Soapbox: Requesting Assistance from Americans

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Requesting Assistance from Americans

I had a rather interesting shopping trip today... I'm participating in the Great International Secret Blog Exchange, and I've been requested to send food to an American expat living in Europe. (I'm not saying where, in case that person reads this... making it harder for them to guess who this is going to.) This person doesn't have a blog I can mine for information, so I'm counting on my experience, both with Americans, and my time in Europe. I can't send anything perishable, obviously, and since it's possible to get "real food" on both sides of the pond... that leaves junk food, and similar processed items. I seem to remember what I noticed most was the selection of potato chips... they had paprika, and paprika with peppers... lack of buttered popcorn, and pathetic cereal selection. Cereal won't work... there's way too much selection over here to know what to send. I tried to get as much variety as possible for my $20. Here's what I came up with:

usa food

American foods: kraft mac & cheese, betty crocker fudge brownie mix, girl scouts thin mints, mini oreos, microwave popcorn (buttered, organic), poptarts (spongebob squarepants... actually some sort of berry flavour, with blue icing and sprinkles), jello (strawberry... in case they're related to Paulina), hershey's smores chocolate bar, bazooka gum, sweettarts, pringles (regular, and sour cream & onion), ranch dressing mix, kool-aid (fruit punch, lemonade, orange, and grape), animal crackers, goldfish crackers, and a little white chocolate heart I got free with a purchase today.

nc food

For North Carolina specific foods, I bought a small package of roasted peanuts (from a southern season) and my favourite bbq sauce. (Paulina: in your honour, I didn't count it in the $20.) I'm going to include the recipe for crock pot bbq.

Americans: Did I make a good guess at what you eat, and would be missing if you lived abroad? Please let me know if I'm making some bad decisions, or am missing something crucial. (I hope I don't need too many substitutions, because nearly half of this stuff I refuse to eat... I did say it was an odd shopping trip.) Thanks for your help! :)

4 comments:

Marvie said...: Very good choices =) I don't have that problem (not being aboe to get american foods) thanks to our commissary, but if I was in this person's shoes, those foods would thrill me to no end =); February 13, 2005 2:26 AM
pfirsch said...: I don't have access to a commissary; so, I must say that I would be happy with your choices. Another thing that you might want to add is peanut butter. Oh, and to add something else Tarheel to the box, Texas Pete is a must.

Oh, and for the record:
Eastern NC--> vinegar-based (my section of the state)
Western NC--> tomato-based sauce (can't recommend it as I would be disowned ;)); February 13, 2005 1:03 PM
Daph said...: I agree with the others, I think you've covered pretty much everything, LOL! That care package is such a neat idea... who wouldn't love to receive a box full of good old American junk food?; February 13, 2005 3:12 PM
noricum said...: Thanks for the comments! :) I'm going to have to use a bigger box that I had originally planned... I'll put the stuff in, and see if theres room for some peanut butter and texas pete. ;)

(Why is something tarheel called "texas" pete?); February 13, 2005 7:23 PM