More on Sandwich Filings....

Last night I was talking to my friend Amy in Chicago about sandwich fillings over here. Amy is currently enrolled in culinary school and just happens to be finishing her sanitation course at the moment. She made the comment that she has learned a lot (more than she probably wanted to know) about food borne illnesses that arise when sandwiches - and their fixings (i.e. mayo, deli meat, etc.) are out in the open for too long. 

Our discussion prompted me to tell her she probably would never want to eat at a sandwich shop over here since so many of their sandwich "fillings" are mayo based. Personally, I do not like mayo. I eat it sparingly - in maybe some chicken salad or dips, and occasionally on a turkey tom sandwich at Jimmy John's. I would much rather have mustard instead. Something about the consistency and processed nature of mayo does not appeal to me. So, these "fillers" over here have little appeal to me since almost all of them are bound with mayonnaise and more mayonnaise.

This morning I went for a shop (as they say here) at my local Sainsbury's. I took this photo of the deli fillers section of the aisle to showcase another angle of this sandwich "filling" normality here. 

Choices of the "deli fillers" section include: Free Range Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich Filler, Deli Melt Tuna & Red Onion Filler, Deli-Fillers Seafood Cocktail, Prawn Mayonnaise Sandwich Filler, Tuna & Sweetcorn Sandwich Filler, Egg & Bacon Sandwich Filler, Cheese & Onion Sandwich Filler, Chicken Tikka Deli Filler, and more....

When I looked up Deli Fillers online, I saw that Sainsbury's is offering over 24 kinds of deli fillers on their website; Morrison's boasts over 20 varieties on their online site; and Waitrose has at least 10 varieties of fillers in their "essential" line alone. 

I suspect there is an ease of preparation for lunch sandwiches when using these fillers. No need to spend a lot of time fixing a sandwich - just slice open the baguette and dump in some deli filling.

This is one part of local living over here that will not become habit for me....I will stick to my club sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! 

Sandwich Fillings

One of the small things I miss over here is a good deli sandwich. Some may argue that they exist, however I seem to constantly encounter sandwich "fillings" as the more common lunch sandwich offering in our area of the UK. 

While I do miss a good reuben or turkey club sandwich, I have grown fond of a few of these sandwich "fillings." My favorite is the smoked salmon sandwich on brown bread. In fairness I used to eat smoked salmon on bagels with cream cheese (or lox on bagels) in the US, but I did not find it served as a lunch/deli sandwich as often back there. 

A sandwich with smoked salmon filling on brown bread, as served to me at a little cafe in Stratford. It was tasty! Note, rarely are sandwiches served with crisps (aka chips) in cafes. They always seem to include a side salad or garnish if you may - or more likely you will have a side order of chips (aka fries). 

The smoked salmon filling is usually widely available and has become my preferred choice lately. The other fillings do seem a bit strange compared to my old favorite of a Jimmy John's turkey tom sandwich. I finally took a photo of some of these "fillings" on a menu of an English eatery. And often the "fillings" are available either on sandwiches or on top of a jacket potato (a baked potato - they LOVE potatoes here). 
It also seems they LOVE mayo here. The Prawn Mayo filling is bizarre to me. I am sure if I grew up eating it, I would love it. Same with the cheese & beans. Furthermore, when I see Cheese & Beans on a menu, I would think - "melted cheese with beans...." - thinking along the lines of baked beans and velveeta type cheese. 

It is not. 

Often times when the "fillings" include cheese, it is shredded, and VERY rarely is it ever melted. In fact, it seems the English love cheese sandwiches. Just cheese and maybe some chutney. I enjoy a grilled cheese.....but a non-melted shredded cheese sandwich? I think I'll take a pass. 

Another note on the menu items above here - the bacon is of course what Americans know as ham. Not a deli ham, but more along the lines of a Canadian bacon type of ham. 

And not to miss - the "Tuna & Sweetcorn Mayo" filling is slightly cut off at the bottom of the photo. Very bizarre.

I am positive my stance on the sandwich fillings is purely a reflection of my preferences from where I was raised. I am sure that if Scott & I had both grown up eating beans on toast - or - cheese & beans on a baguette, we probably would find Ham & Swiss on rye a bit strange as well. 

The sandwich I do miss most is a good corned beef sandwich on rye.....but I will leave that topic for another blog post as corned beef has an entirely different meaning over here.....

