To the Aussies on the forum

[Megan]

Mez - what about Fantales and Marella Jubes - the best things to come out of Aussie !

[mez]

Crunchies and Violet Crumbles are kind-of the same, but not really...gee that clears things up. ;D

OK. Firstly the choc coating tastes different, but more importantly, it's the honeycomb that is different.

Crunchies tend to melt in the mouth, aren't as dense as VCs and you bite into them all the way to the end.

On the other hand, the density of VCs means when you bite into them, you tend to snap off a bite. The honeycomb then becomes this wonderful sticky consistency in your mouth that you chomp on a bit until it eventually softens and is swallowed.

Megan, not so much of a jubes fan but I totally agree about the fantales. The problem was stopping at a reasonable amount, otherwise my post would have go on for quite a while.

Anne, it occurred to me you may also want to ask your daugther to bring back some bush herbs and spices (assuming she can import them into France). In the last few years, there have been a wonderful assortment of native plants being harvested for herbs and spices. I've added some links for you.
www.mfcd.net/paddymelon/bush.asp
australianbushspices.com.au/
www.atasteofthebush.com.au/
www.cherikoff.net/cherikoff/

[Anne]

Mez, after such a lively description, I cannot but place an order for Violet Crumble too , but no lollies .

THANK YOU for the herbs and spices tip, I will definetly place an order for some too . After all, herbs don't weight anything in a suitcase, do they ? And I am sure that there is no ban on importing them in France .

Hélène is now away at my mom's in Strasbourg, who will take her to CDG next week while we are away on vacations (yes, that's called "delegation of the chores" ) .

[denise]

;DMez..I love the language you use to describe this confectionary...I am drooling over my computer.
Actually, English crunchies, which I love, are relatively speaking not that high in fat and sugar are the violet crumbles the same?
Denise
Love from England

[mez]

Denise, I just checked online and a 50g bar is 8.6g of fat and 33g of sugar...ouch!

[denise]

:)Mez, did you notice the tongue in cheek? Internet information Can be wrong!!!!
It's like those yummy French patisseries, my friend told me they are all low fat, thats why the French women are so slim! (and I believe her!!)
Love
Denise

[Anne]

Daughter has been back for a week now, and it took us that long to taste the goodies that she brought back . Here is my Australian food report :

- Vegemite : Despite all the warnings, I quite like it ! Actually, it does taste very much like English Marmite to me, except that the paste is thicker and more (a bit too) salty .
- Tim Tam (“classic dark”) : miam miam !!!
- Cherry Ripe : cherry and coconut paste with a dark chocolate coating :
- Violet Crumble : you were right, this is nothing like a Mars bar . This hard meringue texture is very unusual . We like it very much, but only because we split a bar between the four or five of us, we wouldn’t enjoy eating more than a few bites at a time, it is SO sweet …
- Macadamia nuts in dark chocolate and in lemon myrtle chocolate : the dark chocolate tastes a bit weird but the taste of lemon myrtle is really nice .

The nuts were a present for me from the mother of the host family, as was an assortment of bush herbs : I haven’t tried those yet, but some smell heavenly like the lemon myrtle and also wattle seed . They offered Hélène a very nice cook book . She has cooked for the family and also learned many new receipe from them as both parents are great cooks . Especially several Indian receipes since the mother is of Indian origin .

As a whole, she had a really great stay there, loved Perth (except that the weather was quite cold there) and found the Kalbarri beautiful (some areas look quite a bit like Western USA) . Most of all, she was VERY fond of her host family, who are incredibly nice people . She hopes to see some of them again end of 2009, when the mother plans to take a few months leave from University to visit Europe and America with her youngest daughter who will just have graduated, so of course we have invited them to stay with us and I also offered her to organize their stay in Paris .

Here is my daughter l'Australienne (the school uniform looks incredibly exotic to us French) :

[Shoesy]

Anne - Your daughter is so beautiful. You'd better keep an eye on her as I wouldn't trust any French guys around her.

[annettecinca]

Anne, it is fun to hear about your daughter's trip--glad she had a good time. Ditto what Shoesy said--she is gorgeous! Lock her up! Sounds like you all had a fun time sampling the goodies she brought home. It will be great for your family to get to meet her hosts when they come to France, and so nice of you to help them plan their trip.

[Jody]

Glad your chick has come home and had an exciting visit there. I think she looks very glamorous in that school uniform

[mez]

Thanks for the report, Anne.

I've been so busy recently I feel like I've missed out so much from this forum!

Firstly, I agree that you should lock your daugther up - a gorgeous young woman. I am sure she left many a broken hearted young man behind...especially speaking in French-accented English.

Secondly, congratulations on surviving the Vegemite experience. I always travel with a tube of the stuff. I typically bring it home unopened but it's the comfort factor that drives me to take it.

I am glad that her host family was so good to her. It definitely makes or breaks the experience.

Her trip sounds like it was a successful one and I very glad she enjoyed her time here.

Mez xx

PS. Had to laugh at the photo with the kangaroo sign...once you leave the city these are quite common (along with other animals).

[sistereurope]

Anne,
Thanks for the update on your daughter's adventures in Australia. I agree with the others and wanted to add that I think she looks incredibly chic in that uniform!! I think it's great that she's adventurous (as well as beautiful!)...she'll go far in life.