Rowntree's Pastilles hand-carried by a friend coming back from Britain.

Had a friend bring me rolled wafers and pineapple filled cookies from Hong Kong :-)

Hah, Angelaid, I can relate to the scrapple story. I moved from PA to Colorado when I was 24, back in 1986; my first visitor was my sister who flew in with 2 pounds of scrapple wrapped in newspaper (along with Tastycakes and beer pretzels, all exotic way back then) carried in her suitcase. I can only imagine trying to get that mess through security these days.

My mother brings me Sechler's pickles, Krema peanut butter and Amish egg noodles when she flies here to visit from the Midwest. I always save room in my luggage for dark roast coffie pods for my Senseo coffeemaker whenever I go to France or the Netherlands. Can't get the same quality coffee here. I'm down to my last 12 pods from my trip in April :0(

seagrass

Seagrass, are the Senseo dark roast pods available in the grocery here different from the ones you get in France?

DH is Slovenian and, since his sister, our daughter and grandchildren are all in FL, every Easter we fly from OH to FL with our suitcases full of Slovenian sausage, zelodec (stuffed pork stomach), potica (nut roll) and a fresh horseradish root. This is all part of their traditional Easter breakfast and I've tried to keep their tradition. Much to my grandchildrens' delight, I've added blueberry French toast casserole, chocolate croissants, and crepes to the menu. We've received many a giggle from security at the airport but, thankfully, nothing was confiscated.

I have had Aloha shoyu (soy sauce) flown in from Hawaii.
DD is going there in December and I will have her bring some home for me.

Mother once threw some pancakes at me, from across the
kitchen, does that count as 'flown in'?

LOL lbpod... priceless.

Back to the topic, no, never have and doubt I ever will. I have driven a distance to satisfy a desire but as far as ordering it and flying it in, can't think of anything that would entice me to do that.

I'm usually the one flying in foods for others. I used to carry roast duck and dim sum dumplings when I visited San Francisco every year. Now I bring home Acme bread from the Ferry Building, Redwood Hill and Cowgirl Creamery cheese. DH has to stay home and take care of the cats, so he gets most of this. I have flown with cheeses from everywhere - Spain, France, Canada, Italy.

When we lived in Massachusetts and I visited New Mexico regularly, I hand-carried squid ink, chilies and biscochitos. Now we live in NMex, and I miss Iggy's bread and bagels, and cheese from Russo's and Formaggio's. DH is flying to MA in October. I'm compiling my list, starting with 25lbs of King Arthurs' flour.

Cheryl

No, but I did take a suitcase full of that mustardy, black peppery South Carolina BBQ sauce for DH as my carry-on bag for on a flight from there.

During college, some friends and I drove 5 hours from the school to the Jersey shore to buy cones of Kohr's frozen custard, ate them, and turned around and drove back.

My mother here in Philadelphia baked several chicken pies for my brother in CA, who loves them. She froze them and shipped them overnight via Fedex or UPS. They disappeared along the way and never arrived. She was fit to be tied and I can imagine the surprise of the thief who opened that box. I hope he let it sit around a few days until it smelled good and ripe.

I've taken tomatoes on airplanes since NJ tomatoes can't be beat. Or Kohr's custard.

When I worked in LA, I routinely flew home with food that I couldn't get in my area. Of course I didn't have to worry about going through security with a grocery bag.

The last few years, I have ordered: Turducken
Nueske's bacon
Real grits

Hand delivered by car, not flown in, NC barbecued pork and Cheerwine soda to friends up north that I went to college with in Salisbury, NC.

My ex-DH was known to drive 3-4 hours to the coast during oyster season to eat steamed oysters, then get in the car and drive back 3-4 hours home. He took these trips with his dad and brother, so I didn't feel the need to tag along.

Teresa

Every once in a while I get a craving for Vernor's (a ginger based carbonated drink) which I was introduced to while visiting cousins in Michigan in the 1960's. I've never tasted anything else quite like it anywhere else. Wish I could fly some in right now.

I order Lefse from Minnesota every Christmas to satisfy the Swede in me :)

We lived in Maryland for 20 years and I've since learned to drive back there (from Jersey) for crabs or crab cakes.

Sue

mmm...scrapple (doing my best Homer Simpson impersonation)

Scrapple! Of all things!

I've been tempted to ask for a birthday present of Poilane's bread flown in from Paris. Or a Sachertorte from Demel's in Vienna.

Scrapple we have right here in PA ...

sherrmann - I can't buy Senseo pods in groceries where I live now. They've lost the battle with Keurig, apparently. But even when I could buy the dark roast pods here in the States they couldn't hold a candle to the supermarket brand in Holland (Albert Heijn Perla Dark Roast). That's where I was first introduced to the Senseo machine and to the koffie pods.

When we were in France for my birthday in April, I came home with 5 bags of 36 Classic Carte Noire pods. I'm almost out of them. I might have to start forking over $$ to the local coffee shop for a decent cuppa but then I'd have to get dressed and drive there first.

