120714 Mon May 27 13:46:22 -0700 2002 11 8 Midwest 0 657858 Hello, I'm writing a cookbook on American food for a French publisher (I live in Paris!) and would like to know what you all think of when you see or want to eat family style midwestern food. Thank you very much in advance. Mon May 27 13:46:22 -0700 2002 0 Sheila from Paris 1 657862 i suggest you scroll around this board or the chicago board for your answer. just please don't ask any of your east or west coast publishing friends for their opinions, see it here for yourself. when i was a kid, my mom made us family style hungarian meals on the weekends. Mon May 27 17:04:42 -0700 2002 657858 0 mrnyc 2 657864 The Amana Colonies in and around Amana IA. One place in particular comes to mind, The Colony Inn. Delicious family style breakfasts! Mon May 27 17:32:41 -0700 2002 657862 0 whitney 3 658082 Whitney - You took the words right out of my mouth! I love breakfasts at The Colony Inn. In fact, I've left Kansas City at 4 a.m. in order to arrive in Amana in time for breakfast there. Basically, you just tell the waitress what you want for a beverage (coffee, tea, milk, soda) and the rest goes from there. Glasses of orange juice appear on the table. A big bowl of fresh fruit cut into bite-sized pieces. A platter of sunny-side up fried eggs (that taste like they were just taken from the hen house!), a platter of marvelous, incredible Amana bacon and sausage. A big bowl of home fries. And plate-sized buttermilk pancakes. Toast and jelly, too. I first went to the Amana Colonies as a child in 1953 when my dad started college in nearby Iowa City. Going to the Colonies, either to Colony Inn for breakfast or to the other restaurants for lunch or dinner, was always a treat. In those days, our very favorites for lunch and dinner were Bill Zuber's (in Homestead), The Ox-Yoke Inn and The Ronneburg (both in Amana), but, I am sorry to report, in the past dozen years or so, all three of those establishments have deteriorated greatly, in my opinion. They cater more to the tourbus crowd now with easy in-and-out service. It used to be we could get the most incredible homemade cottage cheese (unbelieveably good!) and lots of homemade entrees. The last few times I've been to any of them, I got weinerschnitzel that was pre-fab formed blocks of tasteless pre-breaded meat and gluey gravy and potato flake "mashed" potatoes. They didn't even serve a lemon wedge with the weinerschnitzel and looked at me funny when I asked for it. But the breakfasts at The Colony Inn remain fabulous! Thu Jun 13 09:11:33 -0700 2002 657864 0 The Colony Inn - Amana, Iowa 1 657868 If you can consider Oklahoma midwestern, I expect some of the following - fried chicken, rolls or bread & butter sandwiches, mashed potatoes and gravy, baked beans, corn salad, potato salad, fried okra, corn on the cob, pickled beets or corn relish or chow-chow or pickled baby okra - something pickled. In the summer, great ripe tomatoes and sliced onions in vinegar & sugar. And pie. More than one kind. Ideally, Lemon meringue and pecan. Mon May 27 20:15:52 -0700 2002 657858 0 Betty 1 657873 Sunday dinner, usually at Mormor & Grandpa's house. My aunts and uncle would pick the beans, corn, and green onions and I would clean them on the porch steps. This was in the far western suburbs of Chicago in the 70's. Since it was a big family there was often a roast of beef or pork with gravy and potatoes. And yes, pie, unless it was somebody's birthday. Then it was cake with frosting made of butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract...mmm...thanks for bringing it up! Mon May 27 23:16:11 -0700 2002 657858 0 cleo 1 657875 Fried chicken, of course! Mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh green beans cooked with slab bacon or smoked ham hocks. In summer, warm German potato salad or cold potato salad with a homemade mayonaise. Corn on the cob if in season. For dessert a peach cobbler. Yikes! I've made myself very hungry. Good luck with your book. Tue May 28 11:54:13 -0700 2002 657858 0 N. Patrick 1 657878 My initial thought is meat and potatoes....roast chicken and roasted potatoes; ham and au gratin potatoes; beef stew; pot roast and potatoes or wide noodles. A green veggie --green beans or broccoli, a nice mixed salad or sliced tomatoes in the summer. Cookies, brownies or pie for dessert. Tue May 28 15:20:40 -0700 2002 657858 0 berkleybabe 1 657895 Sheila, You've got a big topic, in no small part because of it's vagueness. Although it gets lumped as one thing, the Midwest is not one homogeneous block. I was raised in Iowa and was never quite convinced Ohio was actually part of the Midwest (and I'm sure they felt the same about Iowans). Nebraskans are never quite sure where the Midwest ends and the Great Plains begin and a lot of folks don't even make that distinction. Covering a lot of distance, there are subtle regional differences that are worth seeking out. That said, here's the kinds of things I remember from my farm youth. Lunches were often a social event. At