Destination # 4 - Indiana
Indiana! What does one say, exactly, about Indiana? Have I ever been there? No. Could I locate it on a map? Most certainly not. Do I know even one single thing about Indiana? Umm... that would be a negative. This quandary, however, hits exactly at the heart of what this project is all about. Learn some Geography, learn about the cultures and customs of someplace beyond the West Coast and endeavor to become overall more well-rounded, more intelligent, more charming and of course, better looking... er... somehow. I was so stumped by Indiana that I couldn't figure out where to start my research so I decided to take a different approach all together. I went straight to the source, or a source, I should say and conducted a "celebrity" interview of a real live, too-legit-don't-quit, Indiana Hoosier, born and bred. My good friend Sara Fear was kind enough to allow me to interview her on the finer points of Indiana living. Our Q:A is outlined for your reading pleasure here.
E-Rae: So, you hail from Bloomington Indiana, do ya? Can you confirm or deny this? Would call yourself a Veteran of said state?
Sara: That is a patent falsehood, a vicious rumor, and I’ll deny it to my dying day! Seriously, though, I went to college in Bloomington, which is in southern Indiana, but I grew up in West Lafayette in the northern part of the state and I consider that my home town. My parents and grandmother still live there. I am a Hoosier (see below), born and bred. I like the idea of having Veteran status, as in, I survived growing up in Indiana.
E-Rae: Indiana – do they have animals? I mean like… livestock or critters or something? What animals would you say claim Indiana as their home?
Sara: There are lots of large, commercial pig farms, which is probably why so many of my Hoosier friends recommended you include pork tenderloin in your Indiana meal. For the record, I never ate pork tenderloin growing up but I did eat a lot of sweet corn, something that is only good on the eastern side of the Rockies. Sweet corn out here in WA is, in a word, crap. Deer hunting is a big deal, I gather. Also, squirrels: there are a lot of them and people hunt them.
E-Rae: Can you think of one celebrity from Indiana, alive or dead?
Sara: Michael Jackson, Axel Rose, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, David Letterman, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Stratton Porter, James Dean, Amelia Earhart (born in West Lafayette—woot!)
E-Rae: Are drugs and alcohol popular in Indiana? If so, which varieties?
Sara: I grew up in a typical Midwestern college town and then moved to another typical Midwestern college town, so my exposure to drugs was mostly limited to bad beer and ditch weed. Like many parts of the US where there are a lot of small towns and depressed economies, meth is a major health and safety issue. Of possible interest to your readers, alcohol (including beer and wine) can not be purchased in the state of Indiana on Sundays, unless purchased and consumed in a bar. I’ve never lived in CA, so I think that the booze laws in WA are awesome!
E-Rae: Does Indiana have a state fish?
Sara: Apparently it’s the large mouth bass. I totally Googled that. Sean thought it was the blue gill. I don’t even know what that is, but he was born in Kentucky and grew up in Southern Indiana, so he should know more about these things than I do. Unfortunately, he does not.
E-Rae: Do you know which part of the pig pork tenderloin comes from?
Sara: Uh, the tenderloin?
E-Rae: If Indiana were a color, what color would it be?
Sara: Red. Although the state did go for Obama in 2008. I was shocked into silence for at least 2 hours.
E-Rae: Does Indiana have a song?
Sara: Back Home Again in Indiana, which I grew up singing.
E-Rae: If I were to be a tourist there, what would you recommend I see?
Sara: Chicago. Sean says you should go to Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World, which is in Wisconsin. If you MUST see something in Indiana, I would recommend going to southern Indiana in the Fall, when the colors are changing and the trees are on fire. The rolling hills and little towns are great! James Dean is buried in Fairmount and if you’re lucky, you’ll be there one of the weeks that his gravestone hasn’t been stolen.
E-Rae: Do people in Indiana have an accent? Please elaborate.
Sara: Yes, but the accent varies depending on where you are in the state. Sean says, “Northern Indiana people sound like radio DJ’s. Southern Indiana people sound like rednecks.” I could not have said it better myself. The one major exception to this is people from the Northwestern part of the state, up around Chicago, who tend to have that stereotypical accent.
E-Rae: If I asked you to write a haiku about Indiana, which I will now, what would it say?
