American Food

Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, iced tea.

Huge good steak, corn on the cob, green salad, pie with ice cream or cheddar cheese slice.

Lobster, clams, cole slaw, potato salad, strawberry shortcake.

Thick hamburgers on rolls, french fries, cole slaw, ice cream sundaes.

Oh- barbequed ribs, slaw, potato salad, watermelon.

forgot the cheese on the hamburgers. Also the tomato and lettuce. Insist they eat them by picking them up. No knives and forks with the burgers.

I agree with #3 and #10. But don't forget the gravy! Lots of it, too: brown gravy, perhaps with sliced mushrooms in it, for the meatloaf; white gravy, with lots of black pepper, for the chicken fried steak. I might add a pot of cooked greens to go with the CFS.

Peach cobbler or apple pie for dessert. Vanilla ice cream optional.
Iced tea for the beverage. Lemons and sugar at the pleasure of the guests. For that matter, you might make lemonade...but you already have enough work.
Overall, making meatloaf is less laborious than making CFS, as well as a lot lower in fat content. But CFS is SOOO good!

I always thought that CFS was only available in greasy spoons- never in a real kitchen. But then, thats me.

No, Waldos; not when it's lovingly made at home.
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>In Texas, the reigning queen of comfort food or down-home cooking is chicken-fried steak, or as Texans affectionately call it CFS. Every city, town, and village in Texas takes prides in their CFS. Some, admittedly, are better than others. Texans have a unique way of rating restaurants that serve CFS. The restaurants are rated by the number of pickup trucks that is parked out in front. Never stop at a one pickup place, as the steak will have been frozen and factory breaded. A two and three pickup restaurant is not much better. A four and five pickup place is a must stop restaurants, as the CFS will be fresh and tender with good sopping gravy.
<snip>
You might be surprised to learn that there is no chicken in Chicken-Fried Steak. It is tenderized round steak (a cheap and tough piece of beef) made like fried chicken with a milk gravy made from the drippings left in the pan. The traditional way to cook CFS is in a large cast-iron skillet with very little oil. Served with "the works" means accompanied by mashed potatoes, gravy, greens, black-eye peas, and cornbread.
Although not official, the dish is considered the state dish of Texas. According to a Texas Restaurant Associate, it is estimated that 800,000 orders of Chicken-Fried Steak are served in Texas every day, not counting any prepared at home.
 
<hr></blockquote> (Copied from a forgotten web site; thanks! Recipe will follow, only on request. I just usually fake it.)

Which I have just relocated at What's Cooking America

These threads are always interesting, as a lot of countries have their own particular regional cuisines. I was born in Texas, with a Mom from Wisconsin and grew up in California. Had a lot of interesting stuff but never real authentic southern cooking- collard greens, for example, or anything authentically cajun or creole. As a kid in Texas, I was always mimicking my Dad pouring hot sauce on everything- a lot of folks certainly like it hot down there!

I've never been to US but I have a perception - Southern stuff and hotdogs and burgers aside - that the golden rule (aside from the fact that 'the golden rule is that there are no golden rules') is to plate twice as much as anyone in their right mind would attempt to eat and then bin the left-overs.

Thus, my contribution is this: whatever ye cook, it's traditional to make thrice what yer guests can eat, and have a bin handy. I don't say this to be nasty in any way; 'tis just my perception - and I am happy to be put right!

Tonya-
Unfortunately, your perception is spot on for more than 50% of the American population, where gluttony seems to have replaced any notion of modesty nowadays. It wasn't that way when I left in 1985, and it was interesting to note the social changes every few years when I would go back to see my relatives and friends. Obesity doesn't seem to have the social stigma it once had, and in addition, foods that can be considered nutritional garbage are ridiculously cheap and sold even cheaper in bulk in "The Land of Plenty". Last time I was in the UK (2004) things didn't seem to be too terribly different from the situation in the states...