What I Miss Wednesdays

This will be a short note as we head to Spain later on today & I still have a ton to do. I really miss online shopping. I was an avid online shopper and bought both "normal" things (books, clothes and shoes) & some slightly less normal things (cases of dog food, my favorite beverage - Izze Sparkling Juice! - and laundry detergent) online. It was nice to order something and have it turn up on your doorstep just a few days later. Like Christmas all year round. Online shopping always seemed like a small, albeit convenient service, now that it is gone, I realize what a luxury it was.

Here in Argentina the mail system is not very reliable, so there is no real form of online ordering with the exception of photos, for which there is a decent snapfish-esc website. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will order lots of things online to be delivered every time I go back to the US and of course whenever anyone comes down to visit us.

On the bright side, the lack of "push button spending" has helped us: 1) spend less money and 2) keep the clutter to a minimum at the house in La Plata. We were shocked at the amount of items we sold at our pre-move garage sale that were both purchased online and never used. I think there is a lesson there, I'll leave it to you to figure it out for yourself.

What I Miss Wednesdays

I thought I would write every Wednesday about something(s) I miss about the USA. My first thoughts (as usual) turn to food. The food here in Argentina is great and I'm not for want of tasty treats and meals. But... somethings either just aren't the same here OR don't exist.

On the top of my list of things that just are not the same are hamburgers. I'm not quite sure why because their ground beef is spectacular, I think it may be a case of the seasoning (or lack there of - Argentine's are notorious for not wanting to "ruin" the flavor of beef with any seasoning besides salt) isn't quite right. Drew thinks the cooking technique is different than in the US and we both agree that the hamburger bun is sorely lacking here in South America. Also, the differences between US bacon & Argentine bacon could be the topic of a whole other blog.

I've been testing various restaurants and recommendations here in La Plata and found one place that has a good tasting version, but it is still a "take" on the burger. It's like eating a copy of a copy of a burger. I plan on getting some recommendations for options in Buenos Aires and have hope that the capital city with it's large community of US ex-pats will yield a better result.

Second on my list of things that just don't quite cut it here: fried chicken. As the beef capital of the world, you can imagine that the chicken is not a very exalted meal option in most Argentine restaurants and kitchens. They do have something wonderful called "Milanesa" - which is a pounded piece of meat (beef most often, but you can get it with chicken) with a breadcrumb crust that is pan friend. But this is not the same as American friend chicken. Lately I've been craving a fresh Chick-fil-A sandwich with an order of waffle fries!

On the other end of the spectrum is something that you just cannot find here in Argentina at all - pancakes. Not only are pancakes not available in Argentina, but neither is maple syrup. We have a close friend here named Jared, who is originally from Utah. He has lived in Argentina for almost 12 years and still speaks about missing pancakes with maple syrup. We plan on bringing some pancake mix & maple syrup back with us on our next trip back to the States and will have Jared and his wife Gaby over for a pancake dinner! I will be sure to post some photos of that evening for all to see.