Living in New York, but feeling at Home with West Virginia: A Heartfelt Journey through Food and Family

As I sit here in my kitchen, surrounded by the familiar comforts of home, I am reminded that even though I may be living in a different state, my heart will always remain in West Virginia. It's a place that holds a special kind of magic, where the air is crisp, the people are warm, and the food is oh-so-good. For me, there's one dish that always brings back memories of home – pepperoni rolls.

When I'm feeling homesick or just need a taste of West Virginia, I whip up a batch of these delicious treats. It starts with a can of crescent roll dough – something I swear by because it's an easy little trick that can do wonders for your baking. I love how versatile this dough is; you can do so much with it! But today, I'm on a mission to create the perfect pepperoni rolls. So, I take a moment to spread out my flour-covered countertop and roll out the dough to its desired thickness.

As I pinch together those seams, I feel like I'm back in West Virginia, surrounded by the rolling hills and rustic beauty that this state is so famous for. My little "pepperoni roll" companion looks up at me from his spot on the kitchen counter – a cute little bundle of dough topped with pepperoni slices and waiting patiently for its moment to shine.

Now, I add some broccoli to give my pepperoni rolls an extra boost of flavor – something that might raise a few eyebrows among West Virginians who are used to their traditional dish being a bit more... straightforward. But trust me, this twist is pure genius! And after sprinkling on some garlic salt and mozzarella cheese, I know I've got myself a recipe for success.

To finish off my pepperoni rolls, I carefully cut them into six or seven pieces, depending on how generous you like to be with your slices. Next, I pop them into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-25 minutes, until they're golden brown and crispy. When they come out of the oven, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride – these babies are going to be so good!

While my pepperoni rolls are baking in the oven, I take a moment to prepare my trusty "trough salad." This is where things get really interesting; there's no one "right" way to make this thing because it's all about using whatever ingredients you have on hand. Today, that means tossing together some iceberg lettuce, kale, red bell peppers, pickled banana peppers, eggs, raisins, and canned garbanzo beans – the perfect mix of textures and flavors.

Of course, no trough salad would be complete without a glass of wine to wash it all down! I've chosen this particular lambrusco because of its fizzy quality – something that pairs perfectly with the fatty goodness of my pepperoni rolls. As I sit here in front of the TV watching a cooking show (or two; I'm a bit of an addict!), I know I've got everything I need right here.

Just as I was starting to feel a little down because I couldn't seem to get out of the house today, my mom called me – and that's all it took. She knew exactly what I needed: a taste of West Virginia through food and family. And so, with her on the other end of the line asking about our adventures in the kitchen, I pulled everything together for one last time.

I plated up my pepperoni rolls and trough salad, topping each dish with a healthy dose of parmesan cheese because let's be real – what's better than extra cheese?! When I handed that tray over to my mom through the screen door, she couldn't help but exclaim "yum!" And for a moment, all was right with the world.

