Season 1, Episode 2: The Best of Britain At Home

On to our next installment. Ok, so far we've discovered the *foodie aspects of Britain, now on to entertainment.

• Problem: I'm on the verge of going "Van Gogh" (may the reader understand) over the lack of Britishness in my life. I'm tired of watching American television. What's the closest thing I can get to ITV or BBC outside of 2 minute clips on YouTube? Please help...

Solution: Wisely surfing the Internet and BBC America.

 I could mention Netflix here as an option, but everyone already knows that Netflix will carry the non-truncated BBC version of the Cumberbatch Sherlock and other miniseries that we get here in the U.S. with about 10 minutes shaved off each episode when it airs. /sigh...

Anyhow, see if your cable provider carries BBC America. While the programming is limited and occasionally has nothing to do with the U.K. (Star Trek comes to mind - what does this have to do with Britain other than Patrick Stewart?), you *will* have new seasons of Top Gear, Gordon Ramsay spin offs and reruns of British classics like House of Cards. True, it won't be your average every day authentic BBC programming (if onlllyyyy!), but it's close enough for Government work.

Then there's Tunnelbear. I recently discovered this and have yet to try it out, but I'm researching it at the moment. Basically, it's a VPN (Virtual Private Network) program that lets you circumvent geoblocking of Internet media across continents. Before you start biting your nails, NO this is not illegal. Go here for a solid rundown from PC magazine of what Tunnelbear does. It will make you smile when you realize that getting through to the BBC website's media will be wonderfully easy! So smile. :-)

• Problem: I'm one of those weird Americans who think the SuperBowl is a waste of time. I'm bored. I also love Scotland (YAASSS!). I've seen Braveheart too many times and I can only eat so much Walker's shortbread....help me?

Solution: Look around in your area for the upcoming Highland Games. Problem solved. As Jolly Boy John would say, "FOR REAL!"

THE PIPES! THE PIPES!

In my area, we have some very good Highland games indeed. The Rural Hill Scottish Festival is a godsend for Caledoniaphiles: there's also a small market at the festival to buy British import delicacies. You can spend a good chunk of your wallet on this alone. (Erm...not that I ever have...heh..heh..) They usually run for a solid weekend, so buy tickets for the entire festival if you can and dig in. On the drive over, play the soundtrack to Braveheart in the car or better yet, put on some Albannach, a Scottish rock/folk band that does it the TRADITIONAL WAY! They're rebellious, proud and wild without being too cheeky, so I'm a big fan.

Highland games seem to be more popular in the Southeastern United States than anywhere else, but I may be wrong. Type in "Scottish Festival" and your Google browser will do the rest of the work.

Or just buy a croquet set. Seriously. It may come in handy when you throw your own Anglophile party this summer. Just think: some shandys, tea and sandwiches on the lawn, some union jack bunting and some Holst, Butterworth or Elgar on the iPod and you're ready to leave the cardboard American life behind you for some quality English time.

That's it for now. Next week: how using your imagination can often be the best escape to the Sceptered Isle and the best places to meet desperate people just like you (desperate for the U.K., that is)...

*I had forgotten to mention Abigail Rogers's e-book "Cooks and Queens" in my last post! Abigail is a fanastic gal and ardent advocate of all things British; her book looks at how British food is actually underestimated, whether it's Bubble and Squeak or a Cornish pasty and has recipes, historical background on different eras of food, the whole lot. Visit her blog Picture Britain while you are at it!

Cheers!

Short Interlude

This recent post from Anglotopia is in the same vein as my weekly series. Give it a readsy. :)

The Pope's Visit to Burnistoun...

...in Scotland, that is. The best of Scottish comedy there ever was. I've been hooked on this show lately and am now a devoted fan of Connell and Florence. Here's a wee skit for ye, timed appropriately. ;-)

Craving more? Check out the horse on the rotating slope. "Absolutely gorgeous!"

Stay tuned, I'll have another installment of my British in America series this week.

Crisps! Stateside! British! Yummy! Oh the crisps, the crisps!

I'm ecstatic! Which means every sentence has to be punctuated like this! I just found out today that Tyrrell's Crisps are now sold stateside and the closest crisp within my reach is only a few miles away!

I'M HAPPY

 

This is a smashing opportunity to use this post as an advertisement in between British-loving blog posts! Go to the Tyrrell's Store Finder page to locate your local Tyrrell's provider!

 

Eat, drink and be British.

 

 

Thank You!

My New Weekly Series - A Bit of Britain at Home

For those of you who read this blog at any random period of time or know me well enough, you’re familiar with my love of Britain. It’s a part of my identity like having brown hair, or voting Conservative or being allergic to shellfish (yes) or being a dog lover. Literally, I have Anglo-Irish, English and Scottish blood running through my veins like Chamomile tea (thanks, Mom!), so it suffices to say that I’m obsessed with all things British. To be fair, it’s one of the things that have kept me going since January of 2009 – while I wait impatiently for November 2016 to show up, but that’s a different, complicated story for another time.

Point is, I’ve decided to write a wee post describing how an Anglophile like me gets her fix while living in North Carolina, 4,000 miles away from the nearest London airport. I'm just happy I don't live in my native California; you can't imagine your in Dorset in your mind's eye when your exterior eyes are glazing over sand, palm trees in an arid climate.

 Feel free to adapt my idea to your own region/city/realm. Are you dreaming of Britain and would love to visit, but have nowhere near the sum of currency that it would take to get you there and back? Do you need a substitute experience to hold you over before you do? Maybe you’ve already been to England (*YAAASSS!) but won’t be going back for a while or ever again (NAAEEEE!), so you need a metaphoric soul-pacifier to satisfy your crumpet-loving spirit?

