The world is due to end at...what time? Whose today, as in time zones, Australia's, Europe's or America's, it's all a bit vague. Anyway, life goes on.
It's mid-day Eastern Seaboard Time (EST) and I'm still alive so I've emerged from the basement, taken off my anti-alien abduction helmet and having a late breakfast, some toast and tea. Preparing for world's end is a tricky business, especially if you're thorough, but the hard work seems to have paid off!
LATEST NEWS
A popular holiday topic over here is Fiscal Cliffs, a resort somewhere near Washington DC to which all Americans will be heading in 2013. Currently, it's so popular with politicians, there's no room for Joe and Jane, but I understand that will change after Monday.
WEATHER
Northern states in New England, particularly Vermont (VT) and Maine (ME) have had several feet of snow and are all ready for Christmas. Here in Massachusetts (MA) we could easily be in Manchester (UK) - dark, wet and dirty, and very windy, around 40 mph. It's due to blow over later and there's just a very slight chance we may get a snow sprinkle in time for Santa's imminent visit.
HOME STUFF
Oscar, age 3, has spoken to Santa a few times this week. We have his phone number and it costs nothing. Oscar likes to reassure Santa that he is being a good boy and that Rudolph and friends will find carrots, oat biscuits and milk just inside the garage door. Santa's mince pie and double scotch will be on the coffee table by the mantel piece. And please don't forget the Giant Skylanders when you bring the presents.
FOOD FEATURE
All the food shopping arrived yesterday via different stores and carriers, all purchased on the internet. the nearest stores are a few miles away and are great for American staples - milk, butter, chocolate products, cake, cookies, snacks, corn syrup, peanut butter and all manner of high calorie, low nutritional value juices and and stuff - yuk. It's an education!
The first delivery was a gift from Ian's company, a full honey-glazed ham, on the bone, in gold foil wrapping, ready to eat, keep in the fridge or freeze. A card inside gave instructions on how to cut the thing into three manageable pieces, each of which would comfortably feed six adults,was an interesting enclosure As the fridges and freezers are pretty full anyway we decided to leave it boxed and wrapped in the garage (it's cold enough) until tomorrow when we'll be having a party.
Next came stuff from a supermarket, essentials like bread (which is all cloyingly moist and sweet - okay for jam sandwiches or toast and honey but no good for savoury at all), and butter, which comes in cardboard packs containing individually wrapped sticks, each weighting four ounces (4oz) or 100g for any young people reading this.
Bizarrely, America still functions in imperial measures - gallons of apple juice - feet and inches, miles per hour, pounds and ounces ...how quaint. Needless to say, it plays havoc with cake and bread recipes that don't use simple ratio measures. Katharine had to go out and buy a couple of cookery books, learn a new language and buy a set of measuring cups. Why this advanced nation can't use liquid measures, fluid ounces or centilitres beggars belief! A 'cup' has nothing to do with best china, it's just a standard measure, along with table spoons and teaspoons. These also come in sets and can't be used in conjunction with food as in eating soup, cereals or puddings. If a recipe needs more than a small cup, but not as much as the next size, you're told to use, for example, 'two small cups and two tablespoons'. Guess that's about quarter of a pint or 200 ml. These people are not real.
Back to the shopping. We have fresh fruit and veg but sadly, no sprouts. I can hear sighs of relief across the planet and blatant cheers. Hooray I hear you cry! Bah humbug to the sprout haters, all of you. I like my Brussels sprouts, (anyone know why Brussels?) and I particularly like them with turkey, so I'll miss them.
We also have frozen veg, chicken nuggets and, of course, the indispensable bags of frozen fries demanded by small children if ever asked, "what would you like for lunch/tea/dinner"?
Tea and coffee here are dodgy but can be obtained in some stores. Cereals are alright, as is the ubiquitous Coke/Pepsi. Some stuff though is just odd, take cheese for example. It only comes sliced, even at the deli counter, where they insist on slicing it for you. NO, please don't. I like to grate my cheese for sandwiches, omelette toppings, serving with baked potatoes and making cheese sauce. I only like sliced cheese for toasties, children's sandwiches and lasagne, and guess what, I can slice my own cheddar!
Bacon comes from another planet. Massachusetts does not do bacon . There are some strange, streaky, slimy, pale pink slices, of something called Canadian bacon, (smoked only). Not sure why it's called Canadian - it sure ain't bacon. Sausages aren't up to much either - wieners or otherwise! Steak generally comes as sirloin or sirloin. Sirloin's fine sometimes, but fillet, rump and rib-eye are nice too. As for steak and kidney, liver and onions and potted beef, forget it. They do do chicken.Chicken and more chicken are available everywhere, and of course, they grow turkey. Finding free range is very difficult and very expensive. And they don't do OXO - no Oxo anywhere. I don't just mean the brand, I mean not even a substitute!
Another challenge has been soft drinks. In England, Ribena and Robinson's squash along with as many 'own brands' as there are shops selling 'own brand' goods, are so much part of life, particularly for younger children, that it's hard to understand why no similar drinks are available over here. You can have as much fruit juice as you like - pure or from concentrate. You can have Tango, Sprite and Oasis; you can have lemonade (not fizzy) or hard lemonade (fizzy), but no Ribena, no orange squash, no tropical fruit dilute-to-taste. What a nonsense that is!
The worst crime for chocolate lovers is the adulterated Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Yes, it's the 'genuine' article, made by Cadbury but, (that but again), but it's made for the American market and tastes quite different from what I call, proper chocolate. It's something to do with an additive that helps to raise the melting point. Okay, it reaches the 80s F/30s C here in summer, just as it does in England. If the weather's hot, keep your chocolate in the fridge - duh!
For those of you with a savoury preference, you can't buy Marmite; more significantly for many would be the non-availability of HP Sauce!!!!!! You can buy ketchup by the gallon and barbecue sauce, but no HP! OMG. If you enjoy it on your food, try abstaining for a month, or Lent or something - torture!
As it happens, all visitors from UK shores are very welcome in this house, but you can gain love and respect beyond measure if you bring supplies in your suitcase. As it's Christmas, I ditched towels and toiletries, two pairs of shoes and a couple of thick sweaters in order to bring presents and a food parcel -Marmite, Ribena, Bisto Granules (both beef and chicken), HP Sauce, Hobnobs, Dairy Milk, Minstrels, chocolate buttons, sage and onion stuffing and coffee. Sadly, cheese, bacon and sausage would have put me behind bars if they'd been found between the sweaters and skirts! US customs are scary.
However, all is not lost! There is a shop, some way from here, in Plymouth MA, that sells some British foods. Not everything we crave but a good lot of it. And they deliver, via UPS, which costs an arm and , but we now have a pack of bacon and a box of bangers to go with the HP. Oh merry, merry Christmas! There'll be piggies in blankets after all - awesome!
One thing I hope we won't be enjoying this week is the stuff sold by the company whose logo is known worldwide as 'the golden arches'. There are many people who adore this unmentionable fast food, and some seem to think it's even better on it's home turf. Rubbish. It's the same. Some of the eateries are smarter and more varied, but the burgers are no bigger and the buns are just as unpalatable, enough said.
Time to get ready for the ballet now, we're off to Boston to see The Nutcracker this evening and the journey promises a certain amount of weather terror. High winds and torrential rain have turned even the major routes into waterways and the family 4x4, though big and bolshie, is a road vehicle and definitely not seaworthy.
See you on the other side,
regards
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| A view from the dining room - August 2012 |
Carole - writing from 8 Laurel
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