Sprite is Lemonade?

[Tanaqui]

They're purple, and they taste like grape candy. Or, I should say, grape candy tastes like Concords.

[Ravin]

Aren't ginger beer and ginger ale the same thing?

 

I always thought so.

[Matryoshka]

The kind used for most grape juice in the US. It's a cultivar widely grown in California.

 

They grow wild around here, at least their very closely related wild ancestors.  Concord grapes were originally cultivated in Concord, MA, from the wild grapes here. :)  I have some cultivated ones in my yard that I tried to kill when I got here, but they are back.  In the fall you can smell the grapes in the woods. 

 

They are full of seeds and not at all good to eat as a table grape, but are widely used for grape jelly, grape juice, etc.  The house I grew up in had a grape arbor as well, and I remember the first year we lived there my parents tried to make wine.  I remember smashing the grapes with my feet (I was about 5).  Never tried that again.  I think my mom did make some jelly from them, though.

[Matryoshka]

They're purple, and they taste like grape candy. Or, I should say, grape candy tastes like Concords.

 

I always thought grape candy just tasted artificial.  Whenever I've eaten a Concord grape I've been so overwhelmed by the seeds and their bitter aftertaste that I don't think I've quite worked out what the grapes themselves taste like.

 

Speaking of artificial flavors, I always wondered why banana flavor tasted nothing like bananas - apparently the artificial flavor was based on a kind of banana that used to be the most popular commercial kind but there was a blight and they were wiped out and replaced with the kind we now have... (the perils of monoculture...)

[Tanaqui]

The Gros Michel. It's not completely wiped out, but it's certainly not commercially viable anymore. And the Cavendish is starting to fall prey to the same fungus.

 

The real problem here isn't just monoculture, but the fact that domesticated bananas reproduce asexually. No seeds. It's like the potato famine, but with a bit less famine and a lot more bananas. Well, until you have a lot LESS bananas, anyway. They're trying to breed a new variety, but....

[maize]

The very best grape juice I have ever tasted was made fresh from grapes growing in the Cochabamba valley of Bolivia. I have no idea what kind of grapes they were or if they are available elsewhere but that juice was amazing.

[Laura Corin]

I always thought so.

 

Not here.  Ginger beer is sweeter.  Ginger ale is more spicy.  Neither is alcoholic.

 

[Korrale]

Impossible to buy what? Underwear or turtleneck shirts? :D

 

I find both in many stores, and annually dump a load of outgrown turtleneck shirts on the local consignment shop.

Turtlenecks I find aplenty during the right season. For girls. It becomes a little more scarce with boys. But a skivvy is a thinner turtle neck that one could wear like an undershirt. Edited December 20, 2016 by Korrale

[Ravin]

 

For flapjack, maybe availability of grains?  Flapjacks that are a bit like granola bars are common in Scotland, where oats grow better than wheat.

 

Pinafore: when I was small it was called a pinafore dress in Britain, so perhaps it developed from the apron that a pp posted, but this is the dress version with a closed back.

 

Jumper comes from Arabic.  I had no idea:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/jumper

1.  

 

 

I thought if it was made primarily of oats, a pancake/flapjack type of thing was called an oatcake.

[Laura Corin]

I thought if it was made primarily of oats, a pancake/flapjack type of thing was called an oatcake.

 

Not here.  This is a flapjack:

 

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6766/basic-flapjacks.aspx

 

This (in Scotland) is an oatcake (I don't know anyone who makes them at home).  Note, no sugar:

 

Wholegrain oats (88%), sunflower oil, sustainable palm fruit oil, sea salt, raising agent: sodium bicarbonate.

 

http://www.nairns-oatcakes.com/oatcakes-rough

[KarenNC]

To answer several posts:

 

Soft wheat makes all the difference in good biscuits. I do breakfast sandwiches with them or eat plain with butter, or butter and jelly (not cream, though I enjoyed the clotted cream I had in Wales).  My dad likes them with red-eye gravy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eye_gravy (pan drippings from country ham mixed with coffee---country ham is salt-cured https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_ham). There are some areas of the South (I think more around the Ozark mountains) where people evidently put "chocolate gravy" on their biscuits, but I've not encountered that. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/187298/southern-style-chocolate-gravy/

 

A kid's party is the only context in which I regularly hear the term "goodie bag."

