I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York - home of the chicken wing, but now live in a small city in the East of England. At first there were LOADS of things I couldn't get here - good peanut butter, anything made by Reese's, BBQ sauce, graham crackers, cornbread mix, and of course Frank's hot sauce, the glorious #1 ingredient for Buffalo wings. It seems PB and Reese's have crept accross as well as BBQ sauce, but I still find myself craving those wings. The only thing that keeps me going are the three bottles of Frank's stashed in the cupboard!

Produce and preserves from my grandma's garden, and Whitey's ice cream.

I'm actually "home" right now so I need to make some room in my suitcase for Freihofer's original recipe chocolate chip cookies and corn toasties, perecca's, bella napoli or mastrioanni bro's bread... always wishing that I could smuggle some of Gus' hot dogs back to Denver from Upstate NY too!

From Michigan:
* A 5 lb brick of frozen coney sauce from National Coney Island
* Faygo Red Pop and Rock & Rye, Vernor's
* Various Michigan beers (Bell's, Founder's, Dark Horse, Jolly Pumpkin are high on the list)

From the South- White Lily Flour. I request it for my birthday & Christmas, too! Sometimes I bring back country ham (if I can get the big, unsliced ham. I prefer that to the Jr. Johnson cuts). My mom's home made jams from MD. MD tomatoes & corn when in season. My cousin just brought me SC peaches. When I'm really, really lucky, I can get some home made sausage from a neighbor of my late grandma's farm. That hasn't happened in a long time, so I reach back to my memories of Buck's amazing sausage.

My parents live in Georgia too but my list is totally different :) We bring back:

*One tofu and one seitan sub sandwich from Mellow Mushroom for the plane ride home to NY
*Tupperwares of Indian food made by my mom - TSA restrictions have put a real damper on what we can bring back since we have to avoid liquids in our carryon
*Indian vegetables, tomatoes, etc. from my parents' garden
*A jar of Mahani pickles that can't be found easily elsewhere
*Asian vegetables from the Dekalb Farmers Market

From Syracuse: Hoffman hot dogs.

Oh that is easy! Buttercream Mints, Stoneground Grits & Pimiento Cheese from Conrad and Hinkle; BBQ & Hush puppies from Cook's; Cheerwine and Dale's Sauce Marinade. Must haves!

-Kentucky cream candy (you can get it from , but it doesn't compare to homemade
-my mom's homemade raspberry jam
-hot pepper jelly (perfect for last minute app of cream cheese, jelly, and nice crackers...)
-Dilly beans (pickled green beans, homemade, recipe here)
-pickled okra (perfect for apps, in your bloody mary or martini)
-Sister Schubert's yeast rolls (everyone in KY serves with country ham for appetizers with cocktails)

Real (usually warm) corn tortillas (El Milagro) and chips (El Ranchero) from the Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, delivered fresh daily to suburban stores. Fresh masa, too. A taco al Pastor dinner from my favorite place. Smoked and fresh Polish sausage from a nearby butcher shop. Proscuitto di Parma, cheeses and sausage from the Italian specialty shop.

And anything else I can't find in my one-store small town - the trunk is usually full of grocery bags when we drive back!

My husband and I moved to Wake Forest, NC from Miami, FL almost a year ago.
Needless to say, there are SOO many Miami foods that I love that we just can't get from Miami. Especially latin foods (my husband is Colombian and I'm Nicaraguan).
So when we have visited we try to bring back pan de bono, gallo pinto, queso blanco, homemade tortillas (made by my grandma...so good, store bought doesn't compare).

Mmm...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

When I go home to Portugal, which I am doing again in 2 weeks (yay!) I buy about 30 pounds of tomatoes and spend a day helping my grandfather make tomato jelly. There is just something about the tomatoes in Portugal that make it impossible for me to recreate the jelly here in the states. I always run the risk of my millions of jars of jelly getting confiscated at customs, but so far so good!

Also I live in Virginia, but when I go to New Jersey there is a small Portuguese community where I can stock up on things like good salt cod, this tomato and garlic chicken marinade, Portuguese sea salt and olive oil, various breads and pastries :)

Taco Works chips
Pepper Plant dry seasoning
Spencer's (local grocery store) bread and butter pickles
Eggs from a friend of the family
Occasionally I also get Mo's BBQ sauce. Good stuff from SLO county.

Going home to New Mexico means paying the well-worth-it fee for a checked suitcase full of roasted NM green chile (frozen), green chile powder, flour tortillas, red chile pods, blue corn meal and chicharrones from Barelas Coffee house (if it's a direct flight). New York has great Mexican grocers but no NEW MEXICAN green chile and other southwestern American Indian ingredients.

