Apple pie, of course, makes the list.
So do hamburgers, chili, grits, spaghetti and meatballs, chocolate-chip cookies, and peanut-butter-and-jelly (popularly known as PBJ) sandwiches.
Also two of my personal favorites, reuben sandwiches and clam chowder (seafood dishes are very popular here in Seattle).
There are some surprising winners: Fried okra, General Tso’s chicken, and poke.
And two glaring omissions: Pizza and ice cream. What gives with that? (Does anyone believe pizza isn’t “American”? It sure as heck is Americanized.)
PBJ sandwiches rate special mention for their role in America’s economy. Grubby workmen and office salarymen alike live on them.
So did Jack McDonald (photo, right), a legendary Seattle lawyer employed by the Veterans Administration who commuted by bus and brown-bagged lunches for 30 years while watching his stock portfolio grow (eventually to $187.8 million, see story here).
The moral, of course, is that by cutting expenses and stashing every dollar you can in compounding investments, you can get rich despite an ordinary income. The trick is saving and investing, instead of spending and consuming, but that takes more discipline than most people have.
Consequently, more than half of Americans have no retirement savings, and most of the rest don’t have enough (see story here). But hey, who am I to criticize others how to live? Not me, not me. By the way, I don’t eat apple pie anymore; even a slice has too many calories and carbs, and too much sugar. But I haven’t gone cold-turkey on reubens; not yet, anyway.
