Grocery Update! Some new local finds at House of Fraser

Went Xmas shopping this afternoon in Birmingham near the Bull Ring and made a stop at the House of Fraser up near the B'ham Cathedral. We were looking for some cooking equipment (which by the way is RIDICULOUSLY expensive compared to US prices), and went downstairs to the lower level where there also happens to be a food hall/gourmet market similar to the one at Selfridge's.

Turns out, House of Fraser also has a small selection of 'American' food items like that at Selfridge's, with a few key additions: Heinz Chili Sauce, Heinz sweet pickle relish, Mezzetta Deli-Sliced pepperoncini rings, peanut butter M&Ms and Hershey's chocolate sauce, cocoa, and fudge sauce were all available, along with some different sauces and condiments. They also carried cans of Libby's Pumpkin (and were GBP 2.39, so not as cheap as Whole Foods, but cheaper than Selfridge's). I didn't get to scope out the entire food hall, but they seemed to also have a large selection of gourmet olive oils, vinegars, and mayo.

I suspect that only the larger House of Fraser stores with Food Halls have this market feature, as I didn't see anything like that at the Solihull location, but it's good to know I won't have to go back to London for those items anytime soon. I'm looking forward to seeing some peanut butter M&M's in my stocking in a couple of weeks ;)

Christmas Tree Shopping!

Cut, potted or stands? These options aren't normally associated with Christmas tree shopping in California, so I was a little bit confused about all the options I kept reading about on the local tree farms' websites in Birmingham.

Normally, the only decision our family ever made when picking out a tree was what height the tree should be--type of tree wasn't even an option. I think my mom always had a preference for Noble Firs, so that's what we had, and it became our family tradition. We always headed straight for the Noble Fir section of the tree lot and if they had a meager selection of acceptable (read 'full') trees, we moved on to the next lot a few minutes drive away.

Typically, the trees I encountered in California's lots were pre-cut, with a wooden "X" nailed to the bottom, and were displayed standing in neat lines like soldiers waiting for inspection. No excessive handling of the trees was required--we simply strolled down the rows of trees to see which trees were the right height and fullness.

This afternoon D and I drove over to Wood Farm's Christmas Tree Farm, near Shirley, to pick out a Christmas tree for the house. There don't appear to be too many large Christmas tree lots around our neck of town (or generally in the city), so we are lucky that this place is only about 5 minutes from our house. Upon arriving at the tree farm; however, I soon realized this may not be as easy an experience as I was used to.

First, there was a choice between cut, potted or stand trees. The "cut" trees were most like the regular American trees, but instead of having an "X" base on them so they could stand up freely on their own, they were lying all over the place, ungrouped by height at all--some were lying on the ground in loose stacks, some were leaned against fences several trees deep, and others were in small metal stands over a foot off the ground, so the trees' true height wasn't discernible until you removed it from the stand. These 'cut' trees were difficult to evaluate because so many of the trees were hidden behind or beneath the stacks, and getting to them was such an effort.

We went inside to check out the other tree options, and discovered that you could also buy a 'potted' tree with it's roots potted inside the soil of a bright red bucket, or a 'stand' tree, with the roots all showing, that you screw into a special stand and allow the roots to spread out inside the bowl. Apparently, you can attempt to replant either of these tree types in your own garden after the holidays, but the tree farm won't guarantee that the tree will survive. Although this was an attractive 'eco' option, we don't have any space in our garden for another large tree and the trees weren't grouped by type or height or price inside, so we kept wandering and wandering without being able to hone in on the type we wanted.

We ultimately wandered back outside and (to D's relief) I finally settled on a 6 foot, cut Noble Fir and a cheap stand. It needed some trimming down with the clippers at home, because it's really full, but we figured too full was better than too sparse! Now for the decorating....

Bring from Home!: US Food Items Not Generally Available in UK

After months of research and hunting around Birmingham I have compiled this list of items that are tough or impossible to find here, and I stock up on the non-perishable items on visits back home:

Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (dry and bottled)

Good Seasonings Italian Dressing mix

Lipton Onion Soup Mix (for dips and recipes)

Lawry's Taco Seasoning

Accent seasoning

Pepperjack cheese

Corn tortillas (available here, but not so good)

Veleveeta cheese

Mezzetta Brand pepperoncinis, cocktail onions, gardiniera

Mr & Mrs T Bloody Mary Mix

Salsa con queso/spicy cheese dip for tortilla chips

Crystal Light lemonade and iced tea packets

Chicken Rice a Roni

Sourdough bread

Canned chopped green chiles

Chipotle peppers

Pequillo peppers

Wheat Thins crackers

Zatarains Jambalaya Mix

Wonton wrappers

The following items are available at Partridge's Grocery store in Kensington in London (thanks for the tip Allison!), but are not readily available in Birmingham (or I assume, in other cities outside of London generally)--also watch out for the very high prices!!:

