Mr. Salsich's Class
Third Grade Explorations in Learning
Tim Tams & Pineapple Lumps – Sampling Sweets from “Down Under”
We have learned a lot about the world through our blog this year!
At the start of the year we were part of the award winning blog Our World, Our Stories where we learned about life in Canada (Sointula), Australia (Leopold), New Zealand (Reefton), Belize, Ghana, and California, USA.
Back in November we ate some Vegemite to learn more about the popular foods in Australia and New Zealand.
The countries "Down Under"
Just last month we tried some popular sweets from the countries “Down Under” – we had Tim Tams from Australia and Pineapple Lumps from New Zealand.
(We got the Lumps in the mail from Mrs. McKenzie and B4 during January but didn’t sample them until April, so they may have been a little extra chewy!)
Here is a video of us trying the sweets and our reactions:
*
May 16th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I love the post on the Tim Tams and the pineapple Lumps. I have tried Tim Tams and Pineapple Lumps and I prefer Pineapple Lumps because they were chewy and they tasted like bouble gum!
What do you prefer Mr. Salsich?
Your friend,
Joseph
May 16th, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Dear Joseph,
Thanks for the comment and the question. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to try the Tim Tams before they were all gobbled up, but I did like the Pineapple Lumps. I think I probably would have preferred the Lumps anyway because I always used to like chewy candy (like swedish fish, yum!), and while I like chocolate, I’m not crazy about it.
From,
Mr. Salsich
May 16th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
My favorite sweet is Almond Joy because they have coconut and almonds in them and it is covered in dark chocolate, that is better then milk chocolate. My sister Jessica likes Mounds. Mounds are the same thing but they don’t have the almonds in them. I’ve been wondering what holiday people get the most candy on? I think it is Halloween. I’m looking forward to dressing up this year. By the way I think you can’t guess what I’m dressing up as.
What is your favorite candy?
From,
Jennifer
PS: Try to guess!
May 16th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Dear Jennifer,
I know what you costume will be – Meta knight because it’s pretty obvious your favorite video game character is Meta knight. Also my favorite candy is a Hershey milk chocolate bar because, I don’t know really why, it just taste’s good! My parent’s a.k.a grandparent’s favorite candy is Snickers. I don’t really like them because they have nuts in them. Also Jennifer, can you tell me your opinion of a Hershey milk chocolate bar and a Snickers bar, and why?
From,
Brian .G.
May 16th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Dear Jennifer,
What a great comment! It’s interesting that both you and your sister like candy with coconut in it. When I was young I liked Snickers bars, Mars bars (I don’t know if those are still around anymore, they were like Snickers but had almonds instead of peanuts), and Starburst.
Hmm, I’m going to guess that you will be Kirby for halloween. Am I right?
From,
Mr. Salsich
May 16th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I prefer the Tim Tams because I think they taste like chocolate and I love chocolate. I think the video was very funny. I also think that we tried them to learn about different foods around the world. I also want to say thank you to our blogging buddies in New Zealand for the pineapple lumps because they were also very good.
Sincerely,
Maura
May 17th, 2012 at 1:44 am
Dear Maura
I don’t know how Mr Salsich managed to save those treats for so long!
I like TimTams and pineapple lumps, but I must say I prefer the lumps because of the flavour!
It’s hard to tell when pineapple lumps are going to be chewy or soft.
I quite like when they are chewy, but the ones that arrived in your class looked extremely chewy!
There is another spread in New Zealand that is very similar to Vegemite, called Marmite. People seem to have very strong preferences for either one or the other, but not both. (I prefer Vegemite but my daughter prefers Marmite!)
At the moment there is a major shortage of Marmite because the earthquakes in Christchurch last year damaged the factory where it is made. Now many people are moaning about not being able to get Marmite but they won’t swap brands!
Is there a food that you have a particular brand preference in?
from Mrs McKenzie in B4
May 17th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Dear Mr Salsich and Students
I loved your video on the Tim Tams and the Pineapple Lumps. I was just thinking how different learning is to day when we can really find out about other countries and cultures in an actual real way, not from dusty old text books that are out of date by the time they reach the classroom.
I quite like Pineapple Lumps, just one or two as I don’t have a very sweet tooth. I like dark chocolate the best.
Mrs McKenzie mentions our Marmite shortage here in New Zealand because of the earthquake in Christchurch. I am a Marmite fan, Vegemite is yuck!! I don’t eat a lot of it, but since we can’t buy it any more I keep wanting to eat it. So I am carefully going through my last Marmite jar. I feel bad for worrying about Marmite when the people of Christchurch are still dealing with far more serious things. However I hope they get the factory rebuilt soon.
Isn’t it amazing how we have subtle differences in food between countries that you think would be the same. I know when I spent a year in the USA there were times when I just wanted the comfort of the New Zealand food that I knew.
I wonder what you would miss the most if it was suddenly taken away and you couldn’t buy it.
Kind regards
Miss T
New Zealand
May 16th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Dear Mr Salsich and Students,
My class enjoyed watching your video and seeing their reaction and comments as they tasted both tim tams and pineapple lumps. Only last week my class tried pineapple lumps for the first time and most of them liked it.
Pineapple lumps are one of my favorite sweets from back home in New Zealand. My class like your class tried vegemite for the first time awhile ago and unfortunately not many of them liked it. I grew up with it so I like it on my toast and it is also good with cheese!
From Miss Lologa and the 2nd Grade Superstars
May 16th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Dear Mr Salsich and class,
I enjoyed reading your post about “Down Under”.
