Different words for the same things depending on which country you're in.
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The dough is a little sweet... And the outsides have a crust (sort of brioche like, not squishy like a hot dog bun)0 -
Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
In Australia, the host or cook plates the food in the kitchen, putting some of everything onto each plate, and then placing each plate onto the table in front of whoever is seated at the table.
I found this difficult to deal with because I grew up in a family where we ate everything on our plates, especially since we took those things from the bowls in the middle of the table. If we took it, we must have wanted it, so we're supposed to eat it.
With that in mind, I felt like I had to eat everything I was served here in Australia. And yet, often, there were things on the plate I wasn't fond of or there might be just too much. But I made a valiant effort!
At home, my husband serves the food, and the quantities he'd serve up grew and grew and grew over the years. He'd tell me it was OK to leave some, but in my head you don't do that. So I was eating until I couldn't cram more in because that's how much he'd give me.
It was a great relief to join MFP and to start weighing my food. Finally I could eat an amount that didn't leave me feeling uncomfortably full!
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Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
In Australia, the host or cook plates the food in the kitchen, putting some of everything onto each plate, and then placing each plate onto the table in front of whoever is seated at the table.
I found this difficult to deal with because I grew up in a family where we ate everything on our plates, especially since we took those things from the bowls in the middle of the table. If we took it, we must have wanted it, so we're supposed to eat it.
With that in mind, I felt like I had to eat everything I was served here in Australia. And yet, often, there were things on the plate I wasn't fond of or there might be just too much. But I made a valiant effort!
At home, my husband serves the food, and the quantities he'd serve up grew and grew and grew over the years. He'd tell me it was OK to leave some, but in my head you don't do that. So I was eating until I couldn't cram more in because that's how much he'd give me.
It was a great relief to join MFP and to start weighing my food. Finally I could eat an amount that didn't leave me feeling uncomfortably full!
I don't think that's an Australian thing. When we have people for dinner I do it like you most of the time - serve yourself style. Most of the meals we have at friends are similar - if you aren't serving yourself, youre often asked how much you'd like...
Ocassionally, if I'm being fancy, I'll make individual serve things, or meals that include ingredients tgat all go together - at those times, you'd get what I gave you.0 -
Pancake = Flapjack
But I'm familiar with two types of pancakes, and I'm also finding two different dictionary definitions for flapjack. The second definition doesn't match either of the pancakes I know, so is a completely different item.0 -
Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
I'm in Canada and I've never see it done this way. Usually all of the bowls/plates of food are on a separate table, or usually the kitchen counter. Everyone makes their plate there and then takes it to the table, like at a buffet restaurant. Wouldn't having all of the bowls of food on the table make the table overcrowded and awkward?
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crabbybrianna wrote: »Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
I'm in Canada and I've never see it done this way. Usually all of the bowls/plates of food are on a separate table, or usually the kitchen counter. Everyone makes their plate there and then takes it to the table, like at a buffet restaurant. Wouldn't having all of the bowls of food on the table make the table overcrowded and awkward?
As the world becomes a smaller place, I interact with people of varying origins and backgrounds. I've seen it done many different ways.
In England I saw everything on the table and the host carved the meat and put it on each plate, even if you helped yourself to the other things.
Otherwise, both methods above are familiar to me. I've also seen where there are too many for sitting at a table and you help yourself from there and everyone goes back and sits somewhere else away from the table. Or everyone sits anywhere while all the food is brought in dishes and you help yourself from each one.
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Pancake = Flapjack
But I'm familiar with two types of pancakes, and I'm also finding two different dictionary definitions for flapjack. The second definition doesn't match either of the pancakes I know, so is a completely different item.
Flapjacks in the UK are like little sweet oat bars,kind of like a Granola bar.
In Australia we have pancakes, which are thicker, or thin crepes, but also pikelets which are mini pancakes. Maccas sells "hotcakes".1 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Poutine ... incidentally, not pronounced quite as 'brightly' as it looks. Even I don't get it right and I'm Canadian, but it is something more like 'poot-an', I think.
Fish and Chips
I'm definitely from the south, because I was expecting white gravy. The kind you'd put on chicken fried steak. Which has no chicken and isn't even fried like chicken, it's fried like steak, dipped in milk and eggs and flour and served with white gravy. I'm not sure if I think that poutine looks good or not, but I would try it
I'm watching an American cooking/food program - they've just made chicken fried steak with white "gravy". The way they made the gravy was how I'd make what we call Bechamel Sauce...
