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.

WoW!!! This has really taken a negative direction between two of KT's finest! Well, I'm not here alot but I think I gotta chime in! What I have to say maybe nothing more than rambling..be forewarned! LOL!! The age old battle of losing weight. I'M AN EXPERT at trying!!! I don't have a clue what it's like to have only 5-10 lbs. to lose. Nope it's a whole lot more than that. So, I can't identify with Flamey. I don't know what it's like to lose 150 lbs., so I can't identify with Granlan either(I honestly wish I could).But I can identify with Gran on this. I also know peeps that will spit and sputter about 5-10 lbs. just to fish for compliments and those peeps after about the second time, will fall off my radar screen. I don't think Flamey was doing that or rubbing this in anyone's nose. If she feels comfortable weighing 5-10 lbs. less, then that is her choice. I think her original point was just letting others know about this TV show and discussing it. Yet on the other hand Gran, I don't think anyone here including myself know how hard you worked and the determination it took to achieve what you did. I too kind of think that the peeps that have 5-10 lbs. to lose, aren't struggling half as much as those of us who have 100 or more lbs. to lose. Heck, half of their excess could even be the dreaded 'water weight' that we all know and have heard about. But there again, I have never been in their shoes. But they also have never been in the situation of having to lose a vast amount of weight. So, I honestly think nobody knows the others personal challenges and battles they are fighting. What one sees as a mere drop in the bucket, someone else might see it as insurmountable. But my words to Flamey and others, realize that Gran and I and possibly others do think that sometimes thin people just don't seem to understand that 5-10 lbs. does sound petty to those of us who have/need to lose 10 times that. And yes, I would bet that those of us who do need to lose that amount of weight have kicked ourselves many times over for not dealing with this when it was only 5-10 lbs. We have beaten ourselves up over this time and time again and anybody who looks at us know we need to lose weight, yet looking at Flamey, we can't see that through the same eyes as you do. We can't comprehend the magnitude of their obsession with those few lbs. So, Gran, I can identify and understand what you meant in your original post to Flamey.

The biggest problem with the artificial flowers was that the walls were in a bathroom, and Hildi didn't glue them on, she stapled them. There were about 2,000 flowers, each individually stapled. And the staples punctured the dry wall and moisture barrier. So not only did the flowers have to come down, the walls had to be replaced. And remembering that arts and crafts bungalow that she destroyed with straw walls, a thick, bumpy pink plaster ceiling, and other horrors, I think she enjoyed being cruel. I'll watch, but mainly because I hope that the website that regularly ripped into the show each week - very funny, very accurate - will also be back.

I have picked up many tweaks from PW over the years. I have borrowed ideas from her chicken and dumplings (cornmeal in the dumplings, love the texture; and her all purpose meatball recipe gave me the idea of mustard in my meatballs), but I think riced potatoes for potato salad is not for me. I can say her cherry sorbet recipe (maybe sherbet, cannot remember) is definitely worth trying. I have never watched her show (no access to the food network), but I do wish that she did not take so many pictures on her blog. As far as the health factor, I kind of assume that most of those type of shows include too much fat. I used to be shocked at Ina Garten's recipes but now assume it is par for the course. I would never make their recipes an every day event, at least as written, but when I know I want that, I will use the butter and cream. I can also say that many of the PW housewares that Wal-Mart carries are lovely, especially some of the glasswar.e and the slow cookers. Just don't bother with the dish towels, they are not absorbent at all.