Tim Tams are certainly popular here. We call them chocolate biscuits. You might call them cookies? Tim Tams aren’t my favourite type of sweet, I prefer ordinary chocolate without the biscuit, but they are delicious.
I tried Pineapple Lumps for the first time when Mrs McKenzie sent some to our class. They were yum! You can buy them at the shops here in Australia too.
I can’t wait to try some American sweets when I visit the USA. What do you recommend?
Best wishes,
Mrs M☀rris
May 18th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Dear Mrs. Morris,
Thanks for the excellent comment! We were excited to hear that you will be coming to the USA this summer. Mr. Salsich said he is going to meet you in New York City.
Here are some suggestions of sweets to try:
1. Snickers
2. Hershey’s milk chocolate bar
3. Kit kat
4. Starburst
5. Airheads
6. Swedish fish
7. Sour Patch Kids
8. Skittles
9. Milky Way
10. Oreo cookies
11. Three Musketeers
12. M & M’s
13. Toostsie Rolls
14. Reese’s Cup
We have a lot more suggestions, but we thought that was plenty for now.
We are curious to learn if you have any of these sweets in Australia.
Here are a few ideas of things you might enjoy in New York:
The Statue of Liberty, M & M World, Central Park, and FAO Schwartz. And Mr. Salsich says, if you see a Yankees game, be sure to cheer for the other team!
From,
Mr. Salsich’s students
May 18th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Dear Mr Salsich’s students,
Thank you for replying to me. Some things on your list are familiar here in Australia.
These things on your list are not popular in Australia
2. Hershey’s milk chocolate bar
5. Airheads
6. Swedish fish
7. Sour Patch Kids
11. Three Musketeers
13. Toostsie Rolls
14. Reese’s Cup
Your suggestions for where to go in NYC are excellent. In fact, they are such good suggestions, I went to all those places when I was in NYC 5 years ago. I’m sure I’ll be doing all those things again though as my husband, Nate, hasn’t been to NYC before.
I get the feeling Mr Salsich isn’t a Yankees fan!
Unfortunately, you will all be on summer holidays when I visit in early July but I hope I might get to meet up with your teacher. It would be wonderful to meet in real life!
Best wishes,
Mrs M☀rris
May 17th, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I prefer pineapple lumps because it tasted like twizzlers and they were chewy. I like chewy sweets. My favorites are bubble gum, starburst and swedish fish.
From your student,
Creighton
May 17th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
My favorite was the tim tams because they had chocolate on them and it tastes like a cookie. But I still did like the pineapple lumps because I sometimes like chewy foods and I love the taste of bubble gum so that makes them good too. So I really can not decide.
What is your favorite candy and why ?
May 17th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
This is a fantastic post you made. I like them both equally but if I had to choose one it would probably be the pineapple lumps because I like chewy candy like; swedish fish, starbursts, and sour patch kids.
Did you get to try them? If you did what one did you like better?
Your student,
Luke (Big cat expert)
May 23rd, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Dear Mr.Salsich and class,
I think that it is really cool that we get to share a type-along story with other class blogs from around the world. What part do you think was the most surprising so far? Every class had good describing words and very good ideas too. I can’t wait to see the next part of the story.
Your friend,
Kayla
May 24th, 2012 at 12:58 am
Dear Mr. Salsich’s class,
We have just started following your blog and we are from the land down under! We just watched your video about vegemite and tim tams and we want you to know we love them too, especially tim tams!
Can we suggest that you try vegemite with butter on toast or try dunking your tim tams in milk!
What are your favourite desserts in America? Maybe we could give some a try?
We would love to hear from you on our blog 5lbsblogoftheories.blogspot.com
Keep up the great blogging!
From 5LB in Australia
May 24th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
I love the “Tim Tams & Pineapple Lumps – Sampling Sweets from “Down Under” post because I love foods that are chocolaty and really chewy as well as bubble gum flavored foods too. My favorite food to try was the Pineapple Lumps and since they were a bit old I think it made them extra chewy. The reason I loved the Tim Tams is because I like cookies.
P.S. Can we try marmite before the end of the year?
Your friend,
Chris
May 25th, 2012 at 6:59 am
Dear Mr. Salsich and your class,
I’m from australia and i would just like to ask what sweets you guys eat?
Here in australia most people eat vegemite with butter on toast. You should try dipping the tim tams in milk but eat them quick because they will crumble quickly.
Thanks,
Ryan 5LB
May 28th, 2012 at 7:34 am
Dear Mr. Salsich and Class,
When we took our trip to Toronto, we found maple kisses which Taylor intended to share. I have had them in my snack drawer since. Luckily, your video and post helped me remember where I hid them! You can expect to find them in your classroom this week and perhaps you can sample some during snack time. I confess that I have not tried one but I am guessing that they taste like taffy or maybe even pancakes. Let me know what you think. Happy munching!
Oh and be sure to brush your lovely new teeth after every sticky sweet because that’s how you get cavities. I have the fillings to prove that. I loved sticky candies when I was young and preferred things like Charleston Chews and the black jelly beans. (Actually, I still love these!)
I don’t know if you guys know, but I am from Puerto Rico and they have a delicious candy called “mamposteal” a gooey caramel and coconut bar which is super sweet and super sticky. They are only made in Puerto Rico so when my parents go to the island, they always bring me back a few. Such a treat!
I will see you in class soon and will bring the maple kisses to share.
Keep smiling,
Miss Millie (Taylor’s mom)
September 12th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Dear Mr. Salsich,
This year are we going to post a lot of videos on the website?
From,
Cayla