The Buckeye State sits between Indiana to the west and Pennsylvania and West Virginia to the east and is separated from Kentucky by the Ohio River. Michigan and Lake Erie border Ohio to the north. When Ohio was opened up to settlement in 1785, many of the first homesteaders arrived to stake their claims by floating down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. Much laborious clearing of the land was necessary before farming could begin. Today, Ohio is a key part of the Midwest’s Corn and Grain Belts. At the turn of the 19th century, John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, began his tree-planting campaign in Ohio; he set up nurseries throughout Ohio and in parts of Illinois and Indiana. By the mid-1800s, before Chicago was “hog butcher for the world,” Cincinnati was known as “Porkopolis” because of its importance as a meat-packing place. Modern residents of Cincinnati can boast of a trademark dish: Cincinnati Chili. It comes any of "five ways": as a straight-up bowl of chili, served over spaghetti, and topped with beans, cheese and/or onions. It is thought to have been the invention of Greek immigrants.

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Featured Cook DANA60 Cooking Level: Intermediate Home Town: Tiffin, Ohio, USA Living In: Goldsboro, North Carolina, USA
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