sweasel.com

Hamburger’s a good idea. We here Merkins have much to thank the English for, but the first one that comes to mind when I think “hamburger” or “cheeseburger” is Cheddar. Thank you, England, for cheddar cheese.

But Merkin bacon’s the best, and if you want onion, Georgia’s Vidalia sweets are the best on any kind of burger.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the North Hollywood shootout.

I like the olden days when LAPD had a special task force for really violent crews. They wd gather intelligence on them and wait until they robbed a place. When they came out, LAPD was waiting and there was an inevitable shootout with bad guys dying. Leftys complained that it was an execution but these people were really really bad. Shuffling off their mortal coil was a gift to humanity.

I have been given to understand from my daughter who studied in London that Brit hamburgers are as pitiful as Brit pancakes.

Actually, I had a HUGE lunch (featuring lots of American-style bacon). I may give dinner a miss.

Oh, look — it’s Gin O’Clock!

In America, St Pancake Day is celebrated on March 16.

A little butter, a little lemon juice, a little powdered sugar.
Then roll em up in a packagey looking boxy affair, and eat em the way German descended Texans claim Hans eats em.

Can anyone settle for me is rare steak not done (ha! I make zee clean double entendre!) across the pond? I used to eat lunch with British co-workers who would sometimes wince when I cut my steak and it mooed.

My family frequently had hotcakes for supper, but Husband is dead set against a sweet meal in the evening. Dessert however, is not a problem. 😉

The first recipe I learned from memory was for corn bread. The second was hotcakes (pancakes).

I got that reference, Ric Fan.

They eat their beef a doner over here, DurnedYankee. Uncle B likes his with no pink whatsoever, but that’s not universal. I’ve ordered it rare in restaurants…and got it rare. I’ve heard that you can’t get rare steak here, but it’s not my experience.

(featuring lots of American-style bacon)

I think I’ll just leave this here.

Pancakes! I love some pancakes! I don’t think I would care much for the crepes type- the fatter the better, and without the maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg, why bother? Well… that’s not actually true. I also love savory pancakes…. I personally like to make them with crumbled cooked sausage, celery, and corn. I can’t claim any originality there… I learned about savory pancakes in Japan where they are considered serious eats.

http://okonomiyakiworld.com

My beloved spouse is cooking up a batch of delicious banana pancakes. She makes about a month’s worth at a time (seriously) and we freeze them in baggies. They survive the freezing, thawing. and reheating quite well. Anyway, I guess she had too much banana on hand and she made a bunch of battered and fried bananas as well. Those don’t last long enough to freeze.

I’m offended by the implied superiority of the pancake race. Waffle lives matter!

Do you have maple syrup in the U.K.?

It may be heresy to some, but I use an instant pancake mix from Krusteaz

http://www.krusteaz.com/products/pancakes-waffles/buttermilk-pancake-mix

that is just outstanding. Add water. That’s it. I do lube the skillet with real butter, but dang you guys have to try it for no fuss no mess pancakes.

Pupster, I’m happy to testify in favor of Krusteaz pancakes and other goods as well. I’m quite fond of their lemon bars and key lime bars. Yummy!

I use the Aunt Jemima mix:
http://www.auntjemima.com/products/pancake_waffle_mixes/buttermilk_complete

Pupster, I just checked the kitchen, we are using Krusteaz. Tastes good, easy to mix and cleanup. We do add fruit, usually bananas.

Pupster – nothing wrong with Crusteaz! Now that Hansmann’s Mills no longer sells retail, Crusteaz is about the best box mix out there. Hansmann’s was the 2nd greatest thing to ever come out of Binghamton NY. The 1st is the ultra high end McIntosh amplifier company. Spiedies don’t count.

Confession: One Halloween I went as Aunt Jemima. Stuffed bra, gingham dress, apron, bandana on head, a little cork to face, bowl and wooden spoon. I wasnt crazy about it but it was authentic. Being that it was the 60s, no one said anything. OTOH, I wonder how many of my teachers were mortified.

Still, Aunt Jemima was very cool. Always a big smile on her face and pancakes! What’s not to like?

Another thumbs up for Krusteaz.

Yes, they import maple syrup here. It’s usually hella expensive, but Aldi’s got it for about half anyone else’s price.

How they do that, I have no idea. Wal*Mart tried getting a foothold here (they own Asda) and couldn’t bring the prices down enough to succeed.

My daughter and I were in Denny’s the other day, imagining how successful a 24 hour restaurant like Denny’s would be dropped into central London. Or an American style buffet? My daughter likes to regale her teen stepchildren with the wonders of American eating out. They’re like “24 hours? Really?!” “You can go back for as much meat as you want????”

I’d be happy to be able to just get an actual burger (as opposed to the meatloaf sandwiches that pass for burgers there) someplace besides BK or McDs. In n Out was hugely popular in London when they did their demo a few months ago, imagine being able to get a burger like that any time you like. Or Five Guys. Or Habit. Or any number of great burger joints that dot US strip malls.

It really pisses off my daughter’s MiL when we muse about things like this. She thinks we’re insulting Britons. We’re anglophiles, so that’s not it, obviously. They just don’t do some things well.

Don’t get me started on what passes for Mexican over there.

Oh, and another thumbs-up for Krusteaz. I use bisquik, too.

Don’t get me started on what passes for Mexican over there.

No matter how bad it is there, it can never be as bad as the “Mexican” food I had in Singapore. It was basically Chinese food formed into Mexican shapes. Abominable.

When Mrs Fert and I were in Japan we ordered a home-delivery pizza from the NCO club on base.

We had gotten boneless fried chicken and fried rice from them before and it was pretty good.

When our pizza pie came, it was a flattened pie shell (think Pillsbury) with sauce & cheese.

When my fellow GIs wanted to mess with the JNs (Japanese Nationals) working the line at the mess hall, we’d ask for a cheeseburger without the cheese or a hamburger with cheese.

I know the expression is not original, but Ahh Japan. Nuked too much or not enough?

They put ketchup on nachos in North Yorkshire.

Mexican in New England isn’t much of an improvement.