The Kiwi's Love Their Sweets

The Porter family have certainly noticed how much the Kiwi love their sweets. In our little town of St. Heliers there are 5 bakeries. And that is just counting what I have seen. If you are walking down the waterfront after school is let out, you will see many kids eating pastries and ice cream. My kids are VERY jealous....all the time. They know eating a huge pastry before dinner isn't going to fly. The kids and I kind of go through this "Huh, I wonder" laundry list every time we see a kid in uniform in hog heaven over a double scoop ice cream cone. "Maybe they don't eat dinner here. Maybe they eat dinner at like 10pm. Maybe they can afford to eat all the sweets due to the constant running, biking, swimming....whatever they are doing."

I picked up a few extra, and very much needed, bucks this weekend working at a store called Martha's Backyard. It's a store that carries US products. It's nothing fancy, but they can't keep stock on the floor. The owner goes to the US and shops almost every month. She brings back containers of what she can find great deals on and what special requests she can fill. A lot of what they sell are American packaged foods like Skippy Peanut Butter, Bisquick, Hidden Valley Ranch, Doritos...things that we expats are jonesing for. Then there is the candy. It is amazing how much candy is sold. It's also funny watching people who have been here in New Zealand for a while get all kinds of excited when they see Twizzlers or a Milky Way. Things they have forgotten about or haven't seen in a very long while. I watched one lady get so excited over Zingers I had to laugh out loud. Sandy, the owner, even has a Twinkie club. I personally don't get that one. Twinkies are nasty. My personal list with Sandy: Franks Hot Sauce, Ranch Dressing, and Grits. Yep, Grits. Kelsey is getting tired of eggs for breakfast.