I must know- is Moonshine Jelly exactly what it sounds like, or is there something I'm missing? What exactly is it??

When I visit my real hometown (New York) from school, I bring back the fixings of a big Jewish brunch from Fairway: bagels, lox, and Ben's organic cream cheese.

When I visit my adopted hometown (Portland, OR), I stock up on roasted local hazelnuts, raw Sauvie Island honey, marionberry jam, and Stumptown coffee.

When I visit my parents' second home in Umbria, I smuggle prosciutto and Yomo yogurts home in my suitcase.

When we moved to Europe, we brought:

-Real Canadian maple syrup (you can't get the good stuff here, but what you can get costs 5 times as much as at home!)

-White Lilly Flour (although I hear it is no longer the same since they don't mill it in the South anymore.... anyones have any thoughts on that?)

-My favourite teas from The Tea Emporium (Spring Blend, which I can only buy once a year)

- Asian cooking supplies - they are hard to find here

- Jars of Muscovado sugar and regular brown sugar (don't have it here)

- Bottles of good vanilla (they use real vanilla beans here for the most part)

- 00 flour from the Czech Republic, and cake flour (can't find it here!!)

-our favourite brand of Dulce de Leche (from Argentina)

When visiting south Texas, I bring home flour tortillas (the kind made with lard). Last trip, I brought back 600!

@desireeg - it is exactly what it says, jelly made from moonshine. :)

Food From Philadelphia
-cheesesteaks from Geno's
-soft pretzels
-Taylor Pork Roll
-Scrapple

I still live where I grew up (Maine) so this is the list is what my brother always goes looking for when he's home on leave from the Air Force:

Red hot dogs (apparently you just can't find them anywhere but northern New England)
Needhams
Whoopie pies
My homemade dilly beans
My grandmother's homemade donuts

When visiting my home in Texas (from West Virginia) I buy a 10lb whole smoked brisket (from McKenzie's bbq in Huntsville) and freeze it, then I carry that bad boy on the plane with me... I pack the gallon of bbq sauce in my suitcase (this will ALWAYS get your bag searched by the way so leave plenty of extra time to make your flight) it is sooooo worth the hassle of the extra security you have to put up with. Plus, you're flying out of Houston, they know what a frozen brisket is :P

From NYC to Cincinnati - Murray's Bagels
From Cincy back to NYC - Greater's Ice Cream and sometimes Skyline (cans).

Whoa, we must have grown up near each other, Kathryn. I used to live very close to Greenwoods. In addition to Vidalia onions, when I visit GA, I usually bring back peaches from GA or SC, peach salsa, and my favorite chocolate ginger cookies.

I have to agree with the other NYer... I bring back bagels. Lots of them and freeze them (they freeze quite well). When will SF get hip too GOOD simple bagels? And not the "Asiago Craisin" variety?

Cheerwine! Cheerwine! Cheerwine! Mmmm I have a sugar buzz just thinking about it!.

Lisin, that cracks me up. I'm not a native Texan but I've been here for years. I'm moving soon and I will miss brisket with a passion.

I bring the following items with me from Milwaukee (back to Boston)

Crunchy Corn Bran (a Quaker cereal we can't get out here -- I bring 2-3 boxes if at all possible)
FRESH Klements Polish Sausage
Mrs. Weiss' Kluski Noodles
and Milwaukee Pickles (occassionally)

From BC:
In July/August, fresh caught chinook salmon.
In August, tomatoes, peaches, and apricots.
In September, raspberries and blackberries.
Then i freeze, smoke, and can everything above into meal-size portions for the rest of the year.

All year round? Wines from the Okanagan Valley and the Fort Winery in Langley, BC.

NYC (born & raised): pizza (hard to do), knish, anything from Zabar's, cha siu bao from Chinatown (or anything from Hop Kee)!

Seattle (lived for years): salmon, dungeness crab, coffee, Bridgeport IPA and Alaskan Amber, homemade noodles from Judy Fu's, anything from Salumi, stuffed olives from Palace Kitchen.

it is so interesting reading these comments - keep them coming!

From Baltimore: Tastykakes and Berger's Cookies! Yum. Can't get them out here in Denver, but that's a small price to pay to live out here. :)

Agnosticfront16 - Frank's Frank's Frank's! I checked this thread to see if anyone else would name it, and what do ya know, you were first!

