Crisp Taste Test

This weekend my sister, brother-in-law, Warren and I all taste tested five new flavors of chips. Here are our thoughts:

Flavor: Cheesy Beans on Toast

I really like beans on toast, but I did not like these crisps. We thought they were too buttery and smelled pretty bad. Ranked #4 (after a huge drop from 3 to 4)

Flavor: Chip Shop Chicken Curry

Really flavorful, too much flavor to just eat by itself. Tastes like really cheap chicken curry (hence the name: Chip Shop Chicken Curry). Ranked #3 (after a very serious drop from 2 to 3)

Flavor: Pulled Pork in a Sticky BBQ Sauce

This one got mixed reviews. It wasn't as strong tasting as some of the others. More subtle but definitely tasted like pork. Not sure if I want my crisps to taste like pork, though. Ranked #2

Flavor: Hot Dog with Tomato Ketchup

One reviewer said, "I would only eat these again on a dare." That is how bad they were. They had a super bad aftertaste and tasted more like the dirty water used to cook hot dogs instead of an actual hot dog. All the reviewers really like hot dogs and would way rather just eat a real one than these crisps. Ranked #5 (dead last)

Flavor: Sizzling Steak Fajita

These crisps smelled like a sloppy joe but had a distinct green pepper taste. Overall it was pretty good. Would be much better if eaten with a sandwich. Ranked #1

Final verdict: After taste testing all the crisps we decided that they all had issues and we probably wouldn't eat any of them again. But it was interesting to try them!

Buckingham Palace! And Other Awesome Stuff...

My sister and brother-in-law came to visit us in London this weekend. We ate loads of interesting foods (jacket potatoes with beans and cheese on top, hot dog flavored potato chips, and brown sugar mints to name a few), spent time walking around the city and my sister and I even toured the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. 

The tour was great, the rooms were incredible! If you plan to come to London for a visit and want to do the tour, plan your trip for August since that is the only time it is open. This year the queen extended her stay at Balmoral in Scotland so the palace was open for tours both August and September. Here we are at the end of the tour. Sadly, photography is not allowed inside so this is the only photo I have. 

This week is London Fashion Week. We happened upon some models doing a photo shoot in Covent Garden and I snapped this picture from the back of their shoot.

Also in Covent a Garden we walked past Five Guys Burger and Fries! This is just part of the line to get in. I'm sure we will go there sometime when we are feeling homesick. 

I will put up posts later this week with more about our chip taste test and the Japanese sweets my sister likes to eat, but this is what we had for lunch Sunday at the Spitalfield Market. One dish is macaroni and cheese, mushy peas, and sweet potato. The other is a steak and kidney pie with mashed potatoes and gravy. All of it was awesome. 

Due to some issues I am experiencing with the internet right now, that is all I will post. But we hope to have internet at our apartment early next week and maybe some temporary internet before that. More to come...

A Day In The City With My Sister

On Wednesday my sister came to London for a work meeting and I was able to spend some time with her before and after her meeting. We went to one of her favorite stores called Minamoto Kitchoan where they sell Japanese sweets made from sweetened beans and glutinous rice stuff. We also went to a store called Fortnum and Mason where they sell posh groceries and have over 40 different kinds of honey. Fortnum and Mason are also the originators of the Scotch Egg that I discussed in an earlier post. Here we are with Big Ben in the background.

The day went by really fast so I am glad my sister and brother-in-law are both coming back for a proper visit this weekend!

Hyde Park

Yesterday we walked around Hyde Park. We live within a slightly-longish walk to Hyde Park so the entire thing took about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from start to finish. Hyde Park is really nice and is so massive that we were only able to see one part of it. We will probably have to come back two more times to see the entire thing! This first picture is from the Italian Gardens at Hyde Park.

This next photo is of the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park.

We have been very fortunate to have lovely weather this last week and it is forecasted to continue throughout this next week as well. I took this picture from the trail that goes right behind our flat and follows along Grand Union Canal.

One New Food

Today we tried these things called Weirdoughs. They were cheese and onion flavored. The intention of these donuts is to taste like a chip. And they definitely hit their mark! The sad thing is that they tasted terrible! But they really tasted like cheese and onion chips mixed with donuts. I would definitely not try them again. Although I hear there is a salt and vinegar version that I would be open to trying...

In non-food related updates: our computer did not make the jump across the pond very well. The one corner is completely smashed, and there is a very large crack going all the way across the screen. Surprisingly, the computer still works just fine! 

Also, those of you who are familiar with the area where we lived in Omaha will especially like this story. I was at the local grocery store and I saw a little girl in a school uniform and on her shirt is embroidered her school name: Our Lady of Lourdes! Our old house was right by a Catholic school/church called Our Lady of Lords! By the looks of it our new Our Lady of Lourdes is not in as good of shape as the original.

And finally, I wanted to include a photo of our little Poppy who has really settled in well at our flat. 

She loves laying near the open windows and has claimed this chair as one of her favorite spots.

Our New Flat

We moved into our new flat in Nuffield Lodge in Maida Vale. We won't have internet for a few weeks but luckily I found a Starbucks at the nearby Paddington Station. But with Hot Chocolate for £3.60 it makes for a pretty expensive Internet cafe! Here are photos of the apartment:

We even have more counter and cabinet space than we had at our old house!

Our balcony overlooks this cute river with a trail that takes you to Little Venice (which really isn't anything more than a few houseboats and some Italian restaurants). But the river makes for a nice view, and it is quieter than most of the other apartments we saw. We just need to get a screen for the balcony so we can keep the door open without losing Poppy or gaining a pigeon.

The trail on the farther side is open to the public, but the area with benches on the same side as our building is private with access only to residents.

One New Food

The Brits love flavored chips: Prawn Cocktail, Roast Chicken, Marmite, Smoky Bacon, Pickled Onion, Tomato Ketchup, etc. We tried Worcester Sauce. I didn't like them at first, but Warren liked them from first bite. The chips were really good as a side to my chicken-bacon-sweetcorn sandwich, though. 

At the grocery store we found English Muffins but they aren't called English Muffins here!

And finally, one non-food related thing. I went to the Post Office yesterday and found I needed to take a number. I've waited a long time in line at the Post Office before, but this is ridiculous! 31 people were in front of me in line! They even had a waiting area with couches.