Thursday, November 17, 2011

Eating my way through England, OPEN MINDS winner and An English Goodie Bag Giveaway

 If you ever visit England you MUST have a Cream Tea...It's a lovely fresh scone, strawberry jam, butter, and clotted cream.  It is by far one of the most special treats one can have.  Of course you would have it with a lovely cup of tea in a quaint tea room.
 No trip to England is complete without visiting a historic pub for a meal and a drink. 

 My very handsome almost 91 year old Grandad, never fails to take me to a wonderfully historic pub.
 I was doing some WWII research while I was there (more to come in another post).  This is a weeks worth of rations for one person during and for several years after the war.
 Every time you stop for afternoon tea you get a lovely sweet like this.

 Or like this flapjack.
 But as you can see, what I had was another scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream.


 And a lovely cup of tea.
 When I was a little girl you got fish and chips wrapped up in newsprint.  Times have changed.  They now come in these very nice boxes.
 It was unseasonably warm while I was in England, so once we got out fish and chips we walked to the boardwalk and sat on benches and ate our dinner by the sea.  It was fantastic!
 The food was a bit fancier in London.  I can't remember who had bangers and mash, but it was quite pretty.  Someone started eating before I got to their plate, so no picture of that one.  
 This was to be my dinner.  A Smoked Salmon sandwich, salad and chips.  To my surprise, the smoked salmon was RAW!  I pulled out all the slimy salmon and ate the cheese and bread with my salad and chips.
 We went to Buckingham Palace.  It was awesome!  You'll be so jealous when I tell you who's wedding dress I got to see.  After our tour, we went into the garden to have a little something and a cup of tea.  I had a piece of this very special type of cake.  It is the Digestive Biscuit Chocolate Cake that was served at Kate and Williams wedding.  (They had two cakes.)  It was DIVINE!
 The last night we were in London, I was exhausted, so I stayed in and ordered room service.  I have to say this was the best mushroom and onion pizza I have ever eaten!
 Many of you may of heard of Sticky Toffee Pudding.  I'll warn you about it:  They will never serve you a big enough piece...(SOOOO good)
 On the train you can walk down to a little cafe to get something hot to eat or drink.  Someone does walk around with snacks and drinks, but if you go to the cafe they will cook you something.
 I had a lovely cheese and tomato toasty.  (MMMMM)

These two people mean the world to me.  They have been married for over 71 years this year (1941-2011) and they are still in love.I've never seen anything so beautiful! 


The winner of a copy of OPEN MINDS and an OPEN MINDS bookmark is:
 Theresa Milstein

*Do you have a marriage role model?
*When you are in foreign countries do you try the local foods?
*Lastly, be a follower, answer one or both of the questions and you could win an English Goodie Bag. 

 (I'd love it if you tweeted or Facebooked the giveaway, but it's not necessary.)  I'll announce the winner on December 6th.

43 comments:

  1. What a lovely description of local English foods. Thank you.

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  2. Your pictures have me wishing for a trip to England! I visited there about 12 years ago.

    And YaY for me! I won Susan's book. I'm going to read it as soon as I receive it. Chapter 1 had me hooked! Thank you.

    My in-laws are role models. They've been married for over 14 years.

    I love eating local food wherever I go. It's a big part of what makes travelling fun.

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  3. Oh my gosh do you know how much I crave cream tea and fish 'n' chips!?!?!

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  4. Awww so lovely to see your gorgeous granddad! Yay!!

    Cream tea, fish n chips, more cream tea... yum, yum, yum (well not the fish but still fish n chips is fish n chips!) with plenty of salt and vinegar.

    Yes, I am typing this at exactly 2 minutes past noon and am about to have my lunch now. Chips it is!!
    p.s. YAY for lovely Theresa!!

    So interesting about the ration portions! Makes one really appreciate what we have now.

    Take care
    x

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  5. hi miss sharon! yikes! i should of waited til i ate my breakfast before seeing all that yummy food. now you got me soooo hungry. i love all those neat pictures but best of all is that one of your grandad and your nanny. for sure you could see they love each other. wow! how cool is that!
    ...big hugs from lenny

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  6. Yum! I got hungry just looking at the pictures. Awesome about your grandparents.

    Yes, I always try the food if I visit another country, not that I travel much, but I've been to China & India.

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  7. Hi Sharon .. what a wonderful post - full of details, full of the joy you had during your stay .. and most importantly full of love for your grandparents - so lovely to read and see.

