I was born and grew up in Vermont, now live in Kansas. Here are recipes from each of those states.

Maple Cream Pie (Easy)

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 c Vermont maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1 Cooked pie shell
Whipped cream

Combine sweetened condensed milk, syrup, and salt in saucepan. Heat over very low heat, stirring constantly, until bubbles in center. Cool slightly. Pour into precooked shell. Top with whipped cream when ready to serve.
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Here is a recipe that originated in Kansas.

BIEROCKS
2 lbs. hamburger
1 c. onion, chopped
4 c. cabbage, chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. carraway seed (optional)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
Cook hamburger, onion, cabbage, garlic powder, carraway seed, salt and pepper until meat is browned and cabbage and onion cooked. Roll out dough and cut into large circles. Put 1/4 cup meat mixture in center of dough. Pinch closed. Bake until browned, approximately 20 minutes, at 375 degrees.

DOUGH FOR BIEROCKS:
2 pkgs. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 c. warm milk
4 c. flour
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. warm water
1/4 c. butter, softened
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set in warm place. Add warm milk, butter and salt; let stand for 10 minutes with yeast mixture in it. Add flour and sugar. Let double for 50 minutes.

I was born and raised in Florida, so here is the quintessential Floridian recipe: key lime pie! I've been making key lime pie since I was a fetus, and this is the best recipe (and easiest) I've found. It's especially good with an Oreo Cookie Crust! If you can't find key lime juice, regular lime juice can also be used.

KEY LIME PIE

3 egg yolks (whites not required)
8 ounces of softened cream cheese
4-5 ounces Key Lime Juice (more for tangier pie)
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1-9"graham cracker pie crust

Pour condensed milk into blender. Add cream cheese gradually, in small portions and mix until smooth. Add egg yolks and blend well. Pour in Key Lime Juice and continue blending until mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into the graham cracker pie crust and bake at 350º degrees for 10 minutes. After baking, let stand for 10 minutes before refrigerating.
For a zestier taste, always prepare the pie a day before you need it. Top with freshly whipped cream and garnish with fresh lime zest.

Here is a recipe from my husband's family in Georgia. Definitely very southern!

Corn-Chive Pudding

2 cups fresh corn kernels, divided 1 (8 oz.) container chive and onion cream cheese
3/4 cup half-and-half
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8" x 8" baking dish. Place 1 cup corn kernels in container of a food processor and pulse several times until coarsely chopped; pour into a large bowl. Add remaining cup of corn to chopped corn. Add cream cheese and remaining ingredients, stirring well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake 30 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.

Hope this helps. MOPS is a great organization.

Found one more for you. Blueberries come into season over the summer here in Florida, and this is a great way to use up the abundance of berries I have after a visit to a patch! This truly is the best blueberry pie ever!

BEST EVER BLUEBERRY PIE

1 9" pie shell baked
5 cups fresh blueberries
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2 T. milk
¼ cup sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 T. cornstarch
3 T. lemon juice

Combine cream cheese, milk and ¼ cup sugar. Spread in bottom of pie shell. Place 4 cups blueberries on top of cream cheese mixture.

Make glaze: Combine 1 cup sugar and cornstarch. Slowly add lemon juice, water and remaining 1 cup blueberries. Cook over medium heat and stir until thickened. Cool glaze. Pour over blueberries in pie shell. Chill at least 3 hours before serving. Serve plain or garnish with whipped cream.

Notes:
1. This is equally good made with a vanilla wafer crumb crust.
2. You can substitute any fresh berries for the blueberries.
3. To make in a 9 x 13 pan, double ingredients. A crumb crust works best for this.

Jacki - not to hijack this thread, but - where in FL? I'm from Panama City!

I grew up in Clermont (just west of Orlando) and now I live in Gainesville. I've been almost everywhere in Florida, but I don't think I've ever been to Panama City!

I grew up in Mississippi where fresh fruit is always plentiful in the summertime and we made pies for every occasion. Here's a favorite:
APPLE CUSTARD PIE
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
2 eggs
2 cups raw apples, chopped
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
1 unbaked pie shell
Melt butter. Add flour, sugar and spice mixture. Beat eggs slightly. Combine with the butter mixture. Pour into shell. Press chopped apples into custard mixture. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

Another hijacker here --- Mamatoad, what part of Mississippi are you from? I grew up on the Coast.

Here are some of our favorite Tennessee recipes

Southern Fried Chicken
1 frying chicken, cut into pieces
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups lard

In a shallow bowl, beat eggs and stir in milk, salt and pepper. Soak chicken in milk mixture for about 5 minutes. Roll each piece in flour. Set aside to dry.

In a large cast iron skillet, heat the lard over medium high heat. When the fat is very hot, add the thighs and legs and cook for several minutes. Add the other pieces, being careful not to overcrowd the skillet. Cook until chicken is golden brown on one side about 5 minutes. Turn and brown on the other side. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Turn pieces, cover and continue to cook 15 minutes. Uncover the last 5 minutes so the crust will be crisp.
Makes 4 servings.

