>>>>> Those aren't meals - they're just courses ;-}
>>>>>
>>>>>You're right...I forgot the appetizers....a dozen wings (extra hot), or riblets. :)
>>>>
>>>>I suppose what I noticed most about your list was that, with the possible exception of spaghetti, you didn't include a single non-US 'ethnic' dish. I haven't time right now to construct my own list (it would take a lot of careful thought and best be done when I was not hungry) but I'm sure it would include at least one Thai, Indian, French, Spanish and Scandinavian dish....
>>>
>>>I agree with you (as long as the Scandinavian dish isn't lutefisk, LOL).
>>
>>To be fair, there are terrific meatball dishes that are the standard in Norwegian and Swedish families (slightly different sauces though and I grew up eating the Norwegian brown sauce version as well as the Swedish creamy version) but neither would be on my top 10 list. Both have delicious meatball dishes though for a hearty winter meal. After eating Norwegian fish recipes (yuck, yuck, yuck!!!! that may have just been my grandmother's cooking :o) all my youth, I thought I only like roasted or battered fish (northern pike or haddock mostly) until I had many different types when I started traveling. Of course, being forced to help in the preparation of the meals had a lot to do with why I used to hate fish back then :o) One of my favorite winter meals (other than my pot roast) is actually a "Pretend" hungarian goulash my mom made when we were kids. It was mostly just thrown together ingredients (hamburger, noodles, bay leaves, onion, tomatoes, corn, celery, and then sauce: soy sauce or worcestershire sauce or garlic and paprika with thick bread and butter).
>
>I was not trashing all Scandinavian food, just lutefisk ;-) When lye is an ingredient in food intended to be eaten it's fair game, isn't it?
>
>Here is what wikipedia has to say about it. Note the first quote from Garrison Keillor ;-)
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutefisk

He would be accurate in his description :o) We always had it at my grandmothers on the holidays and it was a "you must eat it" dish. I always got my brother to eat mine by giving him my dessert :o)