I wouldn't waste my dollars buying the pods from Amazon because the coffee isnt' worth it. I recently purchased a couple of decorative plates from an Etsy seller in France and I'm considering contacting her and asking if she would be willing to sell me the Carte Noire pods.

Seriously.

What do you do??

seagrass

Left Ny NJ metro area 2 years ago & now live near Olympia WA, which is a vast wasteland of fast food. I had Nova lox , pastrami, bagels, and Jewish rye bread flown in from Zabar,s in NYC. Heaven!

Seagrass, if she can't, let me know. I'm sure I can send you some if you feel the deprivation coming on!

I order Honeycup mustard from my brands.com , a U.S. website. It's made in Ontario but for some reason, I can't find it in Montreal or Calgary.

Dried morel mushrooms.

Whole Foods - $425 a lb.

From eBay - $150 a lb.

dcarch

Mandelhoernchen (Almond horns) from Germany. Every time a family member travels back to our family's home town, it is an unwritten rule to return with several dozen of these from the bakery there.

We've found them here at the local german bakeries, but they pale in comparison. We've tried making them ourselves, and just can't seem to get it right.

islay corbel - how kind of you - I will keep in touch

seagrass

i have had hotdogs with everything and Berks franks sent to me overnight. expensive, but worth it. the hotdogs with everything (chopped onions and the famous chili sauce), hotdogs and rolls are all wrapped separately. :)

Lindalou, are you from Berks County?

I order fresh seafood from Pike Fish Market in Seattle, Washington and canned salmon from Icy Strait Point, Alaska.

When we have family get togethers in Los Angeles, I always ask one of my cousins to send me chili from Tommy's. Last time, I ended up with 8 quarts of chili, and I still have one still in the freezer. I make homemade Tommy's chili cheese burgers to satisfy our cravings. It's a special taste treat plus it brings back great memories - my mom, grandmother, and I would visit my Uncle Tom at the original hamburger stand quite often. We'd get free burgers for lunch and go home with some giant beefsteak tomatoes, gigantic white onions, and (for me) some XLint tamales.

I ordered salt-rising bread from the Cuba Cheese Shoppe in SW New York state a few years ago. It was just okay, & probably not worth the $20 or so with shipping for four loaves. But I might order it once more - I really miss it. The original made wonderful toast.

WE ate lots of SR bread when I was a kid & into my 40s. It was made in southern California by Van de Kamp Bakeries, but it's difficult to find anymore, especially the really smelly, cornmeal-ish textured kind. Sigh.

I may have to spend another few hours Googling.

When DH used to travel to San Francisco, he'd usually board the plane with 2 loaves of sourdough from Boudin Bakery. That's the closest I've come to having something flown in!

When I drive to Ohio to see my family, there is a brand of yellow corn tortilla chips that are made in VA that my sis loves. They used to be called Abuelita's and Costco carried them. Costco now only carried the white corn strips, but Whole Foods has the yellow chips and they're called Nana's now. I also take a big can of those jumbo blistered Virginia peanuts.

On my return trip, I'll bring back cans of Skyline chili for my son (even though I think my Cinci chili recipe is just as good), Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce and maybe some Vernor's. My sis once brought me Lake Erie perch on dry ice, but the dry ice sucked out all the moisture, so I've never tried that. I also might pick up some Mike-Sell's potato chips.

We were in Michigan, at Mackinac Island, this summer and I had to restrain myself from buying Sanders hot fudge sauce in the Sanders stores there!

Virginia, I have flown home from SF a few times with a couple of loaves of that bread. Last trip I also brought cheese home, as well as a few things from Trader Joe's,,,my first time at TJ's. I have also flown home with tomatoes and oranges. from Ft. Lauderdale.

DH and I grew up in the Detroit/Pontiac MI area. My mom and dad have brought us Sanders Bittersweet and Hot Fudge toppings, Kowalski kielbasa, Vernors (mix it in a blender with vanilla ice cream for a great refreshing summer treat!), and Faygo Red Pop and Rock 'n Rye sodas. DH brings me chocolate eclairs from Mike's Pastry when he goes to Boston and tea from Taiwan when he travels there on business. :)

leel, I was saddened to read you think Olympia is a fast food wasteland...granted not a lot of demand for east coast type deli's although there is a new one in Olympia that seems to be well received. Probably not up to your NY standards, but I think it is run by easterners and I suspect it's mostly transplants that are supporting it.

Maybe you live in Lacey, which I agree is pretty grim foodwise, but there is such great local, fresh NW fare available in this area - the seafood can't be beat, nor can the fruit/berries and veggies. If you need some recommendations for good eats in you new home, email me privately and I'll make some. Maybe you'll change your mind!

Abalone from Giovanni's in Morro Bay, CA. Gio used to be a diver himself before opening his seafood shop and restaurant.

