PrintDo you send local treats to homesick family and friends?
I've been sending my parents (formerly of Brooklyn, now of Florida) bialies for years. It started as a special occasion gift, and has somehow spun out of control. I fully expect to start getting hints about their shipment of Memorial Day bialies any day now.
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33 Comments:
When I was living overseas, i would constantly have my family send me Widman's chocolates (especially their chippers), to tide me over. In fact, more of then than not, when I would go home for a holiday, I would take an empty suitcase with me, and it would come back filled wtih foods and cooking/baking ingredients that I couldn't easily get over there, such as nice marshamallows, unsweetened cocoa, and of course local Pearson's chocolates and Widman's again.
Actually, I alsom had my father send me some plain, yellow-box, unsweetened Cheerios once while I was in the UK, because they don't have it there at all. All of their Cheerios over there are either multi-grain or sweetened, or both, and my favorite is just the plain. I love those!
Traveller at 11:54AM on 04/30/08
A request--could you add, when posting, where treats/you are from? (I'll go Google Widman's and Pearson's now, but I would love to see locales in future posts here.)
BaHa at 12:08PM on 04/30/08
I used to bring Cuban pastelitos (guava pastries) from Miami to Boston when I was in school. My roommates looooved them. My husband's family has been known to ship these amazing cinnamon rolls from a small bakery near their cottage on Lake Michigan (they're amazing).
@BaHa - Can you send me some bialis too? I lived in NYC for a few years and haven't had one since I left :)
bitchincamero at 12:25PM on 04/30/08
My family is a bunch of New Yorkers who were displaced to Connecticut. Whenever I visit I bring bialys, bagels, and challahs and "special" breads or other treats that Hartford county just doesn't have.
laurelie at 12:28PM on 04/30/08
My sister moved to middle-of-nowhere Vermont a few years ago, and she can't even get cell reception at her house! I send her (from New York) my homemade jams, brownies and cookies, and her favorite croissants and Cadbury mini-eggs. Too bad I can't send a Verizon tower in the mail.
butterface at 12:36PM on 04/30/08
Oh, sorry! That would have been nice, huh?
www.carolwidmanscandyco.com (Grand Forks and Fargo, ND)
www.pearsonscandy.com (Mineasota)
Traveller at 1:25PM on 04/30/08
For me it's the other way! I moved from Boston to Toronto and I bring Canadian treats home when I visit - Coffee Crisp, ketchup chips, things like that. Oh and ice wine. The things I miss from home do not travel well - dayboat scallops, Polar seltzer (heavy in any decent quantity), the gaprow chicken from Sugar and Spice in Porter Square... :-)
wellred at 1:58PM on 04/30/08
@bitchincamero: www.kossarsbialys.com. That should ease your suffering!
BaHa at 2:32PM on 04/30/08
Cleveland has nothing gift-worthy, unfortunately. As culture dictates, I always bring or mail a box of gifts for family and friends (~45-55 people) on my annual visits home to Hawaii. My family has been very gracious to say they love the ballpark peanuts from Peterson's Nut Factory. I'm sure that's all they could come up with. Despite the lack of cool stuff, I usually bring maple syrup and funky ethnic European and Mediterranean stuff.
My entire family does not eat candy or chocolates, including me. Chocolates don't travel well in summer anyway.
On my return trip, I always mail to myself over 50 lb of gifts that I've received from family and friends, and hand-carry precious frozen or fragile items with me like kakidane, laulau, and sake.
Yes, I had in my carry-on luggage a large bottle of sake last year. It went unnoticed, fortunately. I only realized it was in my suitcase when I got home and opened it up. My stepmother must have thought I was going to send it under instead of lugging it onboard. :P
Gifts I usually give to people are Kona coffee and boxes of macadamia nut chocolates since people seem to like that sort of stuff.
Of the gifts that we receive, my husband hoards the chocolate dipped shortbread cookies from Big Island Candies. We also receive cans of Tabasco and regular Spam, as well as Tulip. We gobble that stuff up within a couple of weeks. Another thing we buy and hoard are gaufrette from Japan (brain fart...can't rem the name of the company) and tea from Lupicia (L'Epicier).
Cassaendra at 2:43PM on 04/30/08
Were from Southern Tier NY and after my Dad moved to Florida I used to send him Spiedie meat and Sauce. http://spiedies.com/
pmagnus at 3:37PM on 04/30/08
Whenever I visit my friends in Vermont who used to live in Brooklyn, I come with a dozen Bergen Bagels and a big bagful of black and white cookies. I wouldn't dare show up without them!
CookiePie at 3:50PM on 04/30/08
I'm rather nomadic - I've lived in Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and, as of December, Norway, although as I write this I am in New York City on holiday. Before I go back to Oslo, I will definitely be buying tinned chipotles in adobo sauce, as well as Jolly Ranchers (both for my boyfriend, who developed a taste for them when he was working in California).
