ABOUT ME

I come from a place where the expressions ‘toad in the hole’ and ‘spotted dick’ leads my mouth to salivate like Pavlov’s dog and my stomach to rumble with anticipation. Bangers and mash are not some form of firework display but pure decadent comfort on a cold day.

Are you wondering if I come form Mars or am I at the very least a little bit crazy? Quite simply I am neither. I am an ordinary English woman with a passion for her homeland and its food.

All my life I have been surrounded by my ever growing family and its time-honored traditions. Mealtimes at home with my parents were a true family affair with wholesome, filling food that warmed away the cold rainy days, long winter nights and of course mild summers. Feel good food creating a feel good atmosphere.

Both my parents grew up in war torn Britain where food was rationed and you were grateful for anything that was put on the table. My mother, an evacuee transported out of London to avoid the bombings, was sent to the country along with her brothers and sisters. Traumatic no doubt but at least she had the benefit of fresh produce regularly albeit small amounts. My father however, stayed in London for the duration of the war and was not so fortunate. He often tells about nights spent down in the air raid shelter with his tummy grumbling whilst the planes roared overhead and the explosions of bombs shook the very ground he was sitting on. His mother was very resourceful. She expertly negotiated extra vegetables and cheese for her family to eat from the black market when the opportunity presented itself which was not as often as my dad would have liked. Can you imagine our kids today coping with those kinds of restrictions? What about when there is only water to drink because your milk has run out and you cannot get anymore until the next week or you are only allowed one fresh egg per week? Candy was truly a treat that came along once in a blue moon! My mother had never even tasted a banana until her teens. With these experiences behind them it is no wonder that my parents instilled into my siblings and me the importance and blessing of food in our lives and need to be thankful for its mere presence at our table. They taught us to enjoy and experiment with new flavors and foods whether we ended up liking them or not. I can still remember my mother so full of pride when she produced her first spaghetti bolognaise and my father’s concerned face, at the same time, as he decided he was not sure he was allergic to garlic although he had never tasted before. A memory I can keep for a lifetime.

In my adulthood I have been blessed with the ability to travel extensively both B.C. (before children) and A.C. (after children). Following in my parents footsteps, I have introduced my children to new foods and flavors as much as I possibly can. To this day I still revel in the memory of my 4 year old daughter’s face as she discovered Moules Mariniere for the first time or the stunned waiter when my son asked for more Paella at a bustling bar in Mallorca.

Five years ago my life changed completely and I soon learned that food was going to be my leverage on my children’s outlook to our new life. One night my husband announced, in his change is afoot voice, ‘Darling we have been asked to move jobs again” NEVER in a month of Sundays would I have dreamed that this time the move would include planes, boats and a new country!

Within a few months my family and I were hurtling towards North Carolina. Armed with only the possessions we could pack on the plane as all our others were in a container somewhere in the mid Atlantic Ocean we arrived at our new house expectant and excited. After all, we had travelled a lot how different can it be? How wrong could I have been? Being in a new country on vacation is a wonderful experience but you are still safe in the knowledge you are going home and to all that is familiar to you. I sorely underestimated the change for my children and was quick to learn that although I could not provide the familiar surroundings of friends, family and places I could at least give them comfort by way of food.

I embarked on quite a comical and sometimes frustrating journey to fill my house with the food my children loved. I immediately hit the supermarkets available to me at the time which was Wal-Mart, Food Lion and Win Dixie. I simply must have been naïve or just plain idiotic but I was sure that the food would be 99% the same after all a sausage is a sausage or a swede is a……………………….. um a rutabaga – close, very close! I knew that I was going to be in trouble, serious trouble with months of sulking children so I had to quickly become a great food detective seeking out the food I needed and discovering the different names. I sought out different supermarkets in North Carolina who could provide me with precious commodities like Spanish (not Mexican) Chorizo, Marmite or the wonderful HP Sauce that without life is not worth living!

After many months of hard work and converting recipes I was once again a normal operating mum safe in providing her comfort food to her children and what’s more delighting in introducing some new ‘southern’ flavors. I can honestly say that today I have an Anglo-American alliance of food in my house.

In this journey I also discovered that a great way to make new friends for my children, my husband and I was to throw our doors open and invite people to enjoy our food. I love to explain the traditions or stories behind my recipes. After much success and encouraging words my husband has convinced me to share these recipes and stories with everybody as by way of a marked respect for our parents and heritage. So here they are my family’s favorite food I hope they bring as much pleasure to you as they do to us