To be honest, both my husband and I really have always loved to cook. Don't get me wrong, we also very much loved going out to eat for date nights too. We usually work as a team, he will do the main cooking and I will be the sous chef or vice versa. He had some really good British meals, and yes, contrary to the opinion about there is not any good British meals - I beg to differ. It really is in the name of their dishes. Once I had an explanation of what I was eating, then I knew that it would be edible or not. Yorkshire Pudding, just the name is not appealing, however, it is scrumptious. It has nothing to do with pudding. It is like a pastry cup that is filled with delicious steak and gravy.
Shepard's Pie, sometimes made with lamb and the way that I like it, with ground beef topped with mashed potatoes and cheese melted on top.
Another good one. Welsh rarebit? Spotted Dick? Heinz, even though American, could not sell his baked beans here, but made them famous in the UK. They really are nothing like American baked beans. Probably why they did not sell here. Sort of like someone put in way too much ketchup or tomato sauce. Let's not even get into the Steak and Kidney Pies or Black Pudding. I can tell you that when my British husband saw a new store going in called, "The Pie Folks," he was thrilled. I tried to tell him they would not have steak and kidney pies or any kind of meat pies. They would be chocolate or cherry or pecan. The disappointment on his face was priceless. Reminded me of how I felt when some kid told me about Santa Claus.
Welsh Rarebit (grilled cheese with Worcestershire Sauce)
I cook more of the things that my Mamaw taught me such as Fried Chicken, Cheese Grits, Turnip Greens, Chess Pie, etc.
One of our sons said that we should open a restaurant and call it The Brit and The Belle. Not a bad idea if that is what we felt our calling was. Alas, we enjoy cooking for ourselves and family and friends, definitely not late into the night and weekends.
Then we got a good idea to change our lifestyle of eating and go the low-carb route. This was all well and good. There are loads of things out in restaurants that we can get or have modified to meet our tastes.
And BOOM! The pandemic hit. As we all were told, we needed to stay home as much as possible except for essential things such as groceries and prescriptions. No large gatherings. Restaurants closed but soon were allowed to have curbside service for take outs or deliveries. After watching a pizza delivery at a neighbor's house take place with the delivery guy sneezing into his hand and then picking up the box of pizza to take up to the house and hand to the unsuspecting neighbor, we both nixed the idea of delivery or take out. We now are in the phase of dining out, better if it is outside.
The image of the pizza delivery guy in my head did not make me crave to go out to eat anywhere.
This is how it all started for the two of us. Both of us joined up with googling low carb recipes. Lots are out there. Once we got the hang of it, we were even able to substitute things such as white flour or whole wheat flour for almond or coconut flour. So many choices to make. And since we really had no particular place to go, except later in the evening watching Netflix, or Amazon Prime or Disney, we had all the time in the world.
There are a few things we learned along the way. Have fun with this. Get some creative aprons to wear, as it can get quite messy. Keep staples in the pantry and fridge and have a good set of pots and pans and cooking utensils. When planning some recipes, it is essential to write your grocery list out, or as we do, tell Alexa to add it to the shopping list. Then, remember if it is something fresh, you have it and use it before it goes bad.
As you begin each recipe, it is so much easier if you have all of the ingredients measured and available to use right away.
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