another post about food

things I can't figure out...

No. 1 - Why the following foods haven't been incorporated into the American diet:

Nutella... the most incredibly delicious spread of hazelnut chocolaty goodness. Like peanut butter, but a zillion times better... or, as my friend Fumbly Franny describes it, "orgasm on a spoon." You could spread it on a piece of wet cardboard and I'd probably eat it.

Sweetened Condensed Milk... widely used outside the states. Drizzle it on toast, put it in your coffee, or best of all... cut up some fresh fruit (that has been refrigerated - it's best when the fruit is cold) then drizzle that sweet nectar all over. So good.

No. 2 - How my mom was so clever.

I've been loving the banana milk shakes that they have in Laos. They're only 50-cents most of the time, and they have this... this... familiar goodness to them. Oh wait... that's because they taste exactly like the banana shakes mom would make on Saturday mornings.

Starving Artist Brother and I would get so excited for these delicious weekend treats. Saturday mornings, for me, were special because of those banana shakes. Things might have been different had I know just how healthy those damn things were...

I watched those Lao women make my shakes and all they put in 'em is a banana, plain yogurt, ice, some milk and a bit of honey.

Man, I might as well have been eating weight-watchers. Come to think of it... Mom used to give us frozen bananas for dessert and I used to get excited about that too! Frozen bananas?!? That's just a banana that got over-ripe, so mom stuck a pop-sickle stick in it, wrapped in plastic wrap and shoved it in the freezer.

She's a clever bird, that mother of mine.