I enjoy watching cooking shows particularly in TLC Channel. I enjoy watching Man vs. Food, Bizarre Food, Cake Boss, and many others.

With basic cable there's not a lot to choose from, but hubby and I watch America's Test Kitchen nearly every Saturday on PBS, and have for many years. You can find episodes on YouTube. We also get Create TV channel and you can watch cooking episodes from their web site:
-Art of Food with Wendy Brodie
-Artist's Table: Jacques Pépin and Itzhak Perlman
-Bake Decorate Celebrate!
-Baking with Julia (Child)
-Barbecue University With Steven Raichlen
-Chef John Besh's New Orleans
-Christina Cooks
-Delicious TV: Totally Vegetarian
-Everyday Food

And many more.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Create TV: Cooking Shows, Baking, Italian Cuisine, French, etc.

I've been disheartened by the diminishing number of instructional cooking shows that are aired. Maybe it's just the Canadian broadcasting, but Food Network Canada seems littered with too many food and cooking competitions. When I can find instructional-type shows, I find it hard to relate to the style of program or the host, Nadia G's B1tch1n' Kitchen being the worst offender for me. (I like Michael Smith's shows, and some of what Anna Olson does. But that's about it. I think the only other chefs that still have shows on the Canadian network are Paula Deen and Jamie Oliver? No thanks. I miss Giada and Ina.

I've actually been watching Lidia Bastianich more often, just because they air her show late at night on TLN, when there's nothing else on. I don't really like her, but at least she's cooking.

Susy, I have only basic local channels via antenna, so I no longer get the Food Network, which had deteriorated to competition type shows with very little cooking anyway. I thought I was alone in my dislike for cake competitions that taught me nothing and various shows that did little to no cooking.

Like Grainlady, I watch America's Test Kitchen on PBS every Saturday morning at 11 am. After her comes Maryann Esposito and Lidia, but I've never cooked a single dish I've ever seen either of them make.

I loved Alton Brown, and Always watched "Good Eats" when I had satellite television, but the newer Cooking channel had more cooking than the Food Channel did. Elery got "Create", a PBS station, but we do not get that here. There were a lot of cooking shows on that channel.

The Food Network got so bad that I quit watching it altogether, and eventually cancelled my television and had no TV at all for quite a long time. Now that Elery is here most of the time, we required television, so we got an antenna. 14 channels, I think, plus Netflix.

Annie

I used to watch them when it was still a novelty to me. But I found them repetitive, and neither entertaining nor informative, so I stopped. I dislike TV intensely so I only watch when there's breaking news.

Cheryl

I've started to watch Create more and Food Network and the Cooking Channel less. I like Create because they show you cooking techniques, not just slam these ingredients together and call it good. I also do like watching Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.

Over the years, I've watched most all of the cooking shows.
At least once or twice.
My favorites have changed regularly.
Seems like they ALL get tiresome after awhile.

Right now I like Bobbie Flay,
Both his 'Throw down' programs
And his Brunch at Bobbies'.
(I think that's the name of it).

All of the shouting & hollering,
The finger-in-a light-socket hair dos,
The "put in lots of salt so it tastes good" comments
Are really a turn off for me.
At least Bobbie is normal looking, laid back, no shouting,
And no excessive seasoning.
Most of his recipes look and sound fabulous, too.
Lots of things I want to try.

I do, in spite of the above comments,
enjoy 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' occasionally.
Some of the dishes presented seem absolutely amazing!
I just wish they gave recipes!
Sometimes I can figure it out,
Most times I can't.

Rusty

I, too, have watched most of them at some time or other. I absolutely loved Good Eats and am sorry to see that one gone. I also watched 30-Minute Meals (Rachael's brand of perky didn't bother me) on a regular basis. Not a cooking show, but I too LOVED Bizarre Foods. None of the other shows captured my interest enough to watch them regularly. Now, the only cooking show I watch is Chopped.