times (especially during things like baling or shelling out a corn crib) there were neighbors and farmhands to feed. It varied with the season. Sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly, salami, egg salad, etc.), cold fried chicken, sliced tomatoes, celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese, carrots, cottage cheese, sliced cucumbers and onions soaked in vinegar, lemonade, soda, ice tea, and coffee -- always coffee. In the afternoon there might coffeecake and coffee. On the farm, miles from a tiny grocery store, you often ate what you grew in the garden. Spring: Asparagus, rhubarb crisp, (rhubarb stalks dipped in sugar was a kid's snack), peas, radishes, spinach, sometimes morels if we found them. Summer: cucumbers (we had so many we used to have fights with them), tomatoes, green beans, raspberries, green peppers, and of course sweet corn, green onions, sometimes gooseberries. Fall: Apples, pears, baked and pureed squash, grapes (not often), black walnuts (too much work), cabbage. In the winter (and throughout the year) we ate more canned foods -- peaches, pears and fruit cocktail were treats, sauerkraut, canned peas and green beans, cabbage, etc. There were always potatoes, bread, cookies, coffeecakes, pickles, jams, and jellies (homemade and storebought). Sunday dinner (in the afternoon) was a family event. Sometimes it was fried chicken, but a lot times it was a pork roast or pork chops and sauerkraut. (In Iowa you eat a lot of pork. We raised hogs and sheep.) A fish casserole that was supposed to be trout almondine -- it was frozen fish baked in a tomato sauce and topped with almonds. Along with this you usually had some boiled vegetable -- beans, peas, spinach with vinegar, beets, corn (on the cob in season), lima beans, succotash -- potatoes and gravy, bread, pie, apple crisp, or ice cream for desert. Wednesday church suppers were another frequent event. This meant bring a dish to pass -- lots of casseroles. Tuna noodle casserole -- canned tuna, peas, cream of mushroom soup. Green bean casserole -- frenched beans, cream of mushroom (or celery) soup, French's fried onions. Mexican casserole. Spanish rice stuffed into baked bell peppers. Fishing meant fried bullhead, perch, bluegills and sometimes catfish, rarely bass or walleye. Salads could be anything and often involved boiled dressing -- peas and cubed cheese in boiled dressing. Potato salad (with eggs and mayo), jello salads. Jello showed up in lots of ways -- jello with cottage cheese added, jello with canned fruit, jello with little marshmallows. This is running really long, so here's a few more short bits -- meatloaf, beef stew, chili with ground beef and beans, spaghetti (often rather sweet), fish stick sandwiches, leg of lamb, lamb curry (curry powder, white sauce, and lots of celery), watermelons, and of course ice cream. If I can help any more feel free to email me directly. David "Zeb" Cook Wed May 29 09:14:58 -0700 2002 657858 0 David "Zeb" Cook 1 657900 Check out the link to the link here for White Fence Farm, southwest of Chicago. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/109843#592377 Wed May 29 13:27:43 -0700 2002 657858 0 Bruce 1 657984 Altho in Pennsylvania, not in the midwest, my family's eating traditions match many mentioned here. I am wondering if it's more of a farm-family thing than strictly midwestern? Anyway, my two bits to add: sunday dinners, always around noon, always cooked by my grandmother, consisting of fresh cooked veggies from the garden served alongside fried chicken or some roast or other that Grandma began cooking before church, mounds of potatoes and the best gravy ever, loaves of fresh baked bread and soft butter, salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and onions in a creamy vinegar dressing, multiple berry pies and ice cream, and the sun streaming in the dining room window as people sat, filled their plates, ate and were invariably eventually replaced by someone who arrived late and just as hungry, Grandma refilling and relacing bowls of food from a seemingly endless supply in the kitchen. Also, by afternoon Grandma was making huge piles of sandwiches from whatever meat was dinner, supplementing it with potato salad, sliced tomatoes, and the most amazing cole slaw with pineapple, more bread and jam and homemade apple butter. I remain convinced that she could cause food to multiply, loaves-and-fishes like, just by being near it. Anyway, I guess if I could sum it up, the words that best descripe the family-style dinner are delicious, bountiful, and nurturing. Wed Jun 05 15:19:51 -0700 2002 657858 0 shannon 1 658083 Check out Judith Fertig's book Prairie Home Cooking: 400 Recipes That Celebrate the Bountiful Harvests, Creative Cooks, & Comforting Foods of the American Heartland from Harvard Common Press. She's also written Prairie Home Breads: 150 Splendid Recipes from America’s Breadbasket, same publisher. Link: http://www.harvardcommonpress.com/Cooking/prairie.html Thu Jun 13 09:18:57 -0700 2002 657858 0 Jane