Hotel Searching

In order to prevent us from developing a case of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) from the lack of sunshine here this winter in the UK, Scott & I will be heading to Morocco in a few weeks for a short holiday. We are looking forward to experiencing the vibrant city of Marrakech and are also looking forward to a few days of no winter coats, sunshine, and (hopefully) no rain! 

We decided to book a small Riad as our hotel for this upcoming trip. There are so many unique Riads in Marrakech from which to choose, and although we did not end up booking this particular one - Riad Zolah - www.riadzolah.com, I was very impressed with their unique offerings as part of their daily room rate: 

Our rates are quoted per room per night, and are inclusive of our full range of generous extras which most other riads either fail to provide, or for which they make additional charges. Your price includes:

·       Round Trip airport transfers. 
·       Breakfast. 
·       Free loan of local mobile phone (roaming rates in Morocco are very steep!). 
·       Mineral water on demand (help yourself from our guest fridge). 
·       Tea, Coffee, Fresh orange juice on demand. 
·       Complimentary Moroccan leather slippers for use in the riad and then to take home. 
·       Bose iPod docks in all rooms (and even the loan of our pre-loaded iPod!) 

·       Riad-wide WiFi Internet access, in addition to a dedicated PC for our guests' use. 
·       Local taxes.

This Hotel was the first one I have ever seen allow for a temporary mobile phone. Very cool touch I think!

We decided on another Riad since Riad Zolah was fully booked on one night we wanted to stay there. Instead, we are staying at this riad - another small Riad in the centre of town with just 6 rooms. I hope the stay will be as lovely as the photos look.....

X

X signs off....or X as a British signature seems to be a popular thing....what exactly does it mean??? I am a bit confused on the meaning behind it because I thought it was meant to be a signature for close friends....a "kiss" so to speak.....

It is somewhat common in the US to use the "xoxo" - meaning hugs & kisses - as an ending or a signature. However, the " X " seems to be the British version of that. I never see the "O" in there.

So, given that this X tends to be used when corresponding with close friends, imagine my surprise when I received an email from a work client/colleague/acquaintance and HE ended his email with 

X

There was no name, no "bye", no "regards", etc. 

I was surprised and still am a bit perplexed....

I am wondering if I have the meaning of this signature incorrect??? Would you use such a signature or ending in a business setting? 

Hide and see if I can find....

Ever since we were robbed over here in our last house, I am always a bit paranoid that we will be broken into again when we are away on vacation. "Touch wood" (as they say over here), we have not had a repeat incident or any problems in our new house, but I still worry when we prepare to go away. 

As a result, I have been hiding important things before we leave (i.e. jewellery, documents, etc.) so if we were to get robbed, it would be difficult for a robber to locate these valuable items. While hiding these items makes me feel better about the probability of a robber finding them inside our house, I am now faced with the problem that I cannot find these things myself! I have now (temporarily) lost a stack of Euro bills that I had hidden somewhere over the summer, and now since our recent trip to Italy, I have forgotten where I hid my nice jewellery..... I guess I will pray to St. Anthony tonight and then embark on another round of seek and hope I find in the house tomorrow....

Cuisine d'Italia

The food we ate while in Italy was fantastic and is worthy of its own post. We ate pizza, gelato and pasta at least once a day, if not more. Our trip was a carbohydrate-lover's heaven! I have noted some restaurant names in this post because they are worth seeking out if you are headed to these parts of Italy.....Hope you are reading this post on a full stomach, otherwise, it might make you hungry.

Pizza. After a few days of the straight margarita version, we tried the prosciutto and pineapple version. YUM.

I was worried about finding a good restaurant for Christmas dinner, without going overboard on cost. We lucked out with our choice - http://www.lalocandadelpellegrino.it/en/cuisine/ - Lalocanda del Pellegrino was delicious and very reasonable. The anti pasta assortment included perfect fried zucchini sticks and their bolognese sauce melted in my mouth. The pasta was light, hand rolled and near perfect with the sauce. It was a great find, especially for a holiday meal. 

Spaghetti carbonara, a simple green salad (insalata mista), and pasta with a simple tomato sauce. We returned to http://www.lafraschettadimastrogiorgio.com/ - La Fraschetta Di Mastro Giorgio after having been there last April, when we stayed in the Aventine neighborhood. 

The restaurant has a meat bar, with a meat tender (as we have coined it) who slices and dishes out the aged prosciutto, chorizo, jambon italiano, and fine cheeses. The house wine was great there too. 

