JinJer: Return of the "Crotch V" (Yes, PANTS!)

[bekkah]

15 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

I can't speak for Nebraska because I never spent much time there, but I think in Iowa you have to look to find good restaurants outside of Des Moines/Ames/Iowa City.  Shortly after we started dating, Mr. GuineaPig and I went to Minneapolis and I remember him saying "I didn't know food could taste this good!" at dinner.  His mom is a very mediocre cook, though, so maybe that's a good chunk of it.

Minneapolis has a food scene that is starting to rival New York. Good food is everywhere, and I enjoy it! 

[OyToTheVey]

I live in NYC and our produce is fresh. I don't think people realize that just because we live compact that we all live on top of each other. There is more than just Manhattan. I don't commute for 2 hours. I live approximately 7 minutes drive from work. My apartment building faces the Atlantic Ocean in Brooklyn, and all my groceries are from small mom and pop Eastern European stores. I don't have to drive 5 miles to get them either. Mostly everything is shipped from NJ or upstate that same day. And we do have fresh picking places around here. 

So please don't fight stereotypes with other stereotypes. I've been to a great number of Midwest places. I can honestly say I don't particularly want or need to go back to Oklahoma but I have friends in Indiana and Illinois and they live in great places. Then again if you're on the East Coast, there's places here you don't want to go to either. 

[Chickenbutt]

I grew up in Los Angeles. My mother was and is a horrible cook. I ate frozen food and canned food. Never did I eat a fresh green bean. I grew up and started eating great food there, of all kinds since LA is such a melting pot. Eventually moved to Oklahoma. New food all around. Leaned to make chicken fried steak, fried okra and chicken and dumplings. Leaned what a fresh green bean was and how to cook it. Food I had never heard of before. Now living in AZ, with frequent travels to New Mexico, I embrace Mexican food, green chili from Hatch, New Mexico, Mexican spices etc. You never know what you will get at my house for dinner.....Chicken fried steak, mashed taters and gravy, green beans one night, green chili enchiladas the next, or what I call fou-fou food, Rosemary Chicken with Brussel sprouts baked with parmesan. My point is, all areas of the country/world have regional specialties that they are known for. You can either embrace the food of the area or stick to what you know and love. One is not better than the other, but adventure in food is just fun!

[Lurker]

There is great food all around the USA if you are willing to eat outside your comfort zone.  By that I mean embrace the best of the local food scene.

Instead of a hotel bagel in the morning in Louisville KY I found a small 3rd generation deli/bakery that made amazing German style baked goods.  

I ate pizza  near Sarasota FL as part of a group dinner  was disappointed.  But every other night I ate in local seafood places and was blown away by the taste, freshness and quality of the food.  

In Kansas City, MO I tried a different BBQ place every night of my stay.  Again, great food.  

When I visit San Francisco I eat sour dough bread not bagels.

 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

6 hours ago, amandaaries said:

I'm not sure if the best way to build your argument is to attack the opposing side on such an unnecessarily vicious level, nor to paint with such a very broad brush.  The experiences you describe about city living are certainly not universal, nor is anyone being "stupid" by living in a small, environmentally superior space.

But if you were hoping to disprove something about Midwestern niceness, mission accomplished.   

ETA: Using stereotypes in an attempt to combat stereotypes isn't a sound argumentative strategy, imo.

Sorry, my bad, next time someone calls my home a waste of space and hell on earth I'll invite 'em over for vittles and moonshine.   . 

[melon]

Where I live,we have a lot of restaurants...from southern food,seafood,Mexican Italian etc.

Mr Melon and my oldest son love watching the Food Network.Guy Fieri has been to Summerville and to Charleston several times.

Mr. Melon used to be a delivery driver for a seafood distributor.Most of his deliveries were in downtown Charleston.There was a restaurant downtown that was a favorite of my grandmother's.I said something to Mr Melon about it.He refused to eat there.I asked why and he said,when he used to deliver to them,he saw the condition of their ..kitchen.That's why he never would eat there.

My brothers live NE Ohio.They have a local pizzeria on almost every corner.My boys all worked at Domino's at one point.One was a general manager and was astonished when we told him there wasn't a Domino's there..anymore.

Allthegoodnames,I know this isnt the same,but when we got the internet in 2001,I loved to go to a chatroom.We had regulars and almost everyone was friendly and got along well.A new person came into the chatroom,asked where I was from...I said SC...they then asked if I knew how to square dance.....LOL.I said ,Well,not since middle school....in middle school...for gym or physical education....in the 6th and 7th grade,we had square dancing ,with the boys...girls and boys were separated for PE/Gym, usually....still remember it.

