50 States, 50 Foods

As a way to welcome a new houseguest who is coming to America for the first time and will be staying with us for a bit, we decided to go BIG with a welcome basket. In honor of America 250, we sourced one food item from each of America’s 50 states. The goal was to find an item under $10 from each state, in hopes of keeping the overall price tag from getting out of control. Probably half of the items we were able to get at Target or on Amazon, and the others we found on shelves in various local grocery stores. In a handful of cases we had to order directly from an online store. All in all it was a super fun family project to put it all together—and hopefully something that honors the food culture of this great nation and its distinctive culinary component parts.

Here’s a state-by-state list of what we included in the gift basket:

• Alabama: Wickles Pickles

• Alaska: Fable Fish Salmon Jerky

• Arizona: Hayden Flour Mills Pancake Mix

• Arkansas: Onyx Tropical Weather Instant Coffee

• California: Joolies dates

• Colorado: Bobo’s Oat Bars Strawberry Stuffed

• Connecticut: Lesser Evil Crunchy Cheezmos

• Delaware: Fisher’s Caramel Popcorn

• Florida: Dat’l Do It Pepper Sauce

• Georgia: Savannah Bee Company Tupelo Honey

• Hawaii: Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts

• Idaho: Idahoan Cheesy Scalloped Sliced Potato Bake

• Illinois: Garrett Cheese Corn Popcorn

• Indiana: Albanese Gummy Bears

• Iowa: Palmer Candy Bing Bites

• Kansas: Messner Bee Farm Creamed Honey

• Kentucky: Bourbon Barrel Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt

• Louisiana: Joannie’s Cheese Straws

• Maine: Stonewall Kitchen Blueberry Jam

• Maryland: Old Bay Seasoning

• Massachussets: Taza Chocolate Disc

• Michigan: Sanders Milk Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels

• Minnesota: Red Lake Nation Wild Rice

• Mississippi: Pirouline Rolled Wafer Cookies

• Missouri: Gates Original BBQ Sauce

• Montana: Béquet Caramels

• Nebraska: Canyon Coffee Roasters Beans

• Nevada: Mary’s Gone Original Crackers 

• New Hampshire: Stonyfield Organic Yogurt

• New Jersey: Hoboken Farms Tomato Sauce

• New Mexico: 505 Hatch Valley Green Chili Salsa

• New York: Tate’s Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

• North Carolina: Big Spoon Roasters Chocolate Sea Salt Almond Butter

• North Dakota: Three Farm Daughters Spaghetti

• Ohio: Amish Smokehouse Beef and Cheese Sticks

• Oklahoma: Head Country BBQ Sauce

• Oregon: Tillamook Extra Sharp Aged White Cheddar

• Pennsylvania: Blake’s Mother’s Cookies East Hampton Classic Shortbread

• Rhode Island: Kenyon’s Johnny Cake Mix

• South Carolina: Palmetto Farms Grits

• South Dakota: Renner Corner Maple Jalapeno Beef Jerky

• Tennessee: Das Jam Haus Elderberry Jam

• Texas: Siete Sea Salt Tortilla Chips

• Utah: Kodiak Flapjacks and Waffles Mix

• Vermont: Coombs Family Farms Organic Maple Syrup

• Virginia: Feridies Virgnia Peanuts

• Washington: Beecher’s Flagship Cheese

• West Virginia: J.Q. Dickinson Heirloom Finishing Salt 

• Wisconsin: Marieke Young Gouda

• Wyoming: Kate’s Real Food Mini Snack Bars