Lost In The Supermarket

So......
I have a "To-Do" List.
It's not a typical "bucket list".

I've no desire to jump from a plane. None whatsoever.

I have no real deep fear that I need to conquer, so that I will feel like I can look squarely into the face of death and scoff.

I don't want to bungee jump.
Or base jump.
Or scale any mountain.

I would like to see the Grand Canyon and Vegas, I suppose......but if I don't get there.....eh...no big whoop.

No.
My list is a bit more Martha Stewart-ish:

Make a Red Velvet Cake.
Make homemade marshmallows.
Learn to spin wool into yarn on a spinning wheel.
Become a really excellent barista and latte artist.

I am always interested in the small selection of products in the International Aisle of my local grocery store.

For some reason, they are always much more interesting to me, than everything else.

I am trying to purchase one thing a week.
Something that I have never had.

Like, for example, Marmite.


Oh, lookie.........it's 100% vegetarian.
So, yeah......it's a thick, sticky, yeast paste. Kind of like the consistency of molasses.

Apparently Brits love it.
They spread it on buttered toast.
I read that mothers sometimes put it on their nipples, before nursing.
That's a little weird, I think.

Today for lunch, I had this:



Rye toast, lightly buttered, with a thin schmear of Marmite and some sharp cheddar.
I probably could have put a little more on there, but I was cautious.

It tasted very salty, and a little yeasty, kind of fermented.

Mostly, it tasted, and looked very similar to a vegetarian bouillon paste I use.
I'm thinking that I will use the Marmite in this capacity, in the future.
To flavor soup, or gravy, and such.

I'm not so sure I will be using it on toast, again.
I'm kind of a toast purist.
I'm a butter girl.
Real butter.

Brits kind of do strange things with toast.....like beans......which I actually think sounds kind of tasty.

I love canned baked beans (minus the gelatinous pork glob).
I'd make a good hobo.
I could eat them for breakfast, probably.
On toast, even.


*When I think of baked beans, I always remember the scene from "Tommy", where Ann Margaret was rolling around in her white, fishnet pantsuit, in the beans that came spewing out of the television.



trippy.


And, speaking of fancy hobo food.......

Guess what was for dessert tonight?

You got it...... Spotted Dick




Which is not at all a pudding.....as the name implies.

You put the can, unopened, in a pot of boiling water for 35 minutes.

And then you carefully (with a towel over it) open it with a can opener.

It's like a steamed cake, or muffin.

It has raisins (hence the "spotted" part) and is spiced in a way that is similar to a pumpkin bread.


I looked up the origin of the name....which you've gotta admit, is pretty amusing....in a pre-pubescent sort of way.

I mean, that's the reason I bought it, right?

Who could see a can of "Spotted Dick" on the shelf and not be a little bit curious?

Apparently, the "Dick" part of the name came from some sort of contraction of "Pudding".


"Pudding" became Puddick.....which the lazy people just called, Dick.

According to my (vast) research,

"Spotted Dick" is also known as: Spotted Dog, Spotted Richard, Steamed Dicky, Figgy Dowdy, Dotted Lloyd, Dickie Burton & Dicky Widmark (after the actors).

Why not, Sticky Dickie ?

And of course, there's my favorite:

Dick in a Box !

(maybe that's what they call Dick Cheney, in Great Britain...)

As you can imagine, George was apprehensive when I told him what was for dessert.

After his initial ambivalence toward eating anything called "Dick", he said, "Is there any meat in it? I've been to England.....they put meat in everything."

I let him look at the label.

Nope.

No meat.

At least, none that they owned up to.

And it was ok.

It was really sweet. Much sweeter than I like muffins to be.

But if I was going camping....you know....out in the woods, looking for The Blair Witch....I'd definitely bring along some Dick in a Box (or, in a can).

That's some good eatin'.