I tried to have Dan's Prime Smoky Chipotle Sauce flown in but was unable to find a source for it. Then I made my own smoky chipotle sauce, which I like as much or better, but it does not keep well because I only use lime juice and salt for preservatives. On this last trip to Texas, however, I stopped in at Central Market in Austin and stocked up on Dan's Prime sauces. There was an entire aisle at the store devoted to hot sauces. There used to be a store in Culver City that had an equivalent supply of hot sauces (almost all of which were made in Texas), but they moved or closed. They were attached to Corn Maiden Tamale shop.

I order 6-in-One tomatoes because it is easier than trying to park at Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica, and I also order tomato powder from Harmony House.

Lars

I went to grad school at Boston College. I was a poor starving college student. My sister was also a poor starving college student at Harvard. When the parents would come to town to visit, we'd have them take us to Legal Seafood. I always got the clam chowder. To this day if I want clam chowder, I order it from Legal Seafood.

We've actually sent local foods to others. Before Dinosaur BBQ went national, we used to send their BBQ (slathering) sauce to friends and relatives. I've also sent salt potatoes (a local favorite) to friends and relatives.

We are in Chicago now, so when I go home to Texas (like last weekend), I ALWAYS fly back with Shipley's donuts and kolaches (the sausage/cheese kind, not the fruity things they call kolaches in Illinois). I don't dare de-plane without them!

Booberry! I'm a Syracuse person too but live down South now. My Mom sends us coneys and mustard from Heid's. I wish I could figure out where to order the split top hot dog rolls too.

Haven't had a salt potato in years but do look longingly at Hinderwadles when we drive by coming from the airport.

jadeite/Cheryl, you can easily order King Arthur flour on-line at www.kingarthurflour.com -- they frequently run free shipping specials and I just checked and see that they're running a 20% off sale now. Their flour is available to me locally, but I've ordered other things from them several times with no problems.

party music - I have ordered from KA when they have their specials, but in MA I bought their 20lb bags from Costco for about $12. Can't find anything comparable in NMex. The 5lb bags here are around $7 or more. I think shipping runs the cost up a lot. I've resigned myself to Gold Medal unbleached as a second choice.

Cheryl

I don't know if it is still the case, but back in the '70s when I married and moved from Arizona to Texas I could not find C&H sugar anywhere. Up until then I didn't even know there were other brands of sugar besides C&H--as far as I was concerned, there didn't need to be. I was amazed that Texans used so much sugar in their tea, and I was astonished to watch them stir and stir and still there was all that undissolved sugar swirling around in the bottom of the glass. Never saw that with C&H. So when any family members visited, or when I went back to Arizona, I requested as many bags of C&H sugar as we could possibly squeeze into our suitcases.

Teresa mn, you brought back a great memory of clam chowder at some place on a pier in Morro Bay years ago. Being a desert dweller, canned clam chowder was the extent of my exposure. But a free sample outside the entry to that restaurant was all it took to entice me to go in and enjoy a giant shell-shaped bowl. I was a convert from then on.

Glad to "meet" you Deee! Hinderwadles makes me want Little neck clams now (they're a company that puts on big clam bakes for organizations)!

I thought of a few other things. After a few trips to New Orleans, I now order coffee from Community Coffee. I think their main headquarters is in Baton Rouge but they have a shop in New Orleans. I also order Beignet mix from Cafe Du Monde.

amck, Vernor's is carried by a large supermarket chain here...in their bigger stores (not the smaller satellite ones), and I live in s/e Texas. You might find it in some of the larger upscale supermarkets where you live.

I live in CT and still order frequently from KA in Vermont. We take semi-annual mini-vacations that includes a stop at KA's retail store in Norwich but seems there's always something during the year that I need (want?!). lol I'm using their organic unbleached flour and it's not yet available in stores and because of shipping costs on heavy items we get that spring/fall on our trips but it's the little stuff like cookie supplies they always seem to get me on. lol

I order 'Tamaya Blue' roasted blue cornmeal from the Pueblo of Santa Ana in New Mexico once a year.

Probably a good 60% of our food storage (all the basics) is mail ordered.

Periodically, I order from Bob's Red Mill - not regularily scheduled though.

When we first moved to New England I went into withdrawals 'cause there was no Mexican food available - not even a Taco Bell (can you imagine?!). So, I had quarterly care packages sent from 'home' and that's when I first got serious about learning to cook the cuisine.

I order enough food mailorder that the recycle guys that pick up our cardboard on Thursdays are on my Christmas cookie list! :)

/tricia

I've ordered a case of Hatch enchilada sauce from Amazon. I'm from Denver and can't find good enchilada sauce locally. Love the taste but have to take extra acid reflux meds before I use it! This is going to be a regular thing, too!

Tricia, I can relate. DH went to college at University of Texas El Paso where the college cafeteria served Mexican food which he had never been exposed to. When he came home and we got married he encouraged me to learn how to make Mexican cuisine as, like you, we didn't even have a Taco Bell.

Back 25-35 years ago had Frango Mints from Marshall Fields in Chicago mailed to us when you could only get them there. Now you can get them at almost any Macy's.

Also use to order real Vermont maple syrup from a place in Vermont until the real stuff became available at stores here in CA.
Clare