Bloomington Stinks!

Spring is finally coming to Bloomington. The town does live up to its name - the streets are lined with various flowering trees.

The first to bloom are tall trees covered in little white blossoms. The only problem is that these blossoms stink, really bad! Apparently they're called Bradford pears and they smell putrid, like something between rotting flesh and bodily secretions. If you're ever considering a tree to plant for blossoms, go for a prunus or a cherry, avoid the Bradford pear at all costs!

Success!

I read a review saying that the American ones aren't as good but apparently they're imported from Australia. I won't be able to do proper comparisons because I only have original ones from Australia and caramel ones from America - incommensurable.

At least they are giving Australia full credit for the recipe, which should lend it some cachet with an American audience. (Nevertheless, Cindy and I both strongly disapprove of their use of the word "crème". Yes, accents make words look prettier and more exotic. But if you're going to put the accent there, you can't pronounce it like "cream"; crème is pronounced "crem".)

An Open Letter to Pepperidge Farms

I was so excited to hear that your company had decided to market TIm Tams here in the US that I immediately told everyone I knew who had any connection to Australia, posted news on my Facebook profile for all the world to see and then rushed out to buy some from my nearest Target. But when I arrived there I was greeted with only an empty shelf where Tim Tams had been and apologetic staff. They told me that they had sold out and there would be no more shipments of Tim Tams to replace them. But it's only the 16th March, you're not meant to stop making them until the end of March!

Where are my Tim Tams, you bastards!?

I asked the stockist to ask his distributor again for Tim Tams and he said he would but he didn't sound too hopeful. Now I'm thinking of driving an hour to Indianapolis to buy out the supply of the nearest SuperTarget.

I think your promotion was a bit too focussed. I only heard about them at the end of the promotional period. If only you'd released them to normal supermarkets I would have noticed them (Target is not the first place people think of when they want cookies). A word of mouth campaign will only work if you give people longer than a few months to learn where they are or if you distribute the product more widely. Still, my Target sold out their supply quite early so I guess you could call that a success.

Please keep Tim Tams as a permanent item! Once Australians have realised that there is a steady supply and that they don't have to hoard them, there'll be no more secrets and they'll start telling their American friends to go out and buy Tim Tams too, then you'll see the sales shoot up. I'm sure they'll end up more popular than plenty of your current niche cookies.

Update - 18th March, 2009
Good news! The grocery manager at Target asked the distributor and will be getting me a few packets of "car-mel" TimTams this Friday (there's no plain chocolate ones left). With the double-pack from Xmas that I still haven't opened, this should last me a while. I won't be driving to Indianapolis for biscuits, although Cindy thought it was a good idea.

Better news! The distributor said that TimTams will be coming back to America in November. Mark your calendars!

My present's not present

Cindy thought it would be fun to hide my birthday present. She knows how bad I am at finding things but apparently she doesn't care if I receive it on my actual birthday. Hopefully I'll find it before Easter.

No ear horn for me just yet!

Created by Train Horns

Erin can use this as evidence when she tries to tell Dad to turn off the speakers and he thinks she's hallucinating.

Medicines

Last night at French Table we talked about some of the medicinal products that you can't get here in the US. For example, I stocked up on butter menthols, Irish moss and Betadine gargle, after being frustrated not to have them during my last bout of tonsillitis.

Cindy said she was quite content with Canada Dry brand ginger-ale flavoured lozenges. But one Frenchwoman said that she misses a certain product for sore throats. But you only take this one when it's really bad, deep down in the throat, because it's not a lozenge or a syrup but a suppository!