On Friday I went to Cambridge to visit my brother. He lives on the outskirts in Haslingfield and just before you get there, you have to go through Barton, where my brother always stops at the Q8 petrol station for milk, ciggies etc on his way home. This place also has a huge range of food items. Well it was so amazing, it had so many American foods in there, well, for a garage shop in an English village it did have!!! Baking, Cookies, Jello, and maybe more that I didn;t see!!! Now I am sorry I didn;t take a photo but I can remember some of the things. My brother and I took a long time to look round...sad I know, just interesting!!!
UPDATE - I have always known that we have two American bases in Suffolk, which is not far from Cambridge. And more importantly we have the American Cemetery in Madingley not far from my brothers, but I never knew that Duxford, was a base for the Americans and is home to the American Air Museum., I always thought it was just the Royal Air Force.
Maybe there are a lot of Americans still living in the area, and hence, the American food in the garage!!!!
I should really do more research before posting, to save any confusion...this post was prompted because Justin , put on Twitter, that he was having Kraft Mac and Cheese for his dinner!!!!!!!
Hi Anne
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog. It s interesting to know you had relatives in Malta :-) We re such a small island that maybe I could have known them. Pity they all died . Anyway i like the flower pic :-)
How unusual, is there an American airbase nearby?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Snooky, yes such a shame, but that is life..It is such a shame that I don;t have more history...
ReplyDeleteHi Cherrypie, not that I know of..very strange.
Interesting! Did they have canned pumpkin? - I'm always looking for that!
ReplyDeleteWe have all those products in Canada, too. But we're more into Kraft products so get the Kraft PB. I haven't seen the Aunt Jemima cornbread mix, although we do have AJ pancake mix.
ReplyDeleteall processed foods, figures, that's all us americans seem to have. i'm looking forward to fresh food.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your posts, Anne (even though I don't know anything about Formula 1 - I'm impressed you follow it!).
ReplyDeleteFunny about the American products. I too wondered if it was related to air bases - there were a lot of those in Suffolk where my partner is from, and he pointed out one near Cambridge when we drove by (Duxford, I think).
Cheers from Down Under (where I also eat Kraft PB)
Hi Anne,
ReplyDeleteYEA!! Good to see American products have infiltrated British culture!! Some of those are things I use for baking! Kraft mac & cheese is sooo Ameican it screams out!!! It's soooo artificial, too... But a great comfort food!! Anyhow... French have their own processed food products, as well.. from cake mixes, to crepe mixes... etc... I think they eat more fresh food, for sure.. but the amount of processed food here has skyrocketed.. and it's not American stuff... it's there own! I try to use fresh products for baking and not mixes.. but there mixes have some many chemicals and preservatives that the cake comes out soooo much more moist!! hehehe.... We have some of that stuff here in regular supermarkets but we also have two "American stores" in Paris that cost an arm and a leg to buy the stuff!! That's why I end up bringing stuff back from the States! Take care, Leese
Thank you to everyone for your comments, wow, it did bring lots of interest.
ReplyDeleteHi to my three new readers, Snooky doodle, Carolyn and our juicy life..thanks for calling in and leaving a comment.
Carolyn to you have a blog??? Where abouts is your husband from?
WL ...sorry didn't see any canned pumpkin..!!
ReplyDeleteHi again Anne,
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about researching - it was fun to read everyone's comments!
My guy was born in Ipswich (his father still lives in the same house), and he grew up in Felixstowe.
My blog is My Sydney Paris Life at http://mysydneyparislife.wordpress.com/ I'm very new to blogging and still learning how to do it!
Cheers.
Peanut Butter is my fav. And have been known to Dr. up mac -n- cheese with peas and Tuna. A healthier casserole ;) Sort of.
ReplyDeleteSo far I haven't run into any places stocked with a lot of american foods, but then I live nowhere near a base. The odd thing is that I don't even miss those things, and would rather be able to find more exotic items from India, Japan, or Turchia. Would be funny to find an american restaurant here!
ReplyDeleteand i missed you in cambridge this time.... I blame twitter as no up dates to phone anymore :-( mind you i have had a very busy few days chat soon x x x
ReplyDeleteI never thought others would find our packaged food interesting but, come to think of it, I am always intrigued by things found in English and French grocery stores. The French always shudder when you mention peanut butter but they eat a lot of Nutrella which I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves, I used to buy that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese when I was first out on my own back in the last century. Four boxes for a dollar. Almost a whole week's worth of food!
ReplyDeleteWell, some might call it food. ;)
Haven't had any of that for (gasp) decades now.
Hi Anne,
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a find, and someone is going to either be overjoyed finding that or curious enought to try something !
The one of those foods that I can no longer stomach is peanut butter.
Oreos don't tempt me as much they used to, and I'm OK with the rest.
See you soon !
Thanks Linda, My Melange, Rowena, wcs and Barbara for the great comments..
ReplyDeleteI love Peanut butter, don;t eat it often but enjoy it all the more when I do. I also like Nutella. Linda's comment made me laugh, intrigued by food found in English stores. I find English food stores so dull, I am always on the look out for different foods. I love it when I go to the French or Italian shops, and so does my husband!!!
That's interesting. they must have a lot of American customers to warrant it.
ReplyDeleteI have read so many expats blogs, and seen all these foods mention, I was just intrigued to why they were there in a garage shop!! So thank you to everyone for commenting. :-)
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ReplyDeleteYou're going to have to get to the bottom of this now, Anne. If there is no air base... Is it run by an American? Is there some US business nearby?
ReplyDeleteSome of your non UK readers might not understand just how odd this is. Cans of Coca Cola, yes. Soggy cheese sandwiches, yes, but the other stuff...!
Oh I wish that gas station was in my town... heck I would kill for some good english cheddar cheese! At least that would still feel like home.
ReplyDeleteI would kill for some cheddar, too!!!!
ReplyDeleteCasalba - I am going to ask next time I am up there..will let you know!! Very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteLeesa and Justin...if I could send you some Cheddar I would...any preference...!!!
kraft mac and cheese is a staple in my pantry and thank GOD for it! my kids cannot get enough of this stuff!
ReplyDeleteKeeper of Chocolates - thanks for calling in again. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just a left a comment on your running blog...very eerie/strange coincidences.!!