Strawberry Banana Pancakes

Do you know what's frustrating? Being nostalgic for the present. Inadvertently anticipating the inevitable. A kind of pre-sentimental sentimentality. That's where I keep finding myself lately. I haven't even left yet, and somehow I already miss London.

 

It's like I'm acutely aware that these moments are fleeting and that when they are gone, I will miss them terribly. So I jump the gun and end up feeling all sentimental about the eventual absence of people and places and things that are still right in front of me.

 

It is perfectly fine to mourn the end of an era...but only at the end of that era. I'm still here. This is silly. This is no way to live. This calls for comfort food. Specifically, pancakes.

 

The amount of time it takes to make and eat pancakes is pretty much the perfect amount of time to allow myself to sit in this too-soon sentimentality. It's okay to be a little sad. But don't stay there. Make yourself some pancakes. Then eat up, man up, and move on.

 

Let's save the tears for the plane ride back, shall we? It's always more fun to cry in a cramped public space anyway, right? Riiiiiiight... 
 
Strawberry Banana Pancakes 

 
Ingredients:

3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

just over 1/2 cup milk

1/4 stick (28 g) melted butter

1 egg

A dash of vanilla
1 banana, thinly sliced
handful of strawberries, thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Whisk together milk, butter, egg and vanilla in a smaller bowl. Make sure the milk isn't cold or it will cause the butter to re-solidify (is that a word?) and make life and whisking very frustrating. I usually just melt the butter with the milk and let it cool a bit before adding the egg and vanilla.
 

 
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. 

Heat a pan over medium heat. Grease before spooning the batter into it. Add banana and strawberry slices as you see fit, making sure to press them down into the batter a bit so they stay tucked into the pancake when it's flipped. Once bubbles start to form and burst in the middle of the pancake, you'll know it's time to turn it. It'll only take about half as long to cook on the other side. 

Stack sky high and serve warm with plenty of butter and cinnamon. 
 

Simply perfect (and perfectly simple) brownies.

Sometimes situations go awry, and no amount of plan B's or C's or LMNOP's can make things work out the way you'd like. It's just part of life, I suppose. People will tell you not to let it get to you -- that there's something better coming and everything will be okay and just wait and see. 
 

Easier said than done, right?
 

Waiting and seeing is really hard. I’m more comfortable with movement, so sitting still in the tension of not knowing isn’t exactly my cup of tea. In fact, it stresses me out. 
 

In times like these, I fight back with butter and sugar. All this waiting and seeing may mean that I'm not able to make plans or move forward, but at least I can make brownies. And while that might not actually solve any of my problems, it certainly helps soothe them.
 

Bring it on, life. I've got chocolate chips, and I know how to use them.

  
Simply perfect (and perfectly simple) brownies

  

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cups (75g) butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp water

1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, separated

1 tsp vanilla  

2 eggs 

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C). Then grease and flour (I use cocoa instead) an 8x8 inch pan. If you want super easy removal and cleanup, line the pan with parchment paper. It's a wonderful invention.
 

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. 
  

In a large saucepan, melt butter with the sugar and water. Bring just to a boil and then remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Add vanilla extract and allow to cool till it's only just warm.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Stir in the flour mixture, and then add the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and the nuts.

Pour into a greased 8x8 pan, and bake for 25-35 minutes. Check them at around 20 to make sure you don't overbake -- dry brownies are a tragedy. Then remove from oven and cool before serving.

 

Success.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. So much food and such wonderful friends. And the turkey was great, which was a total relief! Though I needn't have worried. Laurent and I are a pretty stellar team when it comes to kitchen-related endeavors.

Undisputed turkey champions of the world.

After we had eaten, we put some football on (American, of course) and just kind of laid around our living room. At one point, someone suggested games, but that got vetoed because we were all too full to move...which is how you know your Thanksgiving is a success: food-induced lethargy.

