Hello again, my Malaysian family and friends!

Without a doubt, two of the biggest holidays in America are Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought it would be fun and informative to talk a little bit about these two holidays and how they are celebrated in the Midwest. For most of us here in America, our warmest memories involve this holiday season, a time for family and friends to spend time together laughing, talking, sharing and eating! In this post, I’ll talk a bit about Thanksgiving, and in a later post I’ll explain how Christmas is celebrated here.

My family and friends crammed around the dining table, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving, as you know, is the holiday that Americans celebrate to give thanks for all the blessings we share as individuals, families and a whole nation. It’s origins as a religious holiday have dimmed in favor of a more secular emphasis, although many of us still consider it a time to offer God thanks. People of every religion (or no religion) celebrate Thanksgiving, and most of us do so in the same way: a huge feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatos and gravy, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and many, many other dishes are served for as many family and friends as can fit in the same home. The enormous size of the Thanksgiving feast is a symbol of all the good things we are blessed with in our country.

The importance of having turkey on Thanksgiving is paramount: our military makes it a point to serve turkey to our troops, no matter where they are stationed, even in war zones. The President each year “pardons” a turkey, in a symbolic and light-hearted jesture of respect for that bird. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, not the bald eagle, to be the national bird of the United States- I’m glad he didn’t get his way!

President Obama pardons the Thanksgiving turkey.

The preparation of Thanksgiving dinner is often a day-long affair. Growing up, my mother would wake up early and begin roasting the turkey. To feed my large family, she would often have to buy a bird that was 25 or 30 pounds, which is enormous! Seriously, sometimes the it was a tight squeeze to get the turkey in the oven. It takes many hours to roast such a big bird. The traditional stuffing is a mixture of stale bread pieces (like croutons) along with aromatic spices, onions and celery that is stuffed into the bird and cooked along with it. This way, the fat and juices from the roasting bird soak into the stuffing, making it moist, dense and amazingly delicious.

Bread stuffing inside a turkey.

Most people gather together for an early dinner on Thanksgiving, usually in the early afternoon. The reason for this is to give everyone plenty of time to eat, followed by time to relax in a turkey-induced haze. It is traditional to drink lots of red wine on Thanksgiving, which only adds to the sleepy aftereffects! Children will play games or go outside for winter fun if there is snow on the ground. Sometimes we would go sledding or have snowball fights after dinner when I was a kid.

There are other Thanksgiving traditions that are very common, including watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special on television. This classic cartoon tells the story of the first Thanksgiving, when the Pilgrims made their perilous journey to America and spent a long, difficult year trying to survive in the wilderness. My children enjoy this movie very much.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special

Adult men will often watch football (the American kind) on television. It’s a big game day over here, when the National Football League organizes the Thanksgiving Classic, which is a series of football games that has taken place since 1920. But don’t think the women are left to clean up after everyone! It is a tradition among many families that the women cook the food, but the men do all the cleanup, including washing the dishes and putting everything away. Many families will go see a movie in the evening on Thanksgiving, and everyone nibbles on leftover turkey as the day comes to an end.

That’s a brief look at Thanksgiving here in America. Please post any questions you might have in the comments!

Hello again to all my family and friends in Malaysia!

It’s my favorite time of year here in the Midwest, Autumn. After our hot summers, it is so nice when the cool air of Fall settles in.

The best part of Autumn is what we call Fall Colors- of course, we spell it “colors” and not “colours”, since we gave the British back their u’s when we kicked them out in 1776! This is when all the green leaves on the deciduous trees start to die. Some leaves just turn brown and wither, but many turn brilliant shades of yellow, red, pink and orange.

A view of one of the trees in our back yard

Shockingly pink leaves from the shrubbery. The brown bag is a compost bag full of leaves I just raked.

Here are a few pictures my father took showing some of the beautiful Fall Colors here in our part of the world.

Bright red leaves

Changing colors of trees along a country road

More yellows and oranges. Some trees go through different phases of color as Fall continues.

A view across a pond

I hope you enjoyed seeing these images of the Midwest in the Fall.

Carolyn enjoying a corndog at the Fair

What is a State Fair?

The modern “state fair” dates back to the time when the United States was still primarily agricultural. Farmers and merchants from around the state would gather for a big exposition for food and entertainment. Each state has its own Fair, and hundreds of thousands of people visit their local Fair each year. Oftentimes, the Fair runs for about two weeks at the end of Summer.

