Gone native

When I first arrived in America, I was regularly horrified in diners. Specifically, I was horrified by the jam (or jelly, if you will) that would be placed -- for no discernable reason -- on my plate alongside my eggs, toast and butter. But it wasn't just that: I would look around me and notice people dipping sausages in maple syrup, and for the life of me I couldn't understand why menus would offer combination plates of, say, eggs and sausage and pancakes. Shouldn't that be "OR pancakes"?

When I arrived here I was a simple soul. Hell, I was kind of blown away by the places that Americans find to put peanut butter (e.g in ice cream, inside pretzels, inside pretzels in ice cream, etc).

I am still horrified by the thought of jam on the same plate as eggs. But apparently I am softening my stance on savoury + sweet combinations -- here's what we had for dinner: waffles with FAKE BACON INSIDE, along with apples sauteed with cinnamon and chili. (Idea stolen from Tigers and Strawberries.)

A few notes:
* The best thing about this meal was the apple -- the combination of chili, cinnamon and the sweet/tartness of the apple was insanely good.
* (As if it needs to be said) fake bacon is nothing like real bacon. I found the flavour too weak in this. I think next time (next time!) I would cut the fake bacon into larger pieces, so that when you hit a piece you could really taste it.
* I was out of powdered cinnamon, so had to grind up cinnamon sticks in the spice grinder. It was delicious.