Yankees in the South

Judging from the name of my blog, I really should have had a few of these posts up already. Being a Pennsylvania Dutch girl until about four years ago, I readily notice the difference in the Southern food, culture and language that we are now surrounded by. It's not a huge shock to me, because my dad's family is from the South as well. I grew-up visiting the land way down in Dixie....and it was so fun to eat fried okra, hear my Aunt say "ya'll" as she got some "sugar" from me, and observe the hospitable life style of the South.

But I have always wondered what kind of culture my children will grow-up calling their own. It is so true that your surroundings affect you greatly - but while my kids are young, they are mainly surrounded by their parents. Soooo....even if we are living in the South, I still cook lots of PA Dutch meals, I still use little dutchy saying - APPARENTLY - and, in general, I don't go out of my way to immerse us in a Southern lifestyle.

That being said, we have noticed some funny things that show our children are turning out to be just like us; Yankees in the South. Observe:

- Lydia and Luke were given their first full glasses of real sweet tea the other day (Luke's was watered down). Lydia refused to take more than one sip, and Luke would take a swig and then sputter and squint his eyes. He quickly refused it as well.

- Our friends made-us a sweet potato pie, and it was a first time experience for ALL of us. We loved it! Lydia even said, "maybe we should ask them to make another one for us!"

- Lydia has started using the term "might could". This will not be tolerated. We can't imagine where she hears that from....but, we might have to ban her from Sunday School and AWANA soon... :)

- We all find anything above 55 degrees to really not be that super super cold....no need for hats, gloves, scarves....it's amazing what a little bit of chilly does to the South

- I am happy to say that Lydia does not think french fries are vegetables. Enough said.

- We still do not know what BBQ is. We have only recently started tasting local BBQ "joints", and Lydia is still very confused why there is no sauce on the meat- ha ha!