I'll be visiting my son in Madrid soon and would like to surprise him with some of his favorite American foods. I know root beer is hard to find but can any of you Americans (or other non Spaniards) living in Spain give me some suggestions? I posted this question on another thread (I'm new at this - forgive me! ) so sorry for the redundancy.

[ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Don't laugh, but my best friend always asks for Velveeta! His wife is addicted to it because she was an exchange student in Arkansas her senior year of high school and fell in love with cheesy mexican dips.

I love their cheeses - especially manchego - but apparently they don't have many that will melt into a goopy mess.

Peanut butter can be found here, but generally specialty shops and the Corte Inglés....on the expensive side so I have been told (I always bring back a healthy quantity when I travel to the USA). Reeses peanut butter cups do not exist here. I like to bake, especially chocolate chip cookies and have difficulty finding chocolate chips. When ever I travel back to the USA I bring back Bisquick (or other pancake mix) and of course Hershey´s kisses!

When I was in Spain, I missed Oreos. That was about 12 years ago, so they may be available there now. I also missed peanut butter cups and remember a friend sharing hers. I also wanted fried chicken, American-style--but you can probably find that somewhere.

Reese's peanut butter cups - of course! He loves those and Reese's pieces. Now if I can only figure out a way to bring him some good old homemade Mexican tamales I'd be set! As I'll be traveling a looooooooong time I don't know how I can possibly do that. I leave LAX on Friday, 3/29 at 3:00 PM and arrive Madrid on Saturday, 3/30 at 7:20 PM - don't ask!!

Mama chula, you can probably skip the tamales. Chances are excellent one of the many Mexican restaurants in Madrid makes these.

How about Lucky Charms cereal, some Sports Illustrate magazines (Swimsuit Issue, preferably! hehehe.. ) or other magazines from the USA? Also, how 'bout Triscuit, Animal Crackers, or even a 6-pack of Mountain Dew? Just a few ideas here.

taravb, I'm sure you've heard that Kentucky Fried Chicken "restaurants" (term used loosely here) are found everywhere in Spain nowadays.

Good luck, Mama chula. Have a GREAT time traveling around Spain AND Italy! Hope to see you at the "Party With MadridMan: Version 4.0" at El Brillante on April 4th!!

Saludos, MadridMan

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

For when that craving for Reese's becomes REALLY bad, here's an idea! Make them yourself!

From http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/ , where you can find all sorts of recipes for high-fat, high-salt packaged and restaurant foods (including, frighteningly, Twinkie "creme filling" and various Taco Bell recipes--those should come with "don't try this at home" disclaimers--and did you know that Heinz 57 Steak Sauce contains "raisin puree"!?)!

(Fake) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

12 paper muffin cups
One 12-ounce pkg. milk chocolate chips
1 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Paper muffin cups and chocolate -- what a glorious day!


1. Cut the top half off of the muffin cups so that they are shallower.
2. Pour the chocolate chips into a glass bowl and melt them in the microwave: Microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes. Stir the chips gently, and let them sit for a minute or so. If the chocolate needs more melting, microwave those chippies again at half power for 30 seconds. Stir gently. Continue the process, stirring gently as you go. But be very careful not to overcook the chocolate or it'll seize up on you like day old Carolina roof tar.
3. Using a teaspoon, spoon a portion of the chocolate into the middle of a muffin cup. Draw the chocolate up the edges of the cup with the back of the spoon. Coat the entire inside of the muffin cup with chocolate and place it into a muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining muffin cups and then put the whole muffin tin in the fridge so that the chocolate hardens.
4. Combine the reduced-fat peanut butter, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
5. When the chocolate in the muffin cups has hardened, pop the sweetened peanut butter into the microwave oven on full power for 1 minute. This will soften up the peanut butter so that it easily flows into the cups.
6. Spoon a small portion of peanut butter into each of the chocolate-coated cups. Leave room at the top for an additional layer of chocolate, which we'll add later. Pop the candy back in the refrigerator to harden the peanut butter. This should take an hour or so.
7. When the peanut butter filling has hardened, re-melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on half power for 30 to 60 seconds. Use a teaspoon to spread a layer of chocolate over the top of each candy. Chill the candy once again to set up the chocolate.
8. Finally, remember to take the paper off the outside of the peanut butter cups before eating them. (http://www.topsecretrecipes.com)
Makes 12 candies.