It was a lovely evening. I went to bed feeling very blessed.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was Thanksgiving, even though it didn't really feel like it.

I spent the day at work, because apparently England doesn't have anything to be thankful for. I would have much preferred to have spent it surrounded by family members while I ate myself into a food coma, like a true American. But alas.

I settled for this.

Did anyone else spend their Turkey Day at an Irish pub?

Not your traditional Thanksgiving meal, but at least it was tasty and shared with friends. Plus, I still have Saturday to look forward to, when we'll celebrate properly.

Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and yours.

Thanksgiving abroad (round two).

There is a turkey in my refrigerator -- my teeny tiny, shoebox of a refrigerator. I'm not sure how we fit it in there, what with the 5 individuals already sharing the cramped space, but it's there nonetheless.

   

It's there because it's Thanksgiving -- well, almost. Tomorrow is the actual holiday, but as the UK doesn't recognize it and therefore does not give you the day off, we're postponing our celebrations till the weekend. Because as anyone who's ever hosted Thanksgiving dinner can tell you, it's impossible to prepare the kind of feast warranted by this occasion unless you have an entire day to do it.

 

This is my second Thanksgiving abroad. Last year was kind of crazy, because (1) it was my first Thanksgiving away from home, (2) it was the first time I'd ever had to plan a Thanksgiving dinner, and (3) I had never made a turkey before. This year it isn't quite so intimidating, seeing as how it's not all new. Still, I kind of get nervous whenever I open my fridge and see that turkey sitting there, large and imposing, reminding me that I don't really know what I'm doing. But we pulled it off last year, so I'm pretty confident we'll be able to do it again.

 

And, even if nothing else goes right, we'll still have pie. I'm good at pie.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

It's officially fall. Time to bust out the coats, scarves, and pumpkin recipes. 

This is my favorite season for baking. And there's so much you can do with pumpkin. But despite the myriad of choices I faced when I pulled a dusty Libby's can from the depths of my cupboard, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are exceptional. They're full of flavor and so soft that they're almost more like the top of a muffin than your standard cookie. And they're super simple. 

So grab yourself a can of Libby's, and whip these up on a crisp fall evening. Your kitchen will smell amazing, and your taste buds will thank you.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(c/o Joy the Baker)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp (heaping) nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray with nonstick spray. 

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. 

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Then add the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla, and mix on a low speed until it's all blended together. 

Add the flour mixture, and stir until combined. Dough will be very similar to a muffin batter, but it should hold its shape when scooped.

Fold in the chocolate chips. 

 

Scoop out about 1/4 cup (or a large spoonful) of dough and place on prepared baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches between each cookie, because they'll grow quite a bit in the oven. I think I only put 6 on my standard baking sheet. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the tops are firm to the touch and they pass the toothpick test. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Then, enjoy!

 

Note: I got about 18 cookies out of this recipe. I baked them last night, and currently there are only 3 left in my kitchen. So while these could hypothetically last about 4 days in an airtight container, expect them to be gone long before then.

  

Wednesday randoms.

The other day, as I was getting ready to take my lunch break, I asked if it was raining. My coworker responded, "Well there are people going by with brollies up." What? Apparently "brollies" are umbrellas. Who knew?

 

This is kind of old news, but I still think it's wonderful. Thanks, Google.

 

I came home to this the other night. So thankful for sweet housemates who know that my love language is dessert.

 

Beautiful.

 

The problem (well one of the many problems) with cold weather is that it makes my hands shrink, which means that my rings start slipping and sliding all over the place whenever I type. I've readjusted the ring on my right hand 4 times while typing this. Weird, I know. Please tell me I'm not the only one...

 

I got my National Insurance number last week, so I'm officially official! Which means I get to...start paying taxes. Hooray.

 

The other day, one of my besties was talking about how it's weird working full time and that she was still trying to get used to this whole you only get a couple days off for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well me, I'm still trying to get used to there is no Thanksgiving thing. And Halloween's not that big of a deal either. You pretty much just go straight into Christmas.

