Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evoloving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
My daughter's pen pal in America sent her a box of American snacks. My girl likes M&Ms and it's the one snack that my mom would spoil her with before she died. It's one of the few memories my daughter has of her grandmother. Anyhow, I'm reminded of how very few snacks from America are even palatable anymore. We had sent a box of Japanese snacks to the girl in America as J-snacks are quite the rage these days it seems. I feel badly that the girl sent those American snacks and my girl doesn't care for any of them really. Skittles... meh. Sour Patch Kids... meh. The Milky Way bar was pretty nominal. I'd forgotten how unremarkable those are. Rice Krispy Treats are nice when made from scratch, but the store-bought ones are so-so. She didn't care for that either.
The last time I was in America, the new, "exciting" flavor of potato chip was... ketchup. I mean, how many phony execs sitting around a table did it take to think up that genius flavor? How long did it take? "Hey, I know... How about... ketchup?" "Dear God, you're a genius!" Yeah. Meanwhile in Japan, they have new flavors of potato chips every month. Wasabi, Steak and garlic, truffle, Thai tomyumkun, you name it. Plus they're non-GMO potatoes.
The last thing left to open up from this care package from America is Cheez-Its. I never really cared for those to begin with. I won't expect my daughter to care for those. I have to say that my friend in England has sent some rather nice, high-quality snacks. As for America... I hate to say it, but I don't really miss snacks from America. I do have fond memories of Sun Chips, but I have no idea if I would enjoy those as I once did.
Salt water taffy. Caramel turtles. Pecan nougat rolls. Spiral fruit candy sticks. Maybe the only big brands I'd go with are Tic Tac, Nerds or Runts. Beef jerky. Kettle corn.
Japan has some of the best snacks I can attest to that. They’re sweet but not overly sweet. They’re just sweet enough. I love Melty kiss, and pocky sticks. But you can get the pocky sticks here at some stores, and at Asian stores, but the Melty kiss I can only get when my brother sends them to me. They have the best little cookie packages and they’re always individually wrapped and package so precisely. I agree with you 100%. I’d much rather have a sweet from Japan then America.
my canadian friend loves the ketchup chips, but then again, he puts ketchup on everything, it's really ghetto. Snacks have changed, they do not taste the same, but I was a kid decades ago. The Hostess snacks like Twinkies and Sno-Balls and Cupcakes all taste like sugared wax, which is probably what they are made of. Snickers are still good, in a pinch. I like Lays Classic Chips, no flavored anything. It's all I eat now for an unhealthy snack, the snack cakes gluten and chocolate are all off limits due to MCAS. My big treat at bedtime are my magnesium gummies, welcome to senior living. I love Turkey Hill Ice Cream, Butter Pecan. Canadian Mars bars are superior to USA candy bars, I am told. If you lay off anything with high fructose in it, and then have it again after a long pause, you can taste and feel the difference in your gut, like feeling the gut microbiome die on the spot, seriously, it happens.
I had a customer who used to put ketsup on his pancakes and brown gravy on his fries.
hmmmm, that sounds so dyslexic. Uggghhhh.
That's what I'm afraid of. I have a nostalgic liking for Sun Chips, but I have a feeling that if I were to try them again, I wouldn't like them. When I lived in America, I'd eat the roasted pumpkin seeds (the Japanese pumpkin seeds are not good and do not compare) and roasted almonds. I'd buy these at Sprouts farmers' market.
Oh crap. Really? That's sick. We used to shop at Sunflower Market on 3rd Ave and Bell Road. It was nearly identical to Sprouts.
Sadly most junk food in America isn't what I grew up loving. Maybe it's not sad because I don't eat the junk. Most chocolate is mediocre compared to twenty years ago. I don't know for sure but heard years ago companies like Hersey aren't made here anymore. One major downfall is the ingredients like soy, it's just not as good. Mounds bar is still good. M&Ms & skittles have a very bad ingredient. It might be the dye. Name brand marshmallows have blue dye, they are white, why!? Off brand no dye. I believe they have been slowly poisoning processed food for decades. Maybe not intentionally IDK. I'm sure it's cheaper to use subpar or fake ingredients. I never liked sun chips but I was raised on ruffles, lays and the original Doritos. Used to love Doritos until the changed them. The best option is to make your favorites at home. There's a copy cat recipe online for everything.
Smarties from Canada are really good, though they’re Nestle. But far better than M&Ms. They’re slightly bigger.
I grew up eating Smarties and sweet tarts. Now they give me and my husband mouth ulcers. We can't eat any candy like. Especially nerd's they mess us up. Bit O'honey is still as good as it was forty years ago.
The American Smarties are sour but the Canadian ones are totally different. They’re like larger M&Ms- chocolate inside, candy coating. https://files.catbox.moe/txgwyr.jpeg
The Canadian version of sour Smarties are called “Rockets” btw. Kinda confusing.