bellalinda

Bozama,
I'm a Canadian, just like you.
I have Norweigian, Scotish, French and yes British ancestry.
We have many influences in our country, but it was my Norwegian grandfather - an English professor at the local university who reminded me of certain spellings which come from our British heritage. BTW we do still have Queen Elizabeth on our currency.
It makes no matter to me. I am in the floral business and when I did retail, i would always ask the customers which spelling of mum/mom they preferred.
It was about 50/50.
No biggy.

zeppole

bellalinda,

I thought you might get a needed laugh out of these:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...ipe/index.html

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/f...ca128d28b1e2f0

zeppole

and this

http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/wonder_mums_house.html

bellalinda

Zeppole

as usual
wonder woman

Carrybean

Walkinaround, love your posts.

Luisah

<<I'll dive in without reading the above posts. Either I take something small and obviously from my home city (Seattle being smoked salmon, coffee, chocolates, etc.) or I wait until I'm there and simply bring a bottle of wine or bouquet of flowers as is more local tradition.>>

Suze, I usually find your posts very helpful but this one is a miss. The OP's original question makes it clear that she is not asking about a hostess gift, she is bringing a gift for children. She clarifies later that the children are 8 and 11 years old, motherless and live in a small town. She is bringing Duncan Hines brownie mix to make brownies with them -- or for them -- and was asking about marshmallows "for fun."

<<Author: gruezi
Date: 08/22/2008, 01:07 pm

sigh... I really hope bellalinda has already boarded her plane...>>

I love it! I'm still laughing.

And I agree with AlexxT.

<<I have enjoyed and laughed through this whole thread. Take the brownies and marshmellows and throw some graham crackers and hershey's chocolate in a ziplock bag...I brought the s'mores makings (in my suitcase) for my cousins in Germany--it traveled fine--and they begged for more...
Enjoy your trip.>>

suze

OK then I'm sorry for what I said above and stand corrected.

I still think taking a brownie MIX is a strange idea... what about a pan, an oven, etc.

I DO think the idea suggested of a "s-mores" kit is a great one, because that'd be fun too do together & easily assembled, not requiring anything specific or making a mess in the kitchen like baking would.

Apres_Londee

bellalinda, forgive me, but this thread has made me think of that great italian-canadian insult: mangiacake!

Anyways, it's obvious that the *time* you spend with the kids doing something fun like making brownies or s'mores is the real gift here. I'm sure the kids will have a blast and the adults will appreciate your thoughtfulness. Have a great trip.

bellalinda

Apres_londee

ooohh you are so right

here's hoping the family is authentic Italian enough to not know the term 'caker'

CasaDelCipresso

wow...this thread did take on life ;-)

I don't see how in the world smores, brownies, etc. to make WITH KIDS would be tacky or lazy at all! I bake homemade things all the time...but my 7yr old certainly gets a kick out of making a brownie mix ;-) why would an Italian child not?

(I have found, btw, homemade chocolate chip nestle toll house cookies always go over well...seems the whole chocolate chip cookie thing is very American)

as for food gifts tacky in Italy...no WAY. I am always offered food everytime I enter someones home in Italy...good quality chocolate, etc. is never in poor taste. I'll be bringing over chocolates, etc. for my elderly neighbors...they always give me food too ;-) mostly things from their farm (wine, apples, figs, etc. whatever is in season) but, the last time I was preparing to go back to the US, my neighbor came running over with caciocavallo cheese she bought at the store...to tide us over on our long journey home she said ;-)! I, personally, think gifts of food and consumables are preferable to nick-knack-type stuff...just adds clutter. Food can be enjoyed right away!

p.s. Italians who stop by my home usually bring CANDY to my son - Italians like their sweets, in general, and I don't think it inappropriate at all to give candy to the children.

surfmom

what an interesting thread!

To all you food snobs, however, I have to reply. Consumer Reports did a test of boxed cake recipes and canned frosting a few years ago. Their findings were that the marginal difference between boxed cake and your made-from-scratch cake were minimal. However, the canned frostings were nasty (which they are). So they concluded that you should save the time and effort on the cake, but make the frosting from scratch.

I know I know... I haven't had 'your' cake. And it is sooooo much better. Well, you haven't had MY from scratch icing. And it IS sooooo much better. while you are slaving over the cake, I'm having a 'rita. A margarita that is.

beaupeep

Hey gruezi?
If you're ever in Lausanne, stop into the grocery section of Globus and pick up some Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk! At least the last time I wasn't on a diet they had it
Susan

gruezi

beaupeep,

Well, I couldn't imagine what could have revived this thread, but I see that it was indeed a very important piece of input.

I'm there!!

I'm a Globus girl for sure, but they don't have NYSFC here in Zurich. Could be worth a train ride now that I have a GA.

Is there a great art museum I can tie the trip in with?

I've been to Lausanne once - saw the photography museum...very nice... and climbed the cathedral across the way.

gruezi