Southern Fried Catfish

Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup white cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 to 10 catfish fillets (or 4 to 6 whole catfish, skinned)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil in heavy skillet to 375 degrees F. Combine cornmeal and flour in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs; add milk and blend well. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Dip fish in the egg mixture and coat with cornmeal mixture. Fry a few pieces of fish at a time in hot oil until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
Makes 4 servings.

Fried Okra

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh okra, blanched and cooled or 1 (10-ounce) box frozen sliced okra
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste (optional)
Vegetable oil for frying

If using frozen okra, place in a colander and allow to thaw. Drain for 30 minutes before proceeding. In a shallow bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt and pepper. Gently roll okra in cornmeal, coating each piece. Set aside 1 hour to dry. This keeps the coating from falling off during frying. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 inch oil until hot. Add okra pieces in a single layer, cook and roll gently with a fork until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towels.
6 servings.

Country-Style Green Beans

2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped into 1-inch pieces
5 slices bacon, cut into small pieces (or one smoked ham hock)
Salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cups water
Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour.

Hush Puppies
Makes 8 to 10 servings
3/4 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup self-rising corn meal
1 medium onion, finely minced or grated
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
3/4 to 1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix flour, corn meal, soda, salt and sugar together. Stir in onion and egg. Mix well. Add milk, stirring until mixture is the consistency of soft biscuit dough. Let rest 5 minutes. Stir.

Dip small spoon in glass of cold water, then scoop out spoonful of hush puppy mix. Gently lower spoon into medium hot, deep fat oil, turning spoon so that the batter gently falls out of the spoon into the oil. Continue with remaining batter, cooking about 8 to 10 puppies at one time. Do not overcrowd. Turn with spoon to brown evenly. Fry about 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.

Left over batter may be refrigerated and used within a week

Southern Corn Bread
Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow corn meal
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x9-inch square pan.

In large bowl, add flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to mix well. Add egg, milk and oil. Stir, by hand, to mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until edges are golden brown and top is lightly browned.

Cut into squares and serve hot with butter.

Southern Sweet Iced Tea

3 Family Size Tea Bags
2 Cups Of Cold Water
1 Cup of Sugar

Place the two cups water in a pot and add the tea bags. Bring to a boil, do not continue boiling. Remove from heat and let steep. Pour warm tea into empty pitcher. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill remaining pitcher with cold water.

or.....

fill a gallon jar with very very hot water from the tap put in the tea bags cover and let sit for a few hours. add sugar and stir........

please enjoy........my friends

Jacki - my nephew is a student of UF too! He is a freshman and lives in the dorm. Love your blog!

Answering Dlynn's question about MS. I grew up in Simpson County, about 45 miles south of Jackson. Beautiful area!

New Jersey is the Garden State and we're famous for our tomatoes. This is from my friend, Joellen, she makes this in an 11" round tart pan (because she said she has never found the rectangular pan that the recipe calls for) and cut it into very thin slivers. Its delicious!

GOAT CHEESE AND TOMATO TART IN A CORNMEAL CRUST

Crust
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
pie weights or raw rice for weighting crust

Custard
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
7 ounces mild soft goat cheese, softened
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, well softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

3/4 pound vine-ripened cherry tomatoes (preferably red)

Make Crust
Cut butter into pieces.
In a food processor pulse together flour, cornmeal, and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water and pulse until incorporated and mixture just forms a dough. Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of a 10 1/2- by 7- by 1-inch rectangular tart pan with a removable fluted rim and roll a rolling pin over rim of pan to trim dough flush with rim. Chill crust about 20 minutes, or until firm.

While crust is chilling, preheat oven to 375°F.

Line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake crust in lower third of oven until edge is set, 10 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights or rice and bake crust 5 minutes more, or until just dry. Leave oven on and cool crust in pan on a rack (crust may crack slightly). Crust may be made 1 day ahead and kept, loosely covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Make Custard
Chop basil. In a bowl whisk together basil and remaining custard ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Pour custard into crust, spreading evenly. Halve tomatoes and arrange, cut sides up, in one layer on custard, pressing lightly into custard. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and bake tart in lower third of oven until custard is just set, about 25 minutes. Cool tart to warm in pan on rack. Tart may be made 1 day ahead and cooled completely before being chilled, covered, in pan. Reheat tart, uncovered, in a 350°F. oven or bring to room temperature before serving.

Carefully remove rim from pan. Cut tart into roughly 2-inch pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

California chiming in!

Snooty cheese, sweet figs, swanky pork, local honey...what is more Californian???

Baked figs

2 C very fresh black mission figs
1/4 C sharp soft cheese, such as Bleu
4 - 6 slices medium-sliced Proscuitto
1/4 C honey

Preheat broiler.

Cut the Proscuitto into 4-inch squares.

De-stem figs, and slice an "X" into the top, leaving the rounded bottom intact so the stem end 'flowers' open.

Put a dab of cheese into the top of the flowered figs.

Broil at highest heat for 1 - 2 minutes until the figs start to slump and cheese begins to get runny/bubbly/crusty.

Drizzle with honey.

Place figs on 2 offset proscuitto squares and serve.