North Dakotan here. I’m 42 I have never been to a Thanksgiving dinner that featured fruit salad. We have a friendly rivalry with Idaho over who produces the best potatoes. It's mashed potatoes. Not even close. I say this as the grandson of very proud Norwegian grandfather that farmed potatoes here for most of his 94…

My mom has a very old Hamilton Beach egg cooker. It does hard boiled and poached eggs. It’s the only egg specific gadget that does what it’s supposed to. The poaching insert does hard, medium-hard, medium-soft, and soft. It’s not chef or even diner-line cook perfect, but it’s reasonably close. Mom makes a ton of hard…

In Grand Forks, ND we had a buffet place dubbed The Royal Fork. I think there’s a few around. My sister worked there as a hostess while she was in high school. My wild story about this place involves a customer deciding the bathroom grout needed to be “freshened” up. How she went about that task was by painting over…

Why is A Cook’s Tour so willingly overlooked. To this very day it holds up if simply because Food Network has never done anything like it. The world travel part of those shows is awesome. But this is what Kitchen Confidential should have been not the Bradley Cooper thing. Watch the Scotland episode or the episode…

I should have been clearer. St. Louis Pizza has always been an adventure in inconsistency in terms of quality. So I appreciate the ramshackle nature at which it's produced. 

North Dakotan here. DQ has a willingness to go into smaller communities and they often times donate to the local high school teams. So they come in and take care of the community and the community reciprocates. I’m not the biggest DQ fan but it’s easy to see why they get so much love here.

Hey, I’m a mail carrier. Supervisors are considerably different than carriers. They can literally see where within two feet we deliver a package. The picture and headline you’re using is completely misleading. Carrier theft is rare and when it does happen they get caught relatively quickly. Supervisors and sorting…

I’m ready for plenty of hate. Why is New York pizza so special? I mean it’s good. I guess maybe it’s my Midwest roots. But Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Minnesota and Quad Cities styles have all been more adventurous, better tasting and more satisfying. So what am I missing?

I’ll agree..... Sort of. Any zero/diet cola holds up well with a big meal. However, have you tried to Diet Coke with Splenda? I maintain it tastes more like Coke than Coke Zero does. I’m not a huge fan of regular Diet Coke but then I worked for them and it was always free and available. 

Mail carrier here. The biggest rule. Use an appropriate amount of packing material. Seal the box completely. The staggering amount of packages we (I'm including UPS and FedEx) will deliver this year means not every single one of them is going to arrive in pristine condition. And remember when you ship, you receive an…

Audrey Hepburn's best movie no one talks about. Wait Until Dark. Not a "straight" horror movie. Just a really tense and terrifying experience. Watch it in a dimly lit room for the full experience. If you have those Led bias lights for your TV, that's enough light. Oh yeah, Alan Arkin is amazing in this, too. 

Yeah, they didn’t go beyond one stereotype. North Dakota, Norwegian cuisine and of course lutefisk. Honestly, there's a huge swath of the population that are Germans from Russia. Plus, we have some pretty fantastic Native American cuisine. As a person that belongs to a tribe in North Dakota, I'm gonna say we were here…

Accurate. 

Yes, yes it does. I worked for Coke for a year in 2016. A vendor returned some 2012 Olympics Dasani. Still sealed in the Dasani shrink-wrap. However, the water was a dingy color and smelled like goldfish had been swimming. Because I’m a glutton for punishment, it tasted like it, too. 

After everything is sanitized. I grab about 8-10 paper towels, cut a lemon in half, wet the paper towels, squeeze said lemon into the paper towels, wrap lemon halves in paper towels. Microwave for about 45 seconds, remove lemon, wring out and wipe everything down one last time. I can't stand the smell of bleach so…

YESSS!! I get teased, mercilessly, for my love of fried bologna. My friends are too high class what with their matching utensils and refrigerators full of Truly and healthy food. 

My grandfather used to take me to the only restaurant in the little town he lived. The restaurant was called The Country Squire. I have so many memories. It was the first place I tried liver and onions, the first place I had a patty melt, the first place I finished T Bone steak by myself. It was everything you’d…

Maybe this is just a North Dakota thing. But does anyone here make them with Crispix instead of Chex? Oh and puppy chow is the correct answer. (No, not everyone makes it with Crispix here, but it is a common preparation) 

I was about 5ish. My grandpa on mom's side LOVED fresh raspberries and strawberries. He would pick about a pint of each and pour heavy cream over them and maybe a sprinkle of sugar. Revolutionary? No. 5 year old me had never had something so good. 

It's nothing genius. But I waffle sugar cookie dough. Drop the chips in the dimples while still hot-ish. Gooey, satisfying and not at all good for you.