Pumpkin

Oops, just realised that anyone not from Australia might be confused by my last post. In the UK, pumpkin is not really considered to be food... not even sure why they sell it! It's considered to be only fit for cows. Very strange, when it considered to be delicious in Australia, eg. pumpkin and ricotta lasagne, pumpkin scones, pumpkin pie (as made by acclaimed chef Rosie O'Connor). One of the best things to do is just brush chopped pumpkin with honey and olive oil and roast it until all soft and squidgy and caramelised around the edges.

Organic Box Scheme

There are major worries in Europe about pesticides/additives in food and also about genetic modification. As a result of this, supermarkets carry huge organic ranges. Problem is, even with organic food, the contents of the average supermarket trolley have made the equivalent of 8 trips around the globe, they have come from so far afield. Seems hard to believe, until you start adding up that the prawns are from Thailand, the pumpkin is from South Africa etc. This of course contributes enormously to global pollution. Solution: order a weekly organic box packed by local farmers. Seasonal produce only and delivered to your door... will see how it goes!

Three for Two

Books are cheap over here. Most current popular titles in softback can be bought in high street bookstores with three for two offers: you get the cheapest book free. The other day I got Notes on a Scandal, The Good Doctor and Brick Lane on one of these deals! Happy reading!

Old Operating Theatre Museum

One of London's weirdest museums must be the Old Operating Theatre. It is entirely original and is in the attic roof of a church. They had to pack the rafters with straw to stop the blood dripping down on the congregation. Tiered seats line the central podium for a good view. Don't miss it, if you've ever in London!

Chicken Nuggets

A fast food chain here has just announced it is going to make chicken nuggets out of chicken meat. What were they made out of before, you may well ask? Chicken skin, ground up to look like meat. There is a huge organic movement in the UK... I've realised it's because nothing is as it seems. Tonight I tried to fry some bacon and so much water came out of it, I had bacon soup. Manufacturers add water to everything, to plump it up. Mince meat is often half soy filler, if you look carefully at the labels. It really is as if England never got over food rationing and needs to stretch everything just that bit further.

Bathroom Carpet

It's usual in England to have carpet in the bathroom and toilet. English men must have a very good aim! It's not ordinary carpet, either, I have discovered, but special "bathroom carpet" which can get wet. Nice in the winter, but the complete opposite of my icy concrete terrazzo bathroom floor in Australia, which was the best place to lie on a hot day.

Giddy London 

Sniffing the Streets

By the bins, down the road, in the park, I swore I could smell skunk. I've only smelt it once before, driving in the countryside in the States. Are there skunks in London? It's an unmistakeable smell, or so I thought... dank and green. Then I realised... foxes! They're taking over the city, eating rubbish, staking out the parks. The other day, for reasons of my own, I climbed a fence in a railway carpark to look into a backyard, and there, fast asleep under a tree, curled up like a cat on a nest of crushed grass, was a perfect fairytale fox.

Baked Beans

It's hard to imagine anything could be more bland than Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce Vegetarian Style, as available in Australia. Yet lurking in the green "English Style" tin in Sainsbury's, you can find an even more insipid option. Pale orange, few in number and floating in a clear, glutinous syrup, Baked Beans English style are ladled on to baked potatoes for countless English school lunches. The Australian ones don't seem to exist here. Sigh.