Re: Knife and fork usage
 

YES!!! they are very yummy! I have a bag in my freezer....lunch time I think:thumbup:

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Yes.

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Do you make them yourself or out of a bag like the Tarty one?

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:o

Just tried them for the first time last week and yeah, it was a bag. Next time Imma doin 'em myself though.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Are they crispy or mushy? Do you fry or bake?

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

:) He liked the feedback. Guys LOVE this fence. And you don't even know the details of it, which he wanted me to share. I told him to go get his own friends. :lol:
One nice thing he did was paint all the hardware copper colored for me.
I put up a couple more of the snaps.

eek, I hope not!
You can see my problem.. my window is the last one on the left there.. I must be able to figure out some way to monitor that door from here.

http://britishexpats.com/photopost/d...m/100_0457.JPG

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Oh YES.
mmmmm

Crispy outside, mushy inside. Perfect. Bake them.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Since most people have gone off original topic now, can I too please?
I know about sweet potatoes but can't get them. I know about waffles but can't get them.

What the hell are grits?

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

I baked them because I didn't feel like cleaning the fry daddy. And I baked them too long, so they were crispy. All the way through. But they were still good.:D

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Ironcially, grits are a lot like polenta.
In theory.

Very coarsely ground white corn, boiled into mush with butter. Just no actual taste, like lovely polenta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits

Pretty limited to the southern US; you don't see them on a restaurant menu here in the opposite corner, for example. But I have had them in Florida & other parts Down There.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Grits are sort of like Cream of Wheat.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

You don't "get" waffles, you make them. Surely you can get the stuff to make waffles? Not that I know what exactly goes into making waffles, but I don't think it's anything weird.

And I don't know WTF grits are. But they're good with lots of butter on them.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

If I wanted to actually make waffles, wouldn't I need some sort of waffle shaped griddle/grill pan ?

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The high sugar content can make them very mushy if you aren't careful when cooking them.

Practice makes perfect

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Polenta where I live is very yellow. There is a white version but it's not popular.
A soggy, mashed potato type does exist but where I live it's usually left to harden into blocks which are then cut into slices and then grilled on a charcoal fire or BBQ or griddle.

Whicever way it is cooked it tastes like nothing to me.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Depends, you can get waffles chips.

You'd be better of making sweet potato hash or sweet potato Home Fries!

I've been perfecting my home fries lately :thumbup:

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

We're having them tomorrow with pork chops and green beans, very good. I like to add a little balsamic vinegar before baking them

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Do you fry them or bake them?

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Don't think I can do any of the above because I've never found American sweet potatoes here.

A kind of cheapo supermarket once had a laughable so called American week here and they sold frozen waffles, maple syrup and bagels....oh ....and ready made popcorn. That was the total of American week.

When the same supermarket did a laughable British week they had cheap mustard, frozen bags of fish and chips and packets of real mature cheddar.
Word did spread on the Italian forum and every shop in the country sold out of cheddar in a day or two.

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Bake at 400 for around 30 mins.

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I don't make Chips/Fries/Wedges with them normally, But I would make a wedge out of them if I was going to use them.

Big wedges tossed in olive oil salt pepper and in the oven!

They are also great as mash, baked in the oven until mushy then placed in a bowl as far away from a marshmallow as possible.

Normally I only make baby food out of them though :)

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Yum! :thumbsup:

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You know, I REALLY want to meet you some day !!!

I have been traveling to Plano recently ... perhaps we could share a sausage together?! :)

:) You can have, and express, as many opinions as you like! I'm just suggesting that perhaps you may not want to make 'absolute' statements about what is right and wrong until you've had the benefit of living here for a while. If you feel that your absolute statement is based on experience of the US then so be it - you are going to be one of those annoying Brits here who judge everything based on their own limited view and I will just be very thankful that we are most unlikely to meet! Enjoy your life here, basking in the superiority of the British way :)

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Tarty one fries hers...nice n crispy, she has made them from fresh, she usually boils them for about 5 mins, then drains and fries them:p

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It's a well known fact that Leslie shudders at boiled veg!

Steam, dear, steam :p

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Love your house!! how about a webcam type camera thing at your front door?

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I shall take it under consideration;)

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This is why we don't close our blinds during the day - we'd be missing a spectacular view! And at night, it turns into 'city lights' . Only time we close the blinds are from about 3pm to 7pm, June through August, when the sun pours in and we have to draw them to keep cool. Even then, we put in vertical blinds so we could angle them and still see 'out' in one direction. I feel utterly claustrophobic now in any room with small windows, let alone blinds closed! First two pictures taken 10 minutes ago ...

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

RED ALERT!! New knife & fork thread spotted in the Canada forums! Hop to it, all you tines-down purists, defeat the savages!

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I'm getting confusd now about which nation stands accused of shovelling.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

I'm very sorry to say this, and please dont anyone throw anything at me...

Ive been in country 13 years and have 10 and 8 year olds...and..they rarely use their knives, even though they set the table that way..

And to make it worse, I rarely use mine...except when I'm around my mum:))

What I have done though, excluding the knife use, is to instill good table manners in them, just as I was raised. And for the most part they both follow dad's lead and dont eat like little piglets. This does entail me having to threaten them with putting a trough out on the floor if they want to act like little piglets...they havent taken me up on that offer yet.

I heartily agree with the comments about the lack of table manners in general over here...still bugs me.

Re: Knife and fork usage
 

Moving on from the knife and fork, but still related to eating out.

Why can't anyone order what is on the menu? "I want the beef sandwich please on rye please, but without the beef, make it chicken, and I don't want rye I want sourdough, and no mustard, but mayonnaise....."

We were out last night and the party of 7 next to us sent the waitress to the kitchen 3 times to see if they could do this that and the other. If you don't like the menu go somewhere else:banghead:

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If a restaurant is worth its salt it will do its best to accommodate any request, a simple no is all it takes if they can't do it.

My wife would never question a menu before meeting me and would always feel restricted because she's a vegetarian, but I will always ask the wait staff if they can modify something that sounds nice so she can eat it!

If they say no then that's fair enough, it never hurts to ask.

But I admit there are some times when wait staff get stupid requests, such as your example but also some people have very specific dietary requirements which are quite serious and warrant the running back and forth to the kitchen!

Just remember to tip appropriately!

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well its the nation of choice, or for some of us the tyranny of choice

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I presume you have all seen the incredible scene with Jack Nicholson ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8
absolute classic!

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I always got a kick out of this (although to be fair, if I was the waitress, not so much...)

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Heh I eat like a true champion Yorkshireman, etiquette goes out the window if someone puts food in front of me.

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How could we forget?

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Tonight I went to a great seafood restaurant in Lafayette, CA and ordered Fresh Maine Lobster ... it was truly outstanding, and I got to grapple with my meal big-time - lobster claw in one hand, cracking tool in the other. Fun and delicious! This was by far the best lobster I've ever ordered. I was wondering what the 'etiquette' was for this!

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And tonight, had Lamb chops ... picking up the chop at the end. There is nothing more delicious than gnawing at that last bit of lamb on the bone!