I think it’s more the “spotted dick” that does it.  And what’s Toad in the Hole?  Is that where you fry a piece of bread with a hole cut in the center, and an egg fried in it?

And *why* are they called bangers, anyway?

Boo - 30 March 2008 02:10 PM

And, if you’re going for weird names for food, how could one forget Toad in the Hole?

Which is what I cooked for tea tonight, as it happens. My daughter was most put out that I’d boned the toads, like CD and peanut butter, she prefers the crunchy kind.

I still don’t know what Toad in the Hole is....please tell me it doesn’t involve actual toads....

Crafty Dragon - 30 March 2008 02:13 PM

I think it’s more the “spotted dick” that does it.  And what’s Toad in the Hole?  Is that where you fry a piece of bread with a hole cut in the center, and an egg fried in it?

Toad in the Hole. It’s pretty good.

Crafty Dragon - 30 March 2008 02:14 PM

And *why* are they called bangers, anyway?

Well, according to Yahoo Answers (I know, I know), they are the cheap sausages that are less meaty and more rusk-filled. Apparently they are more likely to pop whilst cooking than normal sausages.

That actually looks pretty tasty.  May have to try it out. 
And that explains the name bangers...cool!  I always wondered about that.

So, what I thought you were talking about is what we call “Eggs in a hole,” “Eggs in a basket,” or “Hobo Eggs.” You take a piece of bread, butter both sides, use a glass or biscuit cutter to cut a hole in the center, then put it in a pan, break an egg into the hole, and fry them both together (flipping when the first side is done, so the bread and egg get cooked on both sides).  I also fry the hole that gets cut out, ‘cause it’s yummy! 

David B. - 30 March 2008 01:49 PM

It’s probably not as bad as it sounds. I remember on my first visit to the US as a young lad being rather surprised to find that American peanut butter was much more savoury than the UK stuff, which actually has quite a lot of sugar added to it, so the idea of sweetening it to make it more palatable to children would certainly make sense. Short of sprinkling a teaspoon of ‘Sweet-n-low’ over each sandwich, grape jelly, honey or a fruit preserve would seem to be a halfway healthy method of doing so.

Mind you, I was so traumatised by my first taste of states-side PB that I’ve never tried it on any of my subsequent visits, so I can’t say for certain that it hasn’t been sugared up with HFCS like a lot of other American foodstuffs.

Actually Dave, you are right.  On a trip to Canada in the early 90’s., I was exposed to the PB the restraunts keep on the tables to be used like other butters/jellies.  It was quite a bit more bland than the US variety.  I think you might reach the same effect as US PB if one were to add, say, a teaspoon of honey and mix it up in two Tablespoons of PB.  That might come close.  (Some brands are much sweeter than others.) That and the texture of US PB is very smooth in most cases.  (Don’t know how to fix that.

If you like penuts, you would like peanut butter. (More than likely.) I go by the misquoted addage: “A teaspoon a day keeps the doctors away.”

Mmmmmmm. Peanut Butter. (Especially super chunk!) Yummy.

If one of you guys wanted to try the US kind, I suppose it might be possible to ship out a small jar of the stuff.  We had to do that for my brother who lives in Sweden.  He said that PB and a few other staples like vanilla extract (seems they use vanilla sugar in their recipies there) were hard to come by. (And expensive beyond words.)

Sorry to talk so long on PB. 
It’s just one of those things. Like pizza and Hamburgers/Chili Dogs.

Gash, lost my debit card at the Ball and thus cannot acces my funds until I get a new card this week, which will take 4 working days. So Thursday.

Luckily I have noodles a-plenty to see me through.

PB & J is quite a staple in our house.  I can buy jelly cheaply enough.  We prefer strawberry or raspberry.  I am NOT a fan of grape flavored anything.  There are a lot of different peanut butter brands...and I want to say the one I usually buy is something like $2.69.  But for some reason I have $3.19 stuck in my head...but I switch brands quite a bit.  Sometimes to take advantage of a sale or a coupon.  I recently switched to the store brand of my local Publix.  They are the BEST STORE EVER.  They’re not necessarily super cheap...but their store brand is phenomenal.  It’s better than the national brand...no matter what it is you’re buying.  The store brand PB is “natural”.  So it doesn’t have anything added to it & I have to stir it up quite a bit to get the oil to mix really well.  It’s only got 1g of sugar for every 2 tablespoons.  But it tastes the most peanutty and I think it costs less than $2.  They also have a version in the deli that they sell...that just comes in a deli container...it’s more expensive, but probably fresher.

I probably spend a little more on bread than I could.  But it seems like there is only white bread for cheap.  And what’s the point of eating white bread?  When we were little my mom would get it & we would use it for fishing.  If you spit on a small piece & then rolled it into a ball, you could put it on your fish hook.  We called it glue bread b/c it dried really hard after being wet.  So, if I want wheat bread...I have to pay more for it.

I keep slim fast cans at the house, to give to Jocelynn if I feel like she’s not getting quite enough nutrients.  They have kid specific versions of the stuff, but it’s much more expensive.  $10 for about 30 ounces.  But I can spend like $8 for 66 ounces of slim fast.

Maegan - 31 March 2008 05:16 AM

But for some reason I have $3.19 stuck in my head…

Shouldn’t you have outgrown the phase of sticking coins up your nose by now, Maegan? 

Maegan - 31 March 2008 05:16 AM

I probably spend a little more on bread than I could.  But it seems like there is only white bread for cheap.  And what’s the point of eating white bread?  When we were little my mom would get it & we would use it for fishing.  If you spit on a small piece & then rolled it into a ball, you could put it on your fish hook.  We called it glue bread b/c it dried really hard after being wet.  So, if I want wheat bread...I have to pay more for it.

Have you tried making some of your own?  You can often do that for a lot less than the bread would cost pre-made.  And there are some really really quick and/or simple bread recipes (especially things like flat-breads).

I have a bread machine around here somewhere gathering dust. I bought it second hand for like a buck and even baked a few loaves of bread in it.  (Bought special mixes and all that...) Unfortunately, after adding up the ingredients, and factoring in time and energy, it is just quicker and cheaper to buy bread from the sweetheart “used bread” outlet.

(I’ve always called it ‘used bread’ for some reason.  I used to toell my kids that it was the bread left over at restraunts on people’s tables.  the waiters would come by after folks had left and bag it all up and the folks at the store would re-assemble it into loaves....)