<p>This has turned out to be such a fun topic.</p>
<p>Magnoliamom - I am actually hoping that my son will go to school in the south (not to far from the ocean) and decide to stay. then I will have a reason to move or at least buy a condo…</p>
<p>Magnoliamom - my DH was born in PA - but I know it was a geographic mistake. He is really a southerner at heart, and just kept working his way south. Went to undergrad school at GW, went to grad school at Duke, accepted a job in New Orleans and was there for almost 20 years before we moved. New Orleans is definitely “home” for him now, and boy can that boy cook seafood! We did crawfish Memorial Day weekend - and they were awesome (well, according to the folks who ate them…I’m allergic!)</p>
<p>warriorboy, funny you say that! My MIL did just that; bought a condo right on the beach to get away from the ice and snow!</p>
<p>Actually though, noone should fear sending their kids to the south. As others have stated well, kids these days are so much more open minded and accepting. My daughter attended a Catholic high school located right across the street from a Jewish synagogue with a very good relationship between the two. The thing I enjoyed most about college was getting to meet new people from all over the country and the opportunity to go home with them over a holiday to visit. </p>
<p>We’re not as backwards as some might think down here; those worried about health issues will find bakeries that specialize in gluten free, vegan, and organic foods, the ability to buy fresh strawberries, watermelon and peaches grown locally. There’s also a commitment to the arts and growing diversity in nationalities represented here. One area that I do think the north has us beat is with public transportation - many people here would agree with that, particularly when gas prices were skyrocketing!</p>
<p>Ya’ll are cracking me up with this thread! </p>
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<p>It is way too hot to walk fast in the South. There is a reason they call Florida Field/Gainesville “The Swamp”. It is steamy, 100% humidity without rain, and often there is no breeze. You literally wilt as soon as you walk out the door. Walking slow is self-preservation.</p>
<p>The sweet tea and bbq (with all the fixins) and those yummy cheese grits all contribute to those spare tires. (I totally agree that cheese grits are the way to go for all newbies.) The pecan pie doesn’t help the situation, either.</p>
<p>Easy sweet tea (made daily in the southern home):
Microwave 4 cups of water for 4 minutes. Stir in 1 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add 4 family-size Luzianne tea bags, and let steep 5-7 minutes. Pour into 2-quart pitcher. Add 4 more cups of water (warm out of the tap), and let tea bags continue to steep. Pour into pitcher. Add another cup (or less) of water and squeeze tea bags. Pour into pitcher. Best served cold with no ice. (Ice will water it down.) </p>
<p>You definitely need the long cooking grits (Martha White brand) for the best grits IMHO. They can cook while you bake (yes, bake) the bacon and make the eggs and toast. </p>
<p>I love living in the South. I lived in Boston for a while. Had trouble getting use to the accent. Once went looking for a Chinese restaurant, but had trouble finding it. Asked someone if they knew the restaurant. He said, “Yes. It’s on Orbrin Street.” Well, we drove around for about 15 minutes before we realized he was talking about Auburn Street. (Pronounced “Aw Burn” here in the South.) We had a good laugh about that one. Once went to get bbq and got chicken with ketchup on it. We had my brother-in-law bring up some southern bbq with him when he came for a visit. Picked him up from the airport, drove him to our house, sat him on the couch, and immediately devoured the bbq while catching up on the news! I really enjoyed living in Boston, but am happily settled in the South.</p>
<p>I live in Boston and I say “Aw Burn” too haha</p>
<p>A friend of mine just told me about a way to make simple syrup with Splenda. We used it in some frozen drink concoction that she made.</p>
<p>oh pierre - something to be aware of in the south…the staple starch down here is RICE - in a variety of ways - jambalaya, dirty rice, boiled rice, stuffed in peppers, gumbo, etc. </p>
<p>My DH and step-father are both from Pittsburgh (or that general area) and used to complain because my mother and I never fixed potatoes. We just explained quite politely (best to use a southern drawl when doing it) that RICE was the preferred startch in the south and that if they wanted potatoes…they were more than welcome to do the cooking at the next family gathering!!!</p>
