I love it when folks get down to "southern" topics and what they mean, or, who can be the most "southern". I'm from a totally neutral state by birth, Washington, so I'm not allowed to participate, but, I can watch and listen politely. I do have deep south family members, so I know what most of the discussions revolve around.
For the last 40 years or so, my home is in another neutral state, Arizona. We aren't "southern" because we were just Mexico back in the day.
We aren't Texas, and don't fall in to Texas beef traditions because, well, we aren't Texas and don't have the beef.
Mostly, Arizona is in its own category, with some close ties to New Mexico. We can't get in the middle of "that's not southern" discussions, but, we do listen with enjoyment. It also frees me up to try any sort of recipe. I don't care if its "southern" enough or not.
