they have obviously caught on since they are at just about every store in some form or fashion these days.

To me the comparison to a baby buggy seems to make sense and is a very acceptable reason to call it a buggy rather than a cart. I do find it interesting though that even Wikipedia lists the South as the only region other than Pittsburgh in the US that calls it a buggy. Either way I really have no preference one way or the other as long as people take the time to put them away when they are finished using them!

What’s in a Name?

Trying to be creative and come up with a title is something I struggled with all the way back to high school English class. The pressure to come up with a good name or title is such a big deal and can be very stressful. I have to admit I got lucky with the title of the blog. It started out as a conversation about some of my favorite foods from back home and then someone said to me “hey that’s a great name for a blog”. Beer, Brats and Squeaky Cheese was born. Now I will have to admit if you put this food on one side of the table and put a plate of southern bbq and biscuits with gravy on the other side, I have no idea which one I would pick! But that just seemed like a lot of words for a title so I stuck with the Wisconsin food, plus I have a great diagram to go with it!

Getting Started

After many long months of talking about writing my blog, I have finally decided to actually do it. So why a blog? Truthfully I am not sure there is just one answer to this but “because I want too” seems to be the best answer I have. I was born and raised a Wisconsinite for my first 22 years and am now a transplant in Alabama. I have lived life as a Midwesterner (we will talk about this term later) and as a Southerner and I love them both. So Beer, Brats, and Squeaky Cheese (BBSC for short) is my way of sharing my love of Wisconsin and my love of the south. But more importantly it is my diary of the things I have learned about living in the south and maybe somewhere down the line it will help someone else out with their transition. Or at least provide some humor as I retell the stories of the mistakes I have made while learning to live in the south.

What will we be talking about on BBSC? Well there are a few categories that are really important to me and I will cover on a regular basis. Food is a very important topic here! Vocabulary lessons just like back in school. Who doesn’t love a good social event right, can’t wait to get to these. Finally we have the miscellaneous categories the include behaviors, stereotypes, products, history and the best topic of all – guest bloggers. That’s right folks, now my friends, family, coworkers and even husband can use this as a place to discuss anything related to living in the Midwest or the South, even if it means making fun of my accent.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I have!