Treats with a Twist

On Friday afternoon, I found myself wandering through the aisles of the local grocery store.  In search of possible breakfast foods, I came across a box of Rice Krispies.  Feeling mildly elated that I had found a familiar food product in this foreign land, I quickly began looking for the next logical thing—marshmallows.  Who can sell Rice Krispies without also having marshmallows?  The two are like peanut butter and jelly.  Like snowmen and carrots.

With the exception of the dog food aisle, I spent the next fifteen minutes systematically scouring the shelves of each aisle.  No marshmallows with the raisins.  No marshmallows with the gummy bears.  No marshmallows with the broccoli.  Feeling defeated, I returned the box of Rice Krispies to the shelf and cycled home. 

However, the story does not end here.  Still thinking I may have missed something (because, again, who can have Rice Krispies and no marshmallows) I sent an urgent query to my Finnish friend: does Finland have marshmallows?  She quickly replied with an affirmative answer, informing me that I should find them in the candy aisle.  In her response, she also sent along a picture of what I should look for.  For this, I am thankful.  Folks, Finnish marshmallows look quite a bit different from American marshmallows.  Colored with pastel pinks, yellows and oranges, these fluffy delights come in all sorts of different twisted shapes.  Of course!  Why have plain white puff balls when you can make multicolored works of art?

So again, I mounted Alpina (my bike) and we went off to the market.  This time, my trip was a success. Rice Krispies and marshmallows bounced around in Alpina's basket as we returned home.  An hour later, a plate of Rice Krispy treats sat on the counter.  Though not a common Finnish (or European) treat, they still provided for an interesting adventure this past Friday afternoon.