Motts Applesauce - regular and unsweetened

Stove Top Stuffing Mix

Lawry's Seasoned Salt, Garlic Salt and Lemon Pepper

Zatarain's mixes - Dirty Rice, Red Beans and Rice and Creole Gumbo (no Jambalaya)

Bisquick Pancake Mix

Heinz Chili Sauce

Graham crackers and graham pie crusts

Crisco vegetable shortening & canola oil

Betty Crocker cake & brownie mixes

Heinz Dill pickles - chips, spears and relish

Vlasic sweet and dill pickle spears

Pop Tarts

Hershey's Chocolate syrup

Light and dark corn syrup

Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips (most UK grocers carry only milk or dark chocolate chips)

Skippy Peanut Butter

Old Bay Seasoning

Libby's canned pumpkin

Quaker corn meal

Baker's semi-sweet chocolate chunks for baking

Jiffy Corn muffin mix

Progresso Italian style breadcrumbs

Various american cereals (fruit loops, apple jacks, grape nuts)

I also found these items at Whole Foods in London on Kensington High Street, but have not seen them anywhere else:

Tarragon vinegar

Green tomatillo salsa

Libby's canned pumpkin

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Raw pearl onions

Smoked mozzarella

Spanish tuna in olive oil

Hiking in the Malvern Hills, Worcestershire

One thing I really miss about Los Angeles is the abundance of day-hikes. From my old apartment in Hollywood I could walk out the door and in 15 minutes be alone up on the pathways of Griffith Park, with only the sunshine and my dog, George, for company. Whenever visiting friends and family were in town, we inevitably drove the 5 minutes up Beechwood Drive to the Hollyridge trail-head and followed the steep, dusty horse-trail to the lookout above the landmark Hollywood sign--a good hour-long power walk. Alternately, on clear, sunny weekend days I often drove for 30 minutes over to the Pacific Palisades and spent a happy hour doing a loop on the hiking trails in Temescal Canyon for views of Malibu and the Pacific.

Since the Midlands district of England is mostly flat to moderately hilly, there aren't really any hikes I can get to on a regular basis for a quick workout, but D has promised to take me to some of the different spots that are within an hour or two of us on the motorway. Hopefully when winter is over, there will be a few more nice weather days for us to venture out and see them!

Before winter attacked, we did have a chance to spend one sunny Saturday afternoon hiking in the Malvern Hills. After driving for about 45 minutes south west from our house in Wythall with D's dog, Mia, we arrived in the quaint village of Great Malvern, and then wound our way up through the trees above the town to a carpark where we found one of the many trailheads providing access to the Malvern Hills. During the first 10 minutes of hiking, we wound our way uphill through a grove of dense trees, but finally came out at the top of the ridge to find mostly grassy hilltops with small bushes of wildberries scattered alongside.

We let the dog loose on the trails and walked for about 25 minutes up to the highest point in the hills. The view was amazing as we could see in all directions, but I was a little disappointed to learn that the highest point was a mere 1395 feet! After hitting the viewpoint we wandered down and around the hills across some of the different trails that seemed to go on endlessly, but finally made our way back to the car after about 2 hours. On our way home we stopped at a picturesque pub on the banks of the River Severn just outside of Worcester for a beer and some sandwiches in the sunshine--it was almost enough to transport me back to the LA sunshine!!

A Survival Guide to English Foods and Ingredients

Here is a list of some commonly used American ingredients with their UK equivalents:

Eggplant = aubergine

Arugula = rocket

Cilantro = coriander

Zucchini = courgettes

Belgian Endive = chicory

Bok Choi = Pak Choy

Green Onions = Spring onions or salad onions

Canadian bacon = back bacon

Ground Beef = beef mince (same with other meats)

Thick sliced ham (like Honey Baked Ham) = gammon

Cookies = biscuits (sweet)

Crackers = biscuits (savory/for cheese)

French fries = chips

Potato chips = crisps

Butty = sandwich (esp. chip butty or bacon butty)

Cornstarch = cornflour

Light cream = single cream

Heavy cream = double cream

Half & half = use half milk, half single cream

Graham crackers = use sweetmeal digestive biscuits

Dessert = the word 'pudding' refers to any dessert, not just custard, with notable exceptions being "black pudding" and "Yorkshire pudding", which are savory items

Granulated brown sugar = demarara sugar

Jell-O/Gelatin = jelly

powdered/confectioner's sugar = icing sugar

cake flour = sponge flour

Kool-Aid or flavored drink mix = squash

Baked potato = jacket potato

Tomato Paste = tomato puree

Ladyfingers = use sponge fingers or boudoir fingers

Shortening = use solid vegetable oil

Cheddar cheese = cheddar is usually white here; Red Leicester is closest to American cheddar

Swiss cheese = use Jarlsburg or Gruyere

Tomato Sauce (no seasonings) = try tomato juice or jarred pasta sauce & adjust seasonings

Minced garlic = 'easy garlic'

sugar sprinkles for cakes = hundreds and thousands

Below are some English dishes that I've seen on more than a few menus, but didn't know exactly what I'd be getting if I ordered it:

Welsh rarebit = is a savoury sauce made from melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot over toasted bread, sometimes with the addition of ale, mustard, ground cayenne pepper or ground paprika and Worcestershire sauce

Bangers and Mash = a dish of mashed potatoes & sausages, usually with an onion gravy

Bubble and Squeak = leftover vegetables and meat from a roast dinner pan-fried together with mashed potatoes until mixture is browned on all sides

Toad in a Hole = a dish comprising sausages baked in a Yorkshire pudding batter (see definition below), usually served with vegetables and gravy

Faggots = a meatball traditionally made from pig's heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs

Black pudding = a type of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler (meat, fat, suet, bread) until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled.

