Peanut butter<\/strong><\/p>\nPeanut butter does indeed exist in Europe, but it\u2019s not something my husband grew up with, which meant that, somewhere along the way, we declared that he had officially become Americanized when he learned to like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (and root beer), rather than being disgusted by them. \u00a0(He now will eat peanut butter out of the jar, with a spoon, periodically.)<\/p>\n
Then, when we lived in Germany, I struggled with what to pack for my boys\u2019 mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack at kindergarten, so I often settled for PB&J sandwiches, figuring they would pass muster as reasonably healthy, but easier to prepare and more likely to get eaten than other snacks I might send with them. \u00a0But I got complaints from the teachers, and ultimately my husband figured out that, not familiar with this American classic, they considered peanut butter to be similar to Nutella in terms of nutrition, and, yes, I wouldn\u2019t want to see a kid bringing Nutella-bread every day, either.<\/p>\n
Hawaiian Toast<\/strong><\/p>\nAmerican cheese? \u00a0Europeans sneer at it as \u201cnot really even cheese\u201d, right? \u00a0American bread? \u00a0The same, eh? \u00a0But here\u2019s a little-known German recipe: \u00a0Hawaiian toast. \u00a0(I am not making this up: \u00a0it was served by my in-laws, and appears on German menus.) \u00a0How do you prepare it? \u00a0Take \u201ctoastbrot\u201d (that\u2019s American-style bread, suitable for popping into a toaster), toast it, and layer on ham, pineapple, and American cheese (called \u201cToast K\u00e4se\u201d because you put it on toast), then pop it in the oven \u2019til the cheese melts.<\/p>\n
How does it taste? \u00a0Well, about like what you\u2019d expect it to taste.<\/p>\n
German McDonalds<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen you go to a Chinese restaurant, they play up the Chinese-ness, and often enough it\u2019s run by actual ethnic Chinese people. \u00a0An Olive Garden restaurant wants you to believe you\u2019re experiencing Tuscany for an hour or two. \u00a0But McDonalds restaurants outside the U.S.? \u00a0They don\u2019t really play up their Americanness. \u00a0For the most part, so far as I could tell, Germans (and Europeans, in general) experience them a just a \u201cregular\u201d restaurant, which they patronize for their convenience and family-friendliness. \u00a0Sure, there are German \u201cfast food\u201d restaurants, typically deli-type places where you could get a Leberk\u00e4se sandwich but have to stand in the Steh-cafe to eat it, or streetcorner D\u00f6ner Kebap stands, but McDonalds is nearly in a class of its own in terms of providing cheap food, served quickly, and with table seating. \u00a0Besides which, they have Playplaces for the kiddos in Germany just as much as in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Wagner Pizza<\/strong><\/p>\nGermans don\u2019t have nearly the same degree of freezer\/convenience foods as we do in the U.S., but there\u2019s a massive frozen pizza market, and one of those manufacturers is Wagner. \u00a0I can\u2019t speak to their current advertising, but when we lived there, they were running a set of commercials that were hysterically funny. \u00a0Here\u2019s an example from youtube:<\/p>\n
![\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3APeanut-Butter-Jelly-Sandwich.png;](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/06\/1280px-Peanut-Butter-Jelly-Sandwich-1024x585.png\")
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