Wow,I wonder what the fundies would think of that?

[PennySycamore]

@melon, Guy has also visited some hot dog place in Gaffney, here in the Upstate.  

Did you watch the recent season of Top Chef?  They went to Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, IIRC, to learn about the art of making good barbecue. Sara Moulton visited Charleston on her show, too.  She visited Nathalie Dupree, the daughter of the woman that started Charleston Receipts and some Episcopal Church to learn about the tradition of teas during Spoleto.

@JemimaPuddle-Duck,  aioli is still mayo and I'm still not eating it!

[Timetostoplurking]

10 hours ago, bekkah said:

Minneapolis has a food scene that is starting to rival New York. Good food is everywhere, and I enjoy it! 

I'll second this!!!  The food scene in Minny is outstanding and about 1/2 the price of NYC. I know of many people who fly in to shop at the Mall of America, then spend the rest of their time eating.  

[Fun Undies]

@bekkah & @Timetostoplurking I'm probably biased since I live in a suburb of the twin cities . . . But yeah, the food (and art!) scene here is awesomesauce ♡

[feministxtian]

Here in LV...I swear I'm in grub heaven! Mom and pop joints of all sorts are all over the place. Across the street from where I teach is a great Turkish place. Just down the road is a Lebanese place that has come highly recommended (our Pastor is Lebanese and he swears by the place), shittons of taco trucks (oh god...tacos del pastor, asada, etc) wonderful Chinese food...and the 5 star places on the strip. There's farmer's markets at Craig Ranch Park, the San Gennaro festival coming up (heavenly, divine italian food), the Greek festival (gimme the gyros and nobody gets hurt). We have the usual chain restaurants too...but we stay away from those...there's better grub elsewhere. And, for culinary orgasms to die for, the buffets at the casinos...cheap and YUM! 

[Percy]

We have a diverse food culture in Australia as well.

Pizza from a big chain is something we don't do.  We find local shops that use quality ingredients, once they change to cheap ingredients we are gone.

Our Chinese is very anglicised, the first Chinese came in the 1800's with the gold rush in various parts of the country.  Popular Aussie Chinese dishes are sweet and sour pork, black bean beef, spring rolls and dim sims.

I bet popular Chinese dishes in the US are very different.

Mexican here sound very different as well. I love Thai and Asian food, my girls prefer Indian and Italian.  It's great that we have so much to choose from.  Growing up in a country town we had mums home cooking of meat and 3 veg or fish and chips, that was it.

[OyToTheVey]

4 hours ago, Percy said:

We have a diverse food culture in Australia as well.

Pizza from a big chain is something we don't do.  We find local shops that use quality ingredients, once they change to cheap ingredients we are gone.

Our Chinese is very anglicised, the first Chinese came in the 1800's with the gold rush in various parts of the country.  Popular Aussie Chinese dishes are sweet and sour pork, black bean beef, spring rolls and dim sims.

I bet popular Chinese dishes in the US are very different.

Mexican here sound very different as well. I love Thai and Asian food, my girls prefer Indian and Italian.  It's great that we have so much to choose from.  Growing up in a country town we had mums home cooking of meat and 3 veg or fish and chips, that was it.

I was in Australia in Dec/Jan. I was shocked how many Viet/Thai/Asian places you guys have. I had the best Vietnamese food ever there. I kept coming back to a few places. And yup the stuff popular with you guys isn't the stuff popular here lol But all in all Australia has some of the best food I've ever had. If it wasn't for all the physical activities I did, I would have gained like 15lbs.

[CreationMuseumCurator]

On 4/24/2017 at 10:41 PM, Pasta said:

I took a road trip through Indiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  Missouri, Iowa,  and Nebraska and everywhere I ate,  I enjoyed the food.  I live near Chicago and my only complaint is that there isn't very good Chinese food in the suburbs lol. Grand Island Nebraska was an amazing town and Alton Iowa was adorable. I don't see a point in fighting over places. I visited Boston MA this year and wasn't overly impressed but only because it's super similar to Chicago. Its pretty great, our nation, because many places we visit can have have the charm of home and also flaws similar to home. I think the midwest is an amazing mix of both coasts and that no area is more important or necessary than another. Food is love yall, share it.

Why would the burbs even try? Hoof it to Chinatown and get yourself some Joy Yee. 

[twinmama]

On 4/17/2017 at 7:21 PM, KelseyAnn said:

gain power by eating Christian babies and making them into bread

This could end world hunger since god knows some Christians have ridiculous amounts of kids!