I love that there is now an Anchor Bar outpost in the Buffalo airport, so you can grab the hot sauce after the security checkpoint and not have to worry about checking anything!!! (P.S. ever tried Frank's on asparagus with a bit of blue cheese?)

Also a WNY treat - sponge candy mmmm.

From Chicago to Denver--

anything I can get my hands on from Trader Joes since we don't have one out here :(

Lou Malnatti's deep dish frozen pizzas to make a stash in my freezer :)

bagels from NYC bagels

cupcakes from Molly's! (which actually never seem to make it back to Denver and are eaten in route but nevertheless they are phenomenal!)

When I go back to AZ, I always bring home a bottle of High Spirits Prickley Pear vodkda, distilled in Flagstaff.

I should probably think more about actual food, though...

When I head back to CT I am always sure to stock up on Hummel's hot dogs (funny enough, seems I am not the only picky hot dog eater here!) and sometimes I'll bring back leftover New Haven pizza, usually from Modern or Ernie's. If we're lucky we'll stop at Liuzzi's cheese in North Haven and treat ourselves to cheese and whatever other interesting Italian goodies we find. Unfortunately, the Libby's Italian ice wouldn't make the 2 1/2 hour trip back to NH. Oh, and I also believe it's true that red hot dogs (not red hots) can only be found in northern new england...I never saw them until I moved further north!

From New Orleans-

-the certain Paul Prudhomme seasoning blends you can't get outside of LA.
-Barq's Red Creme Soda
-whatever the monthly Abita beer flavor is
-a roast beef poboy just mayo and extra gravy
-(if I go to the quarter) a muffaletta
-donuts from Morning Call
-a bottle of New Orleans Nectar syrup
-anything from Angelo Brocato's (preferably a cannoli)
-PJ's or CC's whole bean coffee
-(if its the right season) satsuma oranges...yum!

In South Carolina I can get most of my southern faves but there are a few things which I have to make room for in the car after a trip home to Kentucky.

Rebecca Ruth Bourbon Balls
Ale-8-1 - "Kentucky's Soft Drink"
Mingua Brothers Beef Jerky
Pimento Cheese from The Mouse Trap in Lexington
TRYME Tiger Seasoning
Modjeskas from Bauers Candy

Hey K - When we came back from Austin last time, we brought back:

1. 20 pounds of Elgin Jalapeno/Cheese sausage.
2. 2 pounds Rudy's Chopped Beef
3. 1 pound Rudy's creamed corn (for my friend)
4. Salt Lick BBQ sauce
5. Rudy's BBQ sause

Since I'll be headed to Austin every few months, I'm not hoarding the Elgin as much as I should, but I know I'll be bringing back 20 pounds again soon! When I used to come visit SFO when I lived there, I ALWAYS stopped by Schaub's in Palo Alto and took back their Fred's Black Steak (as if Texans don't have good beef or anything!).

kim

well, I still live where I grew-up (long island). But I used to summer in germany with family. I miss mohnkuchen (a poppyseed sheet cake with about an inch thick layer of poppyseeds, rum soaked raisins, and walnuts) sooo much. I also miss liverwurst with truffles, and nice, simple breakfast hard rolls.

on the flipside, when I'm away for a while from NY, I miss fairway, bagels with cream cheese, and pizza.

im from a ranch and moved to the city...so when i go home, i bring back tons of our 'nearly organic' hamburger and steak.....mmmmmm.

my hubby is from england and we always miss galaxy chocolate, ribena, hob nobs, and digestives.

From Western Massachusetts to DC:

Bagels from a spot once voted best bagels outside NYC.
Maple syrup (a regular gift to the family from our dentist, we think he likes to keep himself in business that way!).
Mom's chocolate chip cookies.
A certain brand of Greek style salad dressing.
Apples, apple cider and most importantly Apple Cider Doughnuts from the orchard!!!

From Michigan to SF bay area:
big jars of pure maple syrup, cheese from Zingerman's, and butterhorns from Zehnder's in Frankenmuth. Yum!

From Seattle...marzipan roll from Piroshky Piroshky, some of my mom's homemade taro cake, random asian groceries from Uwajimaya.

Also always eat at Las Margaritas just for nostalgia's sake :)

I don't know what most of this stuff is, but it does make me hungry.

Still, don't give up hope on finding your favorites in your new home! We brought several cases of Vernor's back to SF a few years ago, and I can buy it at Walgreen's now! (or pay $6/bottle at a fancy restaurant :P)

I can't believe that no one mentioned the delicious food from Hawaii! I have my sister bring back Hawaiian Sea Salt, Hawaiian-style Portugese sausage, Kona coffee, macademia nuts and if it were possible - Leonard's malasadas (the best)!

