Yolande

I saw this clip on You Tube last week about West Coasters trying food from Minnesota and it got me thinking about how different the regions in the US are!

I was born in California & have lived here my whole life (expect for 4 years in college when I went to the University of Colorado) Colorado is still the west coast & it didn't feel like culture shock when I went to college there....probably because it has a similar vibe to California (just colder!) and a lot of people from California have moved to Colorado.

Anyways...I digress....back to the video I watched.

It made me start thinking about how even though we all live in the US, things are very different depending on what region you live in. 

Food that we eat, traditions, clothing & the way we talk can be SO different!

So many of YOU are from different parts of our country...the Midwest, the South, the East Coast, etc.

I thought it would be fun to talk about some of these differences!

In the video about Minnesota, I had not heard of ANY of those foods that they tried. Not one!

What foods are specialized to your region?

If you have read my blog for awhile you know that I LOVE Cracker Barrel!

We don't have them in California, so whenever we travel to the South, I make sure we eat there at least once!

Here in California we don't have Sweet Tea...we have "normal" iced tea, it has no sugar, so if you want it sweetened, you have to add sugar packets to it.

You can't really find fried food here either. Everything is grilled. I've never had fried chicken expect for in the South.

Also, Okra? I guess that's a vegetable? I've never had it & I've never seen it at the grocery store. 

Is it a Southern thing?

 I had to google it to see what it looked like.

I had also never heard of Boiled Peanuts until last summer. One of my neighbors grew up in South Carolina, so he made boiled peanuts one day, so we all tried them. So salty!

None of us had had them before! I didn't even know there was such a thing.

What do you call soda?

Pop? Coke? 

In California, you call soda, soda. Or you say exactly what type of soda...Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, etc.

 What do you call dinner?

We call it Dinner. Do you call it supper? 

I call a freeway a freeway, not a highway or interstate.

I call a sandwich a sandwich, not a sub or a hoagie.

We don't say y'all here in California...we say "You guys"

I also wonder about if decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving is also a regional thing.

Here in California, I don't know of anyone who decorates for Christmas before Thanksgiving, even in our town/neighborhood, only 1 or 2 people put up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving.

But, maybe that is a California thing? 

In your town/state is it common to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving?

Totally curious if it is a regional thing or not!

Don't worry I won't judge..... I am a firm No Christmas before Thanksgiving person, but I won't go there.....today :)

I am truly curious if that is a Regional thing also...maybe in other parts of the country people put up Christmas early because it is so cold & snowy already? We don't have that in California...again not looking to debate, just curious!

I know that clothing is different in other regions also.

On other people's blogs & Instgrams I notice that their kids wear smocking dresses.

I think they are adorable, but I have never once seen a girl wear smocking dress here in California.

 

And, what are those romper things that little boys wear? Again, I have never seen a baby boy or toddler boy wear one of those (what are they called?!?!) 

Same with monograms, no one really wears monograms in California.

Same with bows in girls hair...girls wear little bows or headbands with little bows, not big bows.

So, if you are reading....where do you live?

What are some things unique to your state/region?

I would love to hear about it!