That's basically what it is, often with lumps of sausage in it. It's not good!0 -
Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Poutine ... incidentally, not pronounced quite as 'brightly' as it looks. Even I don't get it right and I'm Canadian, but it is something more like 'poot-an', I think.
Fish and Chips
I'm definitely from the south, because I was expecting white gravy. The kind you'd put on chicken fried steak. Which has no chicken and isn't even fried like chicken, it's fried like steak, dipped in milk and eggs and flour and served with white gravy. I'm not sure if I think that poutine looks good or not, but I would try it
I'm watching an American cooking/food program - they've just made chicken fried steak with white "gravy". The way they made the gravy was how I'd make what we call Bechamel Sauce...
That's basically what it is, often with lumps of sausage in it. It's not good!
Sausage as in tubes of meat in a skin, or like broken up hamburger patties (as in "sausage and egg mcmuffin")?
... Sounds gross!0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Poutine ... incidentally, not pronounced quite as 'brightly' as it looks. Even I don't get it right and I'm Canadian, but it is something more like 'poot-an', I think.
Fish and Chips
I'm definitely from the south, because I was expecting white gravy. The kind you'd put on chicken fried steak. Which has no chicken and isn't even fried like chicken, it's fried like steak, dipped in milk and eggs and flour and served with white gravy. I'm not sure if I think that poutine looks good or not, but I would try it
I'm watching an American cooking/food program - they've just made chicken fried steak with white "gravy". The way they made the gravy was how I'd make what we call Bechamel Sauce...
I have had brown gravy, but it has always been called brown gravy. If it is just gravy then it is always white. Sometimes white gravy is called country gravy. Chicken fried steak with gravy is the best meal I make and it is good. I rarely make it though (even before counting calories). It is very messy and I hate frying stuff.
If I ever go somewhere that has Bechamel sauce I now know I will like it. This really has been a fun and interesting thread.1 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Poutine ... incidentally, not pronounced quite as 'brightly' as it looks. Even I don't get it right and I'm Canadian, but it is something more like 'poot-an', I think.
Fish and Chips
I'm definitely from the south, because I was expecting white gravy. The kind you'd put on chicken fried steak. Which has no chicken and isn't even fried like chicken, it's fried like steak, dipped in milk and eggs and flour and served with white gravy. I'm not sure if I think that poutine looks good or not, but I would try it
I'm watching an American cooking/food program - they've just made chicken fried steak with white "gravy". The way they made the gravy was how I'd make what we call Bechamel Sauce...
This is my understanding of bechamel sauce: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/white-sauce-or-bechamel-sauce-40046
This is chicken (white) gravy: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fried-chicken-with-gravy-51176000 (use the milk).
This is a more standard (Thanksgiving oriented) gravy: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/gravy-51122830
I think of both the white and brown gravies as just gravy, my mother made both, the white with chicken. To differentiate if context didn't make it obvious the white would be chicken gravy. (This is in the US but not the south.)
I never liked gravy as a kid and only bother with it at feast-type dinners now or at a rare brunch featuring biscuits and gravy, so don't have strong feelings about one type vs. the other.
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Poutine ... incidentally, not pronounced quite as 'brightly' as it looks. Even I don't get it right and I'm Canadian, but it is something more like 'poot-an', I think.
Fish and Chips
I'm definitely from the south, because I was expecting white gravy. The kind you'd put on chicken fried steak. Which has no chicken and isn't even fried like chicken, it's fried like steak, dipped in milk and eggs and flour and served with white gravy. I'm not sure if I think that poutine looks good or not, but I would try it
I'm watching an American cooking/food program - they've just made chicken fried steak with white "gravy". The way they made the gravy was how I'd make what we call Bechamel Sauce...
That's basically what it is, often with lumps of sausage in it. It's not good!
Sausage as in tubes of meat in a skin, or like broken up hamburger patties (as in "sausage and egg mcmuffin")?
... Sounds gross!
Yeah, like little lumps of sausage meat. I think it's one of those things you have to grow up with to appreciate!
To be fair I'm Scottish and love 'stovies' (boiled ground beef and potatoes) but I have never met a non-scot who could eat them!0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
In Australia, the host or cook plates the food in the kitchen, putting some of everything onto each plate, and then placing each plate onto the table in front of whoever is seated at the table.