 

No wonder I don't like root beer! I like peppermint, am not fond of spearmint, but despise wintergreen.

 

My favorite type of grape is the muscadine or scuppernong, native to our area and similar to Concord grapes (they are all "slip-skin" grapes) www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/southern-plant-muscadines  We do eat them as table grapes, even with all the seeds and the thick skin.

 

I'm familiar with skivvies as a set of underwear (mostly from books involving someone in the military), or, in the singular, as a maid who does very menial tasks (the last from British novels). The Australian term sounds most similar to the silk base layer turtlenecks I've seen sold for winter.

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by KarenNC

[zoobie]

I learned about them when a friend from Ireland brought them over one day. Now I make them, but I always have to sub one of the ingredients because I can't find it in the US--I'm blanking on what it is. Maybe treacle?

 

ETA: golden syrup! That's what I can't find here. Here is a flapjack recipe.

I've found Lyle's Golden Syrup at Publix and World Market and on Amazon in the southern US.

[vonfirmath]

I wouldn't recommend it if you hate black currants. I'm okay with grapes, but I don't like grape sodas, so it's not like there's necessarily a strong correlation between liking the fruit and the soda.

 

This is me. Okay with grape. not really fond of grape-flavored anything.

[mellifera33]

A swag can also be a bunch of evergreen boughs tied with a pretty bow. It's what you buy if the school kids are selling wreaths for a fundraiser, but you're cheap and don't want to shell out 20 bucks. But a $7 swag? No problem.

[Laura Corin]

A skivvy is what the Wiggles wear.

 

Long-sleeved mock turtle necks in bright colours?

[KungFuPanda]

So, does the rest of the world drink birch beer? I love that stuff!

 

Well now, lemonade absolutely cannot ever be hot.

 

Only cold. For hot summer days.

Sure it can! We just call it tea instead. We call all sorts of hot drinks tea whether they contain tea leaves or not. I don't know if that is an oversight it if we just believe that anything steeped qualifies as "tea."

 

I have never put eggs in a scone. The recipe that my mum uses to make scones is the exact same recipe that I use to make biscuits for biscuits, sausage and gravy for my husband.

My scone recipe calls for an egg wash so it looks nice, but no egg in the dough. I put sour cream in scone dough, but buttermilk in biscuit dough. What's the difference between most people's scone recipes and their Irish soda bread recipes? Maybe biscuits are more like individual Irish soda loaves?

 

 

I had no idea there was a difference between soft wheat and hard wheat!

Before the Internet, you had to learn this the hard way when you moved away from the south and wondered why you kept botching your biscuits. 😒

Which brings up something I have wondered about: Are English muffins really English?

 

I wonder if English muffins are the same in Australia as in the US.

 

And how is a crumpet different from an English muffin? They look the same to me.

 

He also wears singlets which are sleeveless undershirts.

People call those "wife beaters" here. So charming.

 

No, you're not. Concord grapes are atrocious. I used to think that grape candies tasted weird and fake and nothing like grapes, and then I encountered Concords. Dear god, whyyyyyy?

 

But but but . . . How else will you make grape jelly for your peanut butter sandwiches??? 😉. I love grape juice. White grape juice tastes too much like apple juice to me.

 

That stuff is so, so nasty. :ack2:

 

That's why some of us own soda streams. Corn syrup is just too sweet. Some sugared sodas are also too sweet, but if you make it at home you can really cut back on the sugar.

Edited December 20, 2016 by KungFuPanda

[Ravin]

In what part of America is this true?  I've never heard swag used this way.

 

 

I have. In Arizona even.

[Ravin]

If you like Coke with real sugar in it you can buy it in bottles year round at Target and Costco.  They're shipped in from Mexico, so people around here call them Mexican Cokes.  If you have a New Mexican restaurant near you like we do, you can have them with your NA fry bread tacos which is one of the best meals you'll ever eat.

