Mad Shopper

Okay, I'm fessing up. This is the stuff I bought in NZ, and sent back to myself. So obviously it does not include the last minute easter eggs and chocolate bars, or the huge bag full of souvenir chocolates (a few of which ended up down my throat instead). Some Kiwis and other foreigners will be nodding their heads and saying "yep, you gotta have some of that" at some things, and "WTF? Is she mad?" at others. Jo will be kicking herself for prancing around with JnH'ers and not coming to get her golden syrup and I know Katy will sympathize with the rubber spatula.


Sanitarium weetbix, because the variety you can get through FBC just does not work in the muesli recipe I use (thanks Jo T.). Gingernuts, which I always waver over - scoff them soggy after a dipping in hot tea...or crush them for a sweet dessert pie base. Hmmm....Favourite sweets - I LOVE licorice, all the more since I can't get it here. I'm sure I wouldn't eat it as much if I lived in NZ and could have it whenever I wanted. When I find a source for favorite foods in Japan I often just stop eating them - it's their rarity and elusiveness that is so appetizing. Ditto Continentals and Old Gold. Custard powder, which just isn't the same here, which I use for trifles mostly. Silver cachous, which you can get here in a smaller size. Mixed nuts, UNsalted. I can get salted mixed nuts at Costco, but finding unsalted nuts is a bit trickier, expensive, and in mixes I don't like. Might as well throw some in then! Turkish apricots, for the muesli again. They are sometimes available in the supermarket here, sometimes not, usually not when I want them! Chuck some in just in case. My favorite UV moisturizer. At $15 a bottle, much more economical that the Japanese products, and a lighter lotion style that I like, rather than a thick sunscreen. I use it everyday in summer. The chocolates at the lower left I have no idea what they are! I must go check them out...


In front a bunch of liquid food dyes. The black LEAKED IN THE BOX. Only leaked, thank goodness, not spilled, but enough to dye the labels on all the dye bottles, so now I have no idea which dye is which without a very close inspection of the bottle! More gingernuts, golden syrup and NZ honey. Tomato sauce for me and the kids. Totally not a necessity since we all like Japanese tomato sauce. Favorite chocoate bars, and Cadbury favorites. More from the Alison Holst food bins at Pac'n'Save - this is chocolate-covered crystallized ginger, I think. OXO chicken stock cubes, as while I do like Japanese Maggi consome, I do get tired of it too. Cake decorations and NZ jelly, which is just DIFFERENT. Pitted dates, which are very hard to find in Japan. I think Tengu has them. I would snack on them more if I could find a cheap source. As they are a rarity for me though, so I tend to save them for Sticky Date Pudding - divine! And Instant Oatmeal.


And more instant Oatmeal. Okay, I know oatmeal is something you can get in Japan. At Tengu, FBC and Costco, and I've even seen American Quaker oats in the supermarket (though not last time I looked). I'm having trouble finding the right variety to a) make muesli and b) to make creamy porridge. While I continue to buy and experiment, I like to have something tasty and easy on hand for days when I don't feel like being chief cook and taster in the Great Oatmeal Experiment. BAGS of soup mix - because Erica LOVES vege soup, and it's such an easy and nutritious lunch or dinner for her, and so easy to make with these sachets. The bigger bags are just the beans, for when I'm feeling ambitious enough to do it from scratch and make stock too. Speaking of stock, more stock powder. More golden syrup and brown sugar for baking. I think that's coconut rough in the bin bag. More food dye. More licorice - my new hot favorite, chocoate stuffed licorice rolls. Superb! And TO-DIE-FOR Cadbury creme eggs!!


Another key link in the Great Oatmeal Experiment - Scotch Oats. It's spring, so I won't be testing this theory until at least November. NZ cornflour, since I heard that Japanese starch just won't do for pavs. A vertical potato peeler. Corn forks. Possibly here, probably in some big department store, but I've never seen them, and there they were on a shelf in NZ, so I threw them in. A BIG bottle of vanilla essence, which I use a lot of, and another of peppermint, which I couldn't find in Youme Town last Christmas when I had my eye on home-made peppermint lollies. More licorice, a Lindt Easter Bunny, the kids' favorite NZ snack, Twisties, and my favorite salt & vinegar chips. Would you know, I got back to Japan and guess what I found in the supermarket? S&V chips! Too bad they were vile. Guess I'll be saving up my chippies for my birthday and Christmas after all.