Sara: Haiku for the Hoosier State, by griff
Small, fly-over state
Place where I was born and bred
Please don’t ever change.
E-Rae: Just what exactly is a Hoosier?
Sara: Good question. I was expecting this one so I’ve spent some time thinking about my response. The history of the term “Hoosier” is muddled. For many years, it was a derogatory term meaning hick or, my favorite, hilljack. It’s since been adopted as the general term for someone who is from Indiana. Not everyone from Indiana would adopt the moniker, though, especially people who are big Purdue University fans. They may not want to be called Hoosiers because that‘s the mascot for their arch rival, Indiana University.
E-Rae: If I were to read a History book about Indiana, what do you think Chapter 1 would be about?
Sara: If we’re talking about the 4th grade state history book, probably something about “The Road to Statehood (1816)” or “Chief Tecumseh and his wack-a-doo brother The Prophet” or “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!” Sean says that these ideas are grossly skewed towards northern Indiana History. He doesn’t know what happened in southern Indiana.
E-Rae: What slang words are commonly used in Indiana?
Sara: This has totally stumped me. On a related note, poor grammar and mispronunciation of words is rampant but that certainly isn’t unique to Indiana. I grew up with a girl who said “warshcloth.” That would kill me every time.
E-Rae: Can you recommend a good movie set in Indiana?
Sara: Hoosiers is good if you are into sports and Gene Hackman. Rudy takes place at Notre Dame in South Bend but I’ve never seen it and wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Breaking Away is good; it’s about the annual bike race that is held at Indiana University, my alma mater. What these movies teach you about Indiana is that people there like to watch sports, but they don’t want to have to play them. That would be too much like getting exercise.
E-Rae: What do folks from Indiana do in their spare time? Is there a state sport or hobby?
Sara: Quarrying, which involves going to a quarry and swimming. Creeking, which involves walking around in creeks. Cow tipping, which involves going up to sleeping cows and tipping them over. I’ve never done that last one and didn’t know what it was until I saw the movie Heathers.
Sara generously and without prompting surveyed her Hoosier friends on Facebook for food tip ideas for our blog. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of Breaded Pork Tenderloin. Corn casserole was also a popular favorite including one statement instructing me to eat this meal with a bottle of Miller Lite. I couldn't bring myself to do that, however, despite my dedication to the cultural integrity of this project. A girl has to have standards, after-all. Instead I had a nice crisp Northwest IPA Micro-brew and pretended (almost) that it was Miller Lite.
Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sanwiches
Note*** I found this recipe on Allrecipes (original recipe linked).
4 (4 ounce) slices of pork tenderloin, cut across the grain
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup peanut oil for frying
Kaiser rolls or other buns
Directions
1.Place each slice of pork tenderloin between two pieces of sturdy plastic or parchment paper (such as a cut-up large plastic freezer bag), and flatten the cutlet until it's about 1/4 inch thick, and about 3 1/2 by 5 inches in size.
2.Beat the eggs and milk together in a shallow bowl, and whisk in the garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, marjoram, oregano, salt, and pepper until the spices are well blended into the mixture. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.
3.Dip each flattened cutlet into the seasoned milk-egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs, thoroughly coating the cutlets with crumbs. Set the breaded cutlets aside on a piece of parchment or waxed paper; do not stack.
4.Heat the oil in a large skillet until the oil is shimmering. Gently lower the cutlets, one at a time, into the hot oil, and fry until golden brown on each side, about 8 minutes per cutlet. *** I don't believe it took this long. Drain the cutlets on paper towels.
5.Preheat oven broiler, and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
6.Spread the Kaiser rolls or other rolls if you wish to make a sandwich open with the cut sides up, and broil until the rolls are toasted and hot, about 1 minute. Top each roll with a fried cutlet (hopefully the sides of the meat will hang out of the roll by at least an inch on each side); top each cutlet with choice of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a pickle slice, if desired.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 475 | Total Fat: 14.5g | Cholesterol: 104mg
Corn Casserole - recipe shared by Sara Fear
1 box Jiffy Cornbread Muffin mix
1 stick of butter (room temp or softened)
1 8oz tub of sourcream (I used low fat)
1 can regular kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
Note** this also called for 1 egg which I forgot to put in.
1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer until soft
2. Mix together all remaining ingrediants.
3. Bake in a 8X8 casserole dish, uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees
Note*** you can double the recipe for a larger casserole (9X13).
