Happy 17th Birthday Jedidiah and Jeremiah!

[JoyfulSel]

2 hours ago, Gossamer1 said:

I'm in northern New Jersey too! El Tapatio in Dover (Morris Counry) is great! I always leave with a stomach ache because I eat everything on my plate.

I'm in Essex county! Cool to see other NJ people here.

 

When I studied abroad in Italy in 2014, the only place I visited for "Americanized" food was the Hard Rock. When I travel, I love to go there and see what the local burger is. Otherwise, I stuck to local gems and it was worth it, even though I am generally a picky eater. I also hadn't eaten pork since 2008, but couldn't stay away from the prosciutto, absolutely amazing in any kind of sandwich I made quickly at my apartment.

 

Oh, and happy belated birthday to Jed & Jer!

[missegeno]

41 minutes ago, missegeno said: Maybe I'm just from a foodie area of the us and not in a foodie area of England, but I don't understand why everyone thinks the sliced bread is different in the UK vs America. I haven't noticed a difference with anything I've bought (usually whole wheat, oat, or multigrain/seed).

I've lived in the US for a long time now, but am originally from Aus. One of the first things I noticed was that the bread seemed different. I am sure it is sweeter over here. A plain white bread in Aus (and possibly England) seems more savory, somehow.

Interesting. Maybe it's just that i rarely eat white bread.

[Inthemadhouse]

As an extremely picky eater, I wouldn't have eaten the snails either.  I have the misfortune of gagging on seafood of all sorts, as well as most cooked veggies and anything even vaguely spicy.  It sucks, but I've finally just given up and accepted that this is the way things are.  I've worked on expanding my palate, but finally figured out that forcing down food that I don't like or get gaggy for no reason other then because I feel like I should like it was absolutely foolish. 

[Ursula]

American bread is DEFINITELY sweeter than breads made in other countries.  Well, I can't confirm that myself but I have British and Australian friends who have visited the US and noticed the difference.  As a Canadian in close proximity to the border I've bought bread from shopping just over the border in Bellingham (when the dollar was better, sigh) and I swear you guys, it's like eating freaking cake.  I suppose if you're used to it you won't notice just how sweet it is and I'm not sure if the actual sugar content is any higher (as bread is quite high in sugar no matter what!) but you (well, I, at least) can taste the sweetness.

Gimme my Silver Hills bread over Dave's Killer bread ANY DAY.

[Toothfairy]

My son is 17 and he's a senior going off to college.too bad these kids can't have that. And next year isn't that 12 kids legal adults?

[AlysonRR]

12 hours ago, AreteJo said:

Surprisingly, my area has yet to have a Mexican Restaurant worthy of the name.  For that you really do have to head  into the city.

I *wished* I could find a good Mexican restaurant when I lived in a suburb outside Boston, and then again when I lived in a suburb outside DC.

I'm so happy to be back where Mexican immigrants make it possible to enjoy their cusine :-)

 

3 hours ago, Ursula said:

American bread is DEFINITELY sweeter than breads made in other countries.  Well, I can't confirm that myself but I have British and Australian friends who have visited the US and noticed the difference. 

My English father-in-law couldn't stand "American" bread. Too sweet, he said.

[AlysonRR]

10 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Sonic is fast food, but at least it has a lot more variety than some places. The drink menu is especially fun. 

I've stopped at the only Sonic I've encountered TWICE and have yet to figure out how to actually order in the store, or specifically, to order food.

This place had drive-in spaces and a drive-thru. There was a walk-in space, but no staff, so how to order?

We managed to get a limeade from the drive-thru the first time we stopped.

The second time we stopped we intended to buy lunch, plus get a bathroom break. We could not figure out how to order, and no staff volunteered to help us. Everything was digitized and there seemed to be no staff - they were all hidden behind the scenes.

Truly weird experience that has turned me off from Sonic.

On 1/2/2016 at 9:10 PM, Marissap said:

Peanut butter is my life. For real. 

My son's, too Which inspires many spirited discussions, considering my husband's contrary English opinion.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Well, at the Sonic locations here, there's always a red button under the menu (bottom left) whether you're in one of the parking spots or the outdoor seating area. When we're ready to order, we push the red button. After that, it's just like ordering at a drive-thru. Then, we sit in our car, or at our table until a carhop brings our food on a tray. Yes, I've been to Sonic far too many times. 

It's too bad no one helped you when you went there. I've had weird experiences like that at other places, when I couldn't figure out the system and no one was nice enough to help. It has always left me uninterested in returning. Good customer service should be for all the customers.

[InThePrayerCloset]

7 hours ago, Ursula said:

American bread is DEFINITELY sweeter than breads made in other countries.  Well, I can't confirm that myself but I have British and Australian friends who have visited the US and noticed the difference.  As a Canadian in close proximity to the border I've bought bread from shopping just over the border in Bellingham (when the dollar was better, sigh) and I swear you guys, it's like eating freaking cake.  I suppose if you're used to it you won't notice just how sweet it is and I'm not sure if the actual sugar content is any higher (as bread is quite high in sugar no matter what!) but you (well, I, at least) can taste the sweetness.

Gimme my Silver Hills bread over Dave's Killer bread ANY DAY.

