London Temps?
May 8th, 2012, 08:41 AM
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London Temps?
Is it true that during our five day stay in London in the middle of July that we can expect high temperatures only in the 70s and night time temperatures in the 50s? We know about chances of rain but where we live our July temps are usually around 100! And exactly what ARE "mushy peas" ?
May 8th, 2012, 09:17 AM
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Don't "expect" anything--temps could be higer or lower than that. Take rain gear and LAYERS. If it's "normal" it will probably feel pretty cool to you (does to my South Texas self) but if it's hotter there's little to no AC and it will seem pretty warm. The Tube will be at times stifling but it's just in passing!
Mushy peas are mashed up green peas, sometimes (often?) flavored with mint.
Mushy peas are mashed up green peas, sometimes (often?) flavored with mint.
May 8th, 2012, 09:24 AM
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London weather is nothing like Texas. 85 is a major heat wave. It is often grey ad drizzly and I have been there in the summer when the temps never went above 70. But it wasn;t much colder at night. You will need a cotton sweter and folding umbrella and shorts will likely be useless.
May 8th, 2012, 09:46 AM
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Why is the notion of 70-degree days in summer such a foreign concept? London is at 51 degrees north latitude - that's further north than any American city outside Alaska. It's also further north than such noted sunbather paradises as Winnipeg and Montreal. The only metro area in N. America with more than 1,000,000 people that is further north than London is Edmonton. The real shocker is that London isn't a tundra in the winter - that's due to tides, ocean currents, and various other meteorological factors.
Londoners think 70 degrees is hot. In April 2009, the press reported scores of cases of heat exhaustion at the London Marathon . . . the daily high was 68.
Londoners think 70 degrees is hot. In April 2009, the press reported scores of cases of heat exhaustion at the London Marathon . . . the daily high was 68.
May 8th, 2012, 10:09 AM
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BigRuss, you have made it so much more clear! I didn't stop to think about the latitude. Of course that makes perfect sense! Now, with my new knowledge, I will be thinking more correctly about what to bring. And let me tell you, when we hop on that plane to visit, I'm guessing our town will be enduring 106 degree temps. And then to land in the "northern regions" with the cooler temps, it will be sublime. Thanks for the info!
texasbookworm, we'll have to try those musy peas! Thanks.
texasbookworm, we'll have to try those musy peas! Thanks.
May 8th, 2012, 10:18 AM
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Mushy peas are large, mealy peas cooked until some of them fall apart and make the beginning of a puree while retaining a lurid green color. I suspect some of them come dried in a packet and are reconstituted with water. They actually taste better than they sound if you don't mind pure carbohydrate.
These appeared or reappeared around 20-30 years ago in a wave of Neo-traditionalist British food enthusiasm in which lots of people turned to eating the foods they would have eaten had they gone to public schools. They were unknown in Witney, Oxon, when I lived there in the 1950's.
These appeared or reappeared around 20-30 years ago in a wave of Neo-traditionalist British food enthusiasm in which lots of people turned to eating the foods they would have eaten had they gone to public schools. They were unknown in Witney, Oxon, when I lived there in the 1950's.
May 8th, 2012, 11:46 AM
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>>I have been DYING to know what Sticky Toffee Pudding is. Do tell! And where can you get it?<<
Google will give you no end of recipes and history: it's quite a recent invention, but you'll find it in quite a lot of places, and as a ready-made in most supermarkets. It's a very rich comfort food.
Mushy peas, on the other hand, are <i>vile</i>. They're marrowfat peas, which are more the kind of peas that are usually dried, rather than the garden peas that one buys frozen.
Google will give you no end of recipes and history: it's quite a recent invention, but you'll find it in quite a lot of places, and as a ready-made in most supermarkets. It's a very rich comfort food.
Mushy peas, on the other hand, are <i>vile</i>. They're marrowfat peas, which are more the kind of peas that are usually dried, rather than the garden peas that one buys frozen.
May 8th, 2012, 12:05 PM
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But one advantage to being so far north is a longer day! In July, London gets about an extra hour of sun compared to Seattle.
After you try sticky toffee pudding, look out for Eton Mess: Whipped cream, meringue and swirls of raspberries!
After you try sticky toffee pudding, look out for Eton Mess: Whipped cream, meringue and swirls of raspberries!
May 8th, 2012, 12:05 PM
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Mushy peas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushy_peas
I like them myself but do admit that for some people they are an "acquired" taste.
I like them myself but do admit that for some people they are an "acquired" taste.
