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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Last week a few of Ryan’s soon-to-be British coworkers were in town spending a few days in the D.C. office. We went out to dinner with them one night and we started discussing the things Ryan and I might miss once we cross the pond. We said baseball and Mexican food. They said we could watch cricket and that there is Mexican food in London but it’s not as good as stateside. They also said the hot wings aren’t as good (sigh, add that to my D.C. bucket list). And they said we wouldn’t be able to find American style pancakes.

Well that’s fine, but “can’t I make them at home?” I asked. They said no. We couldn’t get a straight answer as to why I couldn’t make them at home. We’ll see if I can figure out the answer once I’m there. But until then, I need to make sure I eat pancakes.

I got this recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. I was so excited when I saw it because it reminded me of brunch in my favorite place in New York. However, this recipe might be even better because the apple topping is so darn delicious. Truly, so good I think it’s worth making all on their own.

Directions:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan

2 crisp red or pink apples (F&W recommends Honeycrisp. I used Pink Lady)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar (divided in half, 2 tbsps each)

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

3 large eggs, whites separated from yolks

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Instructions:

1. Peel and core the apples. Chop them into 1/2 inch, bite sized pieces.

2. Using a large skillet, melt the 2 tbsp of butter at medium-high heat. Add the apples, cinnamon, 2 tbsp of the sugar, 1/2 tsp of lemon zest and a pinch of sugar. Stir occasionally. Make sure the apples get coated with the sugary juices from the pan. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the apples are tender.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powders, and the rest of the sugar.

4. In a medium bowl, stir together milk, egg yolks, ricotta, and remaining lemon zest. Slowly whisk these ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

5. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. I highly recommend doing this with an electric mixer because it takes a long time with the mixer and even longer by hand. Add the egg whites to the rest of the batter.

6. On medium, heat up a griddle or large skillet. Grease with a bit of butter. Scoop about 1/4 cup of batter onto your griddle or skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake (1-3 minutes). Flip. Cook until the pancakes are golden brown. Probably about 2 minutes longer.

7. Put on a plate. Top with apple mixture and maple syrup!

Messy level: Just two spoons, and only because you have to use so many dishes throughout this recipe.

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