I found this difficult to deal with because I grew up in a family where we ate everything on our plates, especially since we took those things from the bowls in the middle of the table. If we took it, we must have wanted it, so we're supposed to eat it.
With that in mind, I felt like I had to eat everything I was served here in Australia. And yet, often, there were things on the plate I wasn't fond of or there might be just too much. But I made a valiant effort!
At home, my husband serves the food, and the quantities he'd serve up grew and grew and grew over the years. He'd tell me it was OK to leave some, but in my head you don't do that. So I was eating until I couldn't cram more in because that's how much he'd give me.
It was a great relief to join MFP and to start weighing my food. Finally I could eat an amount that didn't leave me feeling uncomfortably full!
I don't think that's an Australian thing. When we have people for dinner I do it like you most of the time - serve yourself style. Most of the meals we have at friends are similar - if you aren't serving yourself, youre often asked how much you'd like...
Ocassionally, if I'm being fancy, I'll make individual serve things, or meals that include ingredients tgat all go together - at those times, you'd get what I gave you.
Yeah, serve yourself from bowls at the table = family style. Easy alternative is buffet style, where people scoop up what they want from bowls on the counter and then sit (I have a small-ish table and open kitchen-dining-living, so when I have lots of people over that's the easiest). Prepared plates is generally restaurant style or more formal. I tend not to do that often (although I always do it for myself -- family style encourages second helpings or taking too much, for me, so even if it is family style I get my planned servings and that's it).
Anyway, all of them happen depending on circumstances -- I don't see one as the American way or Canadian way or the like.1 -
Pancake = Flapjack
But I'm familiar with two types of pancakes, and I'm also finding two different dictionary definitions for flapjack. The second definition doesn't match either of the pancakes I know, so is a completely different item.
My only reference for flapjack is also slang term (I think of it as US western) for pancake. My dad uses it that way. (I understand there's another meaning, but I've yet to run into it off the internet.)0 -
Other regions /vs "Southern" USA
Turn off lights/Cut off lights
Ask her /Ax her (just pronounced like that)
California = You Guys (males or females)
Texas = Y'all
So, Do you;
Turn off lights
Cut off""
??
We "flip" the switch- but "flipping off" the light would mean using an obscene hand gesture lol
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
The dough is a little sweet... And the outsides have a crust (sort of brioche like, not squishy like a hot dog bun)
Yep, sweet buns... so good!
(Especially if you get them as "cream buns" instead, with raspberry jam and whipped cream (real or fake) inside. Sometimes with the icing on top as well...! )
Flapjacks - my idea of a flapjack is what someone else mentioned above, a sort of thick and chewy oatcake. That's a snack, not a breakfast food, to me.
Pancakes are called pancakes here as far as I know, I haven't seen them called flapjacks. They are way thicker and fluffier than what I knew as pancakes in the UK, which are more like crepes anywhere else. My mum always made them for Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) with lemon juice and lots of sugar, and we very rarely had them any other time of year. We all looked forward to Pancake Day!
Canadian pancakes are closer to what I knew as "Scotch pancakes" or "drop scones", although those were always very small in the UK. (About 3" or so in diameter - I think I've seen those referred to as "dollar pancakes" over here.) Sometimes I'd make myself a small batch of batter and about ten drop scones, eating them pretty much out of the pan with a smear of butter as soon as they were cool enough!
One local restaurant we went to for breakfast some time ago served pancakes that were as big as the pan they were cooked in - filled the entire plate (about 10" across), and there were three of them. Even my son couldn't finish them all, and I'm glad I didn't order any!0 -
In this recipe for Nanaimo bars (foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/recipe/the-ultimate-nanaimo-bar/16810/), is "vanilla custard powder" the same as what I as a USAian would call "vanilla pudding mix", or something different?
P.S. This recipe looks pretty easy to me, but that may be because I'm an old person accustomed to a world where cooking/baking from scratch was something regular people did regularly.
That doesn't sound too complicated, maybe just a little time-consuming. (Although I've made things that are way more work in the past, but I try to avoid convoluted recipes now!) And I can buy Bird's Custard Powder here, too, don't even need to go to an import store for it.
I wonder how many calories those are... *heads for recipe builder*
EDIT: Okay, having just thrown that into the builder and not worried too much about how accurate the ingredients it picked were... 12 portions comes out to around 444 calories each. If you made 16 smaller bars, they'd be 333 calories each. It's high, but might be worth it for a special occasion treat!
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That's a bucket...Carlos_421 wrote: »To get us back on track...
