Chips and Crisps

In addition to their super fun language I also love the food culture of the English. No, it doesn't mean that I want to tuck into a steak and kidney pie. It just means that I have so enjoyed learning about (and sometimes trying) the food that is unique to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

brown sauce ~ mash ~ golden syrup ~ treacle ~ Marmite ~ double cream ~ fairy cakes ~ buns ~ pies ~ puddings ~ cakes ~ gherkins ~ Jaffa cakes ~ lager ~ mince ~ mushy peas ~ lemonade ~ sponge ~ porridge ~ Pimms ~ sweets ~ take-aways ~ tins of tomatoes ~ cider ~ biscuits ~ courgettes ~ aubergine ~ bangers ~ sweet corn ~ ginger beer ~ iced lollys

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a girls weekend in London back in January I was introduced to another - Flapjacks! To an American a flapjack is a pancake. To the English it is a delicious cake purchased at Marks and Spencer. Sold in tubs and priced at 2 for 4£ they are impossible to resist.

I found a recipe online and tried my hand at making my own Flapjacks. Tasty but nothing like the real deal. If you ever visit a Marks and Spencer you *must* buy a tub. Or 2.

Those Cheeky Brits

As you celebrated America's independence from England yesterday, I was putting together this post about one of my favorite parts of English culture - the language!

I love words. I love rhyming, puns, nic names, banter, slang. I love all of it. So imagine my delight when I befriended a few English birds, ahem, I mean proper English ladies. Our language differences weren't initially obvious. But after listening closely and long enough I sure did get an earful.

fancy dress = costume (like Americans would wear on Halloween)
Trainers=sneakers or tennis shoes
Swimming costume = bathing suit
fringe=bangs
knackered = hung over
pissed = drunk
shattered = exhausted
tea=dinner
Dodgy (one of my personal favs) = can't be trusted
Gutted = utterly disappointed
jumper = sweatshirt or pullover
rubber=eraser
And the exclamations??!! Crikey! Blimey!! Brilliant! Lovely. Well Done.

Thanks to The Inbetweeners I've also been schooled in all the naughty English words and expressions. This one cracks me up every time.

I could go on and on and on. Even after 2.5 years of friendship our discussion of the language differences between American English and English English never grows old. Never!! Now we're sort of passed the obvious words and have moved on to subtle expressions.

For example, Americans will give you a ride but the English will give you a lift. Go out for dinner? The American will tell you the food was great the English will say the food was nice. Did your child misbehave? The English will tell him off. Americans would never tell off a child, only a cheating boyfriend or soon-to-be ex boss. Americans dig in to a meal. The English tuck in.

The result of this constant analysis is that I'm always painfully aware of my word choice when I'm in mixed company. Can't say pants when I mean trousers as pants to the English means underpants. Can't excuse myself to the bathroom, must nip to the loo or use the toilet. And these characteristic American words- Awesome! Neat. Cool. Good job. Our American English keeps us optimistic and enthusiastic.

The American moms find it so cute when our children pick up little English words or start speaking with an English canter. However, the American accent holds no appeal to the English. They describe our accent as having a twang. Me? A Pacific NW coast girl with virtually no detectable American accent has a twang? Hmph. Pure rubbish I tell ya.

I would have never guessed that I'd move to Luxembourg only to learn about the English culture and dialect. But you know what? I'm sooo very glad I did!

Do you fancy reading up on this topic? This is the perfect reference book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have any more favorite Trader Joe's items? Take a minute to leave a comment. Also found this post on Chowhound.

More London

Just a few more pictures I wanted to share from our trip to London.

:: We took the kids to the Lion King. It was spectacular. I couldn't get over the costumes and set design. It was such an artist interpretation of the story.

:: I started off really wanting to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Then we read what Rick Steves had to say about it, ". . . .every tourist in London gathered in one place at the same time. " That was enough to put me off. But wouldn't you know, we unintentionally ended up at Buckingham Palace at 11:00, 30 minutes before the event. It was obscenely crowded, obscenely. More than 4 highly sensitive people could take. So we walked down the Mall and luckily saw the marching band and the guards marching down to Buckingham Palace. It was pretty special. I got chills. I'm glad to have seen it, especially without the mobs.

:: Isn't this picturesque? Father and daughters cooling their feet in a fountain at Trafalgar Square? As they were drying off a caretaker of the square told us to make sure the girls washed their feet as the fountain was full of chemicals. Niiiiice.

:: Eva's first Shirley Temple. This brought back great memories for me. As a child my sister and I always ordered these at restaurants. I remember the maraschino cherries and, if we were lucky, plastic monkeys floating on the top. Audrey doesn't like fizzy things so opted for a juice based mocktail.

:: This is the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background. The bridge is pedestrian only, not even bikers or roller bladers are allowed.

:: This is a guard at the Tower of London. I really like this picture. Just wish I didn't cut the top of the guard box off.

:: Spotted these colorful buildings from the London Eye. Anyone know what they are?

:: World Record Bunting. This was hanging up along the Thames right before the London Eye. School children contributed the flags to make this record breaking bunting. Eva was so excited to see a real World Record. We have forgotten to look it up in the book. Maybe tomorrow.

:: Spotted by Eva on a lamp post. Anyone know what this is about? Americans deserve more ice cream. Hmmm?

:: Just like Dublin, Look Left and Look Right were painted onto the crosswalks at busy streets. I saw a few of these pictorial versions that I thought were pretty neat.

London Calling

I know, I know I can't believe it either. So much travel. Yes, I feel like a spoiled brat. But, in the spirit of trying to see as much as we can before we move, we took a long weekend trip to London. And all I can say about London is that I'm totally starstruck. I loved it. Almost as much as I love the English. But that is for another post.

Here is what we saw in London:

:: One of many cool bridges. Yeah, I said cool.

:: Guards. Lots of guards.

:: A huge Gherkin. That's pickle to us Americans.

:: A Tower that wasn't really a tower

:: A palace and more tourists than I've ever seen in one place in my life

:: An Eye and the view from it

:: Ravens

:: Yeomen

:: Big Ben, Parliament. Never tired of saying, "Look kids there's Big Ben!"

:: Phone booths. The set-up for this photo was Eva's idea.

:: 4 Friendly lions

Have you been to London? Tell me what you thought.