Another restaurant we stumbled upon near our home base was IL CHIANTI near the Trevi Fountain. This place was so good, reasonable, and close to our flat, that we went twice for dinner. It both a wine bar and a restaurant, with over 200 kinds of Chianti alone from which to choose for vino. Ironically, the house wine here was not recommended but our waiter was good about recommending a nice Chianti wine to enjoy with our meal. http://www.vineriailchianti.com/

The front of the restaurant was nicely lit for the holidays. There is a courtyard in front which would be lovely in warmer weather.

Inside, the restaurant is filled with tables and mismatched chairs. The walls are lined with wine bottles.

Cacio e Pepe. The pasta dish Scott fell in love with during our last Italian holiday. It is a simple (in this case, homemade) rolled pasta with pepper and cheese. Simple goodness.

Il Chianti featured a tasty rosemary and salt wood-fire cooked flat bread as part of their pre-dinner breads on the table. I could have made a meal out of the bread by itself. 

Carrie and Mom enjoy their meal at IL CHIANTI too. 

While the meals were filling, we settled our stomachs with dessert or just a daily afternoon snack of gelato. Our favorite find was the most "famous" gelato shop in Rome, located just steps from our apartment - San Crispino. Their chocolate gelato was intense and well worth a visit!

As we headed further south in Italy towards the Almalfi coast, the cuisine did become more influenced by the coastal area, namely with the larger selection of seafood on the menus. 

I enjoyed this fried fish assortment one day for the lunch. It was lightly fried and simple. 

Scott found himself ordering the seafood salad at almost every restaurant in southern Italy. He really enjoyed it for lunch AND for dinner, a few days in a row!

More home made pasta....

Pizza in southern Italy - it was more delicious than the pizza we had in Rome. All ingredients are just so fresh, and the tomato sauce is so good....

And to end on a sweet note, a photo of the bakery case at a lovely little bakery in Sorrento. I am not sure of the name of this place, but it warranted multiple visits while we were there. There are these apricot/butter type cookies that are sold in many cafes and bakeries throughout Italy and they were a hit with my family. My mom stocked up on them at this bakery and I can still taste them....mmmm...

Chock-a-block

I had never heard this phrase, "chock-a-block" until we moved over to the UK and every once in a while it creeps up on me.....as it did today.

The first time I heard it, I received an email from a Brit with whom Scott & I were trying to schedule a couple's dinner. The email read:

Hi guys,
OK we are back in one piece and Chocka Block we are at Ascot this weekend so cant make it Friday. Can we set a date for when you return from France?

I remember reading the email and I thought there were words missing or words mis-spelled in here.....I showed it to Scott and he thought it looked like foreign writing as well. So, we googled "Chocka Block" and found the meaning:  (according to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Chockablock)

chock-a-block or chock·a·block  (chk-blk)

adj.

1. Squeezed together; jammed: The cheering fans were chock-a-block in the stands.

2. Completely filled; stuffed: "I recommend the north shore chowder, chockablock with pieces of seasonal fish" (Charles Monaghan).

3. Nautical Drawn so close as to have the blocks touching. Used of a ship's hoisting tackle.

adv.

Chock: a hall that was chock-a-block full.

Chock-A-Block is a phrase used in English language to emphasise an excessive amount of something in one place.

Through more online reading (wikipedia this time), I also discovered this past bit about the phrase in the UK life:

Chock-A-Block was a BBC children's television programme, first shown in 1981 and repeated through to 1989 and shown as part of the children's programme cycle See-Saw (the "new" name for the cycle originally known as Watch with Mother). "Chock-A-Block" was an extremely large yellow computer, modelled to resemble a mainframe of the time; it filled the entire studio and provided the entire backdrop for the show. The presenter of the show supposedly played the part of a technician maintaining the computer; there were two presenters, Fred Harris ("Chock-A-Bloke") and Carol Leader ("Chock-A-Girl"), but only one appeared in each episode. At the start of the show, they would drive around the studio towards the machine in a small yellow electric car(with the catchphrase "Chock-A-Bloke (or Girl), checking in!").

Today the phrase crept up on me again during multiple traffic reports. After hearing the word mentioned during the 20 traffic updates during my TWO AND A HALF HOUR drive to work this morning, in the blizzard conditions, I can attest that the reports were correct. My traffic was too, chockablock the entire route to work! Or, as it is said in the US, it was gridlock the entire way....