I love love chopped..

i love,love chopped..

Cooking shows don't hold my interest anymore same as what happened at HGTV (most shows are about selling homes, little on real decorating).

I watch Create for a few cooking programs and for their travel shows.

Wow, great suggestions here. I've never heard of Create - I'll have to see what's available online. Thanks for your recommendations.

I don't watch as much Food Network as I used to, but I will watch Chopped and "Triple D" if nothing else is on.

What I really enjoy now are the cooking shows on PBS and our UNC-EX and UNC-MX channels. The New Scandanavian Cooking from Norway (Andreis Viestad) and Sweden (Tina Nordstrom) have wonderful scenery, music, and food. I also like Lidia, John Besh (cutest chef ever!), Christina Cooks, America's Test Kitchen and Martha Stewart's Cooking School.

Teresa

Oly, enter your zip code to see what's available.

Here is a link that might be useful: Create TV

I actually enjoy Alton Brown; yeah, he's a technonerd of the first water, but he manages to communicate the science behind cooking without being too pedantic.

Don't care for any of the competitive shows.

Sometimes I run across vintage Julia; they're great even in B&W.

I like watching America's Test Kitchen; the only criticism I have of it and of Cooks Country and Cooks Illustrated is that they seem to have a heavy hand with the salt.

I'm hooked on some of the competition shows. Iron Chef, Top Chef, Great Food Truck Race (are they bringing that back?), Worst Cooks in America ... I DVR them and watch the whole thing at the end of the season

I really hate the competition shows. All that unnecesary tension. However it has been 5 years since I have had a TV. We will be getting a TV in a couple months - Not sure how things will change but I am looking forward to seeing shows on big screen instead of my small ipad screen. Loved Pepin and Julia and even the galloping gourmet. I love Good Eats. My cooking reading has moved to the web. I used to watch Ina Garten and Giada.

The only complaint I have about most of the cooking shows is that they tend to focus only on high-end, fine dining restaurant fare - a little dab of sauce, some uber expensive protein that I can't easily find, and all about fancy-smancy presentation. While that can be fun occasionally, I prefer shows that give me recipes for stuff my family will actually EAT and ethnic cusines to explore. I love The Pioneer Woman and Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.

I love, love, love Create TV, if you have it definetly tune in. I read somewhere not long ago that all of the instructional cooking shows are on before prime time, and the "cooking" shows that are on during prime are all competitions because they are trying to capture the male demographic, and they don't want to learn, they want to be entertained. Pretty sad, huh.

Steve

I love watching The Pioneer Woman, love her down home rcipes. Also Barefoot Contessa and if I want the recipes I just go online and get them.

I miss many of the old cooking shows that were on. Justin Wilson's shows, Franco Palumbo, even the Frugal Gourmet was interesting to watch and I did learn a couple of things about cooking on there. I miss Marcia Adam's Amish shows. Entertaining and I learned a few things. The beef stew recipe was great. There was also a show called Yvonne's Kitchen (I think) that had a lot of homestyle comfort foods instead of the foo-foo platters that so many push now. There was also a show never broadcast around here but I've watched it online called Cookin' Cheap that was so strange it was interesting and entertaining.

Everyday Living or whatever it was called was on here for a while and I liked the show until the 4timeFelon forced her way back on the show. They took it off the air around here then and I'm glad they did.

I did enjoy Lidia's Family Table but her new shows are awful. She's trying to get her kids involved in the show and they're talentless spoiled brats. I liked her mother putting Lidia in her place. But she's not on much anymore so that show is only watched occasionally if there's something that sounds like I'd like.

Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen are two that I watch often. Some of them are just too picky but I like the people and the presentation and get some ideas.

I've watched a lot of the Diners, Drive Ins and Dives shows online and don't care much for the host but a lot of the places are interesting. Not many recipes or tips to be gained from it but it's interesting. Watched a lot of the Good Eats. Was a show I enjoyed back when I had sat/cab.

