Make That a Peanut Butter Sandwich
November 19, 2017
We've had two different encounters with Peanut Butter this week. We were walking home from the temple and passed a group of young missionaries coming out of their district meeting. Sister Nielsen, from UT, was carrying a huge jar of Skippy peanut butter. We asked about it and they told us that for their meeting they had Krusteze buttermilk pancakes smeared with peanut butter. The best thing they've had since they got to England.
My elder and I were doing sharing time in the Haywards Heath Ward Primary today - for a total of six children. Yes, that's the whole Primary for the day. We were doing a role play and I mentioned inviting a friend over to share a peanut butter sandwich. You should have heard the groans and moans. No one in England invites friends (or enemies) over for PBJ's. Isn't that something? All afternoon I have tried to visualize an English schoolchild's lunchbox. What is in that thing if there isn't an occasional PBJ?
The history of peanut butter has been dismal over here. As far as we can tell, Skippy is the only brand that took the plunge and is sold over here in Costco. That is where our sister missionary friends got their big jar. We were gifted a small jar of Skippy from a couple that had completed their mission and were going home to the states. Now, before we received our treasured gift, we had bought English peanut butter that we had found sort of hidden on the shelves of the local market. It doesn't compare to Skippy. I assume that is why these English Primary children do not like PBJ's. They haven't tasted the real deal.
The English diet has been an adventure and somewhat of a mystery since we got here. We have spent hundreds of pounds on products that look like they might be a bit tasty only to throw them away after we have given the product enough time to grow mold in our little frig. And that doesn't take long over here. Bacon (streaked rashers) HAS to be cooked the first day or that stuff goes bad. We have all but given up on bacon with eggs. Milk curdles quickly. Fresh vegetables are not fresh for long. There are crisps, biscuits, fairy cakes, bread pudding, Yorkshire puddings.......the list goes on and on. I am still not clear on what a cookie around this place is really called, As for us, we still call a cookie a cookie. Not a biscuit.
Mikie and I are in charge of the traditional Thanksgiving meal for the Senior missionaries. We are holding it tomorrow, Monday, November 20. That is our P-day and besides that, not one English man or woman cares a bit about Thanksgiving over here. It is our American holiday. Looking for a turkey has been a real trick. All the markets told us to come back at Christmas - that's when a proper turkey is perched on their shelves. So, we resorted to frozen turkey crowns (breast.) As for cranberry sauce - our friend, Sister Long will be making it. This will be the day when the Americans can eat all the fruit salad they want along with their regular meal. And, even better, pumpkin pie will be served without any English person turning up their nose. English eat their fruit for dessert. As a whole, pumpkin served in any form, is looked down upon. It will be a day of glorious feasting!
I will let my Mikie carry on now because I think I will go make a peanut butter sandwich.
All my Love,
Sister Seaman
Proper English Words:
gobsmacked - shocked, surprised
shirty - "He got a bit shirty". (cross, mad)
Naughty - We know what this means BUT some of our friends use it all the time in place of Rude.
vitamins - Not Really vitamins as we know them. It's vit, rhyming with hit, sit, mitt....a short vowel I.
Thai Food
We had one of our best meals the other night. We were invited to go eat at a Thai Restaurant in Lingfield. Lingfield is just up the road a couple of miles. Thai Food is apparently Thai Food wherever you are. Thank Heavens.
As you can tell, one of the biggest frustrations we have had in England has been the food. The beef is totally grass fed and tastes a little gamey. The bacon stinks rotten even fresh from the store. None of their food is salted, peppered or even seasoned. It is very blah. They eat pastry bread with everything and call it pie. Minced beef is hamburger. The best hamburgers are chicken because they don't get the beef right. It will be good to get an American hamburger again someday. The English eat some kind of potato with every meal. Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes, French fries are called crisps. Don't even try to get spicy food unless it is Thai food. I don't think they understand the concept of spicy.
You would think that we would be losing weight, but no, we eat everything in sight trying to get it to taste good.
They do have a couple of good food items we like. The cheese is real good. As are the custards, creams, double creams, ice cream, milk (it doesn't last long), and breads. The eggs are always real fresh and are sold un-refrigerated (it was a little spooky at first.) The strawberry jam is real good. We can buy Old El Paso Mexican food products over here (figure that one out.) They sell tomato sauce for salsa though. We love refried bean burros with cheese and cook them for lunch often. They make a little soufflé with spinach that we like, but it is a little on the airy side, but great for lunch.
If you ever read this, you may wonder why we are writing about food. We are writing stuff like this so that we will remember how it was here in England years from now. It has truly been an adventure.
For those of you who care, I am doing better at driving. I only had one incident this week where I turned right (instead of left) into on-coming traffic on a divided highway. I immediately drove the car upon the sidewalk, which was, miracle of miracles, wide enough for the go-cart we drive, and waited for the traffic to go by and then made a U-turn. We had two old ladies with us in the back, both of which, swear it was a miracle. They still even talk to me.
Anyway, Bon Apatite!
Sincerely,
Elder Seaman
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