Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska. We didn't have any for our state dinner, but it's an interesting story: http://www.hastingsmuseum.org/koolaid/kahistory.htm
Nebraska and Colorado are both beef eating states (think Omaha Steaks). Grilled steak was our choice for an entree. The obvious accompaniment would be potatoes, but we've already done potatoes (for Idaho). Plus, grilling steak isn't much of a family project - we needed a side dish that was a little more effort. Nebraska's nickname is "The Cornhusker State", and green chiles are a popular theme for food in Colorado. So we made green chile-cheddar polenta to go with our steak.
I'm not going to post a polenta recipe, but basically we made polenta and added grated cheddar, chopped green chiles, and some pepper. We refrigerated it for a couple of hours (actually, we put it outside to chill since it was 26 degrees outside) and then cut it in squares and heated it in a cast iron skillet.
We also discovered that Nebraska is the biggest producer of popcorn. That led to toffee-caramel popcorn for dessert. The recipe made a lot, but the leftover popcorn didn't last long at our house :-).
Nebraska and Colorado are both beef eating states (think Omaha Steaks). Grilled steak was our choice for an entree. The obvious accompaniment would be potatoes, but we've already done potatoes (for Idaho). Plus, grilling steak isn't much of a family project - we needed a side dish that was a little more effort. Nebraska's nickname is "The Cornhusker State", and green chiles are a popular theme for food in Colorado. So we made green chile-cheddar polenta to go with our steak.
I'm not going to post a polenta recipe, but basically we made polenta and added grated cheddar, chopped green chiles, and some pepper. We refrigerated it for a couple of hours (actually, we put it outside to chill since it was 26 degrees outside) and then cut it in squares and heated it in a cast iron skillet.
We also discovered that Nebraska is the biggest producer of popcorn. That led to toffee-caramel popcorn for dessert. The recipe made a lot, but the leftover popcorn didn't last long at our house :-).
A plus on your Nebraska project. I did not know about Kool Aid's history. They should go back to calling it Fruit Smack.
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