gifts for host families - marshmallows?
 

Is it true there are no marshmallows in Italy?
I leave in a week and want to bring something for the children of one of the families I am staying with.
I have also heard that Duncan Hines brownie mix is a big hit!?

I've never seen them, and they are so lightweight, I can't see a downside to packing a bag.

I don't know about Duncan Hines specifically. I sometimes see brownies sold in trendy bakeries in Italian cities as an indulgence -- the way people eat gelato in the states. That kind of rich, sweet cakey treat in not common in Italy.

Italians I know who have traveled to the states have told me that they enjoyed fluffy American pancakes.

A good friend of mine who lives in Italy loves American brownies. I have tested all the mixes and Duncan Hines is by far my favorite. They have good ratings from more professional testers, too.

I have seen gorgeous marshmallow at candy stores and specialty food shops. Or you can make them. Alton Brown has great instructions.

Fresh marshmallows would be a wonderful treat.

There are strawberry marshmallows in the grocery stores now and they are good.

We make smores in the microwave when we can't wait for the campfire. Graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey bars. That might be an idea - fixings for Smores.

They don't have cake mixes in a lot of countries. When they come here from Hungary they like to take back cake mixes. They may not have Jello either or boxed pudding. Not sure on that though.

Our friends that visited from Finland had never had pumpkin pie. She took home canned pumpkin and spices etc to make a pumpkin pie for her family. They like to take back Tabasco sauce too as they can't get that.

Jelly Bellys are always interesting.

Pumpkin in all forms is quite common in Italy, so better stick with marshmallows, which will befun to toast in a pizza oven.

They do have cake mixes in Italy.

Gelatins do appear in some very fancy layered pastries. Jello? If I ever saw it in Italy, I'm sure I blocked it out of my mind.

We saw marshmellow candy sticks in Italy,, eleborate shapes etc.. I wouldn't bring a boring bag of Jet Puffs from home,,LOL
The cake mix might be ok, but they do have cake mixes there( do any of you go into grocery stores and look at what they have? I love doing that,, I tend to bring home a few package of soup or sause mixes just to try )

How well do you know these people?

Think of it the other way, if an Italian family brought a packet of cake mix as a welcome gift to your home, would you consider it bit strange

Geordie

Funny, but I would bring the boring jet puffs. (I've never seen the candies on sticks).

Among the many flavors of syrups that you see in espresso bars to flavor coffees (hazlenut, vanilla, etc), "Toasted Marshmallow" is common. Almost every Italian-made brand has a version.

Toasting marshmallows would be the reason I would pack the jet puffs. Otherwise, I cut them up and put them in the brownies.

It's common to bring food items as gifts when you are a guest in Italy, and very common to bring your local food specialty.

If the present is for the kids, anything goes.

Of course, kids everywhere have a way of telling you exactly what they think. If they are unimpressed by the marshmallows and would have rather had an iPhone, they might not be able to disguise their disappointment.

But I'd pack the marshmallows.

<<It's common to bring food items as gifts when you are a guest in Italy, and very common to bring your local food specialty.>>

I couldn't agree more, but if a packet of cake mix represents your local speciality, then ....

Geordie

You can read the link I provided.

(I live in Italy, so my local specialties run toward olives. Last person who came to my house -- an Italian-- brought me a special apron, which I loved. Others have brought regional cookies. A cake mix would have been fine. It's a very jolly culture.)

“Think of it the other way, if an Italian family brought a packet of cake mix as a welcome gift to your home, would you consider it bit strange”

A cake mix or marshmallows wouldn’t pop my clutch but that’s not to say that it wouldn’t be welcomed.
If some German people came to visit us bearing tubes of horseradish and tomato paste, I'd be thrilled. Oh and could they throw in some Hunata cookies, please?

<<I live in Italy, so my local specialties run toward olives. Last person who came to my house -- an Italian-- brought me a special apron, which I loved.>>

I'll try it out on my brother-in- law tonight who's Italian and get his reaction to being given cake mix by a visitor.

