Eat Your Way Through the USA [Spiral-bound]

Loree Pettit (Author)

Book Description

What is the best part of any vacation? The food, of course! The highlight of a trip to Maryland is soft shell crab cakes. A visit to Idaho is not complete without a variety of potato dishes and vacationers plan whole trips around the Cajun delicacies of Louisiana. A trip to the south means a mess of fried catfish and black eyed peas.

Every state in this great country has its own culinary specialties. Now you can taste your way across the country without leaving your own dining room table!

Eat Your Way Through the U.S.A. is more than just a cookbook. It is a taste buds-on approach to geography. Each state has its unique geographical features and agricultural products. These influence both the ingredients that go into a recipe and the way food is prepared.

This unique addition to your U.S. Geography program will allow you to experience a different meal from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Learn about the dairy and beef industries in Wisconsin, then use this resource to help you cook a dinner of garlic cheese rolls and ribs and sauerkraut. Study about the rise of farming in California during the Great Depression, then enjoy a dinner of fresh fruits and vegetables. What better way to bring the importance of geography home!

Eat Your Way Through the U.S.A.includes a full meal of recipes from each state. In some cases, there is a salad, main dish and dessert. In other cases, main dish, vegetable and bread. Some states include bonus recipes for breakfast foods and snacks. Recipes are easy to follow and, though they aren't written at a child's level, you should feel free to include your children in the preparation of these dishes. This provides life skills and is a source of bonding and pride for your children.

All pages are printed in two colors for added interest and there is a set of interesting food facts from each state to supplement your cooking experience.

Add this book to your geography curriculum and Bon Appetit! (Or should we say Chow Down?!)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Loree' Pettit is a wife and homeschooling mother to three children. Her background as a school teacher and administrator helped her to see the value in adapting traditional teaching methods for schooling at home. She developed a love for geography as a child traveling throughout the United States and Europe with her family. In 2001, she translated that interest into a geography-based unit study for her own children. That unit study went into publication the following year as Galloping the Globe. Eat Your Way Through The USA and Cantering the Country soon followed.

When she is not writing, or involved with the many details of teaching her own chidden, Loree' presents workshops at homeschool conferences across the country. There, she helps parent realize that home schooling is more than bringing traditional teaching methods into the home. Her heart is to help parents discover the joys of learning together as a family.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 117 pages
• Publisher: Geography Matters (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931397341
• ISBN-13: 978-1931397346
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Educational, February 3, 2010

By 

Spin360 (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat Your Way Through the USA (Spiral-bound)

This is such a fun book for families to discover the USA. I haven't made anything from this cookbook yet, however do also own the other one in this series, Eat Your Way Around the World, and the dishes in that one turn out very well. I enjoy this series because there are actual menus for a meal instead of just a dessert. The ingredient lists are all familiar items and can be found at the grocery store.

One thing the author has really tried to do is keep the menus palatable to even picky eaters. The one down side is that there are a very few recipes that require processed foods. In addition to the recipes, each state has a "Food Facts" that tells some interesting information.

Although another commenter complained that the recipes weren't authentic, I'd say that most of them do seem very regional. This book is suppose to be educational and a jumping off point to studying the states. It would be fantastic if one would decide to look up other menus for the state/region if the cookbook didn't meet their palate expectations.

Some sample recipes include:
Alaska Crustless Salmon Quiche
Colorado Trout with Garlic & Mushrooms
Connecticut New England Pot Roast
Georgia Peach Pie
Indiana Corn Pudding (a side dish)
Maryland Crab Cakes
Rhode Island Red Clam Chowder
Tennessee Hoppin' John (Black-eyed peas & rice)
Wyoming Cowboy Beans

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A good idea but that's about it, October 16, 2009

By 

jakespeed "homeschooling mom" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat Your Way Through the USA (Spiral-bound)

I purchased this book at our yearly homeschooling convention in Florida with the intent of using it as a fun supplement to our study of the 50 states. While the idea is a great one - preparing and eating foods peculiar to each individual state - the execution leaves a lot to be desired. There is not much appealing about the recipes that use margarine, canned soups, evaporated milk and other unappetizing and less than healthy ingredients. There is frequently no explanation for why a food was chosen other than it was a recipe given to the author by someone who happened to live in that state. I live in Florida but that doesn't mean that all of my recipes are authentic Floridian foods - why does someone's cousin-in-law from Pennsylvania's cream of chicken soup casserole qualify as authentic Pennsylvania fare? We have had more success using the cookbook as a jumping off point in our own search for authentic state foods than using the actual recipes - although a few have been good most have been less than stellar. It really was irritating to consider all the myriad Pennsylvania Dutch foods that COULD have been included but weren't. That seems to be a common problem with most of the states we have covered so far. Doing an internet search using the official websites for each state has yielded much tastier, more imaginative foods for our family's study. I'm keeping a file of all the official state foods we discover - who knows, we may publish our own cookbook when we're done!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eating Your Way Through the USA, May 18, 2009

By 

K. Alphs (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eat Your Way Through the USA (Spiral-bound)

"Eat Your Way Through the USA" is designed to be a cookbook companion to the unit study "Cantering the Country." The recipes represent authentic meals from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For each state there is a native dish, sidedish and dessert along with "fun food facts." The recipes are simple to follow and the ingrediants are easily obtainable at your local supermarket.