Seriously? But it's barely October.

 

It's terrible. I'm a huge proponent of letting each holiday have its own time, so I never do Christmassy until after Thanksgiving. But they started putting out the Christmas stuff at the beginning of October. Not cool.

 

I'm heading home for a little visit in just two weeks! Can't wait to see some of my favorite people in the world...and to eat some Mexican food.

 

Saturday in Surbiton.

Since I've submitted my dissertation, I haven't known what to do with myself. When I get home from work, I just kind of wander around the house aimlessly. In the back of my mind, I've got this feeling that I should be writing or editing or formatting, but I've got nothing to write or edit or format. 

Guess it's time to get a new book.

But I've decided that I should use my spare time to go exploring. I still don't really know this new area, even though I moved in three weeks ago. And pretty soon, it's going to start getting dark around 4pm. So I've got to get moving.

Saturday was a good day to wander around our town, as there was a little festival going on. It was sunny out, so we just strolled in and out of the little stalls lining the high street. There were crafts and food and entertainment. We stopped for several things.

The first was this puppet show. Punch and Judy. It was kind of weird. (Spoiler alert: Punch just beats up on Judy, and then the audience chastises him. What?) 

This is before Judy made her debut. Then things got violent.

The second was a stall where a little man in a funny hat was selling fudge. We bought three bags: coffee, mint chocolate, and chocolate and vanilla. Delicious. I'd post a picture, but we ate it already. Oops.

And finally, the street musicians. There was a gorgeous string quartet (with a really attractive cello player), and this cute little band of older men just jamming away.

Isn't that the best? The little kids near us were dancing up a storm, and we found we couldn't help but walk to the beat once we turned to leave. That tuba was just so catchy.

All in all, it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Treat yourself.

So there's this saying that's been floating around the Internet lately:

I think it's supposed to be some sort of motivational/self control/weight loss mantra or something.

Well guess what. I'm not buying it.

Consider birthdays. People decided a long time ago that the best way to celebrate surviving another year was with cake. And ice cream. And (if you're from my neck of the woods) a piñata full of candy. 

 So of course I'm going to reward myself with food. I like food. And if I do something big like, say, finish my master's degree, I'm definitely going to treat myself to something beautiful and indulgent.

Something like this gorgeous Black Forest gâteau...

And I won't feel even the slightest bit sorry about it. Because what else would I reward myself with? And because taste buds are a blessing, so I'm going to make the most of them. And because dessert makes me happy.

I don't care that I'm not a dog. Besides, dogs can't have chocolate anyway.

So the next time that you do something that's worth celebrating, celebrate. Treat yourself. 

It's the right thing to do.

Peach pie.

Summer is over. I think we had about two weeks of it here in London. On one of those rare summery days, I wandered past a fruit stand that was absolutely overflowing with peaches.

So I decided to make a pie.

Peach pie

(recipe c/o smitten kitchen)

Ingredients: 
Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp granulated
1 tsp salt
1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup cold water

Filling

6 large peaches
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (or up to 1/3 cup, if you prefer sweeter pies)

1/4 cup brown sugar (same as above)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp sugar

 

Directions:

Dough

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Work cold butter into mixture (using your hands is the easiest way). You'll want small pieces of butter -- I'd suggest freezing it and then using a cheese grater. It'll give you a flakier crust.  

Stir in the ice water and mix until the dough begins to pull together. Knead a couple times and form into a ball. Divide the dough in half and flatten into two discs. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour (but you can leave it in there up to two days, or freeze for up to 2 months). 

Filling

You'll need to peel the peaches. But before you grab that paring knife, check this out! Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and also prepare an ice bath. Then, using a sharp knife, make a small X on the bottom of each peach. Place peaches into boiling water, and poach for 2 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and put immediately into ice bath to cool for one minute. When you take them out of the ice water, the skin should slip right off. It's amazing, I tell you.

