A pretzel is not just a pretzel!

Acquaintances I've made here in Québec often ask me "so what do you miss about the US?" I can be heard answering, "pas grande chose, vraiment." (Not much, really). Obviously, I miss family, friends, and old stomping grounds, but from time to time, I do think of certain things that I miss.

Things.

Specifically, grocery-related things!

For example, Thomas' English muffins...what different brands call English muffins around here cannot be fork-split, and are severely lacking both the nook-and-cranny-ness as well as that sourdough taste. My mom brings me some once in a while. Yum!

Secondly, pretzel rods. Never thought I'd miss those, or the other missing pretzel varieties (like the big chunky pretzels), but here, my choices are limited to pretzel sticks and the small sized traditional knot. Of course, some might say they all taste the same, but it must be the salt/dough ratio. (Not grocery-related, but there are also no pretzel vendors...not on the street corners, no Auntie Anne's (According to their website: "The supermodel of baked dough."), none in those turning warmers in the convenience stores...no sir, nope, zilch on the doughy pretzels).

Girl Scout cookies--actually, just Thin Mints, (described on their website as "The most enduring and universally familiar Girl Scout cookie."). I happened to notice on Facebook that a friend of mine in NH was placing an order and I jumped in and asked her really nicely if she would order a couple of boxes for me. They arrived a little over a week ago, and I have managed to not devour all of them, yet!

Corn muffins--something I rarely bought in the US, but the fact that they don't seem to make them here baffles me and makes me miss them. No muffins, no muffin mixes (I've seen bran, oat, carrot, blueberry and chocolate chip, but no corn!). OK, so I know that corn is a very 'American' grain, but since most things have crossed the border, why not corn muffins, or at least the mixes? Jiffy, anyone?

The next two are items that my mother, and probably her mother, nearly always had (or maybe still has) in stock: Krazy salt and Underwood Deviled Ham (Apparently, America's #1 meat spread...). I had forgotten about Krazy salt until my friend blogged about it a while ago.

Two very geographically specific items: biscuits and sausage gravy from the Hawthorne Valley farm store (my former Tuesday morning ritual, thanks to chef Larry) and Camphill Copake chocolate chip cookies.

OK, I need to stop...while checking out the website for Thomas' English muffins, I saw that the same bakeries also produce the following brands--Boboli, Freihofer's and Entenmann's (crumb cake! Sigh!)--all unavailable to my American taste buds. I think I'll go eat a couple of Thin Mints and call it a night!