All things English/American

Originally Posted by Sparkle

I love parsnips too. But my former partner and her sisters did not, hence the incognito.

On holidays and Sundays I have dinner late-midday and occasionally tea (tea the meal, not the drink in the evening. Otherwise it is breakfast/lunch & dinner. Or brunch & supper on the weekends when time and schedules are more fluid.

Did they eat the roasted parsnips with no mention of the different taste? To be honest Un-Mrs.I has a time of it disguising all the veggies she has me eat.

So, we have brunch, lunch, dinner ...and... tea, dinner, supper

Here's another one to add to the mix. My Pops, a solid working class bloke who has dinner and tea, also has 'afters' instead of pudding or dessert. No accounting for some folks!

All the fry ups, English, Scottish, Welsh, Ulster fry are basically the same with variations according to region/country and personal taste. I love toasted Irish soda bread toasted with my Full English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_breakfast


The wiki page shows a Full English with bubble and squeak, I have never seen a fry up with bubble and squeak......maybe they do that in 'posh' establishments!

I love the Somerset Maugham quote on the Wiki page

"To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day."

[Sparkle]

They did notice the difference in taste (between the parsnips and the potatoes) but not until they'd already eaten one. Which brought Lyn no small amount of glee.

I miss yorkshire pudding and rich tea biscuits, of all things.

Originally Posted by Sparkle

They did notice the difference in taste (between the parsnips and the potatoes) but not until they'd already eaten one. Which brought Lyn no small amount of glee.

I miss yorkshire pudding and rich tea biscuits, of all things.

Hah! That would give me a little evil glee-ness too

Yorkshire pudding is a food of the gods and goddesses isn't it. I'm crap at making it though and will usually buy it in ready made if having individual yorkies for Sunday lunch. I will make it myself if making Toad in the Hole with onion gravy. Do you 'mericans eat Toad in the Hole?

Rich tea biscuits? Not had those since I lived at home. This link might interest you.
http://www.britsuperstore.com/cgi-bi...=-1&TB=A&SHOP=

[Apocalipstic]

Blood sausage I have tried and just can't do it.

Bacon in England (London at least) is what we would call Canadian Bacon in the US and rashers? I think is what bacon is in the US and sooooo much better than in the US, as are the free range eggs!

Bubble and squeek?

Pims and Lemonade...YUMMY

Salmon....ultra yummy!

my favorite of all?

Percy Pigs from Marks and Spencer.

[Apocalipstic]

oh and
Victoria Sponge!

It cracks me up that people in the US think Tea is fancy and must include hats and gloves.

[Apocalipstic]

Oh and crisps. Which we would call potato chips come in all flavors like Chilean Sea Bass and Shrimp.

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

Blood sausage I have tried and just can't do it.

Bacon in England (London at least) is what we would call Canadian Bacon in the US and rashers? I think is what bacon is in the US and sooooo much better than in the US, as are the free range eggs!

Bubble and squeek?

Pims and Lemonade...YUMMY

Salmon....ultra yummy!

my favorite of all?

Percy Pigs from Marks and Spencer.

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

oh and
Victoria Sponge!

It cracks me up that people in the US think Tea is fancy and must include hats and gloves.

My Pops who visits Canada regularly and has visited the US says that the bacon here is different too. My aunt in who's lived in Canada for nigh on 50yrs also concurs. They both agree that Brit bacon is better and now you agree too...it has to be true! I've never visited North America so can't give a personal opinion. I had no idea that our eggs may be better too.

You've lived here apocalipstic? Or come from here and emigrated?

Bubble and squeak is a fried up mixture of left over mash potato and cabbage (most usually but other left overs can be used too)...I like to use sprouts instead of cabbage. It's thoroughly delicious with bacon or left over roast meat.

Un-Mrs.I likes Pimms but after last summer's exploits with Pimms I will never ever drink the foul stuff again Do you get Pimms over there?

Despite shopping in Marks and Sparks regularly I don't know what Percy Pigs are.

Aye we do have some odd flavour crisps here too...did you ever see Hedgehog flavour? Seabrooks crisps are my favourite and the King of Crisp...some would disagree though. How about you Merlin? Seabrooks, Walkers, Kettle or own brand crisps?

Hah! Do Americans really think that tea is that old fashioned sort of twee-tea thing? Tea can be posh, very posh, with cake stands, doilies, china cups and saucers but probably only at the Connaught or the Savoy or similar 'posh' (read v.expensive) establishments. However a real persons less posh tea is a butty, a cake/biscuit and a mug o'tea.