"Broiling" is something I was thinking about last night. It wasn't a word I was familiar with before emigrating, and due to the similarity with the word "boiling" I figured it meant the same thing. Good job I looked it up before I tried doing that with a recipe! Turns out that broiling is what I'd call grilling.
To me (a Brit), "grilling" is what you do under the grill of your oven, i.e. the top heating element, which is a broiler on this side of the Pond. Grilling to North Americans seems to refer almost exclusively to cooking on an outdoor grill (something they do even when it's below freezing in Canada!), which is what I'd refer to as "barbecuing".
To add to the confusion, a "grilled cheese sandwich" is not cooked under the grill/broiler (like a toasted cheese sandwich, which I used to make often in the UK), but is instead spread with butter on the outsides and cooked in a frying pan.
Which, by the way, is called a "skillet".
Argh!
Barbecue is a particular type of food. Slow cooked meat (either grilled (as in on a grill) or smoked) coated with (or dipped in) barbecue sauce. To barbecue is to prepare such food. Barbecuing can be a type of grilling but isn't always. Likewise, not all grilling is barbecuing (I.e. Burgers are not barbecue and thus they are grilled, not barbecued).
A barbecue can also be a gathering/party centered around preparing and eating barbecue. The same type of gathering which involves grilling non-barbecue food (burgers and hotdogs) is called grilling out.
I take BBQ very seriously.
And I use frying pan and skillet interchangeably.
Never used skillet for a frying pan. A paint skillet is the tin with paint and a wire handle to carry it.KeithWhiteJr wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »KeithWhiteJr wrote: »
Eh...a fish fry is an event (most popular during Lent). I wouldn't see a plate with fried fish and fries and call it a fish fry. I'd call it fish and fries or fish n' chips (even though I certainly don't call fries chips).
A fish Fry isn't usually an event here. Its usually a meal. It's battered and fried fish served with coleslaw and french fries, and sometimes a roll.
EDIT: Here is what Wikipedia says about it...
"In the United States, the dish is most commonly sold as "fish and chips", except in Upstate New York and Wisconsin and other parts of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, where this dish would be called a fish fry."
Upstate New York and Wisconsin are basically Canada junior so that explains it.KeithWhiteJr wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »KeithWhiteJr wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »KeithWhiteJr wrote: »KeithWhiteJr wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »I don't know what poutine is, but every time i see that word i think of a bum, or butt/fanny depending where you're from
Chips, with cheese curds and a gravy on top. It's a Canadian dish...we had some piping hot and fresh, so good (but bad at the same time) . Ive seen some poor replications in aus using cheddar cheese.
Chips as in French Fries for those in the US/Canada lol
In the US, chips come in a bag and are flavored with BBQ, Salt and Vinegar or Cheddar and Sour Cream. What is a "Fish n Chip Shop"? I assume that's a restaurant that specializes in making a fish fry that is sitting on top of french fries?
Long John Silvers bro.
A slew of casual American restaurants have Fish 'n Chips on the menu these days too.
No Long John Silvers here lol.
Captain D's??
Thought you lived in the Great Lakes region?
Never heard of Captain D's either lol.
I'm in the Great Lakes region. I live in Buffalo.
Aha. Yup. Canada.2 -
The Mille Feuille is, I think, what I've always called a "Napoleon" (and they're normally labeled that way at the bakery).
The long iced sweet rolls look like something I'd call a "Long John", though Long Johns are not particularly crusty. They're a filled sweet roll, though - custard, pudding (in the US sense), very sweet fruit filling, or whipped cream, typically. I've seen bacon ones (yes, sweet/frosted)!
That white gravy was typically called "white sauce" when I was growing up, but would convert to gravy if it had meat in it ("sausage gravy") or enough broth/drippings to flavor it noticeably ("chicken gravy"). "Milk gravy" is another possible term, but I think that may be more Southern from here (Michigan). I learned the "béchamel" terminology later. I think here the difference is mainly a plain-folks culture (white sauce, gravy) vs. a lace-curtain or more upscale culture (béchamel). IMO, the parts of the US where chicken-fried steak or sausage gravy is at home would not be very likely to use the French term. (This is not a cultural dig - I believe those parts of the country have a stronger Scots/Irish heritage, and you might be more likely to find the French terms around NOLA, among other locations).
Even as a vegetarian who'd no longer indulge, I'd say you shouldn't discount sausage gravy as an eating experience until you've tried a good one (some of the restaurant ones are too light on the sausage). Often served on (buttermilk or baking-powder) biscuits (in the US sense of biscuits, of course).