    Now - if I'd been there .. I'd have eaten the smoked salmon for you - it is delicious .. did you not try a morsel .. ? It's smoked - so doesn't need cooking! It's the most wonderful of foods and now we can get it all the time - but I still keep for special occasions (may be more of those than back in the old days!) ..

    Ah - tea in Buck House .. now that cake looks delicious .. and I think I've just added that to my to do list .. I'm longing to try their chocolate digestive cake ..

    and Yes - the dress - the latest one .. I saw a tv show of them showing the Queen - she was unimpressed I think! at its display.

    Cream tea - yes .. as often as possible ..

    Thanks so much for sharing and so pleased you put the rations up .. and fish and chips out of newspaper what could be nicer?!

    Cheers - great photos .. Hilary

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  8. Great...its 7:17 AM and now I'm starving!! Thanks for that! :)

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  9. An English goodie bag??? Oh, me, me, me!

    Answer the questions. . Well, the answer to the first is "not really," and the answer to the second is "I'm never in foreign countries." Even though I'd love to go to England, though I'd skip the salmon, cooked or not.

    So -- do I qualify? :)))

    BTW, I'd be happy to tweet this.

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  10. Sounds like a fantastic trip. I went to London with my family in high school and we had an amazing time taking in the sights and of course eating the food. We did a high tea, and ate cucumber sandwich and everything. So glad your grandparents are still here to visit with you!

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  11. Ooh, I wish I traveled more because I. Love. Food.

    Thanks so much for sharing your pictures, now I want tea and fish and chips so bad! Your grandparents are so cute, too.

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  12. Your mouthwatering photos made me want to go back to Merrie Olde...the scones here are like rock cakes and the cream? 'Nuf said...boohoohooo.

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  13. Congrats to Theresa.

    I love to travel and the joy of discovering new places and cultures is trying the food. I've tasted some STRANGE foods in my life. Well worth it.

    Those scones look YUM!!!

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  14. Congrats to Theresa!! :)

    Love the photos! I've been to Scotland with my family. When I return one day, I'm going to definitely spend some time in England as well. Such beautiful countries :)

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  15. Oh, you've made me hungry looking at all that food! The best part of travel is trying the food, so yes to that question!


    My marriage role models are some lovely old neighbours we had at the condo before we moved- married in the middle of WW2, and she young and pregnant while he went to war and ended up a POW, never knowing where he was until he came home. They moved to Canada in the 70s, following their grown son who had emigrated before them, and rebuilt their life here. I love them dearly and they are just such a sweet couple.

    Loved your photos, so glad the trip has been great!

    xx
    AM

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  16. Oh, how I love the picture of your granddad and granny. So lovely, Sharon. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.

    We are going to Ireland in the spring. With stopovers in England too. So I will have some Sticky Toffee Pudding and Cream Tea. And eat it in a tea room. That is quite quaint.

    Congrads Theresa! That woman will be famous one day. :-)

    Smooches Sharon. *waving*

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  17. Aw, what'd you go do that for? It's almost time for me to go to bed and now you made me hungry. I'd like to have an English Goodie bag right now.

    Anyone who's been married over 50 years is definitely a role model.

    And a big yes!! I'll try local foods when I'm in a foreign country. So far it's only been Mexico and Canada, but I'm a big fan of trying new things.

    I'd love that smoked salmon even if it was raw--the smoking cooks it.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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  18. Oh my, you know how much I love to look at and take pictures of food. This post was such a treat! I try all the local food. I basically go on vacation so I can eat. My Aunt and Uncle have been married for over 50 years and they are an extraordinary couple. They were married on our upcoming wedding date! (totally didn't know it when we picked the day)

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  19. You're seriously making me hungry with those pictures! And only the British could use the words "Digestive Biscuit" and "Chocolate Cake" in the same name!! LOL

    Like Theresa, my in-laws are my role models. And I can't wait to send her the book! :)

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  20. wow, now I'm dying for a spot of tea. Great photos.

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  21. I love all the photos! And now you've made me hungry . . .

    Great picture of your grandparents. :)

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  22. Oh, my. You've gotten me hungry. :)

    Congrats to Theresa.

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  23. Nope, I'm without any marriage role models. Yes, I do try local foods wherever I go. ^_^

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  24. Everything looks wonderful except that flapjack. Thanks for the wonderful memories. I loved my cold snowy trip I had in January 1986 to London, Portsmouth and Chester. I suppose my parents were marriage role models-48 years was pretty good and of course I try the local foods. :)

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  25. And I always heard British food was bland! I'm drooling for some really good fish and chips, now. And a few other things, huh?