And I did hear about KFC in Spain, MM--I'll keep my thoughts on that to myself!

Tara

P.S. And because I'll bet the Girl Scouts won't come knocking on every door in Madrid, here's a link for fake Thin Mints: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/recipes/thinmint.htm Of course, all the ingredients might be nearly as hard to find as the products themselves!

Here's an alternative for the cookie part of the Thin Mints, listed above--so that you don't have to scramble around for the right cake mix. MM, I know this isn't a recipe exchange (well, not all of the time!), but I know I would be very sad to be in Spain at Girl Scout cookie time with nobody to send me any!
Chocolate Mint Cookies

1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup butter, softened
6 tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1 egg

Melt ½ cup chips over boiling water. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. Cream butter, sugar, and extracts. Add egg and chocolate to butter/sugar mixture. Gradually add dry ingredients. Shape dough into ball and refrigerate for 1 hour wrapped in wax paper. Roll out and cut cookies with cutters (any shape). Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

GLAZE
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup shortening
3 tbsp. corn syrup
2 and ¼ tsp. water

Melt glaze ingredients over boiling water. Add a tiny bit of peppermint extract if you want (1/4 tsp). Dip about 3/4 of each cooled cookie in glaze; shake off excess. Place on waxed paper and refrigerate until glaze cools.

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Unless the situation has changed since I was last in Spain, it is a place where you cannot find really good, American quality beef. I found myself longing for a T-bone steak. I was surprised at how much I needed one--almost became obsessed with the idea. Eventually a T-bone was delivered to me, still frozen, by a visitor. Once I had satisfied this craving, it didn't recur.
Cantabene

Oh MadridMan, you poor misguided soul. I don't care how good the Mexican restaurant is (by the way, he hasn't found one in Madrid yet) their tamales will NEVER be as good as his grandma Ramona's homemade tamales (not mine I don't make 'em - too much work!). By the way, what is your obsession with Lucky Charms cereal? You've mentioned them at least twice. Is that your favorite? Triscuits - great idea!

Cantabene, you bring up a good point about the beef. When my son came home for Christmas (he surprised us; we thought he was spending the holidays in Switzerland!) one of the first things he requested was a Santa Maria style barbecued tri tip. I was happy to oblige. However, I don't think I'm up to lugging a side of beef to Madrid. Maybe next time...

Tara, thanks for the recipes, especially the one for the "thin mints". In anticipation of this upcoming trip, I placed an order for two boxes of Thin Mints from my friendly neighborhood Girl Scouts so we're all set there. I've just got to figure out how to transport a six pack of root beer. - MadridMan, my son does not "do the Dew". He's strictly an A&W Root Beer kinda guy. I guess stowing the soda in my suitcase (not my carry on) is out of the question, they would explode wouldn't they? Oh, wouldn't that be lovely?

Anyway, in spite of missing some of his favorite American foods, my son is LOVING Spain and can't wait to show me around the city he has come to love. He's been there since September (he left the week after 9/11 - ask me if I was a nervous wreck) and I am afraid he's not ever moving back home to Santa Barbara.

Thanks all for your suggestions. Keep 'em coming!

MamaChula, if tamales would be special for him, you might try packing them with some of those frozen blue ice things that people put in small coolers. You're not really traveling as long as it seems since you cross so many time zones...the ice might make it that long. If you actually have some sort of styrofoam cooler that you could load up with both goodies and ice, you might even be able to take the beef over (especially if you freeze it first.) If it is in a large package that you check it will keep cool anyway in storage, won't it? The question is whether or not you can bring that sort of thing into Spain. I don't think the tamales would be as big a deal as the beef.

MM, clearly you are not a tamale eater! They are not all created equal! Tamales are every bit as important to Mexican families as paella is to Spaniards, and as you know, there can be some pretty passionate discussions about which paella is best!

la maestra (who has managed to transport some pretty strange things by following the motto "Querer es poder.")