Just another word for you to add to your vocabulary if it's not there already....

Winter Wonderland

We are living in a snowy winter wonderland in our part of the UK right now....a few scenes from this morning: 

It is very picturesque here right with the snow so new and white but BRRR....it's COLD outside! The news reports say this cold bout has been the worst the country has seen in decades.....so glad to be a participant in such history (not quite!). And this country does not handle their snow very well. Our rubbish bins (aka trash cans) are still on our street waiting to be removed. Many other services, schools, trains/planes, businesses and more were just cancelled today. If such behavior would occur in Chicago, we would never have to work or be able to get anything done in the winter months! 

Christmas in Rome

We spent Christmas in Rome with my family. It was a magical city in which to spend the week. 

We have arrived! Scott and I arrive to greet my parents at the flat in Rome. 

Christmas Eve in St. Peter's Square:

Watching the procession from the TVs placed around the square.

Lots of spectators were gathered in the square area to watch the mass on TVs in the area.

More of the Mass on TV.

The Christmas Tree in the middle of the square area.

Scott, Carrie & Dad on Christmas Eve. My mom was really tired from jet-lag, so I stayed back at the flat with her to keep her company.

On Christmas Day, the weather was lovely and we spent the day wandering around Rome and enjoying the outdoor sights.

Dad & Mom walking along the streets of Rome.

Scott, Carrie, Dad, & Mom at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. 

The fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. Even on Christmas Day, there were still people gathering there! 

The Piazza Naovona 

There was a large Christmas market in the Piazza Navona. Many stalls were selling these strange witch like dolls....

The Italian treats of large sugared donuts were sold at the market. I actually did not try one....(they looked a bit stale up close).

Santa made his way to Rome! As seen here in the Piazza Navona with his sleigh.

Carrie, Cassie & Scott in the middle of the market. 

Carrie & Scott enjoying Christmas Day lunch al fresco - in the middle of DECEMBER! Can't beat that weather! 

A full family shot of all of us on Christmas Day - a bit of a windy afternoon as we strolled through the city, walking along the river here.

Scott & Dad walking back home through the festive streets of Rome after Christmas Dinner.

We brought Christmas crackers from the UK to open and enjoy while in Italy. We all wore our crowns and played with the trinkets inside!

Scott wearing his crown and finding his beef jerky treat in his Christmas stocking. 

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2010! We have just returned from a fabulous Christmas family vacation in Italy so I will be posting photos and a recap soon....

As we start a new year today, we are thankful our health, family, and everything we experienced in 2009. We hope for another healthy, happy and prosperous year for everyone we love in 2010!

Last night, we enjoyed a new year's eve dinner in Italy with my family....at the airport hotel! While it was not the most exciting italian meal we had while on vacation, it was nice to be together as a family. We had a wonderful week together exploring Rome and the Almalfi Coast before everyone flew back to their part of the world this morning. 

Sisters Carrie & Cassie

Scott with his in-laws at our New Year's Eve dinner. Of course, as it has happened in the past when Scott is with my parents, he was asked again on this vacation if he were the son....One of our guides in Rome thought Scott was the son and I was the daughter-in-law! 

Snow Envy

While many of our friends up and down the east coast in the US are being blanketed with snow, we experienced a VERY small snowfall yesterday. The past few days have seen a few minutes here and there of snow in our part of the UK. The area south of London got 5 inches of snow on Friday and caused chaos in their area. The snow, coupled with the Eurostar's shut down over the weekend with 5 trains and hundreds of passengers getting stuck in the chunnel for over 12 hours, has caused complete mayhem for many holiday travelers in the UK.

In comparison, we feel fortunate to only have seen a dusting of snow in our area....

While I do NOT miss any part of the traffic or travel mayhem that comes with a big snow storm (especially about this time of the year), I do have to say I have had a bit of snow envy as I have watched photos pop up of friends and their children frolicking in the snow back in the US. Sometimes there is nothing better than being forced to spend a day at home, with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, and watch the snow pile up around you....

Now, ask me about this feeling once we are back in Chicago and are knee-deep again in snow, trying to dig our cars out from underneath the white stuff ---- and I will probably retract any sentiment about wishing I were in a more snowy place right now....

Tis the season for baking...

I spent time this week baking up a holiday sugar high....