Flap jacks, pancakes, griddle cakes, hot cakes (and probably some other terms I'm forgetting) are overlapping terms for same/similar things.
I'm also aware of the frying pan (my term) or skillet being called a "spider" by some, though that's unusual to me.
I serve/eat meals all the ways described in my own or people's homes. Dishes on the dining table is more common among a family eating together without guests, or a single-table event dinner (like Christmas) if there's room. Buffet style seems most common with larger groups, or if there are multiple dining table (like a kids' table). Plated service is less usual in people's home, though I've done it or seen it done - very "dinner party", mostly.0 -
I just saw this comment on another thread. "I am gonna root for you!: Translated this would mean "I'm going to have sex for you" lol
It reminded of a film i wanted to see at the movies when i was a kid, my mum would not let me see it, because the word "rooting" was in the captions. I'm pretty sure it was used in the American way, but she automatically assumed it was a film all about sex
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I also had to google what Kosher means.. I see this on here and on a lot of American cooking shows, particularly Kosher salt, and i'm still not 100% clear what it means.0
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The Mille Feuille is, I think, what I've always called a "Napoleon" (and they're normally labeled that way at the bakery).
The long iced sweet rolls look like something I'd call a "Long John", though Long Johns are not particularly crusty. They're a filled sweet roll, though - custard, pudding (in the US sense), very sweet fruit filling, or whipped cream, typically. I've seen bacon ones (yes, sweet/frosted)!
Timmy's does Long Johns here... they're very similar to my iced buns, although to me they don't taste quite the same, but I don't often see them with any kind of filling.I serve/eat meals all the ways described in my own or people's homes. Dishes on the dining table is more common among a family eating together without guests, or a single-table event dinner (like Christmas) if there's room. Buffet style seems most common with larger groups, or if there are multiple dining table (like a kids' table). Plated service is less usual in people's home, though I've done it or seen it done - very "dinner party", mostly.
When I've visited my cousin's homes (in Canada) for events like Thanksgiving, they always serve the food buffet style in the kitchen and everyone helps themselves before sitting at the table, or wherever they find a spot, to eat. But they do have large gatherings, and they also both have big kitchens with plenty of counter space to allow for that!
I don't entertain and have a small kitchen, so whenever I serve a meal I dish it up (probably another British term!) in the kitchen and everyone collects their filled plates. My son usually eats supper at his computer anyway, unless we're having a larger meal where there might be extras on the table, so it makes more sense for me to put the food on the plate in advance. When we have something like tacos or fajitas then I'll set out bowls of fillings and toppings on the dining table and everyone can help themselves.
My parents would do the same thing, dish up the food in the kitchen and then take the plates to the table, where there might be a jug of gravy for us to help ourselves to. The only exceptions would be when we had a salad, and the bowls of different meats and veggies would be set out for everyone to take what they wanted.
Talking of kitchens - the style of houses here is very different to what we were used to. In particular the "great room" concept was very odd at first! We both grew up in houses where the kitchen, dining room and living room/family room were all separate, and the idea of having all three in one big space was strange. Some homes that I've visited have pretty much all of the ground floor (or is that "first floor"...? ) as one big open-plan area with just a small washroom/toilet (called a "half bath") as a separate room.
Basements were another novelty... in the UK you might find a cellar in a very old house and they were usually cold and damp! A basement as an area to actually live in was another strange idea, and on our pre-emigration visit we spent a lot of time visiting show homes and exploring the whole thing, basement included! The amount of times that we had to explain to other viewers that basements were new to us... we were getting some very odd looks when people saw us coming out from looking around, because no one else was bothering to go down there!
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Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Kosher means.. I see this on here and on a lot of American cooking shows, particularly Kosher salt, and i'm still not 100% clear what it means.
All I know about it is that "Kosher" is a term for food prepared in a way that suits Jewish religious requirements, but "kosher salt" isn't necessarily the same thing. I read that it's just a kind of salt with larger grains that don't dissolve as easily, so it's often used for recipes where you want the salt to be kind of decorative. I could be mistaken though!0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Kosher means.. I see this on here and on a lot of American cooking shows, particularly Kosher salt, and i'm still not 100% clear what it means.
