[Sarah Ann]

PhatPhoenix - what on earth is a cowtown??? If I'm making a veggie Shepherds Pie I normally make it with those puy lentils, smoked bacon flavour TVP stuff and mashed sweet potatoes and celeriac mixed. Your version sounds a lot cheaper so I think I'll give it a try next time my sister in law comes over for lunch.

Techwife - I never thought to put corn in it! Sounds like a good idea - and so does the turkey version.

I still have Shepherds Pie, its too much a part of my family life not to. I only have it once a month and I've subbed the potatoes for a sweet potato/celeriac/garlic mix which I oven roast and then mash together to reduce the cals a bit. I just told DH that I thought I'd seen a Delia Smith recipe like it - if I told him it was my own invention he would pick at it like I was trying to poison him!

[techwife]

OH..and to get back to the original topic of this thread... My avatar is a picture of my husband and I...the water is the St. Lawrence River and the land is Canada behind us. You know...it's only a river that divides the two countries and I LOVE going to Canada so much. But it only takes me about a few hours before I'm homesick. The funny thing is that when you travel around the US and go from state to state, you see signs that say, "Welcome to Massachusetts, the Bay State" and "Welcome to New Hampshire, the Granite State" and Welcome to Vermont, The Green Mountain State"...then you come to New York and it says Buckle up...it's the LAW!! It may not be the friendliest state in the nation, but it's my state and for some reason, I miss it when I'm gone. Even going from state to state I feel homesick, so I feel for you guys that are an entire ocean away from home!! I hope the people you're coming across are at least friendly and making you feel welcome!! If you were MY nieghbor, I'd have you over for tea at least a few times a week and force you to watch Changing Rooms with me!!

[Sarah Ann]

OMG - if you forced me to watch Changing Rooms I'd have to hide each time the doorbell rang.

I've never lived outside of the UK but I have moved from one part of the country to another (5 hours away from friends and family) so I know how depressing it can be to not have any local friends. Thats were I think we're lucky to have the internet nowadays. When I first moved up to Yorkshire virtually all my socialising was done on forums, its not the same as chatting face to face but its a very good substitute.

Big hugs to anyone who is feeling lonely or is missing their friends and family.

[juicylucy]

Hi nicnacmd7!

Another ex-pat here. A cornish girl in California! I miss my pasties.. ahhhhh.

Lucy

[PhatPhoenix]

Ah a cow-town is a town where there are massive stock-yards and thousands - i mean thousands - of cows! They can be pretty 'red-neck' places. Also not nice to be in when the wind's in the wrong direction! (There's no equivalent in England so it's hard to explain!) It was all huntin' shootin' and fishin' - almost no shops in the entire place, but a massive taxidermist's, for example, so you could get the things you shot stuffed! A bit like those places you see in cowboy films. We had a beautiful view of the Rockies and could get up there most weekends - it's just heart-stoppingly beautiful. The town we lived in was a university town as well as cow but when I say *cow-town* anyone in the Mid West would know what that means - just hard to explain here! Rodeo was the big thing, too. Think *Brokeback Mountain* without the gay bits... People really do wear stetsons and bolo ties and I'd have some massive 6 foot 5 cowboy walk up to me and say *Mighty purty baby, ma'am!* when I was carrying my baby around with me! It felt like being on a film set at times! We were in Northern Colorado, close to the Wyoming border. But sometimes it felt like being on Mars, it was so totally different to anything you could ever experience in Europe.

The Brits and Aussies in town became a very tight knit group and we'd have fun entertaining eachother because we all felt so culture-shocked it was unbelievable!

Sarah, Yorkshire is a much easier place to settle as an outsider now... I was born and bred here and my family has been here for generations, in the same villages around where I now live - lucky me! - but when I was a kid we were very closed to outsiders. Even someone from the next village had a recognisably different accent and found it hard to fit in if they changed schools. My step mother and her kids came here from the West Country in the 1970s and they had a really hard time of it - talking of culture shock! I lived in the Midlands for many years as I went to uni there and got stuck - always longed to come home to Yorks. When I finally got back here, my kids were in primary school and I was worried they'd have a struggle settling in, too, with their 'Brummie' accents. But it's changed beyond recognition - they were just accepted with open arms, and within weeks had more friends than they'd ever had in B'ham. And we all love it here so much we'll never move again! So I think Yorks is now a lot easier on outsiders - esp the rural areas.

[LynneA]

Ha! "Cowtown" I love it!

I live in a very rural area of Tennessee, the nearest small town to us, Fayetteville, has an old fashioned town square complete with court house in the center. It's very quaint looking with western style facades on the shops. Most of the industry/money here is from cattle farming. They even have a rodeo every Saturday in the summer. People wear Stetsons and everyone seems to drive massive pickup trucks. In the town, complete strangers will say morning or afternoon to you. I moved here from Leeds, West Yorks, talk about a culture shock!!! The pace is so much slower here, I had to really slow down!