Because I've lived in a number of different places, I'm usually homesick for some kind of food. In London I used to long for Remia frietsaus, cheese with cumin seeds in, Wasa knekkebrød, rugbrød, Nora gherkins, Milka chocolate bars... the list goes on and on. I never have had anyone send anything, though. Most of my friends are rather disorganised. Plus, I eat different things in different places. I don't want patat orloog in London or fiskekarbonader in Amsterdam, and McVitties digestive biscuits seem to lose their appeal when eaten in Oslo. The one exception I can think of is that a friend of mine from Paris always, at my request, brings delicious French mustard when she comes to visit.
But I suppose I'm generally quite contextual when it comes to food: when I'm in Norway I eat Norwegian food, when I'm in Holland I eat Dutch food, etc.
caley at 3:59PM on 04/30/08
Since my sister moved from New Mexico to the Puget Sound twenty years ago, I have been sending a local red chile powder to her whenever she runs out.
This got me thinking how I wish someone would send me Habbersett's scrapple. (Pennsylvania is where I grew up.) Then I looked online and found I can get it shipped. Yea! How about a care package from oneself to oneself, just once in a while?
Blue Iris at 4:27PM on 04/30/08
@caley Send lefse!!!
BaHa at 4:33PM on 04/30/08
@Blue Iris- I heartily approve of sending scrapple to you, from you. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when I eventually move away from the area and can't get scrapple anymore. sigh. at least my arteries will thank me.
There's no trader Joe's near my parents' house, so I get a list sent to me 3-4 days before I'm due home, with what they want me to pick up, It's ususally the bolivian coffee, trader Joes' toothpaste, and whatever else they're in the mood for (usually candy and chocolates- tiny peanut butter cups- yum!)
valser at 5:56PM on 04/30/08
@valser - When you do move, check the frozen meat part of the butcher cases in a big supermarket. Both in Boston (years ago) and here in Albuquerque I can get frozen scrapple. Unfortuately, not Habbersett's. Am I not a picky thing?! But that's what these homesick cravings are about: very specific foods.
Blue Iris at 6:10PM on 04/30/08
When I worked for a huge brokerage house in lower Manhattan, one of our guys got transferred to Tokyo for training so he could open up our Hong Kong office. We're talking a blue eyed blonde here... So I thought a very "American" goody to send would be huge chocolate chip cookies.
I wrapped each cooky in plastic wrap and shipped them with a Sunday New York Times. (I knew the paper would be outdated but he'd probably enjoy it just the same.)
A couple of months later, his mother called to ask me how I shipped the cookies. When I told her I had wrapped each one, there was a pause - then she said, "Forget wrapping them, the crumbs will taste just as good."
CARE packages are definitely appreciated! :D
chiff0nade at 6:12PM on 04/30/08
I'm from Connecticut so I send sub-par bagels, dried out pastrami and faux grinders (heroes, hoagies). Not much authentic stuff going on here.
bessfour at 7:06PM on 04/30/08
I am originally from Chicago (now AZ) - and one year my brother who is still there sent me Portillo's Chicago Style Italian Beef Sandwiches for my birthday. The next year - Portillo's Chicago Style Red Hots.
I LOVE Portillo's - and obviously he knows it!
bodaciousgirl at 7:44PM on 04/30/08
My daughter moved to Minneapolis from Western NY and they don't have nice grocery stores like we do. She visited here and took almost an entire suitcase full of frozen things home. Her boyfriend loves her cooking & I will send her anything she misses
joanpieroni2 at 9:04PM on 04/30/08
@pmagnus- I just graduated from Binghamton, and in my stay there, I never did have a spiedie! I always meant to go to Lupo's..oops, I guess I'll have to go back one day...
I just moved to South Korea, and recieved my first care package!
Contents:
Snappea Crisps
Bear Naked Granola- Fruit & Nut and Blueberry Walnut
Nature's Valley Granola Bars
Flax seed chips
Hot Salsa
Fajita, taco, and chili seasonings-- along with chili powder and cumin
Dried beans-- kidney and chickpeas
Chocolate covered peanut brittle(ahh, soft spot!)
A Cadbury white chocolate bar, a heath bar and a bag of Reeses
Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut Salad dressing (I saw a bottle of Annie's here for about $15USD, ack!)
And my personal favorite: A box of soft homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Chocolate caramel brownies (they were kind of hard)-- I put those in the freezer. They are being VERY carefully rationed, hehe
machellebelle at 9:31PM on 04/30/08
I just moved from VA to IN and so far it's been the reverse. People are sending things to me--Mom brought me some foraged durroop (blanched, frozen, triple bagged and stuck in her luggage) and some homegrown and milled chilli powder. My friend brought me a recipe for pho from my favorite pho house, but unless I can find a 50 quart stock pot, I'm SOL. Just kidding, I'll use the recipe as a guideline.