All I know about it is that "Kosher" is a term for food prepared in a way that suits Jewish religious requirements, but "kosher salt" isn't necessarily the same thing. I read that it's just a kind of salt with larger grains that don't dissolve as easily, so it's often used for recipes where you want the salt to be kind of decorative. I could be mistaken though!
Yeah, i knew it had something to do with Jewish people, but i couldn't work out how salt would be prepared in this way..0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »I also had to google what Kosher means.. I see this on here and on a lot of American cooking shows, particularly Kosher salt, and i'm still not 100% clear what it means.
Kosher means that someone who follows Jewish dietary laws can eat it. Kosher salt just is a particular kind of salt with larger grains that is better for cooking (IMO) than finer table salt. (I never buy the latter which annoyed my parents when they visited, since they could not understand why I didn't put salt on the table and only had the cooking salt.)
As for why the salt is called "kosher," here's a good explanation: http://www.thekitchn.com/kosher-salt-where-it-comes-from-why-its-called-kosher-ingredient-intelligence-2196651 -
In Hawaii when you are "shooting the breeze" or talking to someone its called "talk story".0
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"SueSueDio wrote: »
(some interesting bits snipped from quote, for length)
Talking of kitchens - the style of houses here is very different to what we were used to. In particular the "great room" concept was very odd at first! We both grew up in houses where the kitchen, dining room and living room/family room were all separate, and the idea of having all three in one big space was strange. Some homes that I've visited have pretty much all of the ground floor (or is that "first floor"...? ) as one big open-plan area with just a small washroom/toilet (called a "half bath") as a separate room.
This is a somewhat recent trend here in the US, as I perceive it, too. Speaking very loosely, I see a gradual progression from the separate living room, dining room, and kitchen of my youth, to a trend to add a breakfast area or family eating area in the kitchen (in addition to the separate formal dining room); to creating a "family room" that was sort of a casual family living area separate from the formal living room; to siting the family room & family eating area contiguous to (and at least partially open to) the kitchen and calling it a "great room". Some houses with a "great room" retain a separate family room or den because people want the TV or other louder activities separated from quieter ones.
The half bath often co-exists with a "master bath" that opens only to the master bedroom and often a full bath that opens onto a hallway and serves the other bedrooms. The half bath is something you can keep all uncluttered and tidy for guests, I think.
Seemingly, aspirational houses seem to just keep biggifying. I'd rather keep things smaller and easier to care for, cheaper to heat/cool, etc.Basements were another novelty... in the UK you might find a cellar in a very old house and they were usually cold and damp! A basement as an area to actually live in was another strange idea, and on our pre-emigration visit we spent a lot of time visiting show homes and exploring the whole thing, basement included! The amount of times that we had to explain to other viewers that basements were new to us... we were getting some very odd looks when people saw us coming out from looking around, because no one else was bothering to go down there!
Keep in mind that the UK housing stock's average age is probably much older than the US/Canada's. Our grandparents, in geographic areas that had basements, probably had either unfinished basements used for storage (coal, canned goods, produce, etc.) or for servants' quarters, depending on location & station. The widespread finished basement/living area thing also seems somewhat newer.
(edited to fix errors)0 -
crabbybrianna wrote: »Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
I'm in Canada and I've never see it done this way. Usually all of the bowls/plates of food are on a separate table, or usually the kitchen counter. Everyone makes their plate there and then takes it to the table, like at a buffet restaurant. Wouldn't having all of the bowls of food on the table make the table overcrowded and awkward?
We've done both ways, depends on how many people and how big the table is.0 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »crabbybrianna wrote: »Something else ... something I've had to get used to when I moved to Australia ...
In Canada, when food is served, we put bowls on the table. A bowl of steamed veggies. A bowl of potatoes. A plate of meat. Or whatever is for dinner. Everyone sits down at the table and picks up the bowl closest to them, helps themselves to however much they want, and passes the bowl in the agreed upon direction. There's often discussion about which direction we're going. So there's a flurry of passing bowls and plates of food, and then the host asks if everyone has had a bit of everything. And we eat.
I'm in Canada and I've never see it done this way. Usually all of the bowls/plates of food are on a separate table, or usually the kitchen counter. Everyone makes their plate there and then takes it to the table, like at a buffet restaurant. Wouldn't having all of the bowls of food on the table make the table overcrowded and awkward?
We've done both ways, depends on how many people and how big the table is.
Yeah, just thinking about it now I remember a Christmas dinner at a relative's house when I was a kid, and all the food was on the table we were eating at, but they had a pretty large table.0
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