Interesting Indiana

I always feel rather bad when a state falls on a week that is very busy for us. We never get to learn as much as we would like, but even a little is better than nothing!

Indiana is a state I have been to quite a few times. My older sister Anna married a "Hoosier" and they lived in that state for a while before moving up to MN. I visited her quite a few times there. I also have Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins that live there and so I feel connected with the state of Indiana.

For food Anna told me that an Indiana staple (something to be found almost always at Potlucks) was homemade Macaroni and Cheese. I did make some but I do believe that is something I need to improve my cooking on. It didn't nearly compare with the stuff that Anna can make. She also said doctored up canned baked beans was another common food. We don't care for Baked beans plain so I decided not to try that one.

The one thing that I fondly recall from visiting Indiana and my mouth was watering for was Persimmon Pudding. Oh I wish we could grow persimmons here! They are so very yummy. Mom suggested that I could make basically the same thing using squash but I just didn't think it would be quite the same. (I might try it sometime anyway.)

Here are some facts about Indiana:

• It is the 19th state with Dec. 11, 1816 being the date of statehood.
• It is the smallest in land size (other than Hawaii) west of the Appalachian Mts. (However its population isn't nearly so small)
• It is the home of the famous and well attended Indy 500. (I had thought it would be fun to have a pretend Indy 500 race on bikes or something but we didn't get that done. Or even use the boy's toy cars to have a pretend race.)
• The State bird is the Cardinal.
• Abraham Lincoln grew up in Indiana.
• The state flower is the Peony, which my brother-in-law (from Indiana)pronounces Piny. (I am not sure if that is the Indiana way to say it or just his.) I wish I had some peonies in my yard to photograph to add to this post as I think they are quite beautiful but I don't.
• Indiana is called the Hoosier state but nobody really knows why.

If you visit Indiana you will likely see lots of farms (they are a leader in farming) and small towns. I know I was impressed with seeing a tiny little town just every few miles. There are big trees, and rolling hills.

One of my favorite times for seeing beautiful scenery was when my older brother Peter and I drove down near the edge of Kentucky to a blugrass festival in Indiana. We did a lot of driving on fairly narrow and curvy roads through tall hills. Everything was so green and we saw a lot of rustic cabins. It was a very scenic drive. (That trip was even more interesting because on arrival Peter's car's engine burst into flames!) I would love to go exploring in that part of Indiana again sometime.

What do you like about Indiana? I would love to have some comments from you all. This next week we are studying Missouri and would appreciate you input on that as well.