When I think of my mom, two things usually don't come to mind: beer and Frank Zappa. Which made it odd earlier this week when I opened an email to find she had sent me the following quote: "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."

Now, I'm not a big Zappa fan and have never heard this quote. I'm guessing that puts me in Group A of two possible groups, with Group B consisting of huge Zappa fans who have heard this quote a million times. But the quote did get me thinking that there are a number of countries that I associate with one specific beer. Yes, I realize they have more than one beer, but every time I think of said country, one specific beer immediately pops into mind trumping all others.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying these are the best beers each country has to offer, or even a list of my favorite international beers, but for this week's Slashfood Ate beer edition, I present the 8 countries that through experience and marketing I most associate with one specific beer.

See the list after the jump...

One more great eggs-ample of food art! This piece was created by artist Henk Hofstra, and the Wooster Collective reported back in May about the project that's located in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Each egg is about 100 feet wide, and they were spread out in one of the largest squares in Leeuwarden, called Zaailand, where they'll be walked on and photographed for six months.

Diana Eid of Inventor Spot said that this art project was just made for Google Earth, which tickled me to no end. I wouldn't have thought that, but I think it's great that someone did. New and creative ways to view food and art are always welcome in my book.

Ok, are you a popsicle fiend? Do you eat those ice cream treats that come on a stick? The real question is, do you have tons of those sticks lying around the house and you just don't know what to do with them? Here is one thought: build a boat.

While you're at it, make it a seaworthy replica of a Viking boat, and then sail it to England (or somewhere maybe a little closer if that's a bit far for you). Of course you must remember to reinforce it with fiberglass, first please. An American living in the Netherlands did just that when his wife kept complaining about all the popsicle sticks lying around. I must admit that this would not be my first thought of a solution.

The Viking ship took millions (15) of sticks and tons (2.2) of glue to make, not to mention many years (sorry, the story's not that specific). Even though I wouldn't have thought of this, I am glad that someone did. We all need a dream to reach for and something to smile about.

In my first week of writing for Slashfood, I wrote about an issue that everyone seemed to have an opinion about: an employee complaining that the new "skinny" lattes were offensive. Though most of the comments hotly debated the topic at hand, quite a few other people had their sights set on a different topic: the post's accompanying photo, which featured a stroopwafel (aka: syrup waffle) atop a Starbucks mug.

So, for all of you people curious about stroopwafels, I did some sleuthing and found a recipe on - where else? - StroopwafelShop.com. It's pretty easy (sorry in advance for the measurements - you can convert them here):

Waffles (12):

300g sugar
450g butter, sliced into small pieces
3 eggs
3 sp milk
600g flour
pinch of cinnamon and salt

Mix the sugar with the eggs, milk, four, cinnamon, salt, and butter. Roll into 12 small balls.
Preheat the waffle iron. Squeeze a ball of dough into the iron, and bake for about 30 seconds. Remove.
Cut the waffle into two thin waffles and spread with a mix of butter and syrup.

Or, you can always cheat and buy them premade. They're easy to get if you live in the Netherlands, but I know you can occasionally purchase them at Wild Oats/Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in the U.S. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions.

Then, top with honey, fresh fruit, mascarpone cheese, or dipped in your coffee (skinny or not).

I was going to say, "a hot dog made out of horse meat? Gah!" But then I thought, who the hell knows what's in the hot dogs that we eat now? Snouts, intestines, whatever. Maybe horse meat isn't too weird after all.

Esquire's Greg Lindsay gives us the scoop - from the horse's mouth, you could say - on the frikandel, a hot dog native to The Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of Germany. It's deep-fried sausage made out of beef, chicken, pork, and Mr. Ed.

His description (bland, soft, with pink gloop squirting out) doesn't make me want to get on a flight and try it anytime soon, but I'm not a big hot dog guy anyway.

If you thought that the country most likely to have its residents eat pre-prepared food was the United States, you would be wrong. While the sheer number of people dining out in the US might be greater than in most countries, the average Briton will eat 365 meals a year out of home - one every day. In comparison, the average person eats out only 306 times per year in the United States, coming in third after Italy, where the Italians dine out 308 times each year. Also high on the list were the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, France and Germany.

The survey, conducted by the group Datamonitor, showed a link between a stronger work ethic and the likelihood of eating outside the home. The reasoning for this is that in countries where employees work longer hours and seem to have trouble tearing themselves away at the end of the day, the employees eat out more frequently. They also show a stronger inclination for fast, snack and pre-prepared foods that can beat eaten on the go or at a desk, as opposed to choosing to dine restaurants.

You haven't lived until you've let your arteries harden a bit by doing a Dutch food slideshow on flickr. Some highlights:

• uitsmijter (fried eggs on ham, cheese toast) and a kroket sandwich
• ham, tomato and cheese pankoek (pancake)
• Bread with cheese 
• Boerenkool (potatoes, kale and sausage, mushed) 

As much of America's heritage is Dutch, the photos look very much like a particularly pork- and deep-fried-focused trip into America's heartlead. All I know is, breakfast tomorrow is uitsmijter. I'll be sure to deliver a full report.