Let's Talk about Food

If you are like me, you have heard of British food and thought, "oh, yeah, fish and chips, and blood pudding" but have not fully considered the fine hearty cuisine of England.  Above you can see an adorable minced pie.  This was the perfect sample size for a lovely pastry stuffed with raisins and spices... Honestly, not bad, but this little guy was small so the ratio of pastry to filling was perfect (lots of pastry).  Oh, and you can see the beautiful Christmas tree at Mary's house with her lovely garden in the background.

Supper (what most people from the US call Dinner)

I grew up on a farm and we called the last meal of the day "supper" as do the English. So, yeah, basically I am a proper lady.  But you probably guessed that already.  For our first supper we had a proper English chicken roast with parsnips, carrots, potatoes and PEAS.  Peas are a staple here, I honestly, thought that I hated peas, it turns out, I like them.  Who knew?  It was a delicious meal, served at a dinning room table with cloth napkins.  I'm used to getting a PBJ sammy over the sink so this was extremely high class!

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Another meal we had for supper was "Cottage Pie."  How can you get more English than that!!! It had minced meat (ground beef to you and I) potatoes and spices.  The perfect thing to eat after a full day out in the woods.

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Lunch (sometimes called dinner)

Yes, boys and girls, that is split pea soup with ham.  Never in my life would I think that I would like split pea soup until now. It was delicious!  Mary must be a miracle chef, because the only thing I ever associated split pea soup with was the movie the Exorcist.  So, my expectations were  pretty low, but wow! And it tasted mostly like my mom's good old ham and beans.  So, if you get the chance, try something you never have before, you just might like it.

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Fish and Chips
​in an English Pub

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! Look at the size of that fish!!! I couldn't stop laughing.  It is the size of my bloody head.  I thought it would be fish sticks (or fish fingers for those Dr. Who fans), but nope, it is just a big ol' fish.  The batter was great, and for a person who is not a fan of fish, it wasn't bad.  But notice the paper it's served on, it looks like a news paper... Very clever, these Brits... very clever indeed.

The English countryside is peppered with fabulous old pubs.  There is not a village that we traveled through that did not have a pub that had a fabulous name like the, White Horse, or the Fuzzy Duckling (ok that on is from Tangled, but still).  These photos are from The Crown located in Chiddingfold (about an hour south of London).  It is real Tudor... I mean like, REAL Tudor, as in made between the years 1485-1683.  This place looked like Snow White's cottage... Ok, yeah, that was set in Germany, and it was the Dwarf's house, but you get the picture.

If you are interested, here is a link to the location, if you are ever in the neighborhood. https://thecrownchiddingfold.com/

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PUDDING!!!!

Oh, one more thing... did you know that "pudding" in the UK means dessert?  Yeah, I didn't.  I was wondering why they had a whole  pudding menu at a restaurant... seriously, how many puddings can you have, chocolate, vanilla... then what?  Well, they mean any dessert... cake, pie, etc.
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