Monday 25 November 2013

America - we are so OVAH!

Well, not quite,  But I’m seriously having to re-think my imminent Americanificiation.  You see, I had an email from my American godmother, saying that they have mashed potato with their Thanksgiving meal.  MASHED POTATO!  When any civilised nation would know that the roast potato far exceeds the mashed with a turkey (or any joint of roasted meat).  This is the 2nd culinary faux-pas I’ve discovered about the USA – after the plastic cheese selection that so appalled me on my honeymoon (including – and the sensitive should look away now – aerosol cheese).
 
Amy: would you like to defend your nation here please? ;-)  I have to say I’m intrigued by the sweet potato and marshmallow thing.  It sounds vile but everyone I know who’s tried it, loves it.  Seren – next time you’re in London we should find somewhere that does it and go and try it.  I was dubious about blueberry coffee and pumpkin spice coffee in New England but both were amazing.  I didn’t have a decent cup of coffee in my whole time in California but New England knows a thing or two about coffee.  Actually I’d happily live in New England.  Although I’d have to persuade them of the merits of roast potatoes obviously.
 
Also I’m prepared to throw gingerbread M&Ms in for consideration too - delicious and emphatically not available in Blighty.  Not sure if it’s lucky or not that a colleague has just gone to the US and I’ve told him not to bother coming back without a private stash for me.
 
We had a pootling weekend.  It’s nice to have one every now and again but the weather was sunny and crisp and I would have liked to be off hiking.  But P was still a bit delicate so we pootled.  Sneakily hitting him when he was weak and vulnerable, I got agreement for an electric blanket in the tinhut.  I bought and installed it before he could recover his health and judgement.  Bliss. 
 
This week looks like degenerating with speed from Thanksgiving (did I mention the Apple Pie Martini?) into the weekend.  We have my mum and her pack of mutts up to celebrate her birthday and although this means a walk a day, it’s a bit shorter than P and I would do.  And then we’re looking at fish and chips, a pastry from the nearby excellent bakery for one breakfast, Raclette for a supper , a three course birthday lunch at our excellent local pub and another supper of cake and Asti.  Spread over three days I hasten to add. 
 
So today I am looking sadly at a mini Babybel, an apple and 3 clementines which, together with my “skinny” soup tonight, make up my day’s food intake.  Grits teeth and ignores rumbles of stomach…

6 comments:

Seren said...

You are most definitely on - this sweet potato / marshmallow combo just has to be done. In the meantime, I join my voice to yours to express my displeasure at our esteemed American cousins opting for mash over roasties. And I say that as someone who adores mashed potato with a quite unholy passion - with a roast dinner it has to be roast potatoes, and if you want a mashed / crushed texture then do so with swede.

Having said that, I could definitely get on board with the idea of gingerbread M&Ms......

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Sx

Lesley said...

I really should not be reading today on my fast day. This amount of drool on the station platform is unseemly to say the least!!

You sound much more chirpy thsn of late so I hope both diet and life are treating you well. Lesley xx

amy said...

Please don't judge us!!!! ;o) We roast all kinds of potatoes over here, but with turkey -- it's mashed potatoes. My mother makes the absolute best -- tons of butter and half and half, and just lumpy enough to have some texture. We have another thing here called an open faced turkey sandwich. It is roasted turkey served on cheap white bread, a side of stuffing, and mashed potatoes, covered with gravy. We also do it with roast beef, but without the stuffing. This is known as diner food.

Re the sweet potatoes, I had to find a recipe. You cook canned sweet potatoes with 3/4 of the syrup and some brown sugar. You then put it in a pan and cover with marshmallows and bake it. I think it is disgusting, but people love it!

Do you know about our canned cranberry sauce, Peridot? You need to look it up! You will never come here again. It basically is sweetened cranberry jello ("jelly"). There are no pieces of cranberry in it. You open the can and slide it out onto a plate. It maintains the shape of the can, ridges and everything. You slice it and serve. I don't like this either. It is like an aspic.

What else? Baked ham with pineapple and maraschino cherries poked all over it! I like ham, but not served like that. Oh yes, another staple is green bean casserole. You mix green beans, preferably canned, with canned cream of mushroom soup, top it with canned onion rings and bake! Pumpkin pie, pecan pie (delish), pumpkin bread with pumpkin butter, Parker House rolls, and pumpkin cheesecake!

People start to come over at 1 and you start with appetizers. You watch American football, eat around 3 or 4, watch more football and then do it all over again around 7.

For my next post, I'll tell you what we do with the leftovers!!!

Enjoy your dinner!!!

oxoxoxo

amy said...

I forgot the most important thing -- the turkey shaped butter!!!!!!!

amy said...

Please update! I want to hear about the Thanksgiving dinner! You have and open invitation to come to my house for Tday dinner every year!

amy said...

ps we had no leftovers. the greedy buggers ate everything!