Starting a blog...

Yes, I have joined the ranks of the bloggers. Unemployed since December, newly married and spending long days alone at home, I need something to do. Admittedly, I have a law degree to be completing but what is study without some serious procrastination?

So why American cooking? It all stems back to a heady summer in Berlin where I met a real gentleman - a man who stood up when you came into the room, and indulged my passion for eating cakes and watching 'Rock of Love with Brett Michaels'. A true Texan although, to my mother's disappointment, one who didn't wear a cowboy hat on his European travels. The summer ended; I went back to England and he to Texas. One long year later, he moved to the UK and joined me in a quaint old town, complete with a castle and a cathedral and a host of bizarre festivals celebrating Ye Olde Englande in all its glory. Over the last three years, he has slowly adjusted to the English way of life: the fact that you have to put your shopping in bags YOURSELF; that, despite spending huge amounts of money on the heating bill, buildings are never warmer than outside is; and that a 'short walk' is rarely under two miles. But a particular adjustment has been to the food here. Much has been positive - he loves Yorkshire puddings and thinks the tradition of Sunday roast is fantastic. He has even tried black pudding. Despite these little glimmers however, his soul has oft yearned for the mammoth breakfasts where maple syrup is an acceptable (and delicious!) topping for bacon and the mounds of sour cream and grated cheese that come with anything designated 'Tex-Mex' or, often, just 'food'. This was something I began to recognise once I visited the USA and now, four or five trips later which have taken in places including Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia and California, I look forward more and more to the culinary delights on offer when we go back.

Pancakes, chicken fried steak (not involving any chicken whatsoever), enchiladas, pecan pie, peach cobbler, any meat that has been barbequed (the Texas way, not by going to Homebase and buying those disposable things which never light properly so you have to finish the sausages off in the oven anyway), mac and cheese (miles better than anything you were ever served for school dinners), margaritas, burgers, really weird stuff like cream gravy and 'biscuits' (i.e. scones but served with ham, not jam)...the list is endless. So it has become my mission to cook American in England as authentically and flavourfully as possible, ostensibly to make up for the fact I made him leave his family and friends five thousand miles away and move to a place where it is impossible to get breakfast out on a Sunday morning - but really, so I can indulge my own stomach!

I'll be posting up a variety of recipes that I have tried, normally inspired by American cookbooks or friends but adapted to take account of the vagaries of English measurements and supermarkets. I'd love any of your recommendations!