Halve the peaches and remove the pits. Then slice into 1/3 inch slices and measure out about 6 cups. Feel free to snack on the leftovers as you bake. 

In a large bowl, toss peach slices with lemon juice. Combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add to bowl of peaches and toss to coat.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C). 

Generously flour your work surface. Put one disc of pie dough in the middle and flour it too. Roll your dough out from the center. Go slowly, or it will crack. Every few rolls, lift dough up and rotate a little. Repeat until you've got a 12-13 inch circle. Add more flour as needed (you shouldn't have any dough sticking to the counter or your rolling pin, and if it gets too soft, pop it back in the freezer for a minute before resuming the rolling). 

Transfer your dough by folding into quarters (without creasing!). Place the folded quarter in your pie dish and gently unfold it out over the base. Trim away excess dough (you need about an inch overhang). 

Spoon filling pie-lined dish, making sure to get all the juices. 

Roll out the other disc of dough. For a lattice top, cut into 1/2 - 1 inch strips. Place strips across pie filling in one direction. Fold back every other strip and add a strip going in the other direction. Fold strips back down across the filling. Then fold the others back and place another strip across them. Repeat until you've got a full lattice top. Trim the strips till they're even with the dish (no overhang). Fold the overhang of the bottom crust up over the lattice strips and crimp. 

Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle generously with sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes until crust is beginning to brown. Then reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 C) and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes. If the crust browns too quickly, cover it with foil until the pie is completely done baking. 

Cool for three hours. Yes, this is a long time. But it's mandatory, if you don't want your pie filling to flood out of the crust when you cut into it. It must be fully cool before it's fully thickened. 

Then top with ice cream, and serve!

 

Biscuiterie.

This is perhaps the most magical thing I've stumbled upon since I moved to London. 

A biscuiterie. I didn't even know these things existed. Basically, it was giant selection of decadent pastries (think pistachio creme filled cannoli) that stretched on for days. It was beautiful.

You got to pick and mix to your heart's desire, and then you paid by weight. (And if there was one near me, I'm sure I'd pay by weight gained as well.) It made my day.

The sweet little French man who ran it barely spoke English, so you just knew it was going to be good. And right where the selection of biscuits ended, a creperie began. Glorious.

Needless to say, I'll be visiting again soon.

  

Nectarine muffins.

You know that bit in The Notebook, where Allie says, "Most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet"? That's how I am with baking. I don't care if my world seems like it's falling apart. Give me some dough to tend to, and I'll be okay. 

On the flip side, if I go a couple weeks without baking, I get a little antsy. Which is why I made muffins the other day. Well, that and the fact that the nectarines were about to go bad.

These are the perfect breakfast muffins. Not overly sweet, but still full of flavor. (Confession: I initially typed flavour...oops! These Brits are just too darn influential.) Anywho, let's bake.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (heaping) diced nectarine (about 2 nectarines)

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (for topping)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F (about 200°C). Grease or line muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure to get the lumps out. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In another bowl, combine butter and milk. Add the eggs. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Mixture will be lumpy (as all good muffin batter should be).

Gently fold in the diced nectarines.

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with brown sugar for extra goodness. 

Bake for about 15 minutes (mine were done around 13), or until golden brown. Watch them fairly closely after about 12 minutes -- after all the love and care you've put into these babies, it'd be a shame if they came out too dry! If you're not sure, do the toothpick test.  

Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes: I made a half batch, and got 8 muffins (though I did fill the tins up quite a bit), so you can expect to get anywhere from 16-18 from the full recipe. Also, if and when I make these again, I'll add some strawberries. I think that'd take em to the next level of amazingness. 

  

"First, you take the graham..."

Last night, myself and the other Americans in the building decided that it was time to share some of our culture with our international friends. So we put on The Sandlot (which most people hadn't seen) and made s'mores (which most people hadn't had). Because, really, that's about as American as it gets. Except for maybe apple pie, but that takes a little more planning.

