Louisiana and Ohio

Wow.  Louisiana is a serious challenge.   So many good things to choose from!   I wanted to make muffaleta, but was outvoted.  We ended up making shrimp and okra gumbo.  We made a quick version from Cooking Light (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-okra-gumbo-10000001973609/), but it still wasn't too quick.   It was great though.  Which is good, since the recipe made a lot.

We had the opposite problem with Ohio.  It's not a state known for it's food.  Cincinnati chili would be an option, but we've done enough chili, and we wanted a main dish from Louisiana.  Another food many people think of for Ohio is buckeyes.   They are a peanut butter candy dipped in chocolate.  My DH doesn't eat chocolate, however, so we didn't make them. 

In the end, we went with the fact that Ohio has the largest Amish population in the U.S.   Amish Friendship bread usually requires a starter that takes weeks, but I found a recipe for a version that simulates the starter with other ingredients http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-amish-friendship-bread-or-muffins-no-starter-required-109140.  Much easier than dealing with the starter, and the end result was excellent.  We did substitute applesauce for half of the oil, and added toasted pecans.   There's some question as to whether Amish Friendship bread is really Amish.  The sharing of bread starter certainly is, and the recipe is on lots of Amish recipe websites, so we decided to go with it.