May 8th, 2012, 12:08 PM
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<i>I have been DYING to know what Sticky Toffee Pudding is. </i>
Made correctly and your tooth fillings drop out when you look at it.
All the main Brtiish chefs have their own recipe for it - though I dare not look at Heston's version as it probably uses snail snot instead of toffee
Made correctly and your tooth fillings drop out when you look at it.
All the main Brtiish chefs have their own recipe for it - though I dare not look at Heston's version as it probably uses snail snot instead of toffee
May 8th, 2012, 12:25 PM
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There are lots of foods worth trying in England. There are lots of foods worth avoiding too.
Note that the national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. There's also the inevitable fish and chips.
But there are other items with excellent names like "Salad Cream" (unedible for anyone who didn't grow up eating it), Marmite (basically ditto), Spotted Dick (not a venereal disease symptom - it's a suet pudding), black pudding, and Toad in the Hole.
The English also leave few parts of a beast unused - the greatbritishkitchen.co.uk website has an online recipe book with a sizable set of listings for offal.
Note that the national dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. There's also the inevitable fish and chips.
But there are other items with excellent names like "Salad Cream" (unedible for anyone who didn't grow up eating it), Marmite (basically ditto), Spotted Dick (not a venereal disease symptom - it's a suet pudding), black pudding, and Toad in the Hole.
The English also leave few parts of a beast unused - the greatbritishkitchen.co.uk website has an online recipe book with a sizable set of listings for offal.
May 8th, 2012, 12:35 PM
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Mushy peas are no longer unknown in Witney Oxon, since the town started to go upmarket.
Indeed they are now a political football. Peter Mandelson (a Labour eminence grise, but actually the grandson of a Cabinet minster for all his louche pretentions) famously confused them with guacamole while slumming it in a Crosby, Merseyside, chip shop during a mid-1990s by-election there. As a result, the current Prime Minister (allegedly a toff, but unlike Mandelson with no government ministers in his ancestry - and MP for Witney) now makes a point of ordering (and expressing his enthusiasm for) mushy peas from the Charlbury chip van when canvassing votes in the town on a Friday evening.
The politically loaded point, of course, is that Cameron's got better insight into popular tastes than the self-regarding posh gits in the Labour party.
Indeed they are now a political football. Peter Mandelson (a Labour eminence grise, but actually the grandson of a Cabinet minster for all his louche pretentions) famously confused them with guacamole while slumming it in a Crosby, Merseyside, chip shop during a mid-1990s by-election there. As a result, the current Prime Minister (allegedly a toff, but unlike Mandelson with no government ministers in his ancestry - and MP for Witney) now makes a point of ordering (and expressing his enthusiasm for) mushy peas from the Charlbury chip van when canvassing votes in the town on a Friday evening.
The politically loaded point, of course, is that Cameron's got better insight into popular tastes than the self-regarding posh gits in the Labour party.
May 8th, 2012, 12:36 PM
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The English used to leave few parts of the beast unused - now they turn their noses up at most of the best bits (offal, trotters, cheeks, etc) and export them instead to China.
Sticky toffee pudding is easy to make at home.
Try banoffee pie too if you get the chance. That too is an English invention.
Sticky toffee pudding is easy to make at home.
Try banoffee pie too if you get the chance. That too is an English invention.
May 8th, 2012, 01:01 PM
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Average is one thing but it really doesn't mean everything. I've been in London on some summer days when the temperature has reached at least 35 de3grees making it very uncomfortable, especially in the underground where none of the carriages are air conditioned and pleas go out all the time to drink lots of water. I
ve also been there when the day time temperature in summer hardly broke much more than 15 or 16 but I still felt uncomfortable in my hotel room because my body just gets used to A?C and you know the old expression; it's not the heat but the humdity.
You should be comfortable but don't be completely shocked if the odd uncomfortable hot day pops up and chances are your hotel room will not have a/c.
ve also been there when the day time temperature in summer hardly broke much more than 15 or 16 but I still felt uncomfortable in my hotel room because my body just gets used to A?C and you know the old expression; it's not the heat but the humdity.
You should be comfortable but don't be completely shocked if the odd uncomfortable hot day pops up and chances are your hotel room will not have a/c.
May 8th, 2012, 01:13 PM
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<i>The politically loaded point, of course, is that Cameron's got better insight into popular tastes than the self-regarding posh gits in the Labour party.</i>
Indeed, he even likes Cornish Pasties bought at a little shop in Leeds Station
Indeed, he even likes Cornish Pasties bought at a little shop in Leeds Station
