Trans-Atlantic Knowledge Exchange

[Outdoor Girl]

I have and love my electric kettle(s).  I don't have any problem with them dying quickly.  And they are really handy when I'm travelling.  I'm a bit of a tea snob; I like the water to be boiling.  So I have a small 3 cup kettle that goes with me to the hotel room when I'm travelling for work.

The trick:  If you live in an area with highly mineralized water, make sure you dump out the rest of the water once you've used what you need.  The hot water helps keep the sink drain clear, too.

When water is heated and then cooled, the minerals in the water come out of solution and deposit on the heating element in the kettle.  But if you dump the water out right away, those minerals don't get a chance to deposit.

If you do notice a build up, you can boil a solution of 1 part vinegar to 4 or 5 parts water and it will remove the minerals.  Just rinse really well.  CLR works even better but I like the vinegar because it is a food item so that if I don't get it rinsed out well enough, it might not taste good but it won't hurt me.

[RainhaDoTexugo]

Our water isn't a problem here, I just don't like the water that comes out of electric kettles.  Maybe it's the type of plastic, or something.  It's not that they die fast, they just taste bad   But as I said, I'm picky enough to have a hierarchy of tea mugs, so I may be unusual

[Luci45]

Apparantly in the US a woman gets,(used to get) her husbands first name as well. Is there any other country that also does it.

the correct formal address is "Mr. and Mrs. Hisfirst Lastname."

We take Mrs. John Smith as a written address, but are never spoken to as John Smith, only Mrs. Smith as a respectful name. It always works fine for me. That discussion is on the envelope thread and as you can notice, things are changing.

I think the Russians used to take the husbands first name feminized. (I am mistaken about this. Please see below.)

I now by now how it is done in the US, the other thread made me curious about other countries, and since there was a discussion on general differences between countries here, I thought I would put it here instead of starting a new thread.

I was addressing your sentence that we get the husband's first name, too. We do not use it as something we are called by. No one says 'Hi, John' to me. They say "Hi, Lucy." That's what I thought you were asking. Sorry. You and I seem to agree on so much! I don't want to cause an international incident here.

I also found out the answer to Russian names. I misunderstood. The first name is the surname, and it changes to a feminized form of the husband's last name. Her given names reamain the same.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090205085823AAnQZKU

[HushHush]

The scones I've had are kind of like a flat donut.  Fried bread served with butter and honey or other things like jam.

Something I've seen in romance novels (I know  ) is for a masquerade, the man will be a domino.  But it doesn't sound like its really a costume.  More like a tux with a plain mask.  Is that correct?

[HeebyJeebyLeebee]

As I understand it, TV cook Alton Brown did a good job of explaining Pudding.

Brittish pudding historically referred to a dish that's boiled or steamed, typically in a bag.  It could be sweet or savory.  Christmas pudding is done that way, then soaked in a brady sauce and lit.

US pudding is more like a custard.  Alton Brown would argue that a true pudding has no eggs (as the inventor created the dish for his wife who had many food allergies), and that adding eggs would make it a custard.  Jell-O's pudding mixes follow the no-egg theory.  My family's recipe for chocolate and vanilla pudding contains eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and chocolate (for the chocolate variety).  

My family is also know for taking said pudding, pilling a pie shell with it, and covering with whipped cream.    

I have no idea what Yorkshire pudding is, other than it's savory.

[RainhaDoTexugo]

I have no idea what Yorkshire pudding is, other than it's savory.

It's light, and savory, similar to popovers except that I wouldn't consider serving it with jam and powdered sugar.  Very very yummy.

[Winterlight]

A domino is a short mask that covers the area around the eyes and in between. If you've ever seen the Lone Ranger, the mask he wears is a domino.

[Twik]

One thing that puzzles me about Britain - why do they usually have one tap for hot, one for cold? In NA, we join the two streams into one tap, so you can adjust the temperature until it's just right, not frantically flail your hands under the twin taps going "Too hot! Too cold! Too hot! Too cold!...."

[HeebyJeebyLeebee]

Any questions about Chicago or Houston?  (or the very long drive between them?)

Or Texas and the Midwest?

[RainhaDoTexugo]

One thing that puzzles me about Britain - why do they usually have one tap for hot, one for cold? In NA, we join the two streams into one tap, so you can adjust the temperature until it's just right, not frantically flail your hands under the twin taps going "Too hot! Too cold! Too hot! Too cold!...."

I always figured that was an age of building thing.  Most of the modern buildings I was in (or buildings with modern bathrooms) in the UK had a single tap, and I've been in older buildings in the US that had separate taps. 

[Luci45]

Central US here.

My grandmother had only the cold tap from which she drew water then heated as needed. This was common in her neighborhood. She felt lucky to have running water at all. When the neighbors got water heaters, they just added another tap.

I grew up with two taps - I had actually forgotten that! We put the stopper in the drain, then filled a couple of inches of water in the sink to wash hands. The towel took the soap off with the water. Finger food didn't taste so good, so I always rinsed one more time in cold water.

The house we live in was built in 1967. When we moved in (2002), it had six sinks, one with the two faucets.

[Larrabee]

One thing that puzzles me about Britain - why do they usually have one tap for hot, one for cold? In NA, we join the two streams into one tap, so you can adjust the temperature until it's just right, not frantically flail your hands under the twin taps going "Too hot! Too cold! Too hot! Too cold!...."

I always figured that was an age of building thing.  Most of the modern buildings I was in (or buildings with modern bathrooms) in the UK had a single tap, and I've been in older buildings in the US that had separate taps. 

I remember moving into a newly built house with my family in the mid nineties and the 'mixer taps' were quite an exciting novelty!  (UK)

I don't think the cold water from single taps is ever as bitingly, refreshingly cold as the water you get from a single cold tap though.

[LadyPekoe]

I get food questions a lot on my blog from international readers (which I, oddly, seem to have a lot of).  I'm cooking my way through "The Joy of Cooking" which I consider the preeminent American cookbook (of course, I'm biased).  Foods that seem to be pretty uniquely American include: packaged marshmallows, graham crackers, ranch dressing, hot sauce like Tabasco...I'm sure I can come up with more if I ponder it  

I love shortening.  When you make cookies with shortening, they are more cakey and soft than they are with butter (with butter they spread more and tend to be flatter and crispier) or (shudder) margarine.  I use lard for pie crust or refried beans. 

I have a kitchen scale, I never use it.  I also have an electric teakettle, I've only ever used it in office--at home I use my beautiful Le Crueset stovetop teakettle. 

[LadyPekoe]

Oh, and Americans eat very, very little lamb.  And it's pretty expensive.  Same with veal.  I'm in the meat industry, so I can probably answer meat questions if you've got them.

[Bethalize]

Foods that seem to be pretty uniquely American include: packaged marshmallows, graham crackers, ranch dressing, hot sauce like Tabasco...I'm sure I can come up with more if I ponder it  

We're getting more and more US food here but Graham crackers haven't made it over yet. The others we can get now.