 

The only way I'll trust fry bread off-Reservation is if it's being served from a food truck or street vendor and I can see who's in the back making it!

Edited December 20, 2016 by Ravin

[mumto2]

Crumpets are more moist than English muffins. Even toasted. They are yummy.

[HS Mom in NC]

I don't go to conventions.  I thought people were talking about gift bags at parties.

[Laura Corin]

In Britain, the pavement (not sidewalk) is the raised part to the side of the road where people walk.  The surface of the road is the Tarmac or road surface.  You cross the road at a Zebra Crossing or a Pelican Crossing, not a crosswalk.  The lights that tell you to watch out for a zebra crossing are called Belisha Beacons.

[KarenNC]

Oh, and we don't have jelly.

 

I mean, we do, but it isn't jam :)

 

Jelly is a gelatin based, fruit flavored dessert.

 

Jam is a fruit and sugar spread. 

 

I've never seen grape jelly or jam in my life.

 

Whatever goes on your peanut butter sandwiches? :) Do you not serve mint jelly with lamb? I didn't grow up eating lamb, so it's primarily something I've read about, but I thought it was more spreadable.

 

Jello is a brand name, but has become the general term here for the fruit-flavored gelatin dessert I think you're describing. It usually has enough gelatin that it is firm enough to be cut into cubes, but it still jiggles.

 

Jelly is transparent and made with the strained fruit juice, usually not as firm as jello, so more spreadable. Most common are grape and strawberry.  

 

Then there's jam, preserves, and fruit butter. http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-conserves-marmalade-87558  I like mixing any of the jelly/jam/preserves/fruit butter into plain yogurt to flavor it.

[mumto2]

Jelly in England is a slightly less set version of American Jello. Frequently served at children's birthday parties with vanilla ice cream. Quite a shock for a couple of children who were expecting cake with the ice cream! I think it's an acquired taste, as far as I know my kids still just have the ice cream with the other toppings on offer like M and M's.

[Laura Corin]

Whatever goes on your peanut butter sandwiches? :) Do you not serve mint jelly with lamb? I didn't grow up eating lamb, so it's primarily something I've read about, but I thought it was more spreadable.

 

 

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? We don't, we just don't.

 

Mint jelly is not for spreading, it is for melting onto lamb. It has a similar culinary function to cranberry sauce with turkey. I actually grew up with mint sauce, not mint jelly - it's a liquid.

[Tanaqui]

But but but . . . How else will you make grape jelly for your peanut butter sandwiches??? 😉. I love grape juice. White grape juice tastes too much like apple juice to me.

 

I don't. I use strawberry jelly, like a civilized individual, or else I use marshmallow fluff.

 

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? We don't, we just don't.

 

Savages!

 

[Guest]

We once had a post doc from Scotland come work with us when I was in grad school. Her first day in she asked me if I wanted to go downstairs with her "for a fag". I almost fell over in shock. Hadn't the first clue what she was talking about! That's one term I had never heard used that way in the US, but have since in movies.

 

ETA- for anyone as naive as I was it means cigarette. :)

Edited December 21, 2016 by texasmom33

[ktgrok]

To me a skivvy is a stretchy t-shirt with long sleeves and a roll neck (turtle neck) but it is not a jumper (sweater)

 

Only heard of skivvies which are your undergarments. You would strip down to your skivvies, for instance. 

[Grover]

Y'all don't at least have grape Fanta?

At the moment I can get orange, yellow, purple, blue and pink fantas at the loval supermarket.

 

In Britain, the pavement (not sidewalk) is the raised part to the side of the road where people walk.  The surface of the road is the Tarmac or road surface.  You cross the road at a Zebra Crossing or a Pelican Crossing, not a crosswalk.  The lights that tell you to watch out for a zebra crossing are called Belisha Beacons.

And here that bit you walk on is a footpath and place you cross is a pedestrian crossing.  The road surface is most commonly called tarseal. 

 

Whatever goes on your peanut butter sandwiches? :) Do you not serve mint jelly with lamb? I didn't grow up eating lamb, so it's primarily something I've read about, but I thought it was more spreadable.

 

Mint SAUCE, not jelly :-), at least around here. 