Since I have only broadcast, I'm at the mercy of whatever the local PBS station puts on their channels. I have trouble listening to Steven Raichlen with his terrible delivery but there's a couple interesting things on his shows on occasion.

I've actually found a lot of amateurs on YouTube and the like that put together interesting little shows and have watched a number of them. Some are fairly well done, some not so but there's been some interesting recipes, techniques and entertaining presentation.

Everyday Cooking is the most worthless and boring cooking show I've ever seen. Basically they cook everything the simplest way possible and add salt and pepper to everything and several times in stages. I could never eat that much salt, and I tend to use chili or cayenne instead of black pepper. I use black pepper, but less than half as often as they do. Last week I made an omelet for Kevin and me and forgot to add any salt at all, and we both liked it better that way. It had some salt from the cheese I used, but that was about it. People need to taste food before they add so much salt to it and find out what the food is really supposed to taste like.

I like Ciao Italia and have made quite a few dishes using Marianne's recipes, and I loved all of them. I haven't made anything from Lydia's show that I didn't already make before I saw the show. Kevin and I like to watch Chopped! when there is nothing else on and see if we can pick who will win, which is difficult because we don't get to taste what is being made.

I watch ATK on occasion, but some of the characters are a bit annoying - especially the nerdy guy who grins too much and shows too much of his ugly teeth. I'll only watch when they are making a recipe that I am particularly interested in. Most of their food is not that interesting to me - I do not have typical American taste. When they make Southwestern food, they dumb it down too much.

Cookin' Cheap was a great show, and I used to watch it on Orange County PBS (KOCE, I think) back in the early 90s when they had a weak signal, but it was hilarious to watch the two main characters get in drag to impersonate elderly Southern women to critique the dishes they made, which mostly consisted of opening a few cans, throwing the contents together, and then cooking it "till the cows come home." I have a DVD of their first season, but it only has about three episodes on it, and it was on for several years. They got most of their recipes from viewers' submissions.

I used to watch Marcia Adams because I could not believe how bad her recipes were - she would use canned peas to make some kind of salad and say that fresh peas were unacceptable because they would not have the "canned" flavor that was necessary for the dish. She also used Miracle Whip! And, if she ever spilled anything on her counter, she would stop everything and do a complete clean-up of the spill - a bit on the compulsive side. Then of course she would put on her white cotton gloves to show vintage quilts. The gloves I could understand. She made food very much like what my sister makes, which is how I know I hate it! I did find her fascinating, in an odd way - like I wanted to know if she could possibly come up with a recipe worse than the one before. She was not one to disappoint in that respect.

Lars

Another vote here for Create TV and PBS. I always watch Jacques Pepin, America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Country, Ciao Italia, and Lidia's Italian Table. I've given up on the Food Network.

I've given up on the Food Network except for DD&D and Chopped! every so often. I haven't seen an episode of either in about 5 months. We don't get Create TV but I wish we did. You'd think for what Comcast charges we'd have everything.

I have 2 of Marcia Adam's cookbooks from Amish country and love them both. :(

/tricia

Tricia, you probably like Midwestern food, which is my sister's favorite cooking style. She had some friends from Ohio who influenced her when she was in college, but she always had taste that was the exact opposite of mine - and this continued into color preferences, fashion, and interior design. One of our main differences is that my sister likes savory dishes that are sweet, and I do not, as a general rule. She also loves mac & cheese. I don't like fruit with meat, but I understand that a lot of people do. I love sweet fruit by itself or in desserts, however.

There have been a few TV chefs that I found to have very similar taste to mine, including Marianne Esposito, Jeff Smith, Justin Wilson, and Julia Child. I trust pretty much all of their recipes because I haven't made anything of theirs (yet) that I did not like. I have almost all of Jeff Smith's books and quite a few of Justin Wilson's. His show was not on for very long, but I did like it, as well as Paul Prudhomme's.

