Today, I had the same funny conversation about cities. As I do whenever people ask me if I grew up in a rural area, I said that I grew up in the cities. Big cities. As a child I often visited my dad in NYC. As an adult, I lived near SF. I spent time in Tucson, Tampa, Colorado Springs. That usually works as an explanation. I grew up in and around the cities.

However, if the closest big city is Minneapolis/St. Paul, things get confusing. People call that metropolis “The Cities”.  So, now when I reply that I am from the cities, people look confused. I do not look or sound like a Minnesotan-what the heck. I now say, big cities (and I much prefer the rural lifestyle).

Local lingo is important.A gal could starve here while learning the lingo. How would you define pigs in a blanket? To me, it is sausage rolled up in a pancake. Here, pigs in a blanket are stuffed cabbage leaves. Which would you rather have for breakfast? Sloppy Joe’s are BBQ. People make sandwiches with butter and one slice of lunch meat. No cheese or mayo! A casserole is called a hot dish. I  asked the kids during the Children’s Chat about their favorite food. The reply: Hot Dish!!!! I hemmed and hawed. A hot dish. Doesn’t sound yummy to me. Fortunately a light went on in the old brain and I got it. A casserole! Huh, they said. What’s a casserole.

Pickles are present at every meal because of the German roots. Yet, I have found only one person in the entire town (pop 1000) who ever heard of bread and butter pickles. I opened the last jar of my secret recipe B&B pickles for my birthday and initiated Don during our picnic. Mmmmmm good, he said. Is that mayonnaise on my sandwich? Of course, that is what people are supposed to put on salmon salad sandwiches. Compromise is important in a new relationship, but that is where I draw a line in the sand. No butter sandwiches, unless you make your own.

Oy! The whole thing about dinner and supper. Here, dinner is the noon meal. Their supper is my dinner, but sometimes locals call the later meal lunch. So, if I invite Don for dinner he could show up at noon and find nothing in the “kettle” (the local word for a saucepan). If I invite him for lunch I may see him at 5:30 PM.

A more important question here: WHEN is dinner!

And naps. Here, people close their eyes for 5 or maybe 10 minutes and call it done. Two hours later, I feel like I have completed a real nap, but maybe I go for another hour. That’s a nap.Other new words in my vocabulary:

Rain birds – seagulls, which supposedly fly around only before a big rain storm.

Bars- yummy, delicious dessert, about the size of brownies but made from different things. Every event includes a huge table filled with an array of bars-a dozen or more different kinds. When I went to the doctor for a check-up I lamented the availability of bars, dumplings, and doughy soups in response to a three pound weight gain since moving here (I have to blame something). She told me to limit myself to one bar at a funeral, although she admitted that she couldn’t do it–ha ha.

Pistachio Bars, a local favorite!

Bars are layered and may include of cool whip and pudding. In an effort to impress the German Guy I have tried bars twice; the cool whip, cream cheese, pudding, coconut on a nut crust came out good. I winged it with stevia-sweetened rhubarb bars made with yogurt topping instead of cream cheese and……let’s just say that bars do not lend themselves to healthy ingredients. The more decadent-marshmallows, chocolate chips, coconut, caramel the better the bar. Angel food cake is popular in German communities, but often comes out in the form of Angel Food bars.

Knoephla soup: I have seen that word spelled many ways. What you see is my best guess. Another German dish, made from chicken broth, cream, a few small veggies,potatoes, and tons of small, oval doughy knoephlas. These are the German equivalent to pasta. Cream and pasta soup is sooooooo yummy. Better not eat so much of that either, according to the doc.

Cheese curds: I saw these near the yogurt. They curds are crushed together and wrapped in a tight, clear plastic wrap. I have not tasted these yet and keep forgetting to ask around. However, when I googled them, I discovered pictures of yummy deep-fried cheese curds. Hmmmmm. Wonder how many of those I would be allowed to eat??

Cheese curds

I love living in a new area and learning local lingo and local foods. I was hooked when I moved from Ohio and attended the University of Arizona. Talk about new lingo and new food! That was exotic beyond belief for a Midwesterner. Since then I have learned about Cuban food, California Cuisine, Italian cooking, Northern New Mexico-style food and many more ethnic variations. Viva la difference and would you please pass me another bar?