On 4/24/2017 at 3:10 PM, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

I googled, the Midwest consists of 12 states. The Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana & Ohio

My husband is always pretty adamant that Minnesota is not the midwest, but the North. lol

[OyToTheVey]

It's not that people think of it as fly over states. It's just that for me to drive 4-5 hours any direction, I'm either still on the Island of Long Island, in Boston or DC if I make good non traffic timing. It once took me 6-7 hours to drive to southern Vermont. It's a 3 hour flight from JFK to Chicago. I would love to go to Denver and Louisville and all the other places, it's just expensive and inconvenient. But think of it this way: Every one who thinks about coming to NY to visit, they don't mean Saratoga or Rochester or even Albany. You're either coming to Niagara Falls( which is technically Canada) or you're coming to the city. 

I really don't mean it to be offensive. A lot of states I want to visit the plane tickets are crazy expensive. It's cheaper for me to get to LA or Miami than to even Nashville. Although, my goal in life is to visit all 50 states. I've been to 18 so far. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

Just now, OyToTheVey said:

It's not that people think of it as fly over states. It's just that for me to drive 4-5 hours any direction, I'm either still on the Island of Long Island, in Boston or DC if I make good non traffic timing. It once took me 6-7 hours to drive to southern Vermont. It's a 3 hour flight from JFK to Chicago. I would love to go to Denver and Louisville and all the other places, it's just expensive and inconvenient. But think of it this way: Every one who thinks about coming to NY to visit, they don't mean Saratoga or Rochester or even Albany. You're either coming to Niagara Falls( which is technically Canada) or you're coming to the city. 

I really don't mean it to be offensive. A lot of states I want to visit the plane tickets are crazy expensive. It's cheaper for me to get to LA or Miami than to even Nashville. Although, my goal in life is to visit all 50 states. I've been to 18 so far. 

That is the ONE down side to living in the midwest, for me at least, getting to the coasts is flipping expensive and or TIME CONSUMING. Our family drove to DC 3 years ago, 20 hours, UGH.  It's only 6 hours to Chicago, 4 to KC & Minneapolis, Milwaukee, 6 to St. Louis, but 10 to Denver, so you CAN get a few places fairly easy, but it is 20+ hour drive to most of the East Coast and 25ish hours to the west.  And flights out of Des Moines are NOT cheap we flew to Portland last summer and it was $1200 for 3 people, over labor day weekend. Plus the only direct flights you can get are to Denver, Chicago, Dallas, you can get to Vegas a couple days a week and occasionally Orlando, but that is about it.

 

[Shouldabeenacowboy]

I am bookmarking all the food suggestions on this thread. I am always on the road, in the US and internationally - although actively working towards changing that - and always grateful for good food recommendations!

Someone mentioned Charleston...one of my favorite food places in the country!

[Cat Damon]

Indianapolis always seems to be forgotten when it comes to food, but we were named one of the hottest food cities at the end of last year by Zagat- number 15 out of 26! This article has a pretty good list of really great cities for food:

https://www.zagat.com/b/the-26-hottest-food-cities-of-2016

[JesSky03]

I don't know how anyone can dismiss all the food of any region- obviously you didn't look hard enough. In WI, some of the best places to eat are little supper clubs or bars in the middle of nowhere. I've had some of the best prime rib and fried chicken in 1 street towns. We have a couple of small bars and little shops that make amazing pizza- even the take and bake kind are awesome. My town throws a 3 day 4th of July festival every year where tons of Hispanic vendors sell amazing authentic food and you can find them at the farmers market every Saturday from May to October. And you can't forget about the Friday night fish fries. Nothing like fresh Perch or Walleye fried in beer batter. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

16 hours ago, melon said:

Allthegoodnames,I know this isnt the same,but when we got the internet in 2001,I loved to go to a chatroom.We had regulars and almost everyone was friendly and got along well.A new person came into the chatroom,asked where I was from...I said SC...they then asked if I knew how to square dance.....LOL.I said ,Well,not since middle school....in middle school...for gym or physical education....in the 6th and 7th grade,we had square dancing ,with the boys...girls and boys were separated for PE/Gym, usually....still remember it.

Wow,I wonder what the fundies would think of that?

HA! We had to square dance in grade school and middle school and we all hated it.  I love the internet for all the peole you can meet from everywhere, and yeah there are always dust up/blow ups/arguments/ bitches/ assholes.  

