Greetings again from northern Florida! If you couldn't tell from the title, my post today is going to be about food. While most of the food I've encountered during this experience has been familiar to me, there are a few things that stand out in my mind. The first thing is pulled pork. I have now twice encountered pulled pork that was amazing. The first time was at a restaurant, and sidedishes traditional with pulled pork, coleslaw and baked beans, were also good.
However, Melissa and I went to Cracker Day this past Saturday. It's a local festival that is meant to honor Florida Crackers, whose name is derived from the crack of the whips they used. We saw a lot of cracking whips on Saturday, and a lot of horse games like barrel racing and jumping. In jumping, a rider and horse must go around a barrel. However, during the turn around the barrel, another person "jumps" onto the back of the horse, and both ride back across the finish line. While I know there is a great deal of skill involved, it appeared to me that the second person said a quick prayer and launched his/herself onto the horse. In any case, it was a good way to spend a few hours on Saturday, which brings me back to food.
The cost of attendance also included a bbq lunch. And they served bbq beef or pulled pork. Naturally, I got the pulled pork, and was so completely impressed with it, along with the best baked beans and coleslaw of my life, that I had to take a picture of it!
My other food encounter involves boiled peanuts, a Southern favorite. I admit to not knowing much about peanuts. So when I saw signs for them and heard people talking about them I figured it was the same way they get cooked before they show up in my jar in the store. Not true. Those peanuts are roasted, which is apparently common knowledge to everyone but me. Anyway, with as many crops are grown in this area, there are vendors parked in lots all of town, selling anything from cucumbers to shrimp to, you guessed it, boiled peanuts. I was skeptical when I was first given a boiled peanut, especially since the outside is all soggy from being boiled. And I was told to squeeze it open, but watch out, because you may get squirted! What? By a peanut? Strange. In any case, I pressed on, squeezing the shells open away from my body, and inside are peanuts! Except, they're soft and kinda slimy, wet from being boiled. But don't be fooled--when seasoned properly, they are delicious and addictive! They come in any flavor you can imagine; from what I've heard, cajun and just salted are the most popular. I later found out it is common to use your teeth to open them, so that you also get the flavoring that is inside the shell.
I am now on a quest to make boiled peanuts with some resident boiled peanut expert so that I will be qualified to try and make them back in Ohio.
Hope I didn't make you too hungry!
-Maya
However, Melissa and I went to Cracker Day this past Saturday. It's a local festival that is meant to honor Florida Crackers, whose name is derived from the crack of the whips they used. We saw a lot of cracking whips on Saturday, and a lot of horse games like barrel racing and jumping. In jumping, a rider and horse must go around a barrel. However, during the turn around the barrel, another person "jumps" onto the back of the horse, and both ride back across the finish line. While I know there is a great deal of skill involved, it appeared to me that the second person said a quick prayer and launched his/herself onto the horse. In any case, it was a good way to spend a few hours on Saturday, which brings me back to food.
The cost of attendance also included a bbq lunch. And they served bbq beef or pulled pork. Naturally, I got the pulled pork, and was so completely impressed with it, along with the best baked beans and coleslaw of my life, that I had to take a picture of it!
My other food encounter involves boiled peanuts, a Southern favorite. I admit to not knowing much about peanuts. So when I saw signs for them and heard people talking about them I figured it was the same way they get cooked before they show up in my jar in the store. Not true. Those peanuts are roasted, which is apparently common knowledge to everyone but me. Anyway, with as many crops are grown in this area, there are vendors parked in lots all of town, selling anything from cucumbers to shrimp to, you guessed it, boiled peanuts. I was skeptical when I was first given a boiled peanut, especially since the outside is all soggy from being boiled. And I was told to squeeze it open, but watch out, because you may get squirted! What? By a peanut? Strange. In any case, I pressed on, squeezing the shells open away from my body, and inside are peanuts! Except, they're soft and kinda slimy, wet from being boiled. But don't be fooled--when seasoned properly, they are delicious and addictive! They come in any flavor you can imagine; from what I've heard, cajun and just salted are the most popular. I later found out it is common to use your teeth to open them, so that you also get the flavoring that is inside the shell.
I am now on a quest to make boiled peanuts with some resident boiled peanut expert so that I will be qualified to try and make them back in Ohio.
Hope I didn't make you too hungry!
-Maya
I hope you share this recipe w/ your classmates when you come back to campus :-) I'm sure they would love it!
ReplyDeleteWaiting on the boiled peanuts!!
ReplyDelete