Cheers to London!

We the Pringles are blessed to have great friends, the Fletchers, who live in London and were gracious enough to allow my friend Leah and I to spend the past week with them.  And what a week it was!  In terms of sightseeing, we saw it all – Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, Tower of London, Kensington Gardens, and Harrods department store.  Other highlights for me included attending a rugby match (go Leicester Tigers!) and seeing War Horse, a new play in London that is coming soon to Broadway.  I even found time to meet up with some friends (from BC as well as Barrington) who are studying in London for the semester.  Always fun to casually text a friend, “Meet me by Big Ben at noon!” 

Typically when people talk about England, they do not make complimentary statements about the food there.  There are very few dishes that the country is famous for aside from fish and chips.  However, I am happy to report that my culinary experiences in England were all in all quite positive! 

One afternoon Leah and I walked through Borough Market located at the south end of London Bridge.  There were hundreds of food stands and samples galore.  Olive oil, breads, cheese, cakes, ravioli, homemade pesto sauces…all for free!  I was in heaven.  Leah and I ended up buying some sun-dried tomato pesto and this amazing bread that had been baked in flowerpot (see picture below). 

One of the most memorable parts of our trip to England was the time we spent in the Cotswold’s, a rural region north of London that was the home of Shakespeare himself.  The Fletchers have a home in Hornton, a darling and foggy little village in the hills with matching thatch-roofed houses, narrow roads, and fields for sheep and Shetland ponies.  During our walk around the village we made a stop in the village pub to get warm and have a cider.  This tiny, run-down pub, known as the Dun Cow, appeared to be the sole commercial establishment in the entire village.  The place was a perfect cliché, complete with a fire blazing, a sleeping old dog, and a barkeeper with a long gray beard who referred to me as “the fair maid.”  I’ll never forget the Dun Cow. 

What will I miss most about London?  English Breakfast Tea and Cadbury chocolate.  Fortunately the Fletchers sent me off with some of each, so I’ll be in good shape for a while at least.  But now it’s time to say good day to London and buongiorno to Firenze!  

Surprise Sendoff!

Last night I was like a four-year-old on Christmas Eve.  I couldn’t sleep.  Too excited.  I thought this day was never going to come, but here it is.  In a few short hours, I will be on a plane to London! 

So as I watch the Bears game in my living room, thanking God that I’m not at Soldier Field with my Dad and brothers in this freezing weather, I want to write a quick post about my final preparations before departure, many of which revolve around food.  Naturally, I couldn’t leave the country without a little taste of home.  One place I always have to eat at while I’m at home is Egg Harbor Café.  If you are from my hometown of Barrington, Illinois, then you understand.  Egg Harbor is just about the cutest brunch place you’ll ever find.  And I never go there without seeing someone I know; I love that.  Most people order eggs or pancakes, but I always get lunch food when I go there.  Tomato bisque and a half Chicken Salad Italiano sandwich to be exact.  Never disappoints. 

The other must-eat whenever I’m in Chicago is deep dish pizza.  There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world.  Italy may have invented pizza, but I doubt they do deep dish the way Lou Malnati’s does.  Just saying. 

Then last night, my family surprised me with most beautiful sendoff.  Here’s what I knew: that I was going to have dinner at Shaw’s Crab House (a great Chicago seafood and steak restaurant) with my parents and younger brother.  Here’s what I didn’t know: that my two older siblings, their significant others, and my grandma would all be joining us!  It was a wonderful surprise, and it meant a lot that my entire family wanted to be there to see me off.  We had crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, oysters, calamari, Alaskan king crab legs, steak, and mashed potatoes.  Everything was amazing.  The meal also functioned as an early 21^st birthday dinner.  My mom even had chocolate cake (the same special kind I mentioned in the last post) waiting for us at home.  I couldn’t have planned a more perfect last supper. 

Now I’m all zipped up and ready to go!  Europe, here I come…

An appetite fit for Florence

If you know me well, you probably know this about me: I enjoy food.  Now you might be thinking, Sure, sure, I like to eat too.  Big deal.  Everybody does.  Yes, I agree that we all like food and need it for survival, but my affection for food is above average to say the least.

I revel in a good meal.  In fact, I love nothing more than a long leisurely meal with excellent food and good company.  You see, to me, eating is an experience. 

I guess you could say that my love for food is innate.  I have always been an adventurous eater with what they call a “mature palate.”   At the age of 5, I would open a menu and say, “Dad, pick me something I’ve never had before.”  Mac-n-cheese simply would not do. 

Each year growing up, I got to choose a restaurant for my annual birthday dinner.  For five or six straight years I chose Chili’s.  Why?  Simple answer: I was crazy about their baby back ribs. 

“Full slab of ribs please, side of steak fries,” I’d tell the waiter.  “And I’ll start with a small Caesar salad.  Oh, and we’ll take an Awesome Blossom for our appetizer.” 

Keep in mind this is my seventh birthday.

“Are you sure?  We have a kid’s portion,” he’d say, looking to my parents with a skeptical expression.    

“No, she can handle it,” my Dad would respond, giving me an affectionate pat on the back. 

Forty-five minutes later the waiter would clear away the empty plates, shaking his head in wonder.  Then we’d drive home and eat dessert.  Chocolate cake with mom’s homemade icing.  And ice cream, obviously.  I always had room for dessert. 

It is truly a miracle I was not overweight as a child. 

Nowadays I just can’t eat that way.  Wish I could, but eating “swanky frankies” (hot dog wrapped in bacon with melted cheese) on a regular basis like I did as a kid is not exactly healthy.  My fondness for food remains, however, and so my family and friends were not surprised when I chose to study abroad in Italy, a country known for its culinary genius.    

Like I said before, eating can be an experience if we allow it to be so.  Meals allow us to have conversations, build relationships, celebrate milestones, or gather with friends and family.  And through meals, we can learn about a culture. 

With this idea in mind, I begin my blog.  I have dreamed of going to Italy since I was a little girl.  Over the next four months, I will be studying in Florence and on some weekends I’ll be traveling around Italy and parts of Europe.  In one week, I am flying to London to spend a few days with some dear family friends who live there.  After that, I'm off to Florence.  I could not be more excited!  I plan to use this blog as a sort of journal to record my adventures in Europe, both culinary and non.  I’m sure that this semester – through meals, museums, monuments, and memories – I will gain a new appreciation for cultures beyond my own and maybe even learn a little about myself.  Here’s to what will undoubtedly be an unforgettable couple of months!  Stay tuned.