You may notice that some of the marshmallows in these pictures are pink, which is apparently the norm around here. Weird. But they tasted just the same, so it was fine. And as we lacked a fire, we broiled them in the oven for a few minutes. (Side note: how do you roast your marshmallows? Because I've always been of the light-them-on-fire-and-blow-it-out persuasion, but some of the guys argued that it's essential to turn it slowly and try for that perfectly even brown. Doesn't sound very fun to me.) Thankfully, we weren't lacking graham crackers (which don't exist in England), thanks to my sweet mom. I know she loves me because she sends me things that I can't find here. 

Things like graham crackers. And good peanut butter. 

Anyway, they were super messy, but that's half the fun. And Sandlot was wonderful, as always. That's just one of those films that never gets old. Mostly because of scenes like this:

Love it.
 

Drinking ages and driver's licenses.

As you may know, the legal drinking age in the States is 21, but you've still got to bring your ID with you if you want to purchase alcohol...even decades later. For example:

But here in the UK, not only is the drinking age lower (18), but if you're trying to buy alcohol, they also only require you to show an ID if you look under 25.

Which is probably why my sweet flatmate (someday you'll appreciate your youthful looks, m'dear!) gets really excited when she doesn't get carded.

Now, I don't really drink. But I do cook. And I've got quite a few recipes that require wine and whatnot. So the other day, when I wanted to make some pasta, I popped over to Tesco to grab some white wine. A friend of mine was with me, so we both got carded. 

We're both 24, which is well over the legal age, so it shouldn't be a problem, right? Well...

See, both of us are from the States. So both of us used our driver's licenses as ID. I was expecting this to throw them off. Last time I had to show my ID, the lady spent a loooooong time staring at it, before pointing at the issue date with a puzzled expression. No, love. 2008 is the year I got the license, not the year I was born. That'd make me 4 years old.

Anyway, she went first, and showed the lady her Arkansas license. After taking off her glasses to look more like the picture of herself, it was deemed acceptable. Then it was my turn. I gave her my New Mexico license, and could tell right away that this was going to be a problem.

"They're different..." she said suspiciously. 

"Yes, I'm from a different state," I said. And my friend tried to help out, chiming in with, "Every state has a different license."

The woman shook her head. So I offered to show her my bank card, since it had my name on it too. She took it and looked at it. "Do you have anything else?" 

"Uhhhh...." I fumbled for my university ID, which not only had my name, but also my picture.

She sat there for a few minutes, comparing the three cards, and throwing me sideways glances, before she finally gave in. And we got our white wine.

Whew.

And just as an aside: If I were an underage drinker trying to fool someone into letting me buy alcohol, so I could party it up and get wasted (or whatever those crazy kids do these days), I don't think I'd be buying a single bottle of dry white wine.

But that's just me.

 

Wednesday randoms.

This week, I learned an important lesson. The quickest way to NOT hate the rain (even if it hasn't stopped in weeks) is to go outside and play in it.

We saw this ad in the underground. Now, I'm quite familiar with Mexican food, so my first thought was, "Oh no. Those white gloves were a bad decision." Obviously.

This made me laugh a lot.

Speaking of "a lot," my friend recently reminded me of this hilarious blog post on that phrase. Being that I too am a huge grammar snob (I swear, text speak kills my soul), I can so relate.

After 10 months of living abroad, I finally saw my first Baylor shirt in London! After a brief (but enthusiastic, on my part) chat, it was quite obvious that the guy knew nothing about my fair alma mater. But I gave him a smile, a "Go Bears!" and a assured him he'd made an excellent choice before dashing off to catch my train.

Remember when I said I hated those forks with only 3 tines? Well, my friend took it upon herself to make me feel better about the whole situation.

And I found this video really clever. I wonder what my 12-year-old self would have to say to me now...

