What's the difference between America and Britain (apart from politics) - the food. Campfire cooking. What is a S'more?

Hersheys S'More

You can see the Hersheys chocolate company S'more has a ark chocolate covering.

 Graham Cracker S'more

I was reading the post of a new friend on Facebook when I read the word S'more. What is a S'more? I gathered it was a food. 

Yes, like it sounds, it means a food which makes you ask for s'more. Made up of things you should not be eating, filling with sugar which gives you a high - and then a low fifteen minutes later, which is why you want to eat a whole box of chocolates after eating one chocolate. 

American Menus

American menus are written in familiar English, yet the meanings and recipes are often different.

Being from Britain, I am familiar with lemon tea, but not really one hundred percent sure about iced tea. Grits still leaves me puzzled. I know a catfish is a fish not a cat. I can work out Pie a la mode after checking dozens of times. It is pie with added ice cream. 

Buffalo Wings

I am still embarrassed when I recall telling the American restaurant server I had not received buffalo wings. I thought they were made from buffalo meat. I did not realise buffalo wings were chicken wings, in the style of the city of Buffalo.

Chocolate Brands

 I know not to compare Cadburys chocolate and Hersheys, which is like talking about sex, politics and religions. Somebody is bound to be offended if you don't believe in their brand and you have the audacity to promote another.

Although I would have a hard time remembering the name of Hersheys chocolate Kisses I remember them when I see one. You can buy them on Amazon and they come in an almond version, and nut chocolate sounds healthier to me.

In Britain we also have more chocolates, wrapped chocolates, and sweet shops, than many European and Asian countries. 

Brands 

American brands are a foreign country to some British people. What is a Graham cracker?

Here it is. A Graham cracker s'more.

We do have crackers in England. Jacob's cream crackers. 

Americans have Southern States with long summers suited to campfire cookery. They take a healthy piece of fruit such as banana and add irresistibly naughty chocolate and marshmallows, not what you want stuck in your teeth on a campsite miles from the nearest 7-11 selling toothbrushes.

So, how come the Americans are famed for their perfect white teeth?

 In Britain, our summer usually takes place for twenty minutes on the third Thursday in August. However, it varies from year to year and city to city.

 We look forward to summer all year until we get a drought, and nobody can cope because nobody has air conditioning. We have hair conditioners but not air conditioners. We think we would love iced tea, if we knew which kind of tea or herbs to use, and where to find ice cube makers.

Campfire cookery

In America campfire cookery is the thing. Bananas, lovely fresh fruit, are mixed up with marshmallow and chocolate. I'm not saying the rest of the world is any different. Chocolate is a worldwide dessert favourite.

Americans are wonderful at marketing. They run neck and neck with China. Think up the most fattening and unhealthy food and American will sell it worldwide. What are the great American successes? Sugared drinks, such as Coca Cola. Fried food, such Kentucky chicken.

For years in the USA we treated our son and ourselves to McDonalds Hamburgers in order to get a free miniature plastic monster. Or something we did not recognize but had moving hands and legs. 

I was always happy with happy meals because the boxes could be turned into something else. Guess what? I was a keen collector of board games which were fascinating for five minutes but bored me after six minutes. I would drive another half an hour to find a meal offering cute little collapsible houses for three collectable cardboard dolls the size of teeth.

Italians protest that pizza was invented in America. They are missing out. The Australians and New Zelanders all claim their country invented the pavlova. I suspect if a canny American marketing man moves to Italy he will soon find the hut where a hermit invented the first puzzle pizza using a secret ingredient.

Of course, America also pioneered healthy food for the sake of being healthy. Kelloggs. If Covid-19 has done any good, it has made us think about weight and diet.

If you really need to know what is in iced tea and s'mores find the answers in these Wikipedia websites:

tempting Websites

Banana Boats

Iced tea

S'more

Hershey Kisses

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hersheys-Kisses-Milk-Chocolate-Party/

About the Author Of This Post, Angela

Angela Lansbury, travel researcher/writer and photographer, author and speaker. 

Author of Wedding Speeches & Posts, Etiquette for Every Occasion, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When?

You can contact Angela through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters on Facebook or Toastmasters Interntional.com find a club . Angela is a member of four Toastmasters Clubs and BHA IPP, Immediate Past President, and VP PR (Vice President Public Relations) for 20202-2021

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Silly questions travellers ask - my silliest questions

Problems
1 Travellers researching a trip ask the tourist board daft questions
2 When entering a new country you ask a daft questions
3 When interviewing somebody you ask a daft question

Answers
1 Research the answer, and check FAQ (frequently asked questions), before asking questions and taking up the tourist board's time.
2 Never mind. Just remember and write down your question - and the reaction - you'll laugh about it years later.
3 Read William Brougham's checklist on Facebook.

Stories
On Facebook I read a checklist for interviewers compiled by William Brougham who I met in London when he came to Harrovian Toastmasters to be the speakers' meeting's General Evaluator. William has interviewed me several times on YouTube. I liked his useful checklist for interviewers. I was also amused by example of his silly question to the tourist board of Andorra, about the beaches. Andorra is land-locked! I began thinking about my silliest questions.

'My silliest questions'.
Angela Lansbury On Asking A Silly Question On The Plane to India
My cringe-worthy moment was when I was jet lagged and filling out the immigration form for India on the plane. I asked the person sitting beside me, "Why do they want my VISA number? Will the MasterCard do? I suppose it's to be sure I am solvent."
The reply was, "They want your immigration visa number. Visa with a small v."

Angela Lansbury On Asking Silly Questions in Malaysia.
I took my first trip to Malaysia and encountered something strange in the toilet. I went to the information desk where a girl a a bright purple headscarf smiled.
I hesitated, "May I ask a silly question?"
"Please do," she encouraged me, "I ask silly questions all the time.:
"Er," I said, "In the ladies toilet, the long shower attachment with the tap on the wall by the toilet in the cubicle, is it for washing the floor or washing yourself?"
"It's for washing yourself, you can use it," she assured me.
I have always remembered not just my question but her lovely, friendly, reassuring answer.

Angela Lansbury on Asking A silly Question About Buffalo Wings
I was on a press trip around America on a trip to the Grand Canyon. Our coach had driven past many places where the guide talked about the Wild West and buffalo. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch. I saw the starters included Buffalo wings. Oh, I thought, some fancy name for small cuts of buffalo meat. I ordered the Buffalo wings. Up came chicken wings. When the serving staff came round to ask how we had all liked the lunch, I pointed out that I had not received my Buffalo Wings. She retorted, "Yes, you did!" I did not wish to pursue the point. It was a free meal. No point in causing trouble.

A few months later I was talking to somebody and she said she came from Buffalo.
I asked her, "Does your area have any special food?"
"Yes," she said. "Buffalo wings."
I asked, "Made from Buffalo?"
"You mean bison? No. Made from chicken wings."
I want not and cold and blushed.

She told me the story of Buffalo wings, supposedly invented in bad weather when the only food was chicken wings and sauce, which were combined to make what is now known universally, at least all over America, as Buffalo wings.

I still get waves of horror when I think about it.

Tips
Check menus online before you go to a new country. Learn to pronounce the names of food and the ingredients.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please like, follow and share my blog posts. See the next post on silly questions.