Kansas Snapshots by Gloria Freeland - September 13, 2024

"Crisp baps" and cheese curds

When you live with someone a long time, you become accustomed to each other's similarities and differences and they tend to fade from your conscious thoughts. So while I really enjoy a hot chocolate on a cold wintry day, it would never occur to me to ask husband Art if he'd like one. I know he'd turn me down as he isn't a fan of warm drinks. One exception is black coffee in the morning, although he'll usually let it sit on the table beside him until it is barely above room temperature. Then he'll drink maybe half of it, while I'm already on my second cup.

In contrast, we are in complete alignment in our love of onions, although I prefer mine grilled. When Michael, our order taker at a fast-food restaurant, recently told Art he could make the onion layer as thick as the burger, Art replied, "That's exactly what I want!"

After recently expanding our normal family of two to a temporary four by adding adopted British "grandchildren" Courtney, 23, and Sam, 20, differences and similarities were often front and center. We learned from their mother Leanne before they arrived that neither is a fan of pasta. I can't think of a single U.S. kid I know who doesn't like spaghetti, noodles or macaroni! On the other hand, Courtney and Sam love pizza, and they ordered it on a couple of occasions.

Our first eating-out experience with them was in Appleton, when we stopped at a Culver's - our favorite fast-food chain. Sam chose a burger and Courtney selected chicken. While we thought nothing of it at the time, it soon became clear it was indicative of a definite preference. Studies in many countries have revealed a gender difference in meat choice - men usually choose beef and women prefer chicken.

However, another choice they made seemed very atypical to me. On subsequent visits, they often shared a side of steamed broccoli! I don’t know if I've ever seen an American youngster do that. Yet Sam seemed like a typical American with a strong preference for catsup as his main condiment, while Courtney's choice was mayonnaise. Later, she developed a liking for ranch dressing and even took a bottle home with her. It reminded me when our German "son" Tim would spirit a jar of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce back to Berlin.

In the United States, Coke outsells Pepsi by about 2.5 times. Worldwide, the ratio is even larger at about 4 to 1. But both Sam and Courtney prefer Pepsi. They'd get along well with my brother Dave, as that is his choice, too.

Later, while eating at home, we were surprised by Courtney and Sam making "crisp baps." The American-English translation would be potato-chip sandwiches! It was a simple recipe - a bun with a filling of potato chips! I thought this might be some spur-of-the-moment oddball experiment, but both assured me that the crisp bap had been a lunchtime choice many times for them during their years in school.

They both purchased quite a variety of items in the snack section of stores. Some of these proved to be hits while others were less so and were left for us to do with as we saw fit. It seemed like a pretty familiar exploration of a new food landscape, much as we have done when overseas.

But something that took both of us by surprise was their enjoyment of a nearby flea market and various thrift shops. Courtney purchased a number of Green Bay Packer items at a Goodwill store. At a local thrift shop, she found a nice lavender jacket priced at $3 for her work wardrobe. When she added it to a stack of other bargain clothes she and I wanted to purchase, the lady running the shop sold the whole kit and kaboodle for $3!

I attribute the woman’s generosity to being charmed by Courtney's and Sam's British accents. No matter where we went, people noticed and commented, often asking where they were from.

Despite knowing each other for a long time, words and expressions still caused an occasional disconnect. "Pissed" to us means angry, but to them it means drunk. When Courtney described an experience as being "pants" - meaning worthless - we were confused. They were unfamiliar with "sawing logs," meaning someone was sleeping.

Both are into sports. Courtney is a physical education teacher. Sam plays and coaches soccer and is interested in sports analytics as a profession. He currently has a school research project involving looking at the Wrexham women's soccer team and accumulating data on scoring success depending on such things as position of the ball on the field - or pitch as they call it. But while his sport is soccer, he bought an American football to take home. A couple of times, he and Courtney practiced throwing the ball to each other and discovered it is harder than it looks.

This was the kids' first trip to the U.S. and we asked them about differences they noticed. They specifically mentioned the wide, straight roads as compared to the narrow, winding ones in many towns and rural areas in the UK. They also talked about how far it was between some of the destinations we took them to. Our visit to Madison was four hours one way, and they consider two hours to be a long journey!

An example of something "growing on them" after a couple of weeks with us is closely associated with Wisconsin. While they were initially hesitant to try those strange things called "cheese curds," by the time they left, it was a common accompaniment to their fast-food meals.

All too soon their time with us was over. But we encouraged them to return again, perhaps next time to my home state of Kansas, although in some month other than August. Kansas is known for its temperatures in the 90s and even 100s during that time and they consider 80 F - or 27 C as they know it - as hot.

The more they venture into the world, the more differences and similarities they will come to appreciate and the more people where they visit will learn about their customs and culture. After all, even though we have known them for years, crisp baps were a new one to us and before they arrived, they had no idea their future contained cheese curds!