Scattered around Melbourne, there are a few small grocery stores called "USA Foods" and they carry just that - US foods that are not sold or used in this country and most Aussies haven't even heard of. According to my friend, Hannah, the stores get their food from US military ships that dock in Australia and unload their extra food stocks.
I have managed to avoid going to one of these stores for 18 months, but broke that streak today. Our playgroup is having a joint 2 year old birthday celebration for all the kids (so, lots of bubbly for the adults) this weekend and I had a vision of impressing the hell out of them with my buffalo chicken dip (When I say "my," I am more specifically referring the recipe on the back of the Frank's Buffalo Sauce bottle, of course!). Buffalo sauce is not really a thing in Australia, so I decided it would be fun to make this dish.
I walked into USA Foods and 2 overwhelming feelings struck me - one of nostalgia and longing...and one of total disgust. The combination made me giggle awkwardly as I wondered through the place. This is a store of total junk food. I love a hostess cupcake as much as the next guy, but, my oh my, there's a lot of unhealthy stuff in there! There's basically an aisle for 800 kinds of pickles, an aisle for cereal (only the chocolate and lucky charm varieties), an aisle for cheese covered stuff like Cheetos, cheese puffs and cheese balls, an aisle for sauces, and finally, one for frozen items like Ben and Jerry's.
In truth, all of these foods felt like I'd found absolute treasure and had to get them because who knows when I would see them again?! The outrageous prices kept me contained however. I got the buffalo sauce (Ever paid $9 for Frank's?). Then I decided we would do something crazy for Nate's birthday this weekend so I got Bisquick pancake mix and log cabin syrup - only the finest in my house! Then, just as I was rounding the corner to the register, I spotted something beautiful out of the corner of my eye - FRITOS! Couldn't stop myself. I'm eating them right now while rubbing the grease on my phone screen and I don't even care because they taste so good!
