Southern foods

I went out to eat at a nice restaurant with Tori tonight. She got crabcakes which had fried green tomatoes on top, so I got to taste fried green tomatoes, which I really liked, which was surprising because I do not normally like fried things nor do I like immature vegetables. But I did like this. While in NC I've tried most foods I would describe as southern:

~grits: really good! Surprising because I do not like hominy. Er... I suppose I just don't like whole hominy. Ground up, ok.
~hushpuppies: really good occasionally. Not something I'd want to eat daily or in any large quantity.
~pickled cucumber and onion: *really* good! Strange because I hate pickles. Fresh though, and perhaps the way they were prepared, I have enjoyed this.
~muscadines: type of grape. Tasty. Meaty fruit.
~sweet potato (and sweet potato casserole): I don't know that I tried sweet potatoes in WI/IA. I know they exist in these places, but they are much more prevalent in the south. Sweet potato casserole, for instance, is a Thanksgiving staple. People mush up the sweet potatoes with sugar or whatever, and then put it in a casserole and top it with a layer of *marshmallows*. How STRANGE! It is ok. Strange.
~fried green tomatoes: Again, I think this might exist in the north, but I've never tried it before. Much more common here. Really really good! Came into existence from the need to have no food waste-- before the frost, people fried up their green tomatoes.
~okra: I used a bunch of okra I got for free in some gumbo I made last year. It is interesting. Mild flavor, a bit slimy, but gave my gumbo a good, thick consistency. Very starchy. I have not tried it fried, and I hear this is fantastic, but I can imagine exactly what it would taste like, and have no real desire to try this before I leave south.
~pimento cheese: When folks bring HFH food for lunch, it is common to bring five to ten pimento cheese sandwiches for veggies or whomever. Pimento cheese is good! I think it is maybe cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, pimento peppers.. probably mayo too. I'd never heard of this food before living here, but have had it often during HFH lunches.
~sweet tea. People drink sweet tea like it is water here. It is disgusting to me. When I worked as a waitress people would very occasionally order sweet tea. I can't remember if I brought them sugar packets or if we had it in our pop machine. Anyway, it is not common in north but very very very common in south. Waitresses some places walk around with pitchers of sweet tea.

Things I did not try here that are southern:
~North Carolina BBQ. People are obsessive about BBQ. Evidently there is a whole spectrum of greatness between this restaurant and that. Whatever. My first week in Avery County I was taken to a BBQ restaurant. I tried hushpuppies for the first time there. This was about the only menu item a veggie could eat.
~livermush. TGIV (Thank goodness I'm vegetarian).
~chitlins. TGIV.
~boiled peanuts. This is very common here. I wish I had tried it, because I see signs for it all over the place. But, it is not too terribly hard to boil peanuts, so I could try it elsewhere I suppose. I've heard they are not very good. I've no idea what boiling does to the nut to make it different.
~collard greens, or greens. Typically these include bacon grease. I've no comment on this food.

I think I've remembered all of them. My favorite new foods from the south are grits and fried green tomatoes. I'm so glad I got to try these! So tangy!