{"id":579,"date":"2011-06-07T02:24:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T02:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/06\/a-blast-from-the-past-smarties.html"},"modified":"2011-06-07T02:24:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T02:24:00","slug":"a-blast-from-the-past-smarties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/06\/a-blast-from-the-past-smarties.html","title":{"rendered":"A Blast from the Past: Smarties!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small British grocery store opened up right up the street, called The British Pedlar.<\/a>  The ladies who are running the store are very kind and they have just about everything that I remember from my childhood, when my mom would frequent the British grocery store in Virginia Beach OR she’d bring things back from our trips to Hong Kong when I was a kid.<\/p>\n

The store has everything I remember except one thing: Bovril<\/a>!  Click that link to read more about Bovil not being available in the U.S.  The ladies said it’s just too complicated and the FDA is really slow-rolling the customs approval process even for the non-beef version.<\/p>\n

On my last couple of visits to the store, I’d pick up some treats for the family: locally-made banger sausages (Mom, we’ll hit the store and I’ll get you some while you’re visiting next month, they have THREE brands to choose from!), McVitie’s Digestives, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars and Smarties candies<\/a>.  I’m accustomed to the Smarties being sold in small cylindrical containers like this:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Ha ha!  Fooled many of you, didn’t I?  Perhaps the introduction about British food tipped you off…but I’m sure many of you were still thinking about “American” Smarties<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

For the unfamiliar, Nestle’s Smarties are very similar to American M&Ms.  Chocolate drops covered in a hard candy shell.  But there’s a…well…fruitiness to the Nestle Smarties that I’ve always enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Anyway, on my most recent visit this week, the store was out of the smaller packages of Smarties, so I picked up a bigger box.  I’d never seen the bigger box in detail, so I was intrigued by the picture on the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Love the “colours”!<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spirulina?  Really???  http:\/\/www.foodnavigator.com\/Legislation\/Spirulina-faces-legal-questions<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I knew there was a fruity flavor (flavour?) to the Smarties but I never realized I was tasting the all-natural coloring to the candy shells!  The kids got a kick out of the picture and the information, then got a bit squirmy about eating any more of the green ones, ha ha!<\/p>\n

Eating Nestle’s Smarties brings back so many memories, and I enjoy sharing these things with the boys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A small British grocery store opened up right up the street, called The British Pedlar.  The ladies who are running the store are very kind and they have just about everything that I remember from my childhood, when my mom would frequent the British grocery store in Virginia Beach OR she’d bring things back from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[],"tags":[81,4,92,37,116],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-9l","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":466,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/09\/bovril-beef-gravy.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":0},"title":"Bovril Beef Gravy","date":"10 September 10","format":false,"excerpt":"I have to introduce this to the masses. I just have to! When Dave and I were visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, we enjoyed visiting the little grocery store up the street from our hotel. With the continental breakfast being $13.50 CD per person, per day, just picking up a loaf of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"canada\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vinmag.com\/online\/media\/gbu0\/prodlg\/AP1179-bovrill-advert-1920s.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":556,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/05\/extreme-couponing-not-for-this-military-family.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":1},"title":"Extreme Couponing? Not For This Military Family!","date":"04 May 11","format":false,"excerpt":"How many of you have seen Extreme Couponing, the reality show on TLC? \u00a0Or is it Bravo? \u00a0A&E? \u00a0Heck, they all seem to run together to me now...By the way: When did the word \"coupon\" become a verb? \u00a0I tossed the show on my DVR a couple weeks ago and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"housework\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-gJV9ZEsP2bg\/TcF0FYmMPOI\/AAAAAAABVX0\/C66s8_oi-Ak\/s400\/coupons1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2008\/01\/snap-crackle-pop.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":2},"title":"Snap Crackle Pop!","date":"05 January 08","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I'm at the commissary with my friend Paul. He's to blame for things like why I now have a GPS and this addiction to the Pioneer Woman's website! (Military 101: The commissary is the grocery store on the military base. By regulation, it provides groceries to authorized buyers at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/02\/how-do-we-make-more-money-lets-call-it-organic.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":3},"title":"How Do We Make More Money? Let’s Call It "Organic"!!!","date":"25 February 10","format":false,"excerpt":"I've already spent enough time about this product. I analyzed how well it makes pancakes and waffles last month.But I couldn't believe when I saw this at our local Hy-Vee Grocery Store. For you local readers, I was at the Shadow Lake Hy-Vee.From 2010 01 16 Batter Blaster WAFF-FAIL\"Okay, it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":482,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/11\/welcome-to-omaha-trader-joes.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":4},"title":"Welcome to Omaha, Trader Joe’s!!","date":"15 November 10","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, for me personally, it's a day late and a dollar short...since we're leaving in a week.I'm a huge Trader Joe's fan! \u00a0I can't say exactly when I first went there. \u00a0I know it was about 10 years ago and it was either the one in Commack, NY with my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh4.ggpht.com\/_yz59FVsseJY\/TOFS-upUJ2I\/AAAAAAABNn0\/7i2rZIBciM0\/s400\/IMG_3819.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":551,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/04\/checking-out-a-new-food-fad-mccormicks-recipe-inspirations.html","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":5},"title":"Checking Out a New Food Fad: McCormick’s "Recipe Inspirations"","date":"27 April 11","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight I'm making chicken tikka masala for dinner. \u00a0I never thought in a million years I'd be cooking homemade Indian food, but here I am!I don't keep a ton of fancy spices on hand, they tend to expire before I use it all up. \u00a0But for the past few months\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-LzlmOWbvJ4U\/TbiAmnZa1_I\/AAAAAAABVFs\/lIg9-z7Ev78\/s400\/IMG_4587.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}