Sunday Roast Dinner

Sunday afternoon I was invited to the home of a friend of a friend for Sunday Roast. Not knowing much about the culture here, I did a little research and discovered Sunday Roast is a big meal with one or two roasts (like lamb, beef or chicken) along with all of the Fixin's as we say in Texas. Being that it seems a little more formal here than in the US, I decided to wear a corduroy skirt and sweater with tights and boots. You know, to dress up a little. Little did I know I had nothing to worry about. Apparently Sundays are just as much a jeans occasion as anything in Texas.

So they picked me up and drove me to their home in Hook where there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and ice on the road. How nice is that? It is a little ways from where I live.

This family has three children at 15, 12 and 10. I was so excited to be around some kids again. It was really fun watching them interact with each other and their grandfather. They were so friendly and open - the whole family.

We sat down to dinner and it was just wonderful. We had roasted chicken and a beef roast. Then there was a bread pudding of some sort (not dessert). This was used sort of like a gravy with the chicken and was really good. We also had corn, carrots, peas and brussel sprouts (which are not as bitter as I have had before). We had roasted potatoes and parsnips - which I love! There was also cauliflower with cheese sauce and of course brown gravy for the meats and apparently vegetables. It was all wonderful! Then we had what they call pudding (dessert). It was Apple Crumble with fresh cream poured over it. Absolutely delicious! This is something I could definitely get into on a regular basis.

So there has been a debate and questions around what "pudding" is in England. There are several dishes that are called pudding - like white pudding and black pudding that are some sort of sausage thing made with blood and who knows what else. I haven't tried them yet. Then there is Yorkshire Pudding that is a type of bread that has a hollow in it and gravy is poured in it. This is usually served with roast beef. And there is the bread pudding I mentioned above that is almost like a gravy. Here is the information that I gleaned from my friends here though - because I was having trouble connecting these things above with how they were using the term pudding. Apparently, the word "pudding" is synonymous with the word "dessert." So they asked if I had pudding and I said "no." But really I did have "pudding" because I had "dessert." Think of it like how Texans use the word "Coke" - it means soda or pop and is generic and does not specify the type of soda.

I hope that clears up the pudding issue. Anyway, anyone who comes to visit will have to have Sunday Roast with pudding (dessert)!