Did oyu see that the NY times printed an article about a new sort of food? A sausage roll!

[BrendaandEddie]

WHO KNEW the Yanks didn't have them!?
APparently we eat them on Boxing day, ..servants... something... Downton shit crap.

BUT THEY DONT HAVE THEM

Since it's hardly worth a thread of its own I found these beauties this lunchtime (sadly I had already bought lunch elsewhere)
womentimes.net/food/eat-introduces-pots-of-pigs-in-blankets-and-pig-in-blanket-butties-to-its-christmas-menu/

American M&Ms taste better than UK M&Ms.

It's probably the only instance in which US chocolate beats UK chocolate.

I distrust all other US sweets, from bitter experience.

So, do Americans have mince pies? (The sweet kind made with raisins & spices, not the meat kind.)

I'm definitely making sausage rolls this year for Christmas.

Some New Englanders eat mince pies or so I am led to believe, but they are not popular in the rest of the country.

@westly try milky way midnight dark, they are fantastic, i bought an entire display box to bring back with me from my trip.

So, do Americans have mince pies? (The sweet kind made with raisins & spices, not the meat kind.)

Yes. They even sell the filling in jars in the grocery with the other canned pie fillings.

Steff - I can buy mince pies (and jars of filling) here (Seattle) easily every Christmas season but they are a foreign and unknown concept to every American that I have introduced them to. EVERYONE thinks they contain meat until I explain!

Send help now! It is true what they say, we are adrift here in a sea of almost no lamb and nary a scotch egg nor a sausage roll to be seen. Never mind, when Donald Trump makes America great again I'm sure it'll all be sorted out.
In the meantime, do you think there is scope for care parcels for beleaguered expats sent by concerned Britons? David Cameron could do one of his faux-concerned speeches about our plight.

I am back in the UK at Christmas and will be alternating between Terry's Chocolate Orange, sausage rolls and fish and chips. At every meal.

I feel sorry for Americans that they will never know the nirvana of homemade blackcurrant and vanilla curd. It is amazing. On the other hand, someone told me that >90% of UK produced blackcurrants go into Ribena. If the US got a taste for them, our whole Ribena supply chain would be in risk. This is one of those occasions when I think we should just keep quiet about them.

We holidayed in New England when DS1 was tiny and almost cried with relief when the owner of the (posh) B&B in our final destination, Boston, made us oatmeal (porridge) for breakfast and put Vegemite out with delicious homemade bread and butter. The syrup-laden pancakes and French toast (i.e. pudding) for breakfast initially blew our minds, but it got old really quickly. She said she found Aussies, Kiwis and Brits were always very appreciative of a sensible breakfast. Even though it was Vegemite, not Marmite, it was awesome.

at risk.

Terra - Do you have a "World Market" store near you? It's owned by "Cost Plus." They sell loads of English grocery products including many chocolate brands - I actually buy Terry's chocolate oranges there year round.

Terry's Chocolate Oranges have gone all weird in the last 10 years or so. I am sure the quality of the chocolate has gone downhill. They were amazing in my teens. Not so much these days.

Sadly, Cadburys seems to be going the same way - it was (whisper it) faintly like Hershey chocolate when I ate some of the kids' Hallowe'en haul. Nasty.

My heavens, Rain apparently we do. It's about a mile from my work. I will report back after I have a chance to go there.

I made sausage rolls and mince pies for xmas a couple of years ago - took them to a friend's party and they went down very well. I'm in Canada.

We can get Ribena in what DH and I call the 'Foreign Muck' aisle of the supermarket but it's really expensive. Other than that it's Crystal Light - sugar free very high concentrate fruit gloop that you squirt in a glass and top up with water.

Heinz recently started selling 'British Style' baked beans in the correct colour cans, for which I am forever grateful as the normal ones are just mush.

Mince pie did originally have meat in it and some recipes still call for suet.

The protected names for food laws only apply within the EU so in the States they can legally call cheese whatever they like. Any kind of fizzy wine seems to be 'champagne'.

Seneca I think all mince pies have suet - but you can get dried and veggie suet in the UK

the only suet I can get is frozen and it DEFINITELY is not vegetarian - you can actually see little teeny red meaty flecks in it.

Biscuits are horrible. I took a bite expecting it to be a scone.

There are many different kinds of biscuits howto. I guarantee that if you ate one of mine (grandmother's recipe) you would eat your words.

If you ate one in the Northern US, you might be justified in your opinion. Yankees do not know how to make biscuits. This is a well known fact.

I had one in Florida and tried another in Illinois, in hope I had a dodgy one, no both horrible.

Can I have Grandmother's recipe please?

My Californian niece is visiting in Spring. We thought it would amuse her to bake soft cookies, hard English biscuits and scones. I could do her some American biscuits too.

Now I know they don't do sausage rolls, scotch eggs or meat pies, I will add them to a buffet!

Seeing as lots of US MNers have gravitated to this thread, can I ask you a question? SiL's DP is American and accidentally ordered waayyy too many grits from a specialist website. She pressed the most enormous box on us- no refusal allowed. How do we cook them to make them nice? (bearing in mind I'm a veggie).

Seneca - christmas mince pies haven't generally contained meat since the 18th century.

Stubborn - can't help sorry, grits are not food imho!

My grandmother's biscuits.

2 cups of cold self-rising Southern flour (like White Lily brand)
1/4 cup very cold lard
3/4 cup cold real buttermilk

Cut lard into flour with pastry cutter. Add buttermilk and lightly mix until dough comes together. Pat biscuits out by hand. Brush tops with melted butter. Bake at 450 F for 12-13 minutes.

Americans are missing out on so much good food!

Is the flour like English S/R flour?

Do you have fake butter milk?