Lars

Well, I've never had Midwestern food so I can't say one way, or another. I grew up on a combo of German-Russian/PA Dutch and Mexican food as a native Californian so that was an unusual mix. There are many German/Russians in California. When I moved to Denver, I did not find they had a distinct cuisine although they did have very good Mexican although a bit more Tex-Mex that I'd prefer. I've been in New England for 20+ years and have now adopted their cuisine. Guess I'm a traditional American mutt. :)

I do like most meat and fruit combinations but I like fruit in general and eat at least 4-5 servings a day. I developed my love for fruit living in CA, I think. Mac 'n cheese is comfort food to me although don't indulge often.

/tricia

My sister's first husband was from Illinois (Joliet), and I think he may have had an influence on her, but maybe they just had similar tastes. I have just assumed that Marica Adams was the epitome of Midwestern food, since she is from Indiana, which is right in the heart of the Midwest.

I grew up with German, Cajun, and Mexican food in Texas, but the German influence was weak and had adapted to ingredients common in Texas. My father's mother cooked Cajun/Creole food, which is why I have that influence, although I did have a lot of Cajun friends in Houston.

I eat fruit mostly at breakfast but sometimes for dessert.

Sorry for getting off top a bit.

Lars

I don't like mac and cheese at all, since I don't care for pasta particularly and am relatively apathetic about cheese. I always thought of it as "kid" food, and the grandkids love it, I didn't realize it was comfort food for so many until discussing it the past couple of years.

I do like fruit/meat combinations sometimes, but use fruit for dessert more than anything. I'm not a huge fan of fruit either, and seldom eat it fresh.

I grew up on whatever was available, and there was no one cooking style involved at all, other than Grandma thought you had to cook meat until it was unrecognizable.

I always thought of Midwestern cooking as a meat/starch/vegetable combination, usually with gravy, something simple and substantial to fuel the farmers doing physical labor.

Amish cooking as I know it is centered around foods they produce and/or preserve, stretched to feed large families of physical laborers, much like the old farm families used to cook, born out of necessity.

The Midwest now includes Michael Symon in Cleveland, Rick Bayless in Chicago and sushi for the car executives in the Detroit suburbs. It's no longer hot dish and tater tots.

Annie

This is as good a place as any for me to ask a silly question. I've seen reference many times here on the forum to "hot dish". What exactly is "hot dish"? The term is not familiar to me and I've never eaten it that I'm aware.

Many thanks.

/tricia

Tricia-

In one of the funniest cookbooks I own (because of the author's commentary) - "Lutheran Church Basement Women" - by Janet Letnes Martin and Allen Todnem, chapter 8 is "hotdishs" or "hot dish" it's spelled both ways. It's a casserole and a mid-west thing.

Here are some recipe titles. Many are noted "for funerals".

-Hot Dish For Socials or (Ladies) Aid

-Can Add Chicken Rice Hot Dish (author note: To make this without chicken would be foolish, would be nothing in the recipe that would stick to the ribs. This is especially important to remember when serving funerals where there are men eating.)

-Any number of "Chicken Hot Dish" recipes

-Chicken, Veal, or Turkey Royal

-Escalloped Chicken

-Corn Hot Dish

-Dagne's Dinner in a Dish

-Glorified Hamburger (author note: This is heavenly and fit for the angels. This isn't something that Lutheran Church Basement Women make for church doings, but Lutheran Church Basement Women do make it.

-Hamburger Pie

-Hamburger-Rice Hot Dish

-Helga's Hot Dish

-Meat and Vegetable Hot Dish (author note: It doesn't sound good to mix cream style corn, tomato soup and cream of mushroom soup, but you can trust a tried and true Lutheran Church Basement Women's recipe.)

