American cookery terms

KizzyK_2

When making Cornbread, is it okay to use polenta? I dont think that ive ever seen self-rising corn meal mix in the supermarkets. Or is there something else that I could use?

jenniferpa

Actually it's peanut butter and jelly, jelly being jam (or some other preserve) Jello (brand name) on the other hand is the dessert food jelly made out of gelatin.

Jennifer

stressedoutmumof1

KizzyK wrote:

When making Cornbread, is it okay to use polenta? I dont think that ive ever seen self-rising corn meal mix in the supermarkets. Or is there something else that I could use?

I always use polenta - as I can't get hold of cornmeal either. It tastes divine!!!

jenniferpa

Incidentally, I've never seen self-rising cornmeal in my (USA) grocery store either!

Jennifer

HOLsale

hello everyone! sorry i've been away, i don't have an isp until the 31st thanks to *&^%^%% bulldog :mad:

i'm at an internet cafe rightnow so this will be brief but i wanted you to know i'd not forgotten anyone!


also, a friend of ours went to the states and brought back some goodies for me!

i got my beloved graham crackers, nabisco honey maid with cinnamon and sugar on top yum! definately much more like a rich tea than a digestive, dh agrees on that one though they are soooo much nicer than rich teas, wish they made them here!

she also brought me candy corn which i've missed, dd really enjoyed that

got some jolly rancher candies, i was expecting the hard candy (boiled sweets) but these were chews... still nice though, they have such an intense flavour mmmm

she brought me some honey mustard pretzels, they weren't the type i was after but we still enjoyed them!

anyway, i've been thinking alot about food and word differences and i'm thinking of starting a american english vs english english dictionary of sorts so please let me know if there's anything you're still wondering about

maybe it could be more like wikipedia... that would be more useful because that way you get descriptions of the differences... anyway just a thought

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

I'm sure an actual American person will be more knowledgeable on the finer points, but as far as I know Jello is jelly.I think it's made from powder/crystals rather than gelatine blocks like we have.

You're thinking of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.In this case I think jelly is like jam.

jello is jelly as in jelly cubes

in the states i have never seen it in cubes, you're quite right that it's powder. personally i like the cubes better as they are easier to dissolve oddly enough. if you get clumps of powder that don't dissolve properly you get rubbery bits in the jello, not nice

jelly in american terms is made from fruit juice but no solids like grape jelly and you're right it is what goes in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

HOLsale

stressedoutmumof1 wrote:

I always use polenta - as I can't get hold of cornmeal either. It tastes divine!!!

my local ethnic grocer sells polenta listed as cornmeal you can get fine or coarse, coarse ground it the same as cornmeal in the states but either will work just fine it's MUCH cheaper to buy in large bags from ethnic grocers by the way

HOLsale

jenniferpa wrote:

Incidentally, I've never seen self-rising cornmeal in my (USA) grocery store either!

Jennifer

i've never seen it either, not sure it exists

HOLsale

jenniferpa wrote:

The important thing to remember is that a us pint is only 16 oz as opposed to 20. So a US quart is only 32 fl oz, not 40 and so on.

Someone mentioned Saltines. They are a thin salted flakey wafer. I think something like a cornish wafer would give the same texture if crumbled, although they (cornish) are much thicker. Yes, they are sometimes sold as a larger wafer that can be broken into 4. Personally, I think they taste a bit like salted cardboard, and they really stick to the roof of your mouth!

Jennifer

they are actually quite crispy and very nice with butter spread on them though they are commonly given to children with peanut butter or cream cheese etc i've seen them sold here as italian crackers but they're too expensive so i don't buy them on the rare occasions i see them, they're really cheap in the states though so they're fairly popular

HOLsale

thriftlady wrote:

Is this the More With Less cookbook Bonnie? I know it well,but the only mention of snow I can think of is the recipe for snow ice cream on page 274.I assumed it meant just that - snow.A seasonal treat.

In maple sugar producing areas of North America they drizzle the maple syrup on snow to make a kind of instant toffee HTH

yes for snow ice cream you do use actual SNOW from outside (don't eat yellow snow! :eek: :rotfl: )