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The journey of a thousand miles begins with...the perfect pair of shoes.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A trip to Aldi and a look at "American" foods

After I dropped Indy off at summer camp (squeeeeeee!) I went over to one of our local Aldi's (seriously, they are everywhere) to pick up a few things. I mentioned the other day how they had all these "American" items for sale, presumably to celebrate the 4th of July. Who knows? I got a super duper cool new phone yesterday that has a 5mp camera (with zoom!) and I decided to take a few photos to entertain you. The Germans thought I was nuts. Nothing new there. Snap on crazy American. Snap on.



First we need a cart. See them? They're all chained together. If you need one, you have to put in a 1 Euro coin to release the chain. To get your coin back, you have to return the cart and chain it back up. No loose carts scratching up the paint on your car or blocking a parking space. Brilliant, isn't it?


I often forget or simply don't have a 1 Euro coin, but have been blessed with this happy little guy. Isn't he cute? He fits on my key chain and is always handy. Look closely at the white eyes and mouth. What could that be?


Why, it's a little coin made to fit in shopping carts! Genius!


Let's have a look at some "American" items, shall we? American Sandwich bread. Whole Wheat.



Blueberry and Cranberry juice. Have you ever seen blueberry juice in America (other than Whole Foods or some other such store)?


Plain and Garlic wraps.


Sandwich pickles (they are NOT dill, but more like bread and butter pickles-ick).


Blueberry and Chocolate Chip muffins. Yummy!


Peanut Butter! Crunchy and Smooth. This is a HUGE deal. Most Europeans don't eat peanut butter, but the ones who do, love it. Worship it, almost. Probably because it's so hard to find. My friend bought a gold and diamond bracelet in Italy (not off the street, at a real jewelry store) for a case of Jiffy. Can you imagine? The store owner knew they were Americans and told them his grandchildren loved Jiffy, but couldn't get it. If they got him a case, he's let them have the bracelet. When I go to Italy, I'm bringing cases of the stuff!
There was a guy in the store who was loading his cart up with jar after jar of peanut butter and giving me the evil eye. I had to take the pic before he wiped it out. If I knew the words in German I'd have told him he had nothing to worry about because I loath peanut butter.


Marshmallows are an American thing. I did not know, but it has been confirmed by several European friends. I also didn't know there was a "Traditional BBQ" style.


This is quite possibly the most disgusting thing there. Just the thought makes me shiver. It's swirled ketchup and mayo (which I have to admit does look very patriotic), or swirled ketchup and mustard. Ewwwww. Click on the photo for a close up. That so does not look appetizing.


Sweet popcorn? Yuck. The butter popcorn was sold out.


Donut mix? Do we make donuts?


Apparently, we do. There is even an American Donut maker.


I cruised over to the frozen foods, but all the American ice cream was gone. Probably the same day it was put out. Germans LOVE American ice cream. I prefer the German style. Funny, huh?
They did have BBQ spare ribs though.


And Ribeye Steak.


And popcorn "shrimps" in little containers that look like Chinese containers. Wonder why?



After Aldi, I walked about a block down the road and braved 2 lanes of traffic and strassenbahn tracks to get to Mantei. What is Montei, you ask? Heaven, I say. Heaven.


Okay, maybe it's just a bakery, but what a bakery.


I was drawn in not by the healthy breakfast offerings, but by this little temptress:


Choices, choices! It came down to this. No, not the "American" style donut, but the 2 types of chocolate croissant. The one with the chocolate on top is quite sweet, so I went with the flatter one that looks like it needs a bathroom. Yes, that's dark chocolate oozing out of it. Bliss.


Look at it, so pretty, nestled in its little bag, just waiting for me . In the immortal words the cutie pie Justin Timberlake (don't worry Johnny, any affection I feel for JT is purely familial, like a little brother, my heart still belongs to you. And Edward Cullen but we won't talk about that right now), in the song Love Stoned, which I was listening to in the car: "Hot Dayum!"


Want to see it again? Well, okay, here it....wait? Where did it go?

Oh, yeah, I ate it! And it was AMAZING! If you've never had a chocolate croissant, I feel sad for you. I won't rub it in your face that I can get one pretty much anytime I want (which is completely true), I will honestly feel bad that you can't have one too. They are soooooooooo freaking good. If you ever see one at Panera, Whole Foods, or a really good bakery (good being the key word there), buy one. No, buy two. Run away squeeling and eat it with sheer joy.

14 comments:

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

I liked this post! :) Thanks for the tour of Aldi...will definitely have to try ours now. Gotta love European pastries---they just taste better over there. :)

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Haha, I love this post. There's an aldi's here but it's nothing like that! Haha.

C N Heidelberg said...

I love bread and butter pickles!! Dill ones are gross. ;)

We used to make donuts growing up, but, uh, the method didn't involve anything even remotely resembling that donut maker.

You can get PB at Rewe, I would shrivel up and die otherwise :)

Allison said...

too funny :) It always makes me laugh when they say "shrimps" instead of "shrimp"

kd said...

I saw an Aldi going up here the other day...it made me think of the Duggars 'cause that's where they shop in Arkansas.

Anyway, about the marshmallows: We went to a "Mexican" restaurant here the other day and both ordered margaritas. It actually wasn't horrible, but the strange thing was the garnish. It was not your traditional lime wedge but instead a marshmallow and a Smurfs gummy skewered on a very long toothpick. Perplexing, to say the least...

Susie Q said...

Interesting. You have an Aldi's in Germany, but I don't have one in Colorado. hm.

B. said...

So funny!!

Snooker said...

@ Susie Q - If I'm not completely mistaken, Aldi is a German company. In fact, I think there was a huge row between two brothers or something like that. This is why we have regular Aldi and an Aldi "south".

Lisa said...

Funny, cuz we have Aldi's here in Iowa and I hate going there. It's always off-off-off brand food that just doesn't taste that good. Although I like both ketchup and mayo (even mixed together) on burgers and fries, I do NOT think that the swirl would taste very good. Kinda like when they put pb and jelly in a jar together? GROSSSSSS.

Jealous of your yummy German pastries. I miss Germany (my dad was stationed there when I was a kid and I loved going)

Lisa said...

Funny, cuz we have Aldi's here in Iowa and I hate going there. It's always off-off-off brand food that just doesn't taste that good. Although I like both ketchup and mayo (even mixed together) on burgers and fries, I do NOT think that the swirl would taste very good. Kinda like when they put pb and jelly in a jar together? GROSSSSSS.

Jealous of your yummy German pastries. I miss Germany (my dad was stationed there when I was a kid and I loved going)

MaricrisG said...

first let me tell you that I love your blog title! And second, this will make me sound neurotic but I thought Aldi was only available in the US. The one we have near us sells a lot of hispanic brand foods. It's funny how they labeled all those foods there. You must miss being in the US.

Melissa said...

I love that post! We have Aldis by me, but nothing as American as what you have in Germany. In fact, there is quite a bit of German made food in mine? BBQ style marshmallows lol. Love it!

Three of my cousins currently live in Germany, 2 because of army and 1by choice. They love it. You have a new follower

Emily said...

Um, chocolate croissants are the best! I was 10 weeks pregnant in Italy and lived on chocolate croissants for a week...heaven.

Jennifer Bowen said...

Please take me to this place! LOL Seriously, I want to go!

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