-Leftover Meat Dish

-Noodle and Hamburger Hot Dish

-Noodle Hot Dish

-Six Layer Hot Dish

-Texas Hash (author note: If you are a Lutheran from Texas this might work out, but if you're a Lutheran from the Midwest, the chili powder isn't going to win you any awards at most Midwest Lutheran functions.

-Hot Dish Deluxe

-Potato Chips and Tuna Hot Dish (author note: This is good for Dorcas society lunch or any other light supper meal served in church.)

-Snappy Tuna Ring

-Tuna Fish Hot Dish

For an International hot dish flare....

-Chop Suey (author note: This isn't a favorite with Lutheran men but the world is getting smaller all the time an we can't live in our own little world.)

-Chow Mein

-Mexican Goulash

-Spanish Rice

Anyone need a recipe ? ;-)

-Grainlady

Grainlady,

Oh my, I'm almost sorry I asked! I think I'd have lunch before heading over to church...wouldn't want to be too hungry. :)

I'm making an assumption here...are these "hot dish" the famous COS recipes referred to so frequently? I'm trying to imagine what might be in a Mexican Goulash with COS?

The only COS meal I can remember is tuna fish casserole from the 70s and it was gloppy and some chicken/rice affair with broccoli that I never ate because broccoli gives me indigestion for days. That was before I knew broccoli was from the cabbage family.

From your list, the Chop Suey is my favorite. Is this a real cookbook or an Erma Bombeck type of book? It sounds like a hoot.

Thanks for the info. These never made it to my German/Russian enclave although stuffed cabbage might be considered "hot dish"?? And, in Mexico, would enchiladas be "hot dish"??

/tricia

The most often encountered "hotdish" in my childhood was the dreaded Tuna Noodle Casserole. One can of drained tuna, one can of Cream of Mushroom soup, some cooked noodles, a cup of frozen peas. Mix it all up and bake it and it's supper. Second was "goulash". That was hamburger and onion, browned. Add a quart of tomatoes and some noodles and you are done.

Now I don't know anyone, including the church ladies group, who makes those things. There is still the occasional tater tot or green bean casserole but I'm a lot more likely to encounter handmade enchiladas, fresh salads and curry than one of those old "hot dishes" as our community has expanded to include a large Hispanic community and several families from various Middle Eastern countries. Additionally, it seems that everyone has become more health conscious, which is not a bad thing and shipping has made out of season ingredients more available. I haven't encountered spanish rice or chop suey for at least a decade.

There is still a place for plain, economical and filling food, like chicken and dumplings, stews, baked beans and ham, but they are no longer ubiquitous here.

Annie

It's a real cookbook - an accumulation of recipes used by the Lutheran Church Basement Women with commentary by the authors, which ARE a hoot. It was printed in 1992 in Hastings, Minnesota. It even includes a recipe for Red Jell-o. In fact, "Jello-o" is a whole chapter - yet one more church basement favorite.

I once took this cookbook on a long car trip with 2 gal-pals and we took turns reading the recipes and laughing ourselves silly over the comments. Then we would remember tales from the church women or our mothers when we were growing up.

The pictures remind me of the church ladies in the 40's-60's. All the women wore their "special" aprons, not their everyday aprons, and that's something else mentioned in the book.

"Special" dishes were made for funerals since the church women prepared and served those. Many of those were the infamous "hotdish" which were always filling, consisting of some kind of meat (including home-canned and commercially canned), pasta/noodle/spaghetti, cheese sauce or canned soup/s, just as Annie described. They often included stale bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, crushed potato chips or corn chips - in or on top. Seasonings were salt and pepper with an occasional bit of sage or parsley in a recipe. Most had chopped onion, occasionally chopped green pepper, and rarely a can of mushrooms. Plain common food....

Annie's right, you don't see many "hotdishes" anymore.

-Grainlady

If Indiana is right in the heart of the Midwest, then I must be living on the west coast. Better start learning the language. "Gag me with a spoon"?