[Sparkle]

Originally Posted by apocalipstic

Percy Pigs from Marks and Spencer.

Anything from Marks & Sparks. *sigh* I miss M&S a lot.

I also like fancy tea with hats and gloves. Followed by laying about on the grass in a nearby park, all dolled up.

When I first moved there I used to carry a little notebook with me to note all the new words and phrases and slang with translations.
Grocery shopping was really challenging and cockney rhyming slang - OMG I was always slow off the mark with that.

Originally Posted by Sparkle

Anything from Marks & Sparks. *sigh* I miss M&S a lot.

I also like fancy tea with hats and gloves. Followed by laying about on the grass in a nearby park, all dolled up.

When I first moved there I used to carry a little notebook with me to note all the new words and phrases and slang with translations.
Grocery shopping was really challenging and cockney rhyming slang - OMG I was always slow off the mark with that.

Where did you live Sparkle. You'll find that folks like Merlin and myself will speak slightly differently to folks in London. Not only are our accents different but also regional differences and idioms come into play too.

If you check out the link I posted for brit food you'll find plenty of Marks and Sparks food there.
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatal...d_Spencer.html

[Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Where did you live Sparkle. You'll find that folks like Merlin and myself will speak slightly differently to folks in London. Not only are our accents different but also regional differences and idioms come into play too.

If you check out the link I posted for brit food you'll find plenty of Marks and Sparks food there.
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatal...d_Spencer.html

I was in London proper. I think I hit all four corners in my time there. Uxbridge, Hackney Downs, Stokey, Archway & Catford.

I was pretty good with most dialects, I got the hang of the Liverpudlian quite quickly but I found the Geordie dialect almost impossible to decipher even after a decade!

That British Superstore is going to be the death of me (my budget anyway). Cheers mate.

Originally Posted by Sparkle

I was in London proper. I think I hit all four corners in my time there. Uxbridge, Hackney Downs, Stokey, Archway & Catford.

I was pretty good with most dialects, I got the hang of the Liverpudlian quite quickly but I found the Geordie dialect almost impossible to decipher even after a decade!

That British Superstore is going to be the death of me (my budget anyway). Cheers mate.

S'Alreet chuck! I'm glad you like the Brit Store.

Scouse is a tough accent to listen to and Geordie as you say, if it's broad, is almost impenetrable. I'm a northerner with a pretty generic Lancastrian accent. Un-Mrs.I and me take the mickey out of each other as she's got a southern softie Hertfordshire accent!

May I ask how come you ended up here and why did you leave again? A girl/chap/other*?






*delete as applicable

[Bit]

Originally Posted by Incubus

A girl/chap/other*?






*delete as applicable

LOL!!! Now you've got it.

So... I am soooo not going to spend an hour surfing through Wikipedia today, following the scent of all these strange new foods... I will just ask instead, what is Toad in the Hole? Is that a fried egg in toast?

However a real persons less posh tea is a butty, a cake/biscuit and a mug o'tea.

Okay, what's a butty? And from last night, what is "lashings" of tea?

Merlin mentioned cheese on beans and it made me laugh because "put some cheese on it" is a catch-phrase in That House; one of our friends told THE most hysterically funny story about what happened when her partner interrupted an intense argument to ask if she was making supper. She insists to this day that a butch will eat ANYTHING if you put some cheese on it.... the dog was a little confused that night though. The reason we thought it was so funny is that Gryph has always said about my kitchen disasters, "put some cheese on it, I'll eat it..."



Yeah yeah, I KNOW how lucky I am with That Butch, lol! Love him with all my heart just for that alone!

[Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Incubus

S'Alreet chuck! I'm glad you like the Brit Store.

Scouse is a tough accent to listen to and Geordie as you say, if it's broad, is almost impenetrable. I'm a northerner with a pretty generic Lancastrian accent. Un-Mrs.I and me take the mickey out of each other as she's got a southern softie Hertfordshire accent!

May I ask how come you ended up here and why did you leave again? A girl/chap/other*?
*delete as applicable

My former partner is British. She had a work visa in the US when we met. When her visa expired our only (mostly legal) option for remaining together was to move to the UK, that was 1997. We were one of the first couples to successfully apply through the (then) Unmarried Partners Concession that Blair's government put in place. It took over two years to resolve, during which time I couldn't (legally) work or leave the country as my passport was in the longest queue in Britain (in Croydon at the INS).

Unfortunately our relationship crumbled under the strain and power imbalance, though we lasted through and beyond the process.

I returned to the US when my step-father passed away suddenly, leaving my family amidst huge grief and disorder.

I miss blighty & all my people there - MUCH.