"midwest rural" news and stories

A few years ago I helped a friend move to Milwaukee. When we arrived, she insisted that to get the true Wisconsin experience I had to have a "Leinie's." To be honest, I wasn't sure what the heck she was talking about until the cold bottle hit my hand. Though I can't say I did all that moving for a beer, having a new brew to try when I got to town certainly didn't hurt.

Wisconsin is a state that loves their beers: They have a professional baseball team called the Brewers for God's sake! But even so, locals have always seemed to take extra pride in the Leinenkugel's brand. Other locally based brands like Miller and Pabst became ubiquitous nationwide, but despite being brewed in Chippewa Falls since 1867, until only a couple years ago Leinie's was hard to find outside the Upper Midwest. Love it or hate it, Leinie's was their little regional secret.

But times are changing. According to the Business Journal of Milwaukee, Leinenkugel's (with the help of "super-brewer" MillerCoors) is in the final stages of a nationwide roll out that began with ominous sightings of Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat in not-so-Wisconsin-ish locales like New York City in late 2006. If you haven't had the opportunity to drink a Leinie's in your town yet, don't worry: You'll probably be able to find a taste of small town Wisconsin in a local refrigerator soon. Though that's assuming that true Wisconsinites don't disown it first.

[Photo Credit: leinie.com]

Insert _____ possum/raccoon/squirrel joke here, if you must.

But don't laugh. A West Virginia hot dog has nothing to do with roadkill, and it's not simply a hot dog eaten in West Virginia either. It is a regional specialty with its own rules, legions of die-hard fans, even its own website. A true West Virginia hot dog is slathered in bean-less beef chili and topped with mustard, coleslaw and chopped onions, then quickly "steamed" in a microwave to soften the bun.

On a recent trip to Welch, WV (don't ask), I had a couple for lunch at a gas station/lunch counter/hunting supply shop near the town of Beckley. They were $1.29 for two, with creamy homemade slaw spooned out of a Tupperware container. The sweet gooeyness of the steamed bun reminded me of Chinese pork buns, cut by the acrid bit of the fresh white onions. I ate while perusing Polaroids of dead buck deer and other hunting trophies pined to the wall, and came out with a strange urge to learn how to use a shotgun.

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Alright. That's it.

First we hear that the USDA has recalled 143 million pounds of beef, then that the recall extends as far back as two years. Now this news: a fourth herd of cattle in Minnesota has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to bad beef now. Though it is unlikely that humans can contract tuberculosis from beef because "any animal showing these signs is withheld from the food supply. In addition, adequate cooking destroys the bacteria. Further, the milk pasteurization process at processing plants destroys any potential bacteria," still, it makes me wonder if I should just swear off red meat for a while.

I'm just going to think about that while I finish the last few bites of my steak.

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In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am a football fan.

However, I have to admit that at least one third of my interest in football is not about the game. Sure, I can follow the game, thanks to four years on the high school cheerleading squad (please, spare me all the comments about cheerleaders -- I already hate myself enough about it). I most certainly appreciate the athletics of the sport, and love giving all my love and adoration to Peyton Manning a team, but I think one of the reasons why I love football so much is the lifestyle around football. I'm not talking Friday Night Lights lifestyle (well, maybe I am a little). Like Paula Deen, I love the food and parties and the Super Bowl, for me, is like, Thanksgiving.

Now I know that buckeyes have everything to do with Ohio and pretty much nothing to do with New England, New York, or even Phoenix, where the Super Bowl is taking place, but for me, they are a peanut buttery, chocolate-y representation of football. I didn't post about it much here at the beginning of January, but I went to New Orleans to watch the Ohio State Buckeyes and the LSU Tigers play in the Championship Game for college football. So for now, let's just say that tiny peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate are a great sweet snack to serve your guests during a football party.

The USDA has just approved a plan to grow 3,200 acres of genetically modified rice near Junction City, Kansas for the purposes of making pharmaceuticals. The "Franken-rice," as it is called by those opposed to the plan, will have human proteins in them.

Though the USDA claims that it will be safe because there are no commercial rice farms (i.e. not for human consumption) in Kansas, there is the possibility that the rice may mix with other edible crops.

Yikes.

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