Tracym

Tomatoes grow great in the US - I've had a garden many times.

Lots of nice varieties - Beefsteak and Better Boy were two of my favs. And cherry tomatoes too.

Tracym

For your viewing pleasure

I was actually expecting a bit of ground stuff in a little plastic container... instead I got that - warm and dripping...

Keith had go to ask the food safety vet/slaughterhouse inspector what on earth I was meant to do with the stuff

britvic

I would not of been able to touch it I like such thing's in little packets

MsElui

i seem to have gone passed the phase of missing stuff - as i just automatically buy the regualt stuff in the supermarket and dont dwell on what wasnt there a fraction of the time i used to when i first arrived.

I managed to get some suet from the supermarket butchers - and it came in a large one pound solid lump. i cut off a chunk and shredded it for that particular recipe and then froze the remainder (in smaller lumps) for future use. However i did stick in two boxes of atora light into my case when i last visited too!

chicagojlo

I think the range of 'english' or at least similiar foods here is amazing compared with what I had to contend with living in Amsterdam for 8 years.
Like MsElui I just learnt to find a replacement or just make/eat something else altogether. After eating over-aged Gouda for that long cheddar doesn't taste as good as you remember. You can't really get white bread there so that was gone. And there was always the British shops if you got desperate!

I thought I was in heaven when I came here. First of all the Easter candy was out so there were mini eggs and creme eggs everywhere you looked! I can now buy stuffing, gravy, cake mixes, steak etc. The only thing I really miss now is things like low-fat coleslaw or potato salad, or odd flavors of crisps.

Songbird

thanx for the responses ... gonna check out a few of the places named. Don't think I can really stretch to growing toms (lazy cow that I am! ) but i will check out those Wal mart brands

As for the suet..... UGH GROSS! Actually seeing that has kinda put me off suet full stop!

I have checked out some of the online stuff but heck its SOOOOO expensive!

One of the MANY things to compensate for the 'loss' of some of my faves has been those DELICIOUS ( highly fattening) cream cheese topped dairy buns from Wal mart - OMG they are ADDICTIVE!

I know one things for sure when i go visit the UK i will be bringing back a CASE LOAD of some of my faves (non spoilable of course!) Birds custard, oxo's. paxo stuffing, scratchings, and yes prolly even some atora

SagenOnion

Someone call

You can get all of this stuff here in the US. After a while tastes change a bit but somethings are always necessary like good cheese, salad cream and, yes, stuffing.

Look around, you'll find it.

NC Penguin

Do you have any independent bakeries near you? Search for them in the phone directory or on the internet. Some may bake breads that taste more British/European than store bought bread. You may find suitable substitutes at a healthfood store too.
American bacon is just that. Irish or European stores may sell British style bacon or there's mail order shopping.

Now we're in spring, your local farmers market is a good source for locally grown produce, including tomatoes. Failing that, buy tomatoes that are grown in your region.

Where have you looked? Again, a healthfood store or gourmet/specialist food shop will have a better selection (although it may be pricey). For the latter, try Trader Joe's.

Answer as above for tomatoes.

Whole Foods Market apparently makes a passable British sausage. I think it's called an Irish sausage or something. I've never tried one but Brits in my area say they're good.

<<snip>>

Do you have Krogers in your area? I find Kroger sells American lamb which is closer in taste to Welsh lamb than say Oz and NZ lamb. I have Harris Teeters in my area and they also sell American lamb.
<<snip>>

You have to face the facts that you're in a different country so the food is likely to be different. Within a year, you're bound to have found some American foods that you love.

Bob

trader joes or whole foods if you have them for the cheese and the sausages in WF ain't to bad, same with the bread for both places.

Tomatoes, the local TJ gets them along with the eggs from the next town over and they are lovely, other wise they taste rubbish....same with most fruit and veg tbh, if it's local it tends to be good, if it's from walmart etc and comes from CA or FL, tends to be rubbish by the time it's in your stores unless you live near those states.

JEM3110

Thanks for the tips, Tracy! If I decide to make a Christmas Pudding I'll be needing some suet Black pudding, I can take or leave but it's nice to know I can get some a short drive away, if I get the craving

The sad thing with me is, if I see something "British" in the grocery store,I get so excited and will just buy it for the sake of buying it. Even if I didn't particularly like whatever it was back in the UK.....

JAMZ

Okay, lets here the mildly disgusting story!

JAMZ

Or the fact that it cost three times the price!! I totally agree, I go to Cost Plus and end up buying all this stuff and then feel totally stupid!

Tracym

Campari tomatoes are not a Wal-Mart brand - they're a variety of tomatoes. Lots of places in my town carry them. So if you don't find them at Walmart, they might be elsewhere.

Tracym

Well the picture somewhat tells the story .

In a small town, I was looking for suet - so the locals told me to contact this butcher in the next town. Which I did - but he said he packed suet in 60 lb boxes and sent it to restaurants. So I said... well couldn't you save me a bit before you pack it up? He finally agreed, and said I was to appear there at 2 pm on thursday.

Hmmm. Well I'm not used to having to make a date with the butcher, but what the heck.

So I arrive thursday at 2, looking for a store with windows and counters and stuff. No joy. After prowling around, I do find the door - open it and walk in. There are NOT counters, there is a big room with a bunch of bloody men with bloody great knives hacking away at something.

Okaaaaay. So they hack off bloody great chunk (see photo), put it in a plastic bag, and hand it over. Nice an waaaaarm and squishying around in there.

Now I know WHY they said to come thursday at two.

Grinning locals who sent me over asked "Did you get to see them shoot it?"

Thankfully not.

But after picking it apart, it's great suet (lovely white lumps I can grind up, no icky dripping red stuff).

Woodstock butcher sells it nicely ground up in a tub btw - you won't have a repeat of this experience.

JAMZ

I think if that was me I would have turned around and run when I saw the bloody guys with the bloody knives! I live in California and haven't had any luck finding suet. I would ask the butcher, but I think he thinks I'm crazy cause the last time I asked him if he could get me lambs kidneys. Ended up getting 5lbs worth! I do miss my steak & kidney pies.