Yep, Australian diabetic here. I can eat many breads in Australia and the UK without glucose issues, but I must avoid bread like the plague in the USA due to the sugar content. i'm sure there are some breads that are fine, but generally its a million times sweeter than bread in Aust/UK. 

[missegeno]

9 hours ago, Ursula said:

American bread is DEFINITELY sweeter than breads made in other countries.  Well, I can't confirm that myself but I have British and Australian friends who have visited the US and noticed the difference.  As a Canadian in close proximity to the border I've bought bread from shopping just over the border in Bellingham (when the dollar was better, sigh) and I swear you guys, it's like eating freaking cake.  I suppose if you're used to it you won't notice just how sweet it is and I'm not sure if the actual sugar content is any higher (as bread is quite high in sugar no matter what!) but you (well, I, at least) can taste the sweetness.

Gimme my Silver Hills bread over Dave's Killer bread ANY DAY.

I'm so surprised I never noticed the bread being more less sweet here in England! And I LOVE Dave's Killer Bread - apparently I need to head to BC and get my hands on some Silver Hills bread.  

[bashfulpixie]

All this talk about bread being a lot less sweet outside of the US makes me want to try it and see for myself.  I guess for the moment I need to find a decent recipe from overseas somewhere and try to make it.

[Bad Wolf]

The children in Italy and Germany after WW II thought American bread was cake.

[Elvis Presby]

Are you all talking about regular white bread?  We don't use a lot of bread here, but when we do it is usually Eureka Seeds the Day bread (or something similar).  When we were in Italy, we had bread with pretty much every meal and I didn't notice it tasted any different from the bread we eat here in Georgia.

[MatthewDuggar]

I'm curious as to what type of "american" bread you're all referring to as well...  We have many varieties.   I wouldn't be surprised if it tastes sweeter than what is normally served in Europe.  Standard white sandwich bread to me has a savory taste and not like cake at all.  

[Yes, TOTALLY]

My sister-in-law makes bread rolls sometimes using an American recipe, they're my favourite cause they're so sweet! But not quite like cake, as they do go with savoury things like ham. I have always liked sweet and salty together though. They taste nothing like the bread rolls you'd buy here, which aren't noticeably sweet. I also have to halve the amount of sugar when I'm baking brownies or cake or whatever when using an American recipe, or else it's a bit too sweet for me.

[Bad Wolf]

Just to clarify, the bread was regular white bread, but the children had not been exposed to it before. They were used to a very dark bread, where sawdust would be added to supplement the flour. Wonder bread must have been amazing. 

[Percy]

1 hour ago, Yes, TOTALLY said:

My sister-in-law makes bread rolls sometimes using an American recipe, they're my favourite cause they're so sweet! But not quite like cake, as they do go with savoury things like ham. I have always liked sweet and salty together though. They taste nothing like the bread rolls you'd buy here, which aren't noticeably sweet. I also have to halve the amount of sugar when I'm baking brownies or cake or whatever when using an American recipe, or else it's a bit too sweet for me.

I also find American recipes too sweet, I halve the sugar as well and this is generally in savoury recipes

[OldFadedStar]

I can't do many american desserts since my move back from Japan. In Japan I was told they use powdered sugar instead of regular sugar so it wasn't nearly as sweet.  I got a peppermint mocha from starbucks and could barely drink it because of how sweet it is. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

On 1/2/2016 at 7:50 PM, Yes, TOTALLY said:

It's pretty much my dream to try biscuits and gravy, I have seen pictures and it looks awesome. Grits not so much, but I'd give it a go! I also love the way that in the US you can go to diners! We don't really have anything like that where I live. And also bottomless soft drinks at restaurants, here you have to pay $3.00 for one measly glass! Also deep dish pizza, and NY-style pizza and mozzarella sticks and IN-N-OUT burger! Plus the sheer variety of candy and soda flavours. One day I'm going to go to the US and put on 10kg from all the food.

I made biscuits and gravy this morning for breakfast. It is super easy to make, and it is so good. isn't very good for you but if you only eat it once or twice a year it isn't that big of a deal. 

[SledCat]

I guess I am talking about the standard pre-sliced sandwich bread that you'd pick up in the pre-packaged bread aisle. That is what I noticed as tasting very "sweet". I tend to buy bread from the bakery section now, as we only have it as a more rare treat. The bread comes in a paper sack, and you have to slice it yourself. Now that is the good stuff.

[Fascinated]

Just dropping in to catch up on the latest Jed and Jer (poor Jer is always second) bombshells.

 

 

[Alye]

All this bread talk has me craving it so I'm making bread in our breadmaker that hasn't been used in almost 10 years. Nothing is better than still warm homemade bread. Fingers crossed it works (the strawberry jam I made earlier seemed to). 

 

If this works out I may need to add to my new years resolution in the 'I purpose to' thread.

[Fundie Bunny]

Not american, but spanish here, and i try to avoid macdonalds even at home, but airport waits kill me, and mcnuggets are an easy treat. So i went to a mcdonalds in london, and to my horror, they dont sell beer. It hadn't even crossed my mind the change of mcdonalds menus depending on the country up until that moment

[Alye]

Legally here in Australia a McDonalds can't sell beer (our laws regarding alcohol are quite strict). We were surprised our last night in Paris that they could.

[Trynn]

Indeed, I would be shocked if a McDonalds could get a liquor license here in the states. We tend to be very uptight about alcohol consumption.