Wow, it's been a while since I posted.  Sorry about that.  Not sure if anyone reads this anyway.......

So.  Passed the proposal defence, which was nice (although only after having the date set back two weeks because my Dearly Beloved Chair had something better to do).  They actually seemed quite happy with my proposal, so perhaps I have a future in ( Read more... )

Sometimes, it is easy to forget that America really is a foreign country, especially when you have been here for a few years and pretty much feel like you've assimilated and there is nothing left to surprise you.

Then there are times when you get a big, fat, slap-in-the-face reminder.  For example, when you see the following on a supermarket shelf ( Read more... )

I KNEW IT!  I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!!!!!  Take that, the people who laughed at me for never being drunk enough to brave eating a kebab.

BBC: Study reveals 'shocking' kebabs

In other food-related news, can someone please tell me why eating a good breakfast is supposed to make you healthy and slim??  If I skip breakfast (as I usually do), I can pretty much ( Read more... )

It took a few weeks, but I finally got some feedback on the banana bread.

J's mom: "Your banana bread was outstanding."
Polyphila: "Really??? YAAAAY!!! Wow!!!!!!! Go me!"
J's mom: "Oh yes. Every dog in the neighbourhood managed to choke it down."

:-D

You know you've been abroad too long when you find something from your native country on your doorstep and think, "that's AWESOME, I want it," but I have to say that I would go to A Salt and Battery fish & chip shop in New York for the name alone. :-) Just look at their menu!! They even make a CHIP BUTTY for God's sake!!!! And as for the deep- ( Read more... )

An appreciation of peanut-butter-and-jelly is culturally ingrained in the American psyche and cannot be learned by outsiders.

That will be all.

I'm actually quite excited about Valentine's Day for a change, but I suspect it's because this year's festivities mainly involve Food. We decided that the best way to get around overpriced, overcrowded restaurants and Hallmark Hell, and to celebrate the fact that we are both ridiculous foodie snobs, would be to make our gifts to one another the ( Read more... )

Yesterday was the Superbowl, or, THE MOST IMPORTANT SPORTING EVENT IN THE WORLD!!!!!!1! if you believe some Americans. We didn't get invited to any Superbowl parties, and we didn't feel particularly compelled to host one in our shitty apartment. Sooooo, we had our own party, which involved making enough food to pretend we had guests, and then ( Read more... )

Why couldn't this have happened off the coast of New Jersey???

I've just discovered the ULTIMATE time-saving device. Some company has come up with 'Crock Pot Classics' - ostensibly a box full of ingredients that you stick in a slow cooker and Just Add Water. Apparently it then "Does the cooking, so you don't have to!" Well I'm sold. I do hate it when I have to open more than one packet to put things in my ( Read more... )