Cottage Pie = a pie with a mashed potato crust and cooked beef filling

Shepherd's Pie = a pie with a mashed potato crust and cooked lamb/mutton filling

Scotch Egg = sausage in breadcrumbs wrapped around hard boiled egg and deep fried to crispy

Pork Pie = minced pork and pork jelly baked inside a firm pastry crust, sometimes with cheese & pickle, and usually served cold with spicy mustard

Cockles = a type of small, edible, saltwater clam

Crubeens = Irish dish of salted pig's feet or trotters, usually served boiled with cabbage

English trifle = a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top.

Stargazy Pie = a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards (a type of fish), covered with a pastry crust. The pilchards are arranged with their tails toward the centre of the pie and their heads poking up through the crust around the edge, so that they appear to be gazing skyward.

Bacon Butty = bacon rashers served on a soft roll, usually with brown sauce or ketchup

Yorkshire Pudding = a savory, well-shaped pastry made from batter (usually cooked in muffin tins, like popovers) and served with roast meat and gravy

Spotted Dick = a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants) commonly served with custard

Lancashire Hotpot = a stew consisting essentially of lamb or mutton, onion and potatoes left to bake in the oven all day in a heavy pot and on a low heat

Marrow = a type of squash or large zucchini

Angels on Horseback = poached oysters wrapped in bacon rashers w/a seasoned prune puree

Jaffa Cakes = a popular type of English cookie that consists of three layers: a sponge cake base, a layer of orange flavoured jelly and a coating of dark chocolate.

Cornish Pasties = seasoned steak, potatoes, onion, carrot and turnips baked inside a pastry case

Victoria Sponge = traditionally consists of jam sandwiched between two sponge cakes; the top of the cake is not iced or decorated. Named for Queen Victoria, who favored sponge cake with her afternoon tea

I miss American TV

English TV kinda sucks. After 6 months of trying to get into Emmerdale, Coronation Street and the other UK nighttime soap dramas, I've pretty much given up. Unlike the soaps in America, who tend to make the lives of nearly all their characters look at least upper-middle class and somewhat glamorous, most of the UK soaps seem to focus on average, middle-class and lower-middle class folks, which offers little of the escapism that American TV provides.

The only prime-time shows I've followed here are the reality-TV hits 'Britain's Got Talent', 'X Factor' and 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here', mostly because the judges and hosts are so entertaining, and because they are on so frequently that it's hard to escape them.

Since we aren't getting the new fall series of 'Grey's Anatomy', 'America's Next Top Model' or 'Big Love' here in England yet, I have to console myself by watching 'The Hills' and 'The City' on MTV. When I'm watching them it feels like I'm back on my couch in L.A., and staying in touch with what's hot at home. It's kind of sad, because those shows are actually so disconnected from reality. Luckily we have the current season of 'Gossip Girl' and 'Project Runway' on right now, and we are only a week or so behind the US seasons, but I'm not sure if we will get 'LOST' or the new season of '24' yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The Pumpkin Puree Discovery!

Since I'm planning a huge, traditional Thanksgiving dinner for a few friends here in England at the end of the week, I have been on the hunt for cans of pureed pumpkin to use in the pumpkin chiffon pie that our family's favorite, but kept coming up empty until about a week ago.

Selfridge's Department Store in London and here in Birmingham both stock Libby's Canned Pumpkin during the holiday seasons every year, but apparently the pumpkin harvest wasn't great this year, so production was a bit delayed, and the store's shipments arrived later than usual. I bought 4 cans of pumpkin when it finally arrived at Selfridge's here, then bought some more last week in London where I found it at Whole Foods for about 1 GBP cheaper per can than at Selfridges.

Now that I'm well stocked in pumpkin puree, I decided to use a 1/2 can to make some pumpkin bread to nibble on this week. Here's the recipe I used (measurements are in UK equivalents):

INGREDIENTS

250g pumpkin puree

210g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

200g sugar

1 tsp baking soda

120ml (1/2 c.) olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

60ml (1/4 c.) water

1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice

100g coarsely chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together the flour salt, sugar and baking soda in a large bowl or food processor.

2. Combine the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, water and spices with the dry ingredients using a wisk or wisk attachment on the food processor. Stir in the nuts, then pour the mixture into a well-greased loaf tin and bake at 180 C (350 F) for about 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

3. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.