ADVENTURES IS FOOD
In case you were wondering if we are eating strange things, not really. We are eating different things and enjoying most of them. The only strange thing is how you measure it all. We went to the grocery store the first day we got here and after the sticker shock we bought what we wanted and needed and headed for home. I forgot how much it takes to get the basics of cooking and baking breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have been back to the store multiple times in search for things I forgot. Hopefully, I am finally getting close I think.
It took a while to figure out some things. Things like $10.99 for hamburger (mince) really isn't so bad when you realize that a kilo is 2.2 lbs. not 1. Milk we are not drinking so much at $5.15/3 liters. Cereal is very pricey if you want any name brand sugary stuff, just like home. Cake mix is $5/box, obviously we'll be making cakes from scratch. Sugar is grainier and salt and pepper are either powdery or very coarse. Milo is the substitute for hot chocolate and you don't make it with just water, believe me, it is terrible. You make it with milk and sugar. They now have biscuits and cookies, one and the same. The produce is awesome and there are little roadside stands everywhere. We eat carrots and apples constantly and mandarin oranges that don't come from cans. Ice cream is amazing!!! Cheap stuff is like Cold Stone.
They have lots of pies here but they are not fruit pies, they are generally "mince" or meat pies. They are delicious. They make mince pies in every size from tiny tarts to jumbos. We did finally find an apple pie and it was yummy. You buy quiche at the local bakery and it is tasty too. They have bread that rivals Aretta's multi-grain, my favorite. They are masters at pastery but could use a little help with the cookies. They are mostly hard as bullets. This is the only place you go that you leave the bag open so that the cookies will soften up. Big Macs are few and far between because the sandwich alone is about $7. Catsup is tomato sauce and costs .40 per tiny packet. Beer is cheaper than bottled water and diet coke is $3-4 for a 12 oz. We have been out to dinner twice at nicer sit down places and both times someone else paid for it. Meals start at around $17-18 at the nicer places.
It took us forever to find fish and chips that we could afford in this "fishing port". Then we found a little place that gives you two big pieces of fish and a huge 1/2 portion of chips for $8. Better than the purple turtle! They wrap it all up in paper just for fish and chips and send you home with it. They also do Chinese take away. There are lots of little butcher shops around with great meat and it isn't much different than home in price. All in all, we are getting along famously in the food department and when we get tired of our own cooking, the members invite us to "tea" which really means dinner.
Other than the prices and the much smaller variety, things are not a lot different here than they are at home. We may come waddling home!
No comments:
Post a Comment