And why go crazy because someone uses more salt that you want? Don't you think you could, let's see. hmmm, maybe use less?? Recipes are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Recipes will often vary, even when followed to the letter depending on a number of variables. I seldom follow a recipe to the letter since I might not happen to have the free range grapes, cage free milk or organic Vanilla Wafers that Marco Pierre White's recipe might call for. I often will add spice I like and tone down or eliminate what I don't like.

Amish/Mennonite, etc cooking has a lot of crossover with what some people term "Midwest" cooking. If you consider Indiana "midwest" then I exempt this from consideration. However the midwest of the United States are generally or at least were, big farming areas and Amish/Mennonite, etc were also big farmers. Meat, potatoes, bread, coffee, milk, dessert was your typical farm fare. The midwest didn't use much in the way of rice however certain areas, including the upper midwest would have wild rice available and that could be included in the later menus. Native Americans of course used wild rice much more heavily than many others until others found out how great it is. Actually you'll find a lot of crossover in German, even Russian and certain other ethnic types of foods when they're living in a colder climate and doing a lot of hard work, but then again considering the number of Scandinavians. Germans, etc who populated the area, it shouldn't be a surprise. But the food changed to adapt to what's around. You won't go to Norway, Sweden, Germany, Russia, etc and find the same things. Just as "cajun" or "creole" won't be found in France, and probably not much in the French areas of Canada.

As Annie said, hearty meals were needed for the heavy workload on a typical farm. You'd rise early and work late and burn a lot of calories. Actually what many people term "comfort foods" is quite common among both the A/M/etc and midwest farmers. You won't find finger sandwiches, consumme or sushi on these menus. You will find hearty soup, stew, roast, meatloaf, pasta and much much more. You'll also find a lot of pies, cakes, cookies and rolls. You'll find great breads, rolls, etc.

Around here, mac & cheese is essentially baby food. A blue box and a package of Corn King hotdogs fed many a toddler by a new mother. Never could stomach mac & cheese. No meat, why bother.

Watching Cookin' Cheap is different. Two gay guys doing their "cooking" and then dressing in drag to show a gadget of some sort. A pickle slicer, nut cracker or whatever. The "Cook Sisters". Initially it was to show people you could cook cheap. They'd figure out the cost of something and figure per portion. Although if they had a leftover from something before, they didn't include it in the price and would come out with 58¢ per person "meals". One thought he knew how to cook and the other admitted he knew nothing but would try anything. They both fancied themselves far better standup comedians that I would. Watch it sometime, it's, well, different. I wouldn't say it's funny very often, but entertaining usually.

Actually hotdish for the food, (and go ahead and debate "food" if you're a Miracle Whip snob) and "hot dish" describes the ladies cooking or the temperature of the plate. Scalloped potatoes and ham is a type of hotdish. Marilyn's Party Potatoes, sometimes called "funeral potatoes" is a hotdish, etc.

People stick out their tongues and stick their noses in the air over foods. Yes, some will be a can of cream soup with a can of something and a package of onion soup mix. But then again, people buy "blue box", TV dinners and produce from Walmart for cryin out loud! LOL Contrary to what a couple of you believe, not one of the terms hotdishes, A/M/etc or midwest cooking mean all from a can or a pouch. It can and often is made from scratch. The shortcuts are more publicized since it's a timesaver and many people who hit the net want to save time. I would defy most anyone to have tasted and claim they didn't like the scalloped potatoes and ham that was served at my aunt's funeral, or for that matter the roast beef and mashed potatoes served at my cousin's funeral or any of my mother's holiday meals, all made from scratch. I'll take that any day over foo-foo food! Or for that matter the Tex-Mex you get at Taco Bell, or the seafood from Long John Silver, or should I continue...

Back to topic, a couple other shows I enjoyed watching included the Galloping drunk, er, Gourmet though never really learned much from his shows. When Andrew Zimmern was a local cook he was interesting to see on the local channels before he decided to concentrate on bugs and exotic roadkill.