Per Scott's request, I made four large trays of cookies for him to bring into his office mates as a holiday sweet treat for all to share. Then, for each of his staff members and other colleagues from his department, I made "goodie bags" filled with bread, hot fudge sauce, and more holiday sweets. I made similar bags of goodies last year for his work colleagues and apparently they were a hit, as Scott's boss asked him a few weeks ago if his "Mrs" would be making the delicious holiday treats again this year? At least I am glad to know people enjoy the goodies! 

It does seem that holiday baking is not as big of a tradition here as it is in the US. In the US I used to receive many homemade goodies from friends and co-workers. Here, however, it seems the holiday card and maybe some liquor is more appropriate. Scott has been coming home with cards from all of his co-workers on a daily basis which have been addressed to both of us, wishing us a Happy Christmas. Additionally, our neighbors have actually walked over cards, rung the doorbell, and hand delivered these Christmas cards to us. In the US, most people would typically just mail their cards. I am not sure if this is a common UK tradition, but it seems more prevalent to us this year, now that we know more local people. 

The chocolate mint cookies as they were cooling with the mint/chocolate frosting.

Snickerdoodle cookies coming straight out of the oven. 

Orange almond poppyseed bread with its orange glaze. 

Two trays of fudge, peanut butter kiss cookies, and toffee bar cookies ready for Scott to take into his office. Funny enough, the peanut butter kiss cookies were the last cookies to be eaten! Must be a cultural difference since they are a favorite American cookie! 

Jars of Hot Fudge sauce ready for goodie bags.

Holiday cookies/sweets for the holiday bags.

The poppyseed bread wrapped up and ready to be put in the holiday bags. 

Snap Happy Holiday Decor

As our Christmas gift to one another this year, Scott & I decided to invest in a nice camera this year. So this weekend we purchased our new digital SLR camera and spent most of Sunday reading the user manual and testing the camera out by taking photos of everything and anything around our house. I thought the Christmas decor photos might be the only ones worth sharing on here! Hope your home is decorated for the season as well! 

A few of our new Czech Santa nesting dolls lined up on our windowsill that we purchased last weekend while in Prague. 

Our stockings are hung by our chimney with care. 

Not quite more Christmas decor, but more projects I have been working on lately...Christmas bibs for some little ones. I like these two designs the most. 

Virtual Holidays

Being far away from our family has gotten much easier with modern technology, most importantly with FREE technology, namely Skype. Yesterday while both sides of our family were gathered in different cities, we were able to "see" them all via computer.

Skype is great and we use it often with our parents. Yesterday on Thanksgiving we were able to skype with Scott's Grandmother too and we gave her a virtual tour of our house. My parents were with our dear family friends so we skyped with all of them as they were preparing their dinner. It's always nice to see someone in person, but skype has really made us feel a lot closer to our families while being far away. 

My Mom & Dad, Ray & Claire and Amy, all in the US, skyping with us in the UK. What amazing technology!

We are Thankful

Even though we are not close to our family and dear friends this Thanksgiving, we are still very thankful for many things. Our health, our family members' health, dear friends, food to eat, shelter, and many more blessings....but we are VERY thankful to be Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving regardless of location!  I know I've probably posted something along these lines before, but having this experience over here has been wonderful in SO many ways and we are grateful for the time here, but overall it makes us very thankful to be Americans and all of the opportunities that come with that privilege. 

It felt very strange to work today and to have things moving along as business as usual....and knowing that everyone back home was spending the morning either in their pj's watching TV with family members or was up early to get the turkey and fixings ready for company!  

The only turkey I made this season was the one below - a fabric one - attached to a bib for a friend's little girl. We will be celebrating a late Thanksgiving with their family this weekend so I thought she needed a festive bib for the meal! 

This afternoon a British lady asked me what the difference between the Thanksgiving holiday and 4th of July holiday is for Americans? An interesting question I thought since both celebrate American freedoms and beginnings in various ways. I responded with a bit about Independence Day marking the declaration of independence and Thanksgiving celebrating the country's first settler's bountiful harvest. However, when I got home tonight, I did a bit of research (since she peaked my interest in this subject) and I probably should have known more about Thanksgiving as a national holiday but I have to admit I did not pay as close of attention in history class as I should have....

In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving should be a national observance. To some degree, this was a way to brighten the spirits of the American people, who were dealing with a great deal of difficulty and deprivation.

It was a nice bit to learn (again) today and it is one holiday that does remind us about all of the blessings in our life! Happy Thanksgiving to all near and far!!