We’ve been walking a lot, but for some reason we cannot stop looking the wrong way when we cross the street. It doesn’t matter what the crosswalk says, it’s so hard for us not to look right. It’s a hard habit to break! I’m also having trouble finding the crosswalks. The sounds dumb, but let me tell you about it. When there’s  median in the road, the cross walk doesn’t go all the way across, instead the two halves are staggered. Why? I don’t get it. I feel like such an idiot standing in the median, all alone, trying to figure out where to cross next. Here’s a picture. I added arrows so you can see what I’m talking about.

I’ve also gotten in to two “cooking” shows. One is Come Dine With Me. Five people host dinner parties for the other four, at the end of the night each rates the other, then at the very end the winner gets money. There’s always drunkenness and weird dancing. It’s been really funny and I’m addicted. The other is called Dinner Date, and women create a menu that they would cook on a date. A man chooses 3 out of 5 menus. The women who made those three menus have to cook for the guy and at the end they rate him, and he picks his favorite date. I was watching yesterday and one of the women liked to drink and the narrator said she likes “a tipple and a topple.” Which means, you like to drink and then fall over. I died. The is some awesome slang. So hilarious.

But, let’s get on to the main event. The myth busting! As you might remember, at our going away party we received a mountain of treats that may or may not be available in London. So, I went to grocery store to check out what I really could find.

Peanut Butter

There is definitely peanut butter in London! I’ve been told, by people who’ve studied abroad in London, that the peanut butter doesn’t taste as good as it does at home. But, I haven’t tried it yet, so I’ll reserve judgement. For now I’m happy that peanut butter is available. There aren’t the brands that we have at home, but there were at least two shelves of peanut butter. If you need jelly there’s tons, about four times as many shelves of jelly as there are shelves of peanut butter.

Marshmallows & Fluff

There is definitely marshmallow fluff. Marshmallows took me a bit to find at first (because the store was out). I’ve seen them both at coffee shops and at the grocery store. What’s interesting is that the marshmallows are always pink and white! I don’t know why, but I thought it was interesting.

Twizzlers & Hershey products

As far as I can tell, there aren’t Twizzlers. But, I did find strawberry flavored licorice. Isn’t the packaging super cute? The only Hershey product I’ve seen are Kit Kats (and in mint, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate flavors!). But Ryan says in Europe, Kits Kats are licensed and made by Nestle. Who knew? Side note: the Kit Kats are delicious, Ryan and I bought mint and they were great.

Chocolate chips

This took me forever to find because the bag is so much smaller than what I expected! How the heck am I supposed to make chocolate chip cookies with such a dinky bag?! I have no idea. Maybe chocolate chip cookies aren’t that popular here…?

Boxed macaroni and cheese

As far as I can tell, this doesn’t exist. There is pre-made food, but no equivalent of Kraft boxed mac and cheese. No worries, because I can make this at home, and they have Lincolnshire Poacher here. Update: They have microwaveable macaroni and cheese. I found this out because on Dinner Date, the women who aren’t chosen get a “ready meal” at the end and I just saw two women get mac and cheese. The woman who is chosen gets taken out to a restaurant.

Graham crackers

I don’t think this exists either. There are tons of similar, lightly sweet flat cracker-cookies, but I didn’t see anything exactly the same.

Pancakes and syrup

Remember when I made lemon ricotta pancakes because I was told there are no pancakes in London? Well, there are definitely pancakes in London, just not the way we’re used to. Here are my pieces of evidence. First, Ryan and I were watching the TV show Idiot Abroad (which stars a British guy) and he says something about “Pancake Wednesdays,” which means that must be a thing and so British people have pancakes. Second, I saw a commercial for Warburton’s pancakes; and you can watch it here. I don’t know where to find it in the grocery, but obviously it exists.  Finally, the grocery store has all the ingredients you need, including maple syrup! So, I can definitely get pancakes. Now, as far as I can tell there’s no Aunt Jemima or Bisquick, but I’m pretty sure we can get over that because making them at home isn’t that hard.

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But I thought about it and said, why not?! Let’s lean into the holiday season of hearty foods, decadent meals, and rich desserts. Now, don’t get crazy and give up your exercise routine, but let’s wait until January 2nd to worry about our meals. So here’s a great meal that will make you feel cozy on a cold day, that’s great to serve to holiday house guests, and will provide you with workday lunches you’ll eagerly gobble up.

The way I make this recipe, I make the sauce using Marcella Hazan’s recipe, which I first mentioned in my pici post. If you do the whole recipe the way I do, it should take you about an hour. If you’re going to use jar sauce, I think this should take you about 30 minutes.

Now, I know most of the time a recipe like this is called baked ziti. I’m calling it baked rigatoni because it’s my favorite noodle to use. Rigatoni’s large and textured shape makes it perfect for sticking to cheese, sauce, and meat. In my opinion, rigatoni allows you to have the perfect bite. But, if you’re interested in other pasta, I’ve used penne and ziti before and I also think you could use macaroni or fusilli.

Last but not least, I don’t usually measure when I make this. I like a lot of cheese and sauce. Feel free to find your perfect balance of ingredients. I hope you enjoy and can find space in your belly for this great meal.

Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce recipe and the Amateur Gourmet’s baked ziti recipe.

Baked Rigatoni

 

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Ingredients

Tomato Sauce

• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 5 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion

Meat

• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• salt
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb ground beef
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp smoked paprika (optional)
• salt

Everything Else

• 1 lb box of rigatoni
• 8-10 oz ricotta cheese (so a bit more than 1 cup)
• 8 oz ball of mozzarella (or larger!)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan

Instructions

1. We're starting with the tomato sauce. Put the can of tomatoes in a medium sauce pan. Take a knife and roughly cut up the tomatoes in halves or quarters. This isn't the serious, it just helps everything break down.
2. Cut (and peel) the onion. Cut the onion in half from end to end, not across the equator. Put the onion halves and butter in the tomato sauce.
3. Heat the sauce on medium high until it's simmering. Then turn the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Set your kitchen timer! Over the 45 minutes, stir occasionally and use your spoon to smash and cut up the tomatoes.
4. Preheat your oven to 450°.
5. When the timer says 25 minutes left, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add the minced onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft but not yet brown (about 7 minutes).
6. Once the onions and garlic are ready, add the ground beef. Add the crushed red pepper, salt and paprika, if using. Cook until brown. Break up with your spoon as you cook it.
7. When the meat is finished pour out any excess fat and grease from the pan. Then set the meat side, it will wait until everything else is ready.
8. When the timer says 15 minutes left, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
9. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta. Cook until it is al dente (about 6-8 minutes). This means, when it still has a chew to it. Cook it about 2 minutes less than you usually would, when it's just on the cusp of being ready but is still a bit tough. The pasta will cook more in the oven.
10. Drain the pasta using a colander.
11. The sauce should be done by now. Remove the onion and throw it away. Add the cooked ground beef and the pasta to the pot of sauce. Mix it thoroughly.
12. Add the ricotta to the pot. Mix a little, but try to leave some chunks of ricotta showing.
13. Pour half of the pasta-beef-sauce mix into a 9"x13" pan. On top of that half, add half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella.
14. Pour the other half of the pasta mix and then top that with the rest of the cheese.
15. Cook in the oven for 15. The sauce will be bubbling and the cheese will be a bit brown.

3.2.2925

Messy Level  I’m giving this three spoons only because the pasta, meat, and sauce, and final product are all cooked in different pans, so that means there’s a lot of dishes. Also, pouring the rigatoni mix can be a little hard and sauce can splatter. I don’t really find this that messy, but my dishwasher might disagree.

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