Three random things from ursula
Cinnamon
A spice I habitually have about the place in both ground and stick form. In fact, I think it was one of those spices, at least in the ground form, that was likely to be found in Ye Brit Kitchen even during the time when it was not so common to have a well-stocked spice rack, but mostly for use in cakes, puddings, seasoning of cooked fruit, etc. Along with cloves, nutmegs, ground ginger, and presumably included in 'mixed spice'.
Toasters
For many years toast in my household was made on the eyelevel grill, but after a point - even before the whole cooker was replaced - this became defunct and we were obliged to purchase a toaster. This is all very well, but the great thing about the eyelevel grill was, that when I was making scrambled eggs on toast, I could see how the toast was coming along in relation to the state of the eggs and adjust the heat for these accordingly. This is not possible with the toaster. The present oven does have a grill, but it is incorporated into the top oven and is something that would be hard to deploy concurrently with stirring something on top of the stove.
Eels
In days bygone, when I was working in the Waterloo area, I would walk along The Cut, and pass one of the surviving Eel, Pie, and Mash shops of long London tradition. I did not ever eat there. I am not sure how many of these are still in operation, or whether maybe they have now undergone some ironic hipster revival. I have had eel sushi. I have also eaten elvers as part of a tapas menu - did not realise quite how embryonic they would be. This entry was originally posted at https://oursin.dreamwidth.org/2939693.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View
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