I'll post his reaction tomorrow, but somehow I think I already know

Geordie

<<I live in Italy, so my local specialties run toward olives. Last person who came to my house -- an Italian-- brought me a special apron, which I loved.>>

Meant to add that they are the kind of gifts you would expect

Geordie

Thank you all, and especially Zeppole for the feedback - I'm going to go with the marshmallows & brownie mix.

Geordie, I know it sounds kooky, but the kids are 8 and 11.
I am from Canada, and so am bringing maple syrup - (how original - but it's so good) for the adults..
maybe I should bring pancake mix too.
kidding
Do you need anything Zeppole?
countdown- I am starting to get excited.

bellalinda - Enjoy your trip

Geordie

Try: Heavy duty aluminum foil, Packages of Certo or Sure-jell, instant pie mixes. Cake mixes. If your plane offers liquor sales..a bottle of Jack Daniels! Or more direct, inquire of your hostess for suggestions of USA products. A large container of Wisconsin maple syrup?

<<Try: Heavy duty aluminum foil, Packages of Certo or Sure-jell, instant pie mixes.>>

It just get's better :)

Geordie

Tootsie rolls....

Salt water taffy....

Carmel corn....

maybe we are maturing and becoming less xenophobic but in the past the thought of giving anything american to a european sends certain foderites into a tailspin. they usually hold their noses and wait for the maple syrup suggestion to come out and then they blow their tops! surprised cake mix lasted this long with only one or two mild sneers. well it is holiday season so maybe they are all away???

Shaking my head here, guess all the Italians I know in Italy are quite different than the ones mentioned here. I can't imagine showing up with heavy duty aluminum foil, marshmellows, maple syrup, a box of cake mix or whatever.

Maple syrup makes sense to me as it is a speciality food (yes, also available in much of Europe but it is still a bit of a treat, and it does represent a certain area to us).

Cake mixes etc I also find weird. I'd be offended - the only people I know who use them are the people too inept to make proper cakes.

But LoveItaly by walkinaround's definition that makes both of us immature and xenophobic.

In my mind it makes us the complete opposite as what you may buy during your weekly shop in the US, doesn't really have that certain JNSP when giving a gift to your hosts

Geordie

"I wouldn't bring a boring bag of Jet Puffs from home,,LOL"

Marshmallows don't travel well. I brought some Jet Puffs from the States to Switzerland a few years ago. I put them in my luggage and found them upon arrival to be distorted, unfluffy and all stuck together. Not a nice present to give in such a condition.

I just found my first "genuine" marshmallows in Switzerland last month. Aldi had them for sale for SFr. 2.--/per package. Unfortunately, they were available for a short time only.

Brownie mix: Switzerland has a few varieties of them although US mixes are still a bit better.

Cake mixes: Remember everything is metric here so make sure those measurements are somewhere on the box.

Pancake mix: I've made my own pancake mixes from scratch and given them as presents, along with the complete recipe. A few of my Swiss friends now make pancakes from scratch too!

Personally, I'd bring beef jerkey. My family loves the stuff. I've only found it in bike speciality stores at horrendous prices!

Graham crackers: Unknown in Europe (unless someone can tell me where to buy them.)

the whole idea of the marshmallows is as a novelty item for the kids
the family I am staying with lives in a rural area of Tuscany and the children may not have tried roasted marshmallows before.
It is not meant as a classy gift for the adults and
I am not attaching my national identity to it - but having said that, if you think the maple syrup is too cliche, I will rethink that. We happen to love it here in Vancouver and even I have been given high grade maple syrup by friends visiting from eastern Canada, and it is always appreciated.

I think the Maple syrup is the only good idea. Sometimes things become a cliche for a good reason!

Oh, dear.

I must say that I really wouldn't want cake-mixes as a gift.
Perhaps it's a generation thing, but IMHO it's just as easy to make a cake from scratch using fresh ingredients rather than using a mix full of preservatives and E-Numbers.

Now a gift of a nice home-made cake is quite another thing.

Exactly. I'd find it really odd and be offended if someone gave me a cake mix. I don't know anyone who uses them much - they taste like **** compared to proper cakes.