[Amy in NH]

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? We don't, we just don't.

 

Mint jelly is not for spreading, it is for melting onto lamb. It has a similar culinary function to cranberry sauce with turkey. I actually grew up with mint sauce, not mint jelly - it's a liquid.

 

A large percentage of the US has jellied cranberry sauce from a can with their turkey.  It comes of the can as cylinder and is cut into round slices for serving.

[Melissa in Australia]

Well, they don't have to be bright.

 

I don't know anyone who actually wears them anymore. 

 

They were kind of a 70's thing.

I have a few skivvies that I wear in winter. more of the wiggles style ( diferent colours) not with the turtle neck

[Melissa in Australia]

In Britain, the pavement (not sidewalk) is the raised part to the side of the road where people walk.  The surface of the road is the Tarmac or road surface.  You cross the road at a Zebra Crossing or a Pelican Crossing, not a crosswalk.  The lights that tell you to watch out for a zebra crossing are called Belisha Beacons.

 Here we call it a footpath

[KungFuPanda]

Here we call it a footpath

I'd call the paved walking path by the road a sidewalk. A footpath is an unpaved walking path through the woods. If that is paved, it's a bike path ðŸ˜

[KarenNC]

I don't. I use strawberry jelly, like a civilized individual, or else I use marshmallow fluff.

 

 

Savages!

 

My family prefers the all-fruit spreads, like Polaner brand--fruit, fruit juice, citric acid, and pectin, so more of a jam or preserve, I suppose. My actual favorite thing to put on peanut butter sandwiches is either 1) honey or 2) sliced bananas and mayonnaise.   :)  But only Duke's mayo (a Southern US brand), which has no sugar.

 

Absolutely no marshmallow fluff. It only goes in Rice Krispie treats. :)

 

We couldn't send any peanut products to my daughter's preschool, so she often took cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.

Edited December 21, 2016 by KarenNC

[KarenNC]

A large percentage of the US has jellied cranberry sauce from a can with their turkey.  It comes of the can as cylinder and is cut into round slices for serving.

 

Yep, my father-in-law wants it that way, have to be able to see the rings from the can. Scroll down this page to see photo http://perfectlynourished.com/2014/11/3-ingredient-cranberry-sauce-hold-the-jelly/

Edited December 21, 2016 by KarenNC

[Storygirl]

I always thought grape candy just tasted artificial.  Whenever I've eaten a Concord grape I've been so overwhelmed by the seeds and their bitter aftertaste that I don't think I've quite worked out what the grapes themselves taste like.

 

Speaking of artificial flavors, I always wondered why banana flavor tasted nothing like bananas - apparently the artificial flavor was based on a kind of banana that used to be the most popular commercial kind but there was a blight and they were wiped out and replaced with the kind we now have... (the perils of monoculture...)

My grandmother had a Concord grapevine over a bench swing. I have a lot of childhood memories of swinging on that swing and eating the grapes.

 

We never chewed the grapes and thereby avoided the bitter seediness. We squeezed the grapes so that they popped out of their skins and into our mouths. We swallowed them without chewing and tossed the thick grape skin away into the grass. Yum!

[KarenNC]

I'm currently watching "Rosemary and Thyme" and came across another difference, at least with American and British---"trolley" for the cart one uses while shopping. I call it a buggy or a shopping cart. A trolley to me is a streetcar.

[Melissa in Australia]

We call a streetcar a tram

[fraidycat]

We call a streetcar a tram

And for us a tram is ... hard to explain. Almost like a cross between a bus, a train, and a golf cart. Usually used for short distance rides, not on a public street, such as from the parking lot to front gate at Disneyland.

[KarenNC]

And for us a tram is ... hard to explain. Almost like a cross between a bus, a train, and a golf cart. Usually used for short distance rides, not on a public street, such as from the parking lot to front gate at Disneyland.

 

A tram at a zoo in California. http://www.sdzsafaripark.org/africa-tram

 

A trolley in North Carolina (this one is on wheels, we also had one on rails for a while that looked much the same) http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/going_green/2013/06/cats-end-of-gold-rush-orange-line.html

[KarenNC]

My grandmother had a Concord grapevine over a bench swing. I have a lot of childhood memories of swinging on that swing and eating the grapes.