Good grief, how could I forget the Two Fat Ladies? Again, maybe 1 or 2 recipes on the entire series that I'd consider trying but that was entertainment!

Interesting stuff. I've learned more about our country's food culture here on CF than from any TV show, that's for certain.

I never liked Julia. When she first appeared on TV, I was way too young to care. Watching with my father Bonanza and Friday Night Fights were about the limit of my TV. We had one TV and Dad controlled what was watched and, for sure, he didn't watch Julia. :) I also grew up in such an enthic household that her "foreign" food made her unacceptable to my family. Later, after Mom died and I was on my own, I just didn't care for her speaking style and couldn't watch her. I also never watched the Galloping Gourmet. Just couldn't relate.

Looking back now I realize just how isolated the German-Russian community was from the nation as a whole. My breakfast drink until I was in my mid-20s was watermelon syrup in hot water. My Mom made chicken or beef with homemade 1/2" wide homemade noodles. That was the only "pasta" I had until I left home. And they were "noodles" not "pasta". :) I never had spaghetti until I was in my mid-20s. The only thing we ate that resembled a sandwich was beirocks. No hamburgers. Still today, sandwiches are not one of my favorite foods except for grilled cheese.

I also ate Mexican growing up although never with my parents and certainly not at home. I lived a lot with my sister and she ate Mexican. I learned to love the cuisine but never have developed a like for Tex-Mex.

I never ate mac 'n cheese at home. Ate it the first time in my 20s at Marie Callendar's. Loved it. Never ate the blue box. Kraft wasn't such a big thing in CA as the midwest. Also, never had French fries, potato chips or corn chips until my 20s.

We did eat quite a bit of rice. The German-Russians traded with Asians for rice. It was a breakfast food though cooked with milk and served with butter and sugar. Here, in America, there was virtually no assimilation of foods until after WWII.

Dad was the driving influence on what we ate. Mom's heritage was PA Dutch and that creeped in every now and then so there was a bit of sweet/sour in her cooking but that was also a part of the German-Russian traditions.

The first German-Russians in the US went to Nebraska, North Dakota area. Some also went to Galveston and moved northwards throughout Texas. Others, my extended family included, went to Alberta first and then migrated to Portland in the late 1800s. My immediate family came direct to Portland from the Russian steppes. They moved basically their entire village of Norka to Portland intact. In America, they built their homes next to the same people they had as neighbors in Norka. They sat next to the same people in church as in Norka. Very slow to assimilate into American cultures. They didn't speak German. They didn't speak Russian. Each German-Russian village spoke their own language and that contributed to making assimilation difficult. I was in my 20s before I even realized there was much to this country outside my little German-Russian community.

I consider Indiana to be in the middle of the midwest. Anywhere east of Denver is midwest until you reach - well, the eastern boundaries are murkier in my mind. I consider western PA to be midwest but not eastern PA. I consider Buffalo midwestern but not so much Albany. The whole thing still confuses me. :) New England is easy. Six entire states. Firm boundaries. Even here though there are large regional food differences. The west coast runs to its own drummer in many ways, including cuisine as does the south (those boundaries confound me also so I just use the Missouri Compromise).

It's really only been since FoodTV that I've ventured much outside my familar food comfort zone.

/tricia

Back to hotdish. Here is the recipe sung on Prairie Home Companion in Nov 1997. Garrison was always referring to the church basement activities.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tuna, the food of my soul

I got rid of my tv and I will stream programs free through hulu, youtube, and a subscription with Netflix.

I can't stand the "Jerry Springer" type fighting, gruesome violence, and degrading sexual exploitation of women which is contained in almost all modern programming. Instead, I stick to new and old cooking shows, old tv shows, and old educational programs.

This post was edited by pretty.gurl on Sat, Mar 2, 13 at 11:35