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.

ATK recipes are very subjective, but for a cookbook that offers a wide range of things, I find most of the recipes very good. That said, you have to remember: 1) These are Yankee recipes; tested and tasted by Yankees, most of whom don't always like a lot of spice; this doesn't mean however they are lacking in flavor. Most of their recipes tend to be very conventional, rather old-fashioned, and geared to the general public, which may or may not be you. For example, I find their taste test choice of Nathan's hotdogs way too salty; and feel it's too subjective due to their availability in that particular part of the country. Often what tastes best to testers is what they are used to, and what is familiar; evidenced by my preference for Kosher All Beef hotdogs which are not Nathans. 2) The science behind their methods is pretty sound. They usually have a reason for testing/adapting a recipe the way they do. Whether or not it's something you would like is up to you, but I have learned some new techniques from ATK that I use and believe has helped improve some of my cooking. (For example, their pizza dough recipe has been adopted by me!) Not everything is worth keeping however; see point #4, below. 3) Yanks like to save money. Although I too, don't always agree with their choices, for the most part their recommendations are good. I like knowing a $30 knife will do the same thing that the $100 version will. If indeed they prefer an expensive digital thermometer like the Thermapen, I know there's a good reason for it. 4) They cook their meats entirely too rare IMO. I had an argument about undercooked pork with my husband, who was following one of their recipes precisely to the letter. Let's just say...I don't eat undercooked pork. Or beef, or lamb or chicken. He refused to believe that the pork chop need another minute or two, which irritated the carp out of me. Of course, it was fine for reheating later on, being undercooked as it was! I recently tested a recipe from Cook's Country that was a revised version of German Chocolate Cake. As a person who makes German Chocolate Cake (from scratch) at least twice a year (and has one made for me on my birthday), I look forward to the real thing. Making it over with cornstarch in the frosting and on the low-fat side just doesn't cut it for me. I would rather eat a smaller portion and enjoy it to the fullest for a few more days, than change anything about it. The fact that it looks familiar doesn't mean that it is. ''Revising'' something like this simply isn't necessary. I appreciate the thought that goes into the process, but some things should just be left alone!

Oh, please don't feel bad! It makes me feel good to know someone "gets" it. The whole situation is such a mess. Yes, the Yale man expressed the academic viewpoint. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but I think he might be open to considering data that contradicts it. The consumer groups trying to educate the public sabotage themselves sometimes, I think. After hanging out on their message boards for some time I backed off because it's hard to know what to believe. They often blame everything on ticks. They may be right, but it sounds like lunacy at times. Also, they place a lot of importance on going to Lyme-literate doctors (LLMDs). Unfortunately, anyone can call himself--or herself--an LLMD. I discovered that the ones in my area (within 100 miles, none close) don't take insurance, and all charge big bucks. And I didn't see anyone posting about being cured. Post after post talked about switching meds, adding meds, trying a new med, going for IV meds, adding supplements, giving up certain foods, exercising, reacting to meds, feeling better, feeling worse, noticing no changes, etc. It was dizzying. My own doctor is a good guy. He admits he doesn't know much about tick-borne illness, but he reads what I give him and trusts my judgment. So I learn all I can (which is how I found myself talking to the Yale researcher), but there are no clear answers. I was on Doxycycline a total of 5 months. Doxy is the least risky of the recommended antibiotics. I'm sure I'll be on it again this spring or summer. It helps, but it's not a cure. The best book I read on the subject is Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic. The author, Pamela Weintraub, is an experienced medical journalist whose family was severely affected by Lyme and its co-infections. She goes on antibiotics periodically as symptoms return.

I just watched the finals and have not yet seen the results, but I gather from the discussion that Grace won. Good for her, but I would rather have seen the Clairvoyants win. Grace's songs were poignant and relevant to today's youth, much like the songs from the late 1950s, except those were written by adults. She is like Taylor Swift in that regard. Her voice is different, but she can carry the tunes, so she'll be fine. Laura Breton screwed herself in singing one of the most tragic songs ever written with a huge joyous smile and lolapalooza last note. When sung properly, even this song in Italian should leave non Italian speakers (and sometimes the performer) in tears. If you're not familiar with O Mio Babbino Caro, the singer is telling her father that she's going away to find her lover and if she cannot marry him, she's going to jump in the river and kill herself. The last lines are "father have pity on me" sung twice and NEVER with enthusiasm. This is not to disparage her vocal talent. She'll get plenty of work, but this performance definitely changed the way I saw her. If she knew what she was singing about, she would have done it differently. If you want to see it sung like it's supposed to, check out Sissel on YouTube. Victor Kee is a less skilled version of Michael Moschen from the 1990s. Check out what Moschen can do with his crystal balls and bouncing balls in the triangle on YouTube. Sal Valentinetti absolutely killed it in the finale. He won't have to deliver pizza for long. I can't listen to that genre of music for long but he killed it. Linkin' Bridge did the same. They're the first good thing to come out of Chicago since forever. Sofie Dossi is cute and flexible but all she does is handstands and neck hangs. Her cleverest trick was shooting an arrow with her feet. That's slick, but I think I see why there's no National League of Professional Handstanders. The Clairvoyants do a mentalist act. It's a version of magic with secrets all their own. They do it VERY well and are so charismatic.