From Moncton to Ottawa, Canada
-Donair sauce
-Herbed Gouda and Red Pepper Gouda from the Dutch cheesemaker at the market (why can't I find that elsewhere, other than the Netherlands?)
-half a dozen dinner plate sized slightly underbaked chocolate chip cookies from the same baker who supplies my old high school. It tastes like long ago high school memories. :P

Sadly, White Lilly Flour is not the same, famous bakers have been quoted that the difference is detectable by them even if it is denied by the maker.
My native county barbecue and country ham are my last hold outs against vegetarianism. I make deliveries of Wilber's to friends when I go east to visit family.
When I go to NY I love to bring home Greek pastry and Indian spices.

I got moonshine jelly for a birthday gift. It is clear apple jelly with a cute name.

My parents live in south Louisiana, so I usually come home with lots of frozen shrimp, catfish and lump crabmeat at the very least. But I also replenish supplies of Steen's cane syrup, Zatarain's crab boil, Pig Stand BBQ sauce, Herbsaint and Peychaud's bitters when necessary.

When I went to school in NYC, I would take empanadas, frozen tamales, and pan de polvo(mom would send me some in a tin occasionally). Also, my cousin used to live in long island & I would take her a couple packages of frozen chorizo. she said the ones in supermarkets weren't the same as the actual tex mex brands you can find back in texas.

if I was traveling from ny to texas, I've been asked to take bagels by relatives that have visited, and I'd probably take some yummy desserts from Venieros. chocolate napoleons and lobster tails!

When we go "home" to California we always try to bring back a flat of strawberries from Santa Maria, Fresno State wine, and several pounds of Silva brand linguisca sausage. We have yet to find linguisca in New Mexico.

from my grandma's in rappahannock, va: apple cider from Williams orchards, apple sauce (super smooth & a tad tart), green beans (w/gristle won't give up altho i'm a veg), stewed tomatoes, canned tomato soup, all kinds of jellies (favorite grape) & my absolute favorite apple butter. except for the cider these are all lovingly made by my grandmother - Sarah Latham, Ga. oh & the apples she helps pick every year now 87. I'd share with you all if I could. maybe i'll grandma-nap her on next visit.

@ scott t. & cashba - yes, i've now been able to find vernor's in both nyc & dc areas. YEAH!

Aurthur Bryant's BBQ sauce every time we go to Kansas City.

Golden syrup, marzipan and twinings tea!

Yorkshire, England: Fox's Glacier Mints, Pickled Onion Monster Munch, Lyle's Golden Syrup, Heinz Spaghetti Hoops, Strawberry Ribena.

Country ham is the big one for me. I often wonder what the TSA peeps who check my bags think when they see slices of it stuffed in every spare pocket.

I also love Zatarain's chicken fry. I can find the one for fish in California, but never the chicken. I usually bring home a box or two of that.

Biltmore's Vidalia Onion Honey Mustard. I actually see Vidalia onions in Safeway occasionally, but they're usually beat to death. However, Trader Joe's had some great looking ones the other day, so I stocked up.

And I order Night of the Living BBQ Sauce from Original Juan. I miss Oklahoma Joe's in KC.

Moving from NJ to Florida we "smuggle" in

Pathmark Ice Tea - by the case it is so addictive
Boxed Hot Sausages from any deli
Wise Dipsy Doodles corn chips
Choward's Violet Candies
C & C Sodas in all various death rendering colors/flavors
Good Deli American Cheese and Bologna
Italian bakery layered cookies

If I could smuggle White Castle, wax paper rolled Italian sausages, shaved Italian sausage pizza and corner store "pink" cookies - I totally would - weekly

I have a couple of 'homes.'

From the Amanas, IA - pickled ham and rhubarb wine.
From South Texas - there's this tiny little bakery that does the most amazing pan dulce: El Valle in Rio Grande City. I've never tried to freeze any of their goodies, but one day I may try.

I actually take a lot of food from my current 'home' to relatives, because Houston is way bigger than anywhere else anybody's ever lived. For mom it's generally Asian goodies like mochi and fish jerky (yes, really). And a lot of tea.

I'm from Boston and I live outside DC. I used to miss Dunkin Donuts but they're all over the place here now.

I always make sure I get decent Italian food, apple cider, maple syrup, Portuguese muffins and my grandmother's pumpkin bread.