DISHES

Not dishes as in "what we eat off of", but rather the strange, odd, references regarding a certain type o fmeal we eat.

When I moved to Minnesota from California, I learned many "Minnesota" terms. But the one that most puzzled me was what Minnesotan's refer to as a "Hot Dish".

People will say they are having a "Hot Dish" for dinner. I have asked aloud and more consistently in my head, "what the hell is a "Hot Dish"? Do you eat a dish that is hot? Does this mean I am having a "paper plate" dinner?

Then I learned from an internet friend in West Virginia that she makes "Covered Dishes". I asked what THOSE were, and was told food in a covered dish. I replied, "so I could open a bag of potato chips and put them in a bowl, cover them, and they would be a "covered dish"? She replied, "that's about right".

Hmmm...........Now being a native Californian, I gave thought to what I grew up hearing. I know that there were two versions. "One Dish Meal" or "Casserole" were the two terms I heard. But for Casserole, which was most frequently heard word, it was prefaced with the food item IN the casserole. For instance, my mother would say we were having a "Tuna Noodle Casserole", or "Tamale Casserole" etc. So we at least KNEW the identity of the food we were eating.
"One Dish Meal" is a puzzlement when I think back on it....and understand where "casserole" made more sense.

I still shake my head whenever I hear, in reply to "what are you having for dinner". "a hot dish".
Hmmmm.........Heaven only knows what other States call these type of dinners......