What foods remind you of home? Do you have any family recipes or traditions that bring back memories and emotions like this does for me? Let's chat in the comments below! Don't forget to hit subscribe to our channel so you can catch all of our food adventures – including more pepperoni roll-filled episodes, if you please.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni might live in new york these days but my heart will always be in west virginia here's a dish that i make sometimes when i'm homesick gus do you want to go back home to west virginia and visit your cousins what do i make when i'm homesick i whip up a batch of pepperoni rolls but before i do that be sure to hit the subscribe button hey i'm katie lee and here's what i'm eating now broccoli and pepperoni pinwheels and my trough salad so let's get started there we go all right a little bit of flour goes down and i really like this canned crescent roll dough you can do a lot with this it's one of those good little easy tricks and i'm just gonna roll it out and we're gonna leave it all in one piece so just gonna pinch together those seams i'm just gonna hit it with a little bit more flour and then roll it so i'm from west virginia and pepperoni rolls might as well be the state sandwich i guess if you call it a sandwich gus you're my little pepperoni roll over there i'm gonna top it with my pepperoni now now i'm gonna add some broccoli this is just frozen broccoli that i thawed and chopped i know a lot of you are probably saying broccoli doesn't go on pepperoni rolls well i just kind of like the way the broccoli and the pepperoni goes together now i'm gonna season it with a little bit of garlic salt and now the cheese i love me some cheese so mozzarella this is a great melting cheese and now it's time to roll so it's just like if you were making cinnamon rolls just take it from the long edge and it's okay that the seams are a little bit broken it's all gonna get sealed together now i'm gonna cut this into about six or seven pieces i've got a greased pan here i'm just gonna set these in cut side up and leave a little bit of space because they are gonna grow in the oven 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes you know food is just so nostalgic and it really does have the power to just bring you back to a certain place and time in your life oh look at that grandma's biscuits love those my number one favorite okay pepperoni pinwheels are done look at that i'm gonna top them with some grated parmesan cause i like extra cheese please i've got one of my big trough salads if you all follow me on social media you know that i love a big salad i get a lot of questions about what is the trough salad recipe the truth is there is no recipe for it it's whatever vegetables i've got floating around and stuff out of my pantry so you see in here i've got some iceberg lettuce kale red bell peppers i've got pickled banana peppers eggs there's raisins some canned garbanzo beans cauliflower i'm gonna even add some of this parmesan to it because that's the beauty of the trough you just add whatever you want and i've got a glass of lambrusco i chose this lambrusco to go with my pepperoni pinwheel because i think having that fizzy moment is really nice with that fatty pepperoni and it's also got a nice fruitiness to it that balances out the spice of the pepperoni without further ado i'm getting right in here oh yeah oh yeah um now i'm gonna get in here with my trough this is how i like to do it usually sitting in front of the tv watching something good like the kitchen um mountain mama right here i gotta call my mom speaking of mamas because she's gonna love the way that this looks hi mom hey honey what are you doing well i was feeling a little homesick little nostalgic for west virginia so i gotta show you what i made i made a big trough salad and i made some pepperoni rolls what are you doing yum that looks good well i just happened to be the salad awesome apple didn't fall far from the tree did it why not have a salad every day oh well i got a glass of wine too so maybe i one-upped you i have seven y'all gone not to be outdone all right all right well i love you mom talk to you later bye gus remember when we went to west virginia that tastes like home country roads right here driving down them what foods remind you of home tell me in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to food network youi might live in new york these days but my heart will always be in west virginia here's a dish that i make sometimes when i'm homesick gus do you want to go back home to west virginia and visit your cousins what do i make when i'm homesick i whip up a batch of pepperoni rolls but before i do that be sure to hit the subscribe button hey i'm katie lee and here's what i'm eating now broccoli and pepperoni pinwheels and my trough salad so let's get started there we go all right a little bit of flour goes down and i really like this canned crescent roll dough you can do a lot with this it's one of those good little easy tricks and i'm just gonna roll it out and we're gonna leave it all in one piece so just gonna pinch together those seams i'm just gonna hit it with a little bit more flour and then roll it so i'm from west virginia and pepperoni rolls might as well be the state sandwich i guess if you call it a sandwich gus you're my little pepperoni roll over there i'm gonna top it with my pepperoni now now i'm gonna add some broccoli this is just frozen broccoli that i thawed and chopped i know a lot of you are probably saying broccoli doesn't go on pepperoni rolls well i just kind of like the way the broccoli and the pepperoni goes together now i'm gonna season it with a little bit of garlic salt and now the cheese i love me some cheese so mozzarella this is a great melting cheese and now it's time to roll so it's just like if you were making cinnamon rolls just take it from the long edge and it's okay that the seams are a little bit broken it's all gonna get sealed together now i'm gonna cut this into about six or seven pieces i've got a greased pan here i'm just gonna set these in cut side up and leave a little bit of space because they are gonna grow in the oven 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes you know food is just so nostalgic and it really does have the power to just bring you back to a certain place and time in your life oh look at that grandma's biscuits love those my number one favorite okay pepperoni pinwheels are done look at that i'm gonna top them with some grated parmesan cause i like extra cheese please i've got one of my big trough salads if you all follow me on social media you know that i love a big salad i get a lot of questions about what is the trough salad recipe the truth is there is no recipe for it it's whatever vegetables i've got floating around and stuff out of my pantry so you see in here i've got some iceberg lettuce kale red bell peppers i've got pickled banana peppers eggs there's raisins some canned garbanzo beans cauliflower i'm gonna even add some of this parmesan to it because that's the beauty of the trough you just add whatever you want and i've got a glass of lambrusco i chose this lambrusco to go with my pepperoni pinwheel because i think having that fizzy moment is really nice with that fatty pepperoni and it's also got a nice fruitiness to it that balances out the spice of the pepperoni without further ado i'm getting right in here oh yeah oh yeah um now i'm gonna get in here with my trough this is how i like to do it usually sitting in front of the tv watching something good like the kitchen um mountain mama right here i gotta call my mom speaking of mamas because she's gonna love the way that this looks hi mom hey honey what are you doing well i was feeling a little homesick little nostalgic for west virginia so i gotta show you what i made i made a big trough salad and i made some pepperoni rolls what are you doing yum that looks good well i just happened to be the salad awesome apple didn't fall far from the tree did it why not have a salad every day oh well i got a glass of wine too so maybe i one-upped you i have seven y'all gone not to be outdone all right all right well i love you mom talk to you later bye gus remember when we went to west virginia that tastes like home country roads right here driving down them what foods remind you of home tell me in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe to food network you\n"