Both of these recipes turned out *awesome*, especially the Corn Casserole. I very much enjoyed our little foray into Indiana and certainly learned a whole bunch! Many thanks to Sara and her Manager/Husband/interview consult, Sean. Next time, we'll remember to invite you over for dinner, I swear...
E-Rae: So, you hail from Bloomington Indiana, do ya? Can you confirm or deny this? Would call yourself a Veteran of said state?
Sara: That is a patent falsehood, a vicious rumor, and I’ll deny it to my dying day! Seriously, though, I went to college in Bloomington, which is in southern Indiana, but I grew up in West Lafayette in the northern part of the state and I consider that my home town. My parents and grandmother still live there. I am a Hoosier (see below), born and bred. I like the idea of having Veteran status, as in, I survived growing up in Indiana.
E-Rae: Indiana – do they have animals? I mean like… livestock or critters or something? What animals would you say claim Indiana as their home?
Sara: There are lots of large, commercial pig farms, which is probably why so many of my Hoosier friends recommended you include pork tenderloin in your Indiana meal. For the record, I never ate pork tenderloin growing up but I did eat a lot of sweet corn, something that is only good on the eastern side of the Rockies. Sweet corn out here in WA is, in a word, crap. Deer hunting is a big deal, I gather. Also, squirrels: there are a lot of them and people hunt them.
E-Rae: Can you think of one celebrity from Indiana, alive or dead?
Sara: Michael Jackson, Axel Rose, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, David Letterman, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Stratton Porter, James Dean, Amelia Earhart (born in West Lafayette—woot!)
E-Rae: Are drugs and alcohol popular in Indiana? If so, which varieties?
Sara: I grew up in a typical Midwestern college town and then moved to another typical Midwestern college town, so my exposure to drugs was mostly limited to bad beer and ditch weed. Like many parts of the US where there are a lot of small towns and depressed economies, meth is a major health and safety issue. Of possible interest to your readers, alcohol (including beer and wine) can not be purchased in the state of Indiana on Sundays, unless purchased and consumed in a bar. I’ve never lived in CA, so I think that the booze laws in WA are awesome!
E-Rae: Does Indiana have a state fish?
Sara: Apparently it’s the large mouth bass. I totally Googled that. Sean thought it was the blue gill. I don’t even know what that is, but he was born in Kentucky and grew up in Southern Indiana, so he should know more about these things than I do. Unfortunately, he does not.
E-Rae: Do you know which part of the pig pork tenderloin comes from?
Sara: Uh, the tenderloin?
E-Rae: If Indiana were a color, what color would it be?
Sara: Red. Although the state did go for Obama in 2008. I was shocked into silence for at least 2 hours.
E-Rae: Does Indiana have a song?
Sara: Back Home Again in Indiana, which I grew up singing.
E-Rae: If I were to be a tourist there, what would you recommend I see?
Sara: Chicago. Sean says you should go to Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World, which is in Wisconsin. If you MUST see something in Indiana, I would recommend going to southern Indiana in the Fall, when the colors are changing and the trees are on fire. The rolling hills and little towns are great! James Dean is buried in Fairmount and if you’re lucky, you’ll be there one of the weeks that his gravestone hasn’t been stolen.
E-Rae: Do people in Indiana have an accent? Please elaborate.
Sara: Yes, but the accent varies depending on where you are in the state. Sean says, “Northern Indiana people sound like radio DJ’s. Southern Indiana people sound like rednecks.” I could not have said it better myself. The one major exception to this is people from the Northwestern part of the state, up around Chicago, who tend to have that stereotypical accent.
E-Rae: If I asked you to write a haiku about Indiana, which I will now, what would it say?
Sara: Haiku for the Hoosier State, by griff
Small, fly-over state
Place where I was born and bred
Please don’t ever change.
E-Rae: Just what exactly is a Hoosier?
Sara: Good question. I was expecting this one so I’ve spent some time thinking about my response. The history of the term “Hoosier” is muddled. For many years, it was a derogatory term meaning hick or, my favorite, hilljack. It’s since been adopted as the general term for someone who is from Indiana. Not everyone from Indiana would adopt the moniker, though, especially people who are big Purdue University fans. They may not want to be called Hoosiers because that‘s the mascot for their arch rival, Indiana University.