<p>Another note -bad news sounds SOOO much better when delivered with a soft southern drawl! My mother brought out her best “Mississippi accent” whenever she needed to discuss student problems with parents on the phone!!!</p>
<p>Finally, the town in AL on the gulf coast is MOE-BEEL, not MOBIL. :)</p>
<p>colmom: what is a family-size teabag?</p>
<p>I have never drinken Sweet Tea, or even heard of it outside of a restaurant. When a waitress accidentally brings sweetened, I have to send it back. Grew up in the Tab and Weight Watchers age, so never sweetened drinks. Except for Barq’s Root Beer and their Creme Soda. Oh, how sinful.</p>
<p>Our local grocery, Rouses, barbecues ribs on Friday, and I got a slab for my husband’s birthday this weekend. Oh, my God. Almost as good as Memphis.</p>
<p>They also boil crawfish on the weekend as well. Less than 2 bucks a pound. What a deal!</p>
<p>I think we’re going to have to start a Southern Cooking thread on the Parents forum!</p>
<p>Grcxx3, and that bad news is even easier to take when levened with the appropriate “well, bless his/her heart.”</p>
<p>Grcxx3, good to hear about rice, I eat rice for dinner everyday 
ok maybe noodles once in a while</p>
<p>My grits story:</p>
<p>Many years ago, I was working in a semi-Southern city. One of my co-workers (who also happened to be a former college classmate) and I fell into a pattern of meeting at the cafeteria in our building at 7:30 am to have their marvelous grits for breakfast. After about a month of this – and I should mention that my co-worker was and is an Orthodox Jew – one morning he was more pensive than usual, and finally he said, “I have to ask you a question, because I kind of don’t have the range of experience to make this judgment myself. Is it possible that part of what makes these grits so delicious is . . . bacon grease?”</p>
<p>I tasted a spoonful of the grits, and savored it. “Do you really want to know the answer?” I asked.</p>
<p>“I’ve been debating that with myself. I think my conclusion is, once the question occurred to me, there was no morally respectable way to get out of asking it, and finding out the answer.” </p>
<p>We finished our grits slowly, both of us pretty certain that this was our last grits breakfast together. And – following a delightful conversation with the cook about different qualities of bacon grease and how much you needed to make great grits – it was.</p>
<p>Pierre-Not sure if crawfish boils (same as bbq but with crawfish) are big in SC but they are big in New Orleans. Your first one will be a treat. </p>
<p>[Zatarain’s</a> - A New Orleans Tradition Since 1889](<a href=“http://www.zatarains.com/]Zatarain’s”>http://www.zatarains.com/)
Thats some good food. Premeasured and easy but still tasty</p>
<p>We are big rice eaters, too.</p>
<p>Have you heard the joke about Charleston, SC?</p>
<p>Q: Why is Charleston like China?
A: Because they eat rice and worship their ancestors.</p>
<p>As I am originally from North Texas, the seafood craze was something new for me when I moved down here (New Orleans/Baton Rouge area). I was still searching for chicken fried steaks, in vain, for weeks after moving.</p>
<p>My first crawfish/crab boil involved me sitting it out wondering what made my new found friends want to eat those nasty alien looking things.</p>
<p>By my second crawfish boil (you see they boil seafood pretty much every weekend and some weekdays), I was peeling away. </p>
<p>And the spicy corn tastes awesome also!</p>
<p>I guess this is the place to ask a question that has been bothering me for about 30 years. What exactly is a chicken-fried steak? I have never actually seen one, much less tasted it. I have kind of a working hypothesis about what it is, but I would love to KNOW.</p>
<p>when I showed up for my campus visit at Clemson they said that the chemical engineering department was having a pig roast that day haha</p>
<p>It’s basically a piece of steak with flour all over it that gets deep fried.</p>
<p>A chicken fried steak must have gravy on it, or else it is a “country fried” steak.</p>
<p>Ok, Here’s a real southern delicacy that all my transplanted northern neighbors can’t believe…tomato sandwiches. Sliced homegrown tomatoes (or bought fr. the farmers mkt. but def. not from the gro. store), mayonnaise,salt and pepper on white bread (if you want to be authentic)…yummm.</p>
<p>“Hi i’d like a large shrimp poboy with extra mayo”-typical orders at a poboy place</p>
<p>Not much of a secret why there is obesity in the south. We like tasty food.</p>