Friday Five - My favorite "English" foods

I have taken a few trips to England to visit my charming English man and I have come to find some foods over there that I can't do without during my visits. They may not necessarily be "English" but I found them in England so to me, they are.

1. Curly Wurlys

I bring home several 5 packs every time I go. I found a bar hidden in my sock drawer today which prompted this theme and I can't wait to enjoy it this weekend!

2. Galaxy Ripple

OMG! I mean OMG! I wanted to try Flake Chocolate and Vernon said that I needed to try a Galaxy Ripple to get the "full experience" of having flake chocolate for the first time. OMG! I brought a bunch of these home too.

3. Black Pepper and Sea Salt Chips-Crisps 

I have to say that the chip selection is not what I'm used to. One year I picked up what I thought was a family size bag and when I got back to the apartment and opened it up IT WAS FULL OF A BUNCH OF LITTLE BAGS! HUH?!?! No wonder we're the fattest country in the world. Anyway... the selection has improved over the years, I can now find American pretzels! Woo Hoo! Anyway, while I was there one year I thought the black pepper and sea salt chips sounded good. I don't know if they were available here in the US, my city in Upper Michigan or simply in my store. Maybe they always have been and I never noticed. Well, I noticed them in England so they are "English" to me. When I am there, those are my snack of choice.

4. Jacobs Jam and Cream Biscuits (Cookies) 

I normally don't buy cookies at home, but these are amazing and I also bring several packages home with me. I've looked for something like this here at home and I have had no luck. I'm sure we have something like them but maybe it's best I don't find anything. That's all I need is cookies in my kitchen.

5. Potatoes

OK, I know what you are thinking... "Potatoes? Um don't you live in the United States? Home of the Idaho Potato?" Yes, and they are yummy! But, what is missing from this picture? Think. Look at it closely... DIRT! Yes! The potatoes in the grocery store where Vernon shops sells potatoes in these plastic bags and they are clean. I love this!! I really dislike scrubbing vegetables, especially potatoes. I buy a bag of potatoes and there is dirt everywhere because there are holes in the bag. If my grocery store sold clean potatoes I would buy them.

OK, so 4 out of 5 is junk food, but believe it or not I always lose weight when I go to England and I think I eat more. I don't get it but it happens. I have my theories but that is for another day and another post.

21 DAYS!

This photo was taken during my last trip to England, December 2009. It seems like several years ago. Well, in 21 days Vernon will have his arms around me in Bristol airport and I can't wait. I'm sad that I have to leave the kid behind but she'll be studying for finals. Tonight I got a new camera, nothing fancy, and it was on sale. I have my flip camera for taking videos which I really love, and I've been picking up things like chocolate and Lucky Charms for the kids per their request. I plan on stocking up on Curly Wurlys as  they are mine and Heidi's favorite candy bar! But... I've been eating healthier for the past 2 months, down 25 pounds and I don't know if I'm smaller than I was when this photo was taken. I have all the same clothes but they are so worn and old it's hard to tell. I have a goal to lose 10 more before the trip but we'll see how that goes. I'm not worried about sticking to my new eating habits while I'm there. Europeans eat differently than Americans. We Americans are pigs and eat way too much. I love the smaller portions in the restaurants and even at the grocery store, the family sizes aren't really that big. I'll have to remind Vernon to fill the ice cube trays as I will be drinking lots of water and I like it COLD! COLD! COLD! Lukewarm water makes me gag. Yuk. Two weeks with Vernon isn't enough. It's overwhelming when I get there, then we get into a mode where it just feels so right when we are together. We can sit quietly in the car, in the living room, at the table, I fall asleep on him when we are watching movies, we are each other's missing half. I'll be turning 40 while I'm there. I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday, especially such a special one. I'm going shopping for clothes with a very good friend so that will be exciting. We've gone shopping together before, and we had a blast. Leaving is horrible. Just thinking about it makes me cry. We feel it creeping up on us when there are 3 days left, then 2, then 1, then we're saying goodbye at security and I have to sit all by myself waiting to board the plane. I cry a lot on that day. It doesn't get easier. I've done this several times and it just doesn't get easier. It's almost easier not going at all, but that's just flipping crazy. I want us to do lots of relaxing, lots of talking, cooking, and I want to watch movies. I did recently whine to him about wanting to visit a castle so he sent me several choices and I'll be picking out where I want to go. I still have to pick up some dramamine so I don't have a repeat performance of the time Heidi and I had our faces in the barf bags as we were roughly coming in for a landing in North Carolina. That was terrible! It's going to be a long 21 days.

Smirnoff Green Apple Bite and New Slippers From Holland

I have recently spent two days in lower Michigan. Frankenmuth to be exact. I drove all the way down to the Grand Rapids area to pick up my friend Kim who is visiting the States from Europe.  If you read my last post, my truck is ok. I think it was misdiagnosed by the first mechanic who only looked at it a little because of paying jobs that were coming in that day. I took it to another one who didn't really have time for me either but they squeezed me in and said I had nothing wrong.  I do need a new muffler though. It completely went during my drive down. Anyway, before leaving for our destination, Kim and I had dinner with her boyfriend and his grandparents.  What sweet people, and what a nice dinner consisting of the best hot dogs I've ever had.  The break was nice considering I had been in the truck for the last 8 hours.  I did make a couple of stops to take pictures. The reason for this is that when I go on a trip, I take Vernon with me. I think of him while I'm driving, I see places that I would normally stop at if he were with me, and try to keep my eyes open for places to go with him and the kids in the future. I appreciate more of what Upper Michigan has to offer and its beauty because I try to see it the way Vernon would. It would have been nice if he were with me, but that would take the entire purpose out of our girls getaway. 

Meeting Kim was weird at first. I've only seen photos, chatted, sent/received letters and gifts and talked on the phone.  She was in 3D! Once we began talking, it was like meeting up with an old friend. We had an hour drive ahead of us. We never ran out of things to talk about. We got to the hotel and were greeted by a tall young guy standing in front of the counter. He was smiling at us. We thought it a bit odd and started giggling. He went around behind the counter and proceeded to check us in, gave us the low down on schedules, amenities and stuff and we went to our room.  I freshened up, and the second I came out Kim was pulling gifts out of her bag. She's so cute when it comes to presents. She can't wait! I got the most awesome slippers! They are shaped like wooden shoes.  They are soft and comfy too.  She also brought over a ton of Dutch chocolate. I can't wait for Heidi and I to give it a try.

Everything was wrapped in that cute white and blue Dutch paper with the little windmills that she likes to use.  We were both dying for a drink so we went down to the bar and had trouble deciding on what to have.  The bartender suggested Smirnoff Green Apple Bite.  Holy crap is that stuff awesome! We both had two and that was enough.






We were tired from a long day, me especially, so we went through a stack of coupons I brought for shopping tomorrow and we talked till about 1am and then finally went to sleep.  Tomorrow is going to be a blast!