E-Rae: If I were to read a History book about Indiana, what do you think Chapter 1 would be about?
Sara: If we’re talking about the 4th grade state history book, probably something about “The Road to Statehood (1816)” or “Chief Tecumseh and his wack-a-doo brother The Prophet” or “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!” Sean says that these ideas are grossly skewed towards northern Indiana History. He doesn’t know what happened in southern Indiana.
E-Rae: What slang words are commonly used in Indiana?
Sara: This has totally stumped me. On a related note, poor grammar and mispronunciation of words is rampant but that certainly isn’t unique to Indiana. I grew up with a girl who said “warshcloth.” That would kill me every time.
E-Rae: Can you recommend a good movie set in Indiana?
Sara: Hoosiers is good if you are into sports and Gene Hackman. Rudy takes place at Notre Dame in South Bend but I’ve never seen it and wouldn’t recommend it anyway. Breaking Away is good; it’s about the annual bike race that is held at Indiana University, my alma mater. What these movies teach you about Indiana is that people there like to watch sports, but they don’t want to have to play them. That would be too much like getting exercise.
E-Rae: What do folks from Indiana do in their spare time? Is there a state sport or hobby?
Sara: Quarrying, which involves going to a quarry and swimming. Creeking, which involves walking around in creeks. Cow tipping, which involves going up to sleeping cows and tipping them over. I’ve never done that last one and didn’t know what it was until I saw the movie Heathers.
Sara generously and without prompting surveyed her Hoosier friends on Facebook for food tip ideas for our blog. The response was overwhelmingly in favor of Breaded Pork Tenderloin. Corn casserole was also a popular favorite including one statement instructing me to eat this meal with a bottle of Miller Lite. I couldn't bring myself to do that, however, despite my dedication to the cultural integrity of this project. A girl has to have standards, after-all. Instead I had a nice crisp Northwest IPA Micro-brew and pretended (almost) that it was Miller Lite.
Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sanwiches
Note*** I found this recipe on Allrecipes (original recipe linked).
4 (4 ounce) slices of pork tenderloin, cut across the grain
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup peanut oil for frying
Kaiser rolls or other buns
Directions
1.Place each slice of pork tenderloin between two pieces of sturdy plastic or parchment paper (such as a cut-up large plastic freezer bag), and flatten the cutlet until it's about 1/4 inch thick, and about 3 1/2 by 5 inches in size.
2.Beat the eggs and milk together in a shallow bowl, and whisk in the garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, marjoram, oregano, salt, and pepper until the spices are well blended into the mixture. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl.
3.Dip each flattened cutlet into the seasoned milk-egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs, thoroughly coating the cutlets with crumbs. Set the breaded cutlets aside on a piece of parchment or waxed paper; do not stack.
4.Heat the oil in a large skillet until the oil is shimmering. Gently lower the cutlets, one at a time, into the hot oil, and fry until golden brown on each side, about 8 minutes per cutlet. *** I don't believe it took this long. Drain the cutlets on paper towels.
5.Preheat oven broiler, and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
6.Spread the Kaiser rolls or other rolls if you wish to make a sandwich open with the cut sides up, and broil until the rolls are toasted and hot, about 1 minute. Top each roll with a fried cutlet (hopefully the sides of the meat will hang out of the roll by at least an inch on each side); top each cutlet with choice of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a pickle slice, if desired.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 475 | Total Fat: 14.5g | Cholesterol: 104mg
Corn Casserole - recipe shared by Sara Fear
1 box Jiffy Cornbread Muffin mix
1 stick of butter (room temp or softened)
1 8oz tub of sourcream (I used low fat)
1 can regular kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
Note** this also called for 1 egg which I forgot to put in.
1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer until soft
2. Mix together all remaining ingrediants.
3. Bake in a 8X8 casserole dish, uncovered for 1 hour at 350 degrees
Note*** you can double the recipe for a larger casserole (9X13).
Both of these recipes turned out *awesome*, especially the Corn Casserole. I very much enjoyed our little foray into Indiana and certainly learned a whole bunch! Many thanks to Sara and her Manager/Husband/interview consult, Sean. Next time, we'll remember to invite you over for dinner, I swear...
posted by E-Rae | 8:02 PM
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