It is so nice and quiet where we live though, when I first came here I couldn't get used to how black it got at night, I mean totally dark. If the moon was not out that was it, no light at all. The peace and quiet is worth it, no kids screaming in the street, no cars going by at all hours.

I do miss Leeds though, I'm a city girl at heart and miss the hustle, the shopping, the nightlife . Still, I can go back and visit so I haven't lost it alltogether.

[nicnacmd7]

Wow~!!.lol.well i go away for a few days to have my tummy tuck, and my thread just keeps going!!!!!lol...what a response, and you are all wonderful!! thank you so much for making me feel welcome and loved!!lol
Shephards pie.......i mkae with lamb or turkey or lean ground beef(mince!!LOL)...my family love it!!..It is our english dinner night treat!!....we also have fish and chips..only a very rare treat, as they are so high in fat!! but I go all out ladies and gents......I have to buy whiting(cod is expensive).but i batter it up and fry my chips, then i put it on wax paper, then wrap them up in white wrapping paper, and serve them to my family just like that!! the kids love it, and it makes me feel at home, eating fish and chips out of the bag!!!lol
Mushy peas must be eaten with malt vinegar.otherwise yuk!!lol
NO in the US we cannot get quorn..I use to use that in UK alot for cassaroles etc.......tatse just like chicken!!lol
Well people, I must go back to resting, I will check back on periodcially, over the next week but hopefully will be back on fulltime in the next couple of weeks!!

[cat90]

Tummy tuck? oioioio should have waited until you lost the 70lbs i'm a softy and won't have surgery unless I have something life threatening and probably not even then hope you feel better soon

Think the nearest 'cowtown' to here is Calgary they have the famous Calgary Stampede every year but i've never actually been to it..got into town once on the last day of the rodeo so missed all the action. Is a nice place though they filmed Brokeback Mountain over here too and there are lots of cowboys here big buckled belts..stetsons..cowboy boots..levi jeans I LIKE THE LEVI JEANS my husband only has one pair of shoes and they are cowboy boots. He looks a right wally walking around Preston in them with his long mullet he gets a few double takes thats for sure and he's had them for donkey's years..don't know when he bought them but they've been here longer than me (12 years)

[nicnacmd7]

Actually I have already lost alot of weight, and from 4 births bam, bam, bam, bam, I had skin and fat that just hung, and prevented me from doing my workouts, to their fullest potential, and I actually dont want to lose 70lb...I only want to lose about 50lbs more, and my plastic surgeon told me as long as I dont lose more then 60 I will not have any issue with skin!! and He fixed my muscles from child bearing so I will be able to work those muscles and keep my tummy toned!!because before I could have worked my tummy until the cows came home and it would have done no good!!
Alot of thought research and consoltations went into deciding to do it now...and i am glad I did, because I am not designed to be like twiggy and would never want to be..I have curves, and I was so glad I found a Dr that saw and new this, and assured me now was a good time to do this!!

[Britmum]

I just laughed when I saw you guys talking about mushy peas. I was born and raised in south Cumbria. Nr Kendal. I 've lived in the States for 10 yrs. I used to eat mushy peas on toast instead of beans on toast!!!

[veggie]

Ooh you must of been near me Britmum, Kendal isn't far from me.

[Britmum]

A beautiful part of the country. I go home about every 18 months. The next trip will be at Xmas. There is nothing like good English Xmas dinner and BOXING DAY. I really miss that here. With plenty of Quality Street and Roses!!!

[nicnacmd7]

Oh how you make me weep!!!!!lmao...I havent had an english chrimbo dinner in 10 years...i try so hard to pull it together here .but it just isnt the same......my sisters send me paxo and oxo.....but I have to use lil' smokies(mini.smoked sausage's) as a substitute for chippalata sausauges.........it just isnt the same!!!!!
Britmum........my sister lives in Penrith, and I grew up in Carlisle........cumbria is deffo one of the most beautiful area's in the UK!!

[Britmum]

Carlisle and Penrith are fun places to go shopping. The Lakes are a great place to grow up. I'm from Kirkby Lonsdale. A small market town. I love chippolata sausages! I know I thought about using little smokies wrapped in bacon, but I thought that would be wierd. I also miss a good Cumberland sausage pub lunch. I still get my tea bags sent from home. I get Yorkshire tea.........! Also you cannot beat Marks and Sparks. Plus I'm a huge Coranation Street fan.

[cat90]

I don't like Oxo Bisto is my choice i'm lucky I can get PG Tips over here (if I want) but i've given up tea drinking. I just drink hot water now I was sick as a parrot when Marks and Sparks pulled out of Canada even though it was a special treat to drive 20mls to shop there and pay exorbitant prices