Endeavors in the Kitchen

Last night, Tooley and I tried our hands at cooking. She made her mom's potato soup recipe, and I made brownies. Cooking in the UK is quite an experience, mostly because the stores here don't sell many of the same ingredients that we have back home. My plans to make banana pudding were nipped in the bud when I discovered that Jello does not exist in the UK (I found something similar, though), and neither do Nilla wafers. One thing that I like about the grocery stores here is the selection of fresh bread. Each grocery store has a huge bakery that makes all kinds of delicious bread that you won't always find in American grocery stores. Tooley and I bought some delicious bread to go with our soup. Most homes in the UK have gas stoves, which Tooley and I aren't familiar with at all. For supper, we generally boil water and make pasta, or heat up a dinner in the microwave. To make brownies, however, I had to actually use the oven. The recipe said to cook the brownies for 25 minutes, but after 10 minutes, the top was starting to burn but the rest of the mix had not cooked. It was almost like the brownies had been broiled instead of baked! Our landlord was out, so we couldn't ask for help (you can't really tell what you're doing just by looking at the knobs on the oven, unfortunately) so instead of brownies, we had chocolate pudding...made from brownie mix. :) It was actually pretty good! By the time the soup was ready, we looked around the kitchen to observe the damage we had done. I honestly think we used every pot, bowl, cup, knife, spoon, and fork in the whole house! Well, the soup, bread, and pudding were delicious, and it didn't take us TOO long to clean up! :) We had fun. Yesterday, I received a package from my parents full of my favorite magazines (Us Weekly and People), so I feel like I'm up to date on what's going on back home. Jennings sent Tooley and me a Halloween care package, so now our room is all decorated for Halloween! :) Thanks!