Sunday, December 03, 2006

What I miss from the US


Picture borrowed from Lena - Taco Bell. Yum.

My friend Lena just did such an excellent post on what she - and Sweden - misses from the US, that I thought I should do one too. It'll be mostly the same - her list also includes Mountain Dew (which my husband adores, it can luckily be found in a few specialty stores here) and Sour Patch candy, which I haven't tried. But my list? Long. But here are ten things I really miss. A lot. (But it's all not-so-good-for-you, so it's probably a fairly good thing that it's not something I can have all the time...)

Here goes:

1. Starbucks (frappuccinos in particular!)
2. Velveeta
3. Taco Bell
4. Kraft Mac & Cheese
5.Jelly Belly jelly beans (SO many flavors!!)
6. Peanut Butter (or Almond) M&Ms (Just peanut ones here)
7. Sour Skittles
8. Honey Roasted cashews
9. Bagel stores
10. Krispy Kreme

11 comments:

A said...

Your list is very similar to ours. I miss Ihop also, but no peanut-stuff (but matli does miss the peanuts). And we prefer Del Taco before Taco Bell, but I wouldn't complain if there was a Taco bell here...

Matli is in Orlando right now and I get regular reports from Starbucks. And he will bring home Velveeta :-)

I was actually thinking of asking you earlier today if can you think of any american stuff that would be nice for Christmas? I can't really come up with anything in particular, but there must be some candy or treat that is hard to make with what we can find in our swedish stores...?

Anonymous said...

Awww, now I feel bad! Here I live in Seattle, in America, and I don't take advantage of any of the food items that you miss! I can't remember the last time I ate Kraft Mac-n-Cheese. I would be more than happy to send you anything you want, just name it!

Anonymous said...

I wish I could share your enthusiasm in this list, since I live in California. There are a few things some of us Americans miss from our visits to Sweden, though. Here's mine:

1. Reindeer sandwiches from the Safari Cafe in Kiruna.
2. Fica (sp?)
3. filmjolk (sp?) - the cultured milk stuff
4. the cheeses, oh the very many cheeses
5. the pates! the pates!
6. Swedish muesli with dried fruits

Linda said...

Taco Bell (& Del Taco) doesn't even compare to the tacoshops we have in southern cal. I would give anything for a California Burrito w/ chicken right now!

Anne said...

Nikka - oh, oh, get him to bring you a) vanilla extract and b) butterscotch chips. (Chips as in chocolate chips, not potato chips) Very envious of him :)

Shannon - don't feel bad! :) I bet I wouldn't eat all these things if I had them close at hand either. Sometimes distance makes the heart grow fonder, you know :)

Gary - haha, I can imagine!

Anonymous - Aww! Yes, I imagine everyone miss things from their various trips. Fika is certainly something to miss - coffee with various kinds of cakes and cookies, for those of you who don't know...

Linda - I must be a complete ignoramus then :) I lived in Southern California but we mostly had Taco Bell everywhere. I'll blame my friend and make her take me to better places on my next trip :)

Nikki said...

Well Anne, it looks like the list that explains why Americans have such a high rate of obesity. :) So, as you said, you're just as well without it.

My favorite was the Taco Bueno chain in Texas! Think I actually frequented one of the very first Taco Bell's in America, though, in Laguna Beach, California - 1967.

Nikki said...

And, by the way, I believe the original nachos always had refried beans on them! These days no one seems to do that. But they were the BEST! :) And at least the beans added a hint of nutrition to an otherwise not-very-healthy treat.

Anonymous said...

You know you can buy bagels at "Milk and Eggs" in Gothenburg, right? Or is it the AMERICAN bagel stores with 100 different kinds of bagels that you miss?

Anne said...

Nikki, I'll pass on the refried beans! That's something I have not yet learned to love, at all.

Maria - well, I'm in Stockholm, and yes, it's the many-kinds-of-bagels stores that I miss - with freshly baked bagels. Sure, you can buy some in the grocery stores (at least in some) but they're pretty far from the original. That said, I have to check that place out while in Gothenburg next time!

Nikki said...

Oh noooooooooooo! Did you see the news today? "E. coli in N.J. is linked to Taco Bell" Bummer!

Jeanne said...

Having never lived in the USA, I can't say I have a very long list of things I miss... And also, a few of the things on your list are readily available in London, so no need to miss them...!

But here is my modest list of stuff I miss from the USA (and carry back when I visit!):
1. Hershey's peanut butter kisses - something soooo right about the peanut/chocolate combo
2. plentiful good Mexican food (in the Southwest, anyway)
3. Trader Joe's organic corn & flaxseed tortilla chips - my favourite snack EVER
4. Pumpkin spice lattes
5. a champagne vinaigrette dressing by a company whose name I can't recall, but which always reminds me of Ghirardelli ;-)

And when I left England for 18 months to go home to South Africa, I missed Ben & Jerry's and oatcakes!