In the Kitchen

So, I thought it was time we crushed the fairytale image that has been painted of our life here and get down to the everyday nitty gritty.  After all, we aren't actually on vacation in Scotalnd- we are living here.

We, like many in Europe, do not have a dryer- it's not so bad except for the crunchy towels.  This is pretty much what the kitchen looks like every other day. The washer is in the kitchen; it looks small but it is decently deep inside and I have only so much hanging space anyway!

• Our fridge; it's tiny (we purchased an additional fridge/freezer, same size, on Gumtree- like Craigslist.)
• There is an On/Off switch for every. single. outlet. in the whole house.
• Fairy brand soap!
• We have 5 rubbish bins: Paper, Plastic, Metal/Glass, Food, Anything Else. Yay for recycling!

Before = most days.  The sink has only one normal size basin with a tiny one next to it and a stainless steel surface. The cupboard under the "surface" part is actually a wee dishwasher.  And thank goodness, because dishes pile up fast in a family of five.

British things I like:

• You know how in the States you are pretty trendy if you buy the brown eggs, here that is the only choice! Also, fun fact, they are not refrigerated or found anywhere close to that section of the store; they are usually in the baking or bread aisle.  Saves on fridge space.
• Beans!  Beans are a big deal here and are pretty much a breakfast food.  You'll be hard pressed to find traditional American bbq baked beans, but I'm a big fan of the british beans on toast.
• America has Hershey, Britian has Cadbury- no contest.  And it's on, like, everything.
• Tesco has really yummy porridge.

Things I'm not so keen on:

• British cottage cheese- too thick and kind of chalky?
• British canned Tuna- might taste fine, but it looks like ground up cat food.
• Everything snacky comes in little pre portioned bags.  Portioning is good, but what if I want less, or more?  I like my freedom to choose.

An Education in Dairy

• Extra Thick Double Cream: almost butter, but not yet a solid, kind of a honey consistency.
• Clotted Cream: it's pretty much butter, yet people eat it dalloped on scones with jam and call it a cream tea (when accompanied by tea.)
• Cornish Clotted Cream Ice Cream (not pictured)  sooo yummy!
• Creme Fresh = Sour Cream.  You can find Soured Cream but I think this is closer to our american version.
• Soft Cheese- lot's of different brands, comparable to Babybel and yeah for Philidalphia!
• Monterey Jack Cheese- every so often this pops up in the store, but it's very sporadic.

So there you are- a little intro into our world and it's kitchens.