Look no further.  Here’s my first installment of my weekly series, "Help me I belong in a country not my own but I'm stuck here in this other country help help heeeelllpppp!" This is how hard core Anglophile gals do it! When a Styrofoam cup of tepid Lipton’s ™  tea and a Lance ™ vending machine cookie won’t stand in for a good cuppa and biscuit or bacon butty, read the following:

•   Problem: I’m in the mood for a lovely pub, but there is no such thing in America. Only a seedy bar. What do I do?

Solution: Find a British-themed restaurant and love it to death.

The Big Ben British Pub in the Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte is where it’s at, brother. The food is as close as you can get to real pub fare in the U.K. The owners are from England, so you can be sure it’s authentic. On weekends, a crowd of soccer (or football) fans, usually Arsenal, come in and watch the game with a pint and some fish and chips. It’s a cozy atmosphere that should not be missed. Plus, it’s near uptown, so it makes a great dinner-and-a-show destination. 

Ri-Ra’s Irish Pub is on Tryon Street uptown. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s basically a chain restaurant, but who cares!? It’s the atmosphere that draws me; the soda bread with real Irish butter (or so they like saying) just feels right in the winter months and don’t miss the Beef and Guinness stew. When the restaurant reopened a few years ago after a fire, the parquet floor that was put in as part of the renovations was manufactured by Harland and Wolff, the same company that funded the Titanic. What with the dark wood, chandeliers, Irish music playing over the sound system and other embellishments, it’s easy to conjure up feelings of Ireland and James Cameron film shots. It’s certainly worth the trip uptown.

Ri-Ra's: The Upstairs Bar

• Dilemma: There are no Tescos or Waitrose’s in Charlotte. It would be great to have a box of real British tea or a bottle of Irish mustard (just go with it) in my kitchen. What’ll I do?

Solution: Find your local World Market or Big Lots. Shop there. A lot.

You’ll usually find a good selection of British food items at either store. World Market can get a bit expensive (I once paid $5.00 for a candy bar…never again.), but if you’re desperate, you won’t care. Especially during Christmastime. Puddings, HP sauce, canned Devon Cream, tea, biscuits, crackers, you name it. If it can survive in a delivery box from the U.K. to the U.S., it will (again, usually) be there.

However, there’s a new Big Lots right up the road from my house, where one can buy a $2.00 box of Typhoo tea, where it might cost $7.00 elsewhere. Just today, I bought a small package of Bourbon Cream Biscuits for $1.20…a dollar freakin’ twenty, kids. Brought a lovely smile to my face.  Most of their items are insanely cheap, whereas the same item at World Market will cost ten times that. So do a bit of research before you buy anything. :-)

$1.20. Yaaaasss.

I'll have more tips next week! Learn to love your local Highland Games and make BBC America your best friend. Cheerio.

*What is "YAAAS", you say? It's the Scottish equivalent of "Yessss". It's my new thing...dig it.

Crunchy Frog!

Hi Folks,

Once I find a way to post more regularly via something like Seesmic, I'll do so. For now, I thought I should drop by and wake my blog up from its peaceful slumber.

I found this! Exploding Chocolate Frogs from Fortnum and Mason.

It reminds me of this!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6uLfermPU

Suffice it to say, I was quite pleased. ;-)

I'll ramble on some more later. For now, bon appetito.

I went away for a while, but now I'm back. ;-)

If I have been missing in action for the last several months, never fear! I wasn't too far away at least.
 I'll get to the point and instead of a rambling essay, I'll just make a bullet list of this summer's events, because I'm in business-mode right now and my creativity is basically taking a nap. :-P I'll include pictures as well. So here goes:

• I spent most of the summer prepping for my teaching position at the Abbey. Thankfully, all the work paid off and I'm settling in to my role just fine. In the meantime, I'm also still tutoring English and History and just recently took on another project at BAC which shall remain a surprise until later in the year. ;-)

•  In June, Dave and I had the privilege of meeting Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna when he came to Belmont Abbey to celebrate Mass and receive an honorary degree. I must say, it was the highlight of the summer and an experience I won't soon forget. Receiving a blessing from His Eminence was very special, even for a Baptist girl like me. ;-)

• The Abbey also hosted its first Literary Conference (I spend a lot of time there, don't I? haha) in June. I didn't present a paper myself, since I was busy spending most of the earlier part of the spring and summer getting my Grad work done, but I thoroughly enjoyed being in the audience for a change! The theme was Transformation in Literature, which included everything from Shakespeare to James Joyce. Stanely Fish, a well-known figure in the realm of English Comp and Lit, gave the keynote address. I'm hoping we can continue the tradition every year! Who knows, maybe Harold Bloom will show up next...

• Also in June, our good friends Heather Byrd and Andrew Achter were married! It was a beautiful ceremony (how could it have not been?), with the right touch of Hacther wit (yes, that's their new celebrity name, apparently! :-) ).

• Then there was the family reunion in upstate New York with Dave! What a relaxing few days it was: there was coffee, tea, family, children, cookies, a $1 book sale at the local library, some nice dinners out and marvelous weather! It was a nice respite from all the prepping I was doing on the computer and in my own head. :-P

Niece Jade

In-Laws :)

Cousin Shot



Coco the Cat!



So there, I'm caught up for the entire summer. 8) Here's to the fall semester; I'll spend the first week of September hiding from the DNC, but that's ok!

Cheers,

Em