There seem to be several topics on the go here so I will
try to add to all of them, which include the following
Holding position of knives and forks
Iced tea versus English hot tea
BBQs
Beans on toast
Pancakes with other food
The Brits will hold their fork with prongs pointing down and there are no circumstances in which you should turn the fork the other way up (if you are strictly sticking to the rules). All food should be pierced with the fork in that position and not shovelled. You can get away with shovelling peas, but technically peas and other similar small items should be squashed onto the back of the fork using the knife with the prongs still pointing downwards. If you are going to use the fork like a shovel, this should really be done by disposing of the knife and using the fork in the right hand (but still not really correct). If a meal does not need cutting up at all, it is acceptable to use a fork only (in the right hand) throughout the meal and use the fork whichever way up is easiest for each piece of food.
The big iced tea debate! The Brits are only just getting into this iced tea thing, but still most Brits dont really get it. There is a scientific reason why hot tea (usually with milk) is better for you in hot weather than a cold iced drink, which goes as follows
If you are hot and sweaty on the outside and have a cold drink inside you, your body is then struggling to equalise temperatures. If you are hot on the outside and hot on the inside then your body doesnt have to work so hard and you are still getting the vital liquid need to replace liquid lost through sweating. Hope that makes sense!
But I say to h*** with that and still go for a nice cold coke with loads of ice on a hot day because it seems so much better!
BBQs. Our family have a big BBQ party every year. The term BBQ refers to either a type of meal or the gadget used to cook the meal. BBQed meat is meat cooked on a BBQ, but you can technically put anything on a BBQ grill including fish, chicken, steak, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes (maybe wrapped in foil) etc.
Beans on toast is a popular snack or small meal in the UK. The beans will be the type of beans you get in a tin which have tomato sauce with them, the most popular brand being made by Heinz (other brands are available of course). I think these beans are similar to the type I always envisage being eaten by cowboys in those old American westerns around a camp fire.
What are typical American pancakes like? I am beginning to wonder whether they are made with sugar in them and sweet already? British pancakes are made neutral so you can make them into a savoury meal or sweet by adding either a savoury or sweet topping. I do not like the idea of having a sweet pancake with a savoury meal like sausages and bacon etc (especially if you add syrup to it, YUK!!).
2BoysMum&Dad