Eating Around the Nation

I'm DONE!!! All 50 states have been eaten!

Alabama: Fried Green Tomatoes

Alaska: Salmon

Arizona: Chimmicanga

 Arkansas: Catfish

California: Salad with Avocados

Colorado:Denver Omelets

Connecticut: Apizza (clam pizza)

Delaware: Roasted Chicken

Florida: Key Lime Pie and Cubano Sandwiches

Georgia: Fried Chicken and Peaches

Hawaii: Kahlua Pork Rice with Spam and Pineapple

Idaho :Chicken Fingers and Potatoes

Illinois: Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Indiana: Sugar Cream Pie

Iowa: Maid Rite (sloppy joes)

Kansas: BBQ Ribs

Kentucky: Hot brown

Louisiana: Shrimp Gumbo

Maine: Lobster

Maryland: Crab Cakes and Crab Legs

Massachusetts: Clam Chowder

Michigan: Michigan Pasty (Meat Pies)

Minnesota: Juicy Lucy (Stuffed Hamburger)

Mississippi: Mississippi Mud Pie

Missouri: Fried Ravioli

Montana: Bison burgers

Nebraska: Runza

Nevada: Buffet

New Hampshire: Corn beef and Potatoes

New Jersey: Hoagies

New Mexico: Green Chili Enchilada

New York: Buffalo Wings

North Carolina: Pulled Pork

North Dakota: Knoephla Soup (Butter soup with Potatoes)

Ohio: Chili

Oklahoma: Corn Pudding

Oregon: Mac and Cheese with Marion berry Pie

Pennsylvania: Philly Cheese Steak

Rhode Island: Johnny Cakes

South Carolina: Grits and Shrimp

South Dakota: Chislic

Tennessee: Memphis Ribs

Texas: Chili con Carne

Utah: No communication, bring-what-sounds-good Pot Luck

Vermont: Ben and Jerry's

Virginia: Ham and Biscuits

Washington: Cheap Chicken and Pasta Salad

West Virgina: Pepperoni Roll

Wisconsin: Cheesy Brats

Wyoming: Cowboy Grub

Cami
Favorite to Eat: Ohio
Favorite to Cook: North Dakota
Least Favorite: Arkansas
Easiest to check off: Utah and Nevada (I didn't have to do anything. Just showed up and took a picture)
Hardest to check off: Alabama (I had a hard time finding green tomatoes people were willing to give) 
All the meals were either very easy to make or normal for a dinner. If I had to pick a  most difficult to cook then I would probably pick Nebraska, Michigan, West Virginia, and North Dakota because there were so many steps involved. They weren't hard just time consuming. 

Ethan
Favorite to Eat: Louisiana
Least favorite: Arkansas

This idea started because one time in March I was tired of making the same meals over and over. I love what I cook, but it was getting boring. I opened up a cook book and it happened to be a recipe from Louisiana. After we ate it and liked it, I thought, why don't we make a meal from all 50 states. I researched on line via blogs, Wikipedia, and different cooking websites. I would compare like5 different sites and if they matched, I had my meal. If they were off, my research got a little more extensive. If I couldn't narrow down one meal (because a lot of states don't have official meals) I would either ask people from that state or I would research what the state veggie, fruit, drink, dessert, etc was until I found something that was state appropriate. I set up an Excel document with all 50 states, with their main meal, main dessert, main veggie, and main fruit accompanied by the website where I could find the meal. With all that, I just started cooking.  I started March 26th and ended July 29th. I had no set pattern and no set time frame for when the meals were cooked. Sometimes it was when food was on sale, sometimes it was when food sounded good, and towards the end it just came down to wanting to be done. It was super fun to have something to look forward to. I think I would do this again but maybe countries next time. I really enjoyed cooking the states. Some I liked better than others, and some I would even make again, but over all it was fun to have a project to work on. It kinda made dinner exciting for Ethan and I.