 

We never chewed the grapes and thereby avoided the bitter seediness. We squeezed the grapes so that they popped out of their skins and into our mouths. We swallowed them without chewing and tossed the thick grape skin away into the grass. Yum!

 

I pop out the inside, remove the seeds, eat the inside, then eat the skin.

 

Some people evidently make a pie with the hulls and the juice, but I haven't ever tried it. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/muscadine-pie

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by KarenNC

[LucyStoner]

holy cow that is expensive

Most of that is shipping.

 

They sell those at the grocery store for between $5-9 for a 6 pack depending on if it's on special or not.

[Korrale]

Well, they don't have to be bright.

 

I don't know anyone who actually wears them anymore.

 

They were kind of a 70's thing.

Ha! My mum came to visit for the winter. That is almost all she wears.

QLD must be at least a decade behind!

[ondreeuh]

And don't forget that in Britain, what we call pudding is called custard, and what they call pudding, we call dessert. I believe it's the same in Australia and New Zealand.

 

My sister-in-law is Australian (and lives in Australia), and we had a funny conversation last night.

 

"My husband finally found custard powder at the military grocery store so I can make your yo-yo biscuits."

"How funny, we have ten varieties to choose from!"

"The ingredients in this one are: maize starch, salt, flavouring, colour (annatto). Maize starch is just cornstarch, right?"

"I think so. Wait, my package has sugar in it too."

"I wonder if I can substitute pudding mix. Hang on and I'll find the ingredients."

"Do you mean pudding like a custard?"

"Yeah, Jello pudding mix. The ingredients are: sugar, modified corn starch, contains less than 2% of natural and artificial flavors, salt, disodium phosphate and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (for thickening), mono- and diglycerides (prevent foaming), artificial color, yellow 5, yellow 6, BHA (preservative)."

"Wow, how American!"

 

I have some British and Australian recipes, and they call for sultanas (raisins - does color matter?). There are a bunch of differences for vegetables, actually.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0w5L0ZsVs

[Laura Corin]

 

I have some British and Australian recipes, and they call for sultanas (raisins - does color matter?). There are a bunch of differences for vegetables, actually.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0w5L0ZsVs

Raisins and sultanas are different. Raisins are small, black and quite hard. Sultanas are large, soft and greenish brown.

[LEK]

Raisins and sultanas are different. Raisins are small, black and quite hard. Sultanas are large, soft and greenish brown.

 

Here a raisin is large and soft and dark brown. A sultana is a mid size, lighter colour and also soft. A currant is small, black and hardish.

[displace]

A large percentage of the US has jellied cranberry sauce from a can with their turkey. It comes of the can as cylinder and is cut into round slices for serving.

I make cranberry sauce from just cooking cranberries with sugar, juice, and I add different fruits because I like the variety but most just cook cranberries. I used to eat the canned stuff as a kid but I prefer cooked cranberries now.

Edited December 21, 2016 by displace

[displace]

In Britain, the pavement (not sidewalk) is the raised part to the side of the road where people walk. The surface of the road is the Tarmac or road surface. You cross the road at a Zebra Crossing or a Pelican Crossing, not a crosswalk. The lights that tell you to watch out for a zebra crossing are called Belisha Beacons.

So are zebra and pelican crossings the same, or different? I've heard of zebra (because there's lots of stripes). I'm have troubling picturing a pelican feature on the road.

Edited December 21, 2016 by displace

[Laura Corin]

So are zebra and pelican crossings the same, or different?

 

Different. 

 

http://www.idgo.ac.uk/design_guidance/factsheets/Pedestrian_Crossings.htm

 

 

 

 

[Laura Corin]

Here a raisin is large and soft and dark brown. A sultana is a mid size, lighter colour and also soft. A currant is small, black and hardish.

 

You are right - I had forgotten currants.  They are smallest and hardest.  Hmmmm.... I'm going to have to check that.

[Korrale]

Sulatanas and raisins are the same thing. And even amongst those there can be varieties.