Southerners eat the strangest things...

Growing up in Louisiana, I never realized that many of my favorite foods would be considered "weird" or even "gross" to people that lived in other parts of the country. It wasn't until I became close friends with a couple of Yankees that I realized our culinary gems weren't so widely accepted by the general population. I keep telling my girlfriends that they don't know what they're missing, but I haven't been able to convince them to try my beloved boudin, fried duck, crawfish, or shrimp and grits. Fortunately for me, festivals seem to cater to the Southerner's love of crazy foods. At last weekend's strawberry festival, the most gossiped about concoction was chocolate dipped bacon.

Yes, you read that right. Salty smoky bacon dipped in lusciously sweet milk chocolate.

First of all, let me just say how much I love this sign. The little pig himself is dripping with chocolate, urging you to try his special treat. At first, I thought "Chocolate dipped bacon? Now that's taking it a little too far." But, we Southerners will eat anything...just to say we did.


If chocolate dipped bacon isn't your thing, you can experience the Southern diet by eating something fried. Personally, I love to fry fresh veggies. I'm sure this process strips the veggies of their nutritional content, but it's delicious so I really don't care. At festivals, you can get ANYTHING fried, from candy bars to Twinkies to Oreo cookies. Hubby couldn't resist the deep fried Pepsi.


And while funnel cakes are a classic festival favorite, have you ever seen this many variations?


I know I should really try to eat healthier, but yogurt and granola just isn't nearly as satisfying as fried dill pickles dipped in ranch dressing. My daddy really says it best when he explains that he will continue to eat this way because "our ancestors did and they were perfectly healthy and lived long lives". I say amen to that :)