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Adventures in food allergies.

My friend is here visiting. And she's allergic to a lot of stuff. Stuff like peanuts, tree nuts and gluten.

She didn't used to be. She used to eat peanut butter by the spoonful. But things change, apparently. And it makes life really difficult. Especially the whole no gluten thing, because typically gluten-free breads and pastries use almond flour in place of wheat flour...but almonds are nuts. And she can't have nuts. So it seriously limits her options.

But today, we were victorious.

Not only were we able to find gluten-free bread and pasta, but we also stumbled across gluten-free cupcakes! And not the stale, tasteless, not-really-worth-the-calories prepackaged ones, either. No. Beautiful, freshly baked ones from a little cupcake shop in Kingston. As we were walking by, gazing longingly at the window displays, we noticed a sign: Gluten-free cupcakes, this weekend only.

It's like it was meant to be.
 

Flapjacks.

Quiz time. If you're from America, when you hear the word "flapjacks," what comes to mind?

Perhaps something like this:

Thanks, Google.

Because to you, the term is basically synonymous with "pancakes," right? Thought so.

But not here. 

No, here, flapjacks are bars made from butter, sugar, honey and oats. 

They're kind of like a mix between no-bake cookies and granola bars. And they look like this:

Weird, huh? So just a heads up that if you request flapjacks, you shouldn't expect to get pancakes. 

And actually, even if you ask for pancakes, you shouldn't expect to get pancakes. 

Because if you ask for pancakes, this is what you'll get:

Again, thanks Google.

Yeah, that's right. Crepes. 

Whatever.

   

Mince pies.

Mince pies are quite popular here. Apparently, they're a Christmas tradition. I wasn't entirely sure they were until recently. But I had an idea of what was in one, and it kind of grossed me out. See if you can follow my logic:

This is mince. Basically the same as ground beef in the States:

This is a mince pie. If you look closely, you'll see that it says, "filled with delicious mincemeat." Sounds tasty, yeah?

And if that didn't make you a little uneasy, this will. Here's how mince pies are displayed at the grocery store:

Now, based on your understanding of how to store meat, and your recent introduction to the concept of mincemeat-filled pies, how do you feel about them being on the shelves, rather than in the refrigerated section?

So can you blame me for being a little averse to trying one?

But then I found out that the mincemeat in mince pies is actually a mixture of chopped dried fruit, with some sugar and spices (and occasionally spirits). And while that name makes absolutely no sense to me in light of that definition, it does make them sound more tasty.

So I tried one. 

And you know what? It was actually pretty good.

 

Exactly the same. But different.

Last night, I had a debate discussion with a friend about these things called Polos. Apparently they're the same as those white mint LifeSavers. Which got me thinking about how many products here are different (in that they're called something else), but are actually exactly the same.

For example:

Sorry that 75% of these examples are cereal. We eat a lot of it here in Flat 1.

But isn't that strange? Instead of Honey Nut Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Lays and Frosted Flakes, they have Honey Loops, Sultana Bran, Walkers and Frosties. But let's talk about laziness for a second. Because if you're gonna change the name, at least come up with a new look.

And then there's this:

You might be thinking to yourself, "Self, they call them Oreos over here too." And you'd be right. But look at the description. Yes, there's an unnecessary 'u' in flavored, but keep reading. "Biscuits."

Now, this is a completely different beast, because biscuits here are not the same as in the States. We've had this argument many times over. Apparently, the only cookie that's a "cookie" and not a "biscuit" is a chocolate chip cookie. Why? I have no idea. And when I tried to explain that our biscuits are different, they asked if I meant scones. No no. I meant biscuits.

Another American referred to KFC as an example, because they have KFC here. But that didn't work, because apparently they don't serve biscuits at KFC. Instead, they serve fries chips alongside their mashed potatoes.

What? Mashed potatoes with more potatoes? No, my dears.

You need a big fluffy buttery biscuit.