All-American

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Clarissa

July 27, 2016

So guess what I just did. I ordered at a drive-through. For the first time ever! Not only had I never done it before, but I’ve never seen anybody do it in real life. It was very scary but it went well. I feel sophisticated and accomplished.

Of course, since drive-through ordering is such a quintessentially American activity, I had to order something very American. So I got a burger and Wisconsin cheese curds (I have no idea what they are but they sound extremely American.) I also got something called “a malt.” Which also sounds very American. Now I have to figure out what people do with a malt: drink it, eat it, inhale it, something else? But it was a fun all-American experience. I had my little American in the backseat with me for inspiration.

I wonder which other American activities I can try out.

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21 responses to “All-American”

Shakti

July 27, 2016

People suck malts through a straw. I would also recommend taking a nice walk afterwards unless you want to fall asleep. I’m surprised you didn’t get fries, given your love of potatoes.
Enjoy!

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1. Clarissa
  
  July 27, 2016
  
  I was given a straw but this thing is so thick. I have no idea how to break through it.
  
  The goal was to do something unusual. Hence the cheese curds instead of fries.
  
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Dreidel

July 27, 2016

So what quintessentially American establishment did you find the courage to drive though? You must have several McDonald’s and at least one Arby’s and Wendy’s within easy reach of your home.

The ones here in Arizona don’t serve anything called “Wisconsin cheese curds,” though. 🙂

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1. Clarissa
  
  July 27, 2016
  
  It’s called Culver’s. And those cheese curds – goodness! They are delicious.
  
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  1. Dreidel
    
    July 27, 2016
    
    Yeah, turns out that we have three Culver’s in the Phoenix metro area, and they even have the Wisconsin curds on their local menu. Maybe I’ll give them a try…
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      July 27, 2016
      
      They are deep fried. And amazing.
      
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Evelina Anville

July 27, 2016

Yes. Fried cheese curds are delicious! I don’t eat them often but I really love them. And let the malt melt a little, then you should be able to drink it through a straw. It’s mostly just ice cream. 🙂

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1. Clarissa
  
  July 27, 2016
  
  It tastes like frozen yoghurt of sorts. Very unusual.
  
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  1. Pen
    
    July 27, 2016
    
    “It tastes like frozen yoghurt of sorts. Very unusual.”
    
    -I think a malt is like (or possibly is) a milkshake. So it’s mostly ice cream or frozen yogurt, which would explain the taste.
    
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    1. Clarissa
      
      July 27, 2016
      
      I never tried a milkshake either. ☺ There is also something called “concrete” I need to check out.
      
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      1. Pen
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        “I never tried a milkshake either.”
        
        -A milkshake is milk and ice cream or frozen yogurt. It’s very good, and very refreshing when it’s hot out. 🙂 My dad says a malt is the same but with malt flavoring added.
        
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        Evelina Anville
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        I have never heard of concrete (in terms of food!) Is that a dessert?
        
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        Pen
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        Some research on the Culver’s website makes me think it’s a Culver’s specialty dessert. Looks like frozen custard with mixed in candy, fruit, or nuts, and/or toppings. Here’s the page on the website: http://www.culvers.com/menu-and-nutrition/fresh-frozen-custard/concrete-mixers
        
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        Clarissa
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        These concretes are very popular around here. They are advertised with funny little poems. Like, “We can promise to be discrete, if you stop to try our concrete!”
        
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        Pen
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        They look very tasty, too. 🙂
        
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        Clarissa
        
        July 27, 2016
        
        It’s something like custard (custard is very popular in the region) with pieces of cookies and nuts mized in. Or pieces of snickers bars.
        
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cliff arroyo

July 27, 2016

A malted milkshake should be a regular milkshake (made with ice cream and/or ice milk and milk) but with barley milk added (a kind of a porridge mix). To me all the malt does is add an unpleasant aftertaste. I guess it adds some nutritioanl value but screw that! if I want nutrition I’ll stop farting around with milkshakes and drink mixed vegetable smoothies…

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1. Clarissa
  
  July 27, 2016
  
  The word “malt” made me thing of alcohol for some reason. I thought it would be an alcoholic drink. But it’s the same thing as a root beer float. There is no beer in it!
  
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Socal dendrite

July 27, 2016

I appreciate drive throughs much more since having kids! Though I still find ordering at them traumatic: the first time, I wanted a “bottle of water” with my food and the server replied “strawberry fanta?” It was a good job I was stuck there in my car because I couldn’t run away after three failed attempts to communicate and had to keep trying. I eventually put on an exaggerated US accent (“waaader”) and then then I finally made sense to her!

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1. Clarissa
  
  July 27, 2016
  
  Ugh, this is precisely what I feared so much! I wrote down my choices before going to the takeout and practiced saying them aloud a few times. People refuse to understand even the slightest accent in these parts!
  
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Z

July 27, 2016

In Louisiana you can get drive-through daiquiris. People say this is great when you have kids in the car because you can’t take them into a bar to pick up a daiquirí to go, and you wouldn’t want to leave them in the parking lot. So, drive-through!

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