I have got to try a bialy. But it looks like I have to order at least a dozen--are they THAT good?
wookie at 5:23PM on 05/01/08
@machellebelle--I just saw that you moved to ROK to teach English. I have two friends who just moved there for the same reason AND they are both from Virginia (Richmond)!
wookie at 5:26PM on 05/01/08
@wookie--Yes, they are THAT good. Even the FedEx man swoons when delivering to my parents.
BaHa at 6:12PM on 05/01/08
@BaHa--OK, I'm gonna order some. Ya'll can guess what my next post will be about.
wookie at 6:27PM on 05/01/08
@wellred: I feel your pain. I moved from MA to Cincinnati so I am the one asking for things like linguica, ah-so sauce, portuguese muffins, Polar Seltzer and Cranberry Lime Soda, fresh seafood etc. And I miss the Harvard/Porter square area something fierce! (I had a rent controlled apartment for 4 years that was a 10 min. walk to Harvard Square)
No one that I know wants anything from Cincinnati, except maybe buckeyes and I can make those.
SayWhat at 6:31PM on 05/01/08
@wookie- no way! That's pretty awesome, Richmond isn't that far from home -- I'm from Williamsburg :o) I've only really met a few East Coasters here, mainly West Coasters, Canadians, Aussies, Brits and Kiwis. I know there has to be more than just me!
machellebelle at 11:40PM on 05/01/08
Several years ago we moved to Michigan from Savannah, GA and stayed about 6 years. It was fun realizing the differences in food items that were and weren't available regionally. One time, I ordered a case of pickled peaches since none of the stores up there had even HEARD of such a thing. Whenever we'd return from a trip South, I'd return with coolers of ripe tomatoes and quarts of frozen Brunswick stew and local shrimp. We always brought back green peanuts in season, since "boiled peanuts" were another unheard-of food group (sound familiar, Matt & Ted Lee?), and had friends who regularly shipped stone-ground grits and our favorite BBQ sauces. There's nothing like a taste of home when you're living somewhere else, that's for sure!
whoizzit at 12:42PM on 05/02/08
@machellebelle--Oh the East Coasters are there! It would be so cool if you ran into my friends. I hope you find East Coasters soon, BUT in the meantime eat plenty of bebimbap and kalbi and jjajangmyun and jjamp-pong and dokbokkee for me!!! OH and seafood pancakes! You're in my motherland--eat for me and report back!
Oh, and have you seen some of the crazy Korean/American fastfood hybrids that SE has posted?
wookie at 1:02PM on 05/02/08
Many years ago when I was stuck in Los Angeles (for 18 years!) my mom used to send me "care packages" filled with such local (Maryland) delicacies as Old Bay seasoning, Attman's corned beef (never lean!) and Goetze's Caramel Creams. We discovered that soft-shell carbs, belly lox and Berger cookies don't travel too well!! Oh, BTW whoizzit, I love boiled peanuts and used to have them sent from South Carolina!
RichardCrystal at 4:39PM on 05/02/08
My mom and I would send Tastycake products to our friends and family in Florida. Some friends also wanted certain kind of Gingersnaps from our way.
But for me, I have a good friend that's from England-can't wait to go there someday-and I make her bring me back a few items when she visits there. Of utmost importance is Chocolate. My god the Chocolate from there is so good. I will kill someone if they come near my English Chocolate. Another thing I want her to bring me is tea.:) Love the tea there as well. Sooo delish.
Butrflygirly at 5:29PM on 05/02/08
Every fall I send out many pounds of hand-harvested and parched Minnesota WIld RIce to old friends because the stuff generally available in stores bears no resemblence to the genuine article.
srhcb at 5:42PM on 05/02/08
@wookie- I'm pretty sure that by now I have the smells of kimchi and garlic radiating out of my pores. My fellow American co-workers spend tons of money buying Western food but I say forget that, if I wanted to eat hamburgers and drink Budweiser, I would've stayed home and paid a lot less. I'm sure I've eaten both our shares of dukbukki and dolsot bibimbap by now. The little lady that owns the restaurant I always go to has started giving me a mandu appetizer for free I guess.
I saw that pizza in a cone thing! I'm going to go back and grab one sometime, but I think that there should be a SE post (or series of them!) on all the street/fast food here. From the dukbukki, to the fishcake on a stick, the chicken/pork/beef on a stick, watermelon/pineapple/honeydew/cantelope, corn on a stick, the roasted chesnuts, the sweet potatoes (I love seeing the wood oven carts!), the rotisserie chicken trucks, the dumpling bars, I could keep going...
Oh and I think there was something about bulgogi burgers. I wonder if they come with cheese....
machellebelle at 1:28AM on 05/03/08