Mixin' It Up

Well, I really have tried to be a little more “adventurous” since my Creature of Habit post. And I don’t mean the stupid kind adventurous where I roam strange parts of the city at night. While I’m sure good stories would come from such ridiculous behavior, I’d rather live to tell the tale. So I’m starting out small. Step one – cooking dinner. Now, this might seem like quite a small step for life in the “comfort zone,” but for me this is a rather large step. Grocery stores here (and frankly anywhere abroad) intimidate me. When I was in Greece a trip to the grocery store would leave me frustrated, homesick and possibly even in tears. While I do have a small advantage given that the labels are in English here, many times the packaging and name brands are so different that I am left wondering; “Do I really need this item?” Now sometimes I do get lucky and find something I wasn’t expecting. For example, one morning in the search for eggs I stumbled across real bacon. Not that British ham they call bacon, but the nice crisp fatty stuff. Of course, southern biscuits were not an opinion (I’ll have to be brave and try homemade for those) but after about 30 minutes of walking up and down the refrigerator aisle I still hadn’t found eggs. Frustrated and not willing to concede to failure I finally asked an attendant. He graciously led me three aisles over to the area with cereal where he pointed to the carton of eggs and walked away. Of course! Why didn’t I think to look next to the cereal? I’ve become a little too comfortable with running down the street to grab a £2 burger, chicken or pizza meal. Besides the fact that I feel like I’m about to be on a first name basis with several of the cooks, last night I dreamed that I stepped on the scale and it read 60 lbs more than when I left the States. I woke up in a panic and made a healthy (ok, well it’s a start in the right direction) grocery list from some hit Rachel Ray meals and headed off to Wimbledon to navigate my way around the “mega” store. More options equal a higher success rate, right? Plus, my runny nose last week had left me completely out of toilet paper and the Wimbledon store is the only place to get twelve rolls for £1.50. Quality is not high on my priority list these days. Walking into the store I felt a little like I was walking into a jungle. There were holiday-crazed people everywhere. I actually have never seen people literally pushing to get to the brussels sprouts (eww). In order to use a cart here you have to pay £1 pound deposit and then when you put the cart back you get your £1 back. I haven’t figured out where to put the cart back yet, so I usually just use a free basket. This does limit the amount of things I can buy, which I guess isn’t a bad thing, considering I do have to carry them home. I decided to be patient and stick to the list. I collected a bag of small potatoes, an onion, green and red pepper, a tomato (yes, can you believe it? I really am mixing it up). I found my way to the chicken, which was on sale for £3!! What a bargain! I chose not to look at the date and just vowed to eat it very quickly. I stumbled around and found a few more items and made my way to the cashier. I have learned to always bring my own bags because many stores actually charge anywhere from five to 20 pence for a bag (besides, using my own market bags is more environmentally friendly). After waiting in a long line it was finally my turn. I always struggle to prepare my bags, load my bags (baggers are not a provided luxury here) and pay all at the same time. However, for the first time ever, I managed quite well. I had opened my bags before it was even my turn so plopping them down on the counter was quick and simple, my debit card was waiting in my pocket and while the cashier swiped my first items I stuck my card in the slot and swiftly put my items into my bags. The whole transaction took about three minutes, but the line behind me was growing antsier and I was just ready to get home! Since my flat is actually someone else’s home, an elderly bachelor at that, the dishes, pots and pans supplied for cooking are very limited. However, I was able to make do with what was provided. My first official homemade dinner in England was a Thai Chicken wrap. With no measuring cups the measurements were guessamounts. It might not have been the best meal I’ve ever made (and definitely not the best I’ve ever eaten) but it was edible and enjoyed. Since then I have been brave enough to make roasted baby potatoes, chicken tortillini, Parmesean Chicken with diced tomatoes on top (I know, still a shocker!) and a couple of baked potatoes. Maybe tonight I’ll brave lemon pepper chicken. The goal: To not eat out until after Christmas and maybe even until next year!