A big part of the Fair, even to this day, is the livestock and produce judging. Farmers from all over the state bring their best animals in the hopes of winning the Blue Ribbon; likewise, there are contests for the best jams and jellies, pies, and other savory delights.

Cows here are being shown to the judges

My kids love going to the Fair! There are rides, musical performances and lots of games for them to play.

Here, my son is learning how to gather eggs in the henhouse- toy eggs from toy chickens!

Manufacturers of farm equipment are also a huge part of the Fair. Many of these companies sell millions of dollars worth of equipment at the Fair. The nice thing is that people are allowed to climb up and sit on most of these incredible machines.

There are even historical displays, like this old steam-powered tractor.

But the biggest reason we love going to the Fair is all of the wonderful food!

A typical food vendor at the Fair

There are literally hundreds of food stalls, restaurants and bars at the Fair. Since everyone is outside walking around at the Fair, many vendors try to sell their food “on a stick”- literally, putting their food on a skewer so people can eat while they are standing up! This is why the corndog (shown in the first picture of this post) is perhaps the hallmark of Fair food.

Pork chops on a stick

Each year, someone tries to find a crazy new food to sell on a stick.

Even pickles are eaten on a stick!

One year is was Macaroni & Cheese on a stick, another year it was Deep Fried Candy Bars- I’m serious!

Deep fried candy bars on a stick.

One of my favorite foods to eat at the Fair is the fresh French fries. Now, these aren’t like the sad potatoes you find at a fast food joint, these are hand-cut, fresh potatoes fried up and served in a massive bucket. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and perfect with ketchup and mustard. Yum!

Fresh French fries.

Of course, you need a guy in a costume to draw customers to your food!

If you ever have a chance to visit the Midwest, try to come in August when most of the State Fairs take place. It is a wonderful chance to get a look at the food and culture of the Midwest.

Hello everyone! My name is Martin, and together with my wife Carolyn, we are the American contingency of Betty’s Midwest Kitchen. Truth be told, I’m just the white guy who married into the family!

Here's our family sitting on the swing in our yard

This picture is a bit old- the baby you see here is now almost a year and a half old! Also, I grew a dashing beard recently, which my wife hates but tolerates. The kids are growing big so fast, so we’re busy with school, sports and trying to keep our wits about us.

We live in America in a state called Iowa. Now, Iowa’s not as well known in other countries as other states- most people have heard of New York, California and Hawaii. I think that many people around the world get a narrow view of America since they have perhaps only visited one part of this country, if any, or they have made an opinion of the country from our television programs. America is a huge patchwork of marvelous, strange, and crazy people and places. Hopefully you’ll learn a bit about our little corner of America through this blog.

Map showing the location of the State of Iowa

Now, the important thing to understand is that we are over 1,000 miles from New York or California- we’re right smack dab in the middle. This is why my part of the country is called the Midwest. All of the states marked in red are considered part of the Midwest, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. To our west are the states that are called “the West”, and the states to the south are called, er, “the South” of course. In the east, the states are grouped are sometimes grouped together as “the East”, but oftentimes they are broken into smaller groups such as “the Eastern Seaboard” and “New England”.

What is it like in the Midwest? Well, there are a few large cities, such as Chicago in Illinois and Minneapolis in Minnesota. Undoubtedly you’ve heard of Detroit in Michigan, where our auto industry is going through some really tough times. But if you were to get in a car and drive west from New York, when you get to the Midwest you would primarily see something like this:

A farmhouse among the fields in Iowa

Miles and miles of farmland, stretching the entire length of the horizon. While there is some heavy industry in the Midwest (such as cars in Detroit, mining in Minnesota, etc) most of this part of the world is dedicated to farming and the manufacture of agricultural products. The state of Iowa has the most productive soil in the world: we grow 183 bushels of corn per acre, which is the highest in the world. John Deere, the manufacturer of tractors and other farm equipment, is based here.  Iowa’s GDP in 2005 was $124 billion.

People in the Midwest are, generally speaking, friendly and decent folks who hold traditional values of family, faith and hard work. While most of the population in this part of the country can claim ancestry back to Europe, I think many people would be surprised how diverse we are. In Iowa, for example, we have fairly large populations of people from Vietnam, Somalia, and Central America, and you will meet people from all over the world. When I became engaged to Carolyn, a Malaysian of Chinese decent, nobody thought it was strange or out of the ordinary. Truly, we got more looks when we traveled to Malaysia!

Through this blog, my Malaysian family has asked me to show you some of the culinary features of the Midwest. I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as you enjoy eating at Betty’s Midwest Kitchen!

Martin