Royal wedding menu ideas???

[Conservative Hippie]

Think I'm just going to go with tea and scones....

Good idea - I'm just going to pick up some cinnamon chip scones from Starbucks and have a cup of Earl Grey.

 

[frijolefrito]

Do the brits do tea time? They all tell me they don't.

 

[nephthys43]

The real question is where do you buy clotted cream in the US? Amazon has a 6 oz jar for $13... does anyone know where you can buy it locally?

I lived in London for a few years, and I miss clotted cream!

the little specialty food shop in the public market. in the refrigerators towards the back, right past the cheese counter.

 

[walden]

English food is like all food when cooked properly is divine, when not can be tasteless and bland and even though we are nowhere near as large a country as America what we cook and how we cook changes from place to place. I am a Londoner born and raised and some of the dishes I eat my friends in Bristol just two hours away would never even have heard of.

Granted we have had the stereotype of having vile food but over the past ten years we have really changed that. Farmers markets, locally sourced food and really getting back to basics have really become the norm.

I see that you are based at Lakenheath (I spent a bit of time up there when I was a teen, had the pleasure of spending forth of July there it was amazing.). So I don't know if you're just being fed bad food but really please don't write off my whole country's cuisine most of it is fab.

Absolutely, although I'd say it was over the last 30 years that British cuisine really improved. I'd also say that the common US perception that English food is awful comes from stories from US soldiers in the UK eating rationed food during WW2. That was a long time ago -- and yes that food was dreadful.

If you go to the right places, English food is fantastic. Locally grown, delicious veg, and infinitely better than standard American. Yep, I can say that because I live in the US but visit the UK often.

WHOLE COUNTRY BAD!!!! Tried the farmers market, tried all that... POOP! I think we've eaten at every "english" place within an hour drive... poopie. Maybe you have some suggestions?

Are you at Lakenheath? Yep, I can probably direct you to a few places after I contact my brother in Cawston. He'll have some great suggestions because he is more of a foodie than I. That said, where the heck are you eating? The Kings Arms in Reepham (just a pub not even a gastro pub) has some fairly good food, better than I can get in my US neck of the wood -- and that is the low end. I can probably name a few more decent places in your area if you want.

I was going to suggest kedgeree but Walden's beaten me to it. It tastes better than it sounds, honest!

Yes, it doesn't sound nice but it is really yummy. I serve it for dinner usually. Not that interested in curry for breakfast!

Do the brits do tea time? They all tell me they don't.

Well, we used to -- but perhaps this has disappeared with the times. I have fond memories of 4:00 p.m. tea time with my grandparents 40 years ago. Very formal, and a forced opportunity to learn good manners We were young, with a SAHM, and they were retired.

Toasted crumpets with lots of butter. ::swoons:: Tea, bread and butter, small sandwiches (with suspect fillings including cucumber), petit fours, Battenburg cake, lemon sponge cake, walnut cake. And much polite conversation while learning to balance plates on our knees, sip tea politely, chew with our mouths closed, and defer to elders while speaking only when encouraged to do so.

Too funny! While I appreciate some of those skills today, I did not force them on my kids.

 

[frijolefrito]

Walden I will take any and all choices. I will try them too. I don't mind eating at pubs. I'm deployed now but yes home statino is lakenheath. We've been going through the phone book/internet/friends suggestions. So any help I would love!

 

[Lassie Lynne]

I have been looking around the local grocery stores in the import aisles and have not been able to find any at all. I might have to bite the bullet and order some through the internet and have it sent.

Found some!!!! Whole Foods had Double Devonshire cream (jar, 6.00) and Clotted Cream (jar, 10.00) in the specialty section, by the imported cheese....had to drive half an hour, but I got it now for the big day!!!!

 

[tigercat]

The cheese scones look really good but what temperature is 180 C to F? Is it 350, 375 or 400 F?
tigercat

 

[Harley Quinn]

We don't do Afternoon Tea so much any more, but if it's in your budget I'd suggest going to one of the higher end hotels The Ritz or the Savoy for example and have their afternoon tea, the cakes and pastries melt in your mouth.

 

[Scotgirl]

I was going to suggest kedgeree but Walden's beaten me to it. It tastes better than it sounds, honest!

A cooked Scottish breakfast (or fry up) differs a bit from the English version: we add black and / or white pudding, sliced sausage and a tattie scone, in addition to the usual eggs and bacon.

Or a good ol' bacon butty. Lovely.

Tattie scone - yum!!!