I think bringing anything from your home does not imply that your hosts have inferior products available, just different. Living in the UK I have found plain brownie mix. Having tasted it, I prefer to make brownies from scratch. However, I do think all of the super chocolate/caramel/pecan/cookie/peanut butter etc varieties would be fun. Not because they are superior to anything found here, but because it gives the host a chance to see what flies back home. All of the suggestions fall along these lines. I think some US products are not available in Europe, not because they can't go on a boat, but because they just don't fit their tastebuds. But just because they don't demand that their local grocery store stock these items, doesn't mean they wouldn't enjoy them as a treat or novelty.

i agree bkp. often we see silly comments that just make us look like insular dinosaurs....not able to accept anything from foreign shores and falling all over ourselves to say that our stuff is better than anything foreign (well foreign-american, i suppose).

i would welcome a portion of marshmallowed confections or a box of powder that can magically turn into a cake just by adding water and putting into a cooking apparatus. i'm not familiar with such innovations but i have to say that they do sound like 'a hoot'.

walkingaround -- a "hoot" is the perfect description. When we went home (to the States) last we brought canned steak and kidney pie and Yorkie (not for girls!) candy bars. I don't know if anyone actually ate them but they all thought they were a hoot!

For goodness sake.
If somebody brought me a packet of hermits from the states, preferably home-made, I'd be pleased.
I wouldn't really like a cake-mix, that's all.

I remember my daughter visiting an American friend who had ordered her favourite British goodies. They included jaffa cakes, rabbit flavoured cat-food (for her moggy, I hasten to add) and for some reason, Heinz beans.
She was convinced that they tasted better than the American variety.

Did anybody read the link I posted that talks about Duncan Hines cake mix specifically?

I'll post it again.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/509231

I can readily see why some people would prefer brownie mix brownies to many people's homemade brownies. And I would definitely only do Jet Puffs as carry on.

Geordie, if you'd seen the apron, I'm sure you would have disapproved.

My recollection of British Heinz beans is that they taste -- or at least did taste -- a bit different from the American version.

The difference to me was that the British ones were less tomato-ey in the sauce. Maybe not quite as sweet either. I recall ordering toast and beans in a caff and thinking they were lighter in color, and a bit less saucy than what I would have expected were it possible to order such a dish in the states.

When I lived in Los Angeles I asked British friends to bring me boxes of PG Tips, which I couldn't otherwise get. I could only find the "good" British teas in import stores.

Since you require a gift for children, I'll mention what some of my Italian friends have brought home with them when visiting the US: Jiffy Pop Popcorn--the kind that comes in the pan that you heat on the stove top and the top expands. It's more about the process than the product.

bellalinda - I had young adult Italians, women, stay with me during World Youth Day a few years ago - they LOVED pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast. In fact, anything sweet and sticky was a favourite for breakfast so you won't go wrong with good quality maple syrup.

I concur about popcorn and the process -- one reason I'm all for toasting marshmallows -- but will also point out that my local Italian supermarket sells popped popcorn in bags, and when I entertain in Italy, I always put out popcorn in addition to olives, nuts, bits of Genovese salami to have with apertivi. The bowl of bagged popcorn always empties out.

Peanut Butter seems to intrigue kids in Italy, In the village we stay in that is an annual repeat request. Also, this might sound corny; but when visiting someone's home, we gave young adults, as well as older Italians, key chains depicting our home state or city. In our case we found some really "nice" ones that were not typical cheap tourist junk. If you notice Italians are always locking/unlocking doors gates etc.

Duncan Hines brownie mixes and cake mixes are totally different.

I have a friend who lives in Switzerland and always buys D.H. brownie mixes when she visits the U.S. The brownines are always a hit with her Swiss friends.

The Canadian maple syrup, brownie mix and marshmallows sound fine. The kids will love the brownies even if the adults do not -- but I think they will. Maybe you can make them for them when you're there.

I think your ideas are quite thoughtful and I can't imagine anyone being offended.