    So my marriage role model is my Grandma and Grandpa (who are both now deceased). They just loved each other so much. It was palpable in everything they did (even in a spat). Gosh I miss them.

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  26. Oh, now I miss England! Here we call a cream tea a devonshire tea -- I had one this afternoon with a friend!

    I definitely try the local foods when I'm overseas, and I always try local specialties in particular (though I do check exactly what cut of meat is involved). Most recent favourite.. croquettes in Madrid, or spaghetti with mussels in Vernazza.

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  27. So many yummy treats here! The train looks like a very fun way to travel! Love can be grand that is true!
    xo Catherine

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  28. I lived in England for two years and am now a tea drinker and a tea snob. LOVE cream tea - MMMMM!

    Sounds like you had a great trip, and I would consider any trip to a foreign country incomplete and not worthwhile if I didn't try the local food.

    My maternal grandparents are my marriage role model. We have a picture of them dancing cheek to cheek on their 50th anniversary.

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  29. I've started craving all the English foods now!

    Thanks for sharing all these lovely foodie photos!

    My role model is of course my mum and dad, I would like to blessed with a love like them for me.

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  30. Delightful post Sharon:) It brought back a lot of memories from England. Their deserts are exceptionally tasty as they use rel ingredients. I remember the trains. Unlike New York, they keep their mass transportation much tidier. Well, I guess it is easily manageable because of a moderate size of population.

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  31. These pictures bring back memories. I haven't been back to my birth country in a looooooong time.

    I love scones, jam, and clotted cream. Yum!!!!

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  32. Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering! Everything looks incredible!! I've never been to a foreign country before, but I would totally try the local foods. I love trying new foods! (Especially ones that look as tasty as those!)

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  33. All these pics make me HUNGRY!

    I was introduced to Sticky Toffee Pudding while in Africa of all places. We traveled with several British couples and at a local restaurant in Zanzibar, they served STP. They convinced me to try it, and now it's one of my favorite deserts!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  34. This post makes me hungry and it makes me want to travel! I always try the local foods - but then again I've never been anywhere too exotic.

    No marriage role models for me - but how wonderful about your grandparents.

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  35. Your trip sounds amazing! I shouldn't have read it when I was hungry, though! But looking at that picture of the rations for one week during WWII made me be thankful for what we take for granted these days.

    I guess you're not a big fan of sushi or bagels and lox since you didn't like the raw smoked salmon? Oh, man, that looks scrumptious. I love to try new foods, especially if they're spicy!

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  36. Oh, you've made me hungry now. I might have to indulge in sticky toffee pudding this evening!

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  37. Oh yum! I'd even have eaten the raw salmon sandwich! :)

    Yes, my parents and my in-laws are both wonderful marriage examples to me. Your grandparents look wonderful!

    Yes, and I love to eat my way through a holiday, too. Whenever I visit Hong Kong, I have a huge list of what I'm going to eat! And speaking of Hong Kong, a bunch of the chocolates from your giveaway look like ones I ate growing up! I hope I win. LOL!

    I'm so glad you had a great trip, Sharon. :)

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  38. My parents are my marriage role model. We celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Grand Canyon two summers ago. And yes, I like to try local foods, but when I went to London I ordered steak and kidney pie. For some reason I was expecting kidney beans. I was quite unpleasantly surprised.

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  39. Hi Sharon! What lovely photos! It's so nice to know you enjoyed your stay in England :)

    I think my parents are my marriage role model :)

    You're so generous and you have a lovely giveaway but please don't include my name as I already am in the UK :)

    I also have giveaways on my blog! Everybody's welcome! It's to thank good friends like you who's seen and helped me through all this time on blogosphere.

    Take care! :)

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  40. Hey sweetie!

    OMG, I was just dropping in to say hello and WOW...you've got lots going on!

    Wonderful post!

    Hugs
    Hawk

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  41. I ABSOLUTELY try the local foods while on vacation. That is part of the FUN!

    My parents had a great marriage. They fought all the time, but I knew they loved each other. The passed away within four years of each other after 43 years of marriage.

    What a fun giveaway!

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  42. When I was in viet Nam I spent time at a Catholic orphanage and while there one day they invited me to eat lunch. I accepted and was served a sub sandwich which was tasty. I later found out the meat was lizzard and they have some big ones there. Enter me in the giveaway and have a wonderful rest of your week.
    Odie

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  43. Thank you for sharing pictures from your trip. How wonderful to have the time to spend with your grandparents. What a lovely couple.

    My husband and I went to the Bahamas for our honeymoon and we tried foods that we had never tried before. It's fun to try new things when you are in a new place.

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