Sweet As

After first moving here I was majorly missing my sweet treats from the US readily available in our grocery store if I needed a sugar fix (peanut butter m&ms, Reeses, Nilla wafers, cookies from the bakery). I saw some of the “biscuits” available in the grocery aisle (they call cookies "biscuits" here) and they seemed weird (Wheat biscuits), flavorless and not what I wanted. It seemed like they had less sugar than American treats and thus I was not interested :) I had Tim Tams when I came here as a teenager and knew they were good, so I started there. After a few weeks of trying the different Tim Tam flavors, I was feeling like I needed another option. We were snacking on Tim Tams one day at work and just my luck, my co-worker, Ruth said, “Have you ever had a Tim Tam Slam?” My mind was subsequently blown. I was introduced to a delicious new way to eat Tim Tams. You bite one corner off, then the opposite corner and suck your tea through the cookie, just until you get a little tea in your mouth. You then shove the entire cookie in your mouth before it turns to mush in your hands. It has the texture of a cookie dunked in milk. You might chew a couple times, then down the hatch! It is really a fun treat that makes you feel like a kid again!

Will doing a Tim Tam Slam.

Then, while at work on another day (see a theme?) we were discussing the different treats around the world and where they come from. Tim Tams are claimed by Australia, but the Kiwis like to claim The Slam. Then my co-worker, Sarah, said the one thing she craved when she was living away from NZ was Mallow Puffs. Now again, you don’t just eat them out of the box. You take the Mallow Puff and heat it up in the microwave for 10 sec (time my vary depending on your microwave J). The chocolate melts and the marshmallow puffs out of the shell and becomes very gooey. It is a bit messy, but SOO good! Here is a video of me having a Mallow Puff. I apologize for the sideways filming- it was the best I could do without Will and I needed to finish the bag before he got home out of desperation for chocolate.

So in conclusion, the Kiwis have some good treats-- you just have to ask how they eat them! Ruth says the UK has better biscuits than NZ so I look forward to trying those. Stay tuned...we are going to have a UK vs New Zealand vs USA Olympic Candy match to see who really has the best candy. What should I bring to represent the USA???