 

A little back ground to my "blow up"  this is the internet, we all need thick skins and as a general rule I have one, but after a while there is always that proverbial straw.  This was mine, and I've found saying my peace while pointing out to others that what they say can and does effect others, resets myself and I ignore most crap that is out there.  It is also good to be reminded of it ,for everyone (especially for me personally). I have a big mouth, I know this, and I generally take it as good as I give it, but I can also take it too far at times (I'm human like that) I don't mind being called on that, but  I do take issue with gang piling,  on myself or any one person, that mob mentality stinks, all it takes is 1 (usually) popular person, in any situation, to say something then everyone else is like HEY YEAH, ME TOO.  I'm generally a root for the underdog, the less popular person, place, choice type person, so will nose into those situation and try and stop it if I think it is unfair. I'd like to say sorry, it won't happen again, but that would be a lie, I'm a bitch at times but I'm not a liar.

I will say I'm sorry I said "you are stupid for living in a big city" that SHOULD have said something like  "I PERSONALLY think people are nuts for living in over crowded areas,because blah blah blah"  That is giving my opinion vs insulting and I need to work on being less attack dog when I'm worked up and more being reasonable barking dog.   I also must say I'm very blunt and find it very hard to schmooze and sweet talk so I come across as aggressive and rude when I don't mean to be, when I'm just trying to be straight forward, because as you can see when i'm trying to be more soft spoken or polite or what ever you want to call it I became far too loquacious and these things get very TL;DR.

And for the last paragraph of TL;DR I was a bitch when I called big city folk stupid, I SHOULD have been more eloquent in my words about why I was upset, and for that I'm sorry. Can't promise it won't happen again, but can promise I will TRY! 

[OyToTheVey]

2 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

That is the ONE down side to living in the midwest, for me at least, getting to the coasts is flipping expensive and or TIME CONSUMING. Our family drove to DC 3 years ago, 20 hours, UGH.  It's only 6 hours to Chicago, 4 to KC & Minneapolis, Milwaukee, 6 to St. Louis, but 10 to Denver, so you CAN get a few places fairly easy, but it is 20+ hour drive to most of the East Coast and 25ish hours to the west.  And flights out of Des Moines are NOT cheap we flew to Portland last summer and it was $1200 for 3 people, over labor day weekend. Plus the only direct flights you can get are to Denver, Chicago, Dallas, you can get to Vegas a couple days a week and occasionally Orlando, but that is about it.

 

When my friend dragged me to Shawnee, OK it cost $700 for 4 days. For East Coasters, a trip to Europe is usually $1200. We drove to Chicago and Detroit and that was the longest trip ever. I think it was 15 hours without traffic to Chicago and 3-4 more on the way to Detroit. It's 22 to Miami from here.

[manda b]

The only way I will eat pizza is without sauce. Louisville is getting big on the food scene. If you want fried chicken we have it. You want seafood? We have it.

[HarleyQuinn]

Definitely agree on Minneapolis' food/art scene. It's amazing.

I've never been to Japan, though someday I hope to be, but I've always been amused that the best Japanese food I've ever had was at a Japanese restaurant in Mexico. lol

 

 

[keen23]

On 4/25/2017 at 0:11 PM, Lurker said:

There is great food all around the USA if you are willing to eat outside your comfort zone.  By that I mean embrace the best of the local food scene.

Instead of a hotel bagel in the morning in Louisville KY I found a small 3rd generation deli/bakery that made amazing German style baked goods.  

I ate pizza  near Sarasota FL as part of a group dinner  was disappointed.  But every other night I ate in local seafood places and was blown away by the taste, freshness and quality of the food.  

In Kansas City, MO I tried a different BBQ place every night of my stay.  Again, great food.  

When I visit San Francisco I eat sour dough bread not bagels.

 

We plan our "Grown Ups Only, No Kids Allowed" vacations around baseball, beer and the local food scenes. We did Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas last summer. The food in Minnesota and Illinois was great. I was burned out by Missouri and Kansas. The seats at Brewer stadium in Wisconsin were the widest seats I have ever sat in in a ballpark, and the beer selection sucked.

[melon]

18 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@melon, Guy has also visited some hot dog place in Gaffney, here in the Upstate.  

Did you watch the recent season of Top Chef?  They went to Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, IIRC, to learn about the art of making good barbecue. Sara Moulton visited Charleston on her show, too.  She visited Nathalie Dupree, the daughter of the woman that started Charleston Receipts and some Episcopal Church to learn about the tradition of teas during Spoleto.

@JemimaPuddle-Duck,  aioli is still mayo and I'm still not eating it!

Penny, Mr Melon LOVES barbecue.We have been to Sweatman's! Years ago.He was disappointed.You could only have one plate.He is used to BBQ buffets.When the boys were still in high school,and had band competitions.We would go to Fuddrucker's in Columbia.I haven't seen Top Chef.Do you watch Cheap Eats with Ali Kahn? He came to Charleston in one episode.