15 December 2007

Speaking of Food...

Okay, it is too funny that Joanna started a post about food today because I just knew I had to post this when I got some food this morning. I participated in a new program my church is doing called Angel Food Ministries this month. This ministry collects donations of food and some food surplus from restaurant suppliers and packages it up and sells it in boxes through local churches. It allows anyone who wishes to participate to buy a box of food for $30 that has a retail value of twice that or more. Then they take any profits and use it to feed people who cannot feed themselves. I think it is a pretty neat program! It is my first month to participate and I went to pick up my food this morning. You get a menu ahead of time that lists everything that will be in the box and one of the items this month was "honey pork sausage." Sounds good. When I got home an unpacked the food into my freezer, I cracked up when I saw the package.
Obviously not from around here! If you cannot read the smaller type, it says that it is from "England's Oldest Family Owned Butchers", and under the Honey Pork it says "Authentic British Style Bangers - 10 Percent Rusk." Now, maybe Tina (being practically British herself now) could have looked at this package and known immediately what to do with it. I, on the other hand, have never heard of a "banger" referring to food, and I have no idea what rusk is. It doesn't sound so appetizing though. So I looked it up. Turns out bangers are just sausages, and rusk just refers to twice baked bread - I am assuming in a sausage that means bread crumbs. Anyway, ever since going to London 10 years ago and marrying a British Bloke, I have been interested in all things British. I looked up banger's recipes and discovered Bangers and Mash. Check it out for a picture and serving idea! I'm not sure when I'll serve these up, but I am looking forward to it!

10 comments:

Joanna said...

funny, mark bittman (the chef who wrote my favorite cookbook, how to cook everything) has a recipe for bangers and mash in his cookbook. i made it with hot italian sausage and it was delicious. it's too bad they call it bangers and mash because that's sounds downright evil. i mean, who would put something called bangers and mash in their mouth? i would! it's tasty. haggis is another issue entirely. it's illegal in the united states.

those bangers are probably pretty bland, being british and all; british food is pretty bland. i'm interested to know how it is. after you make that, make the bangers and mash with hot italian sausage.

the calvary chapel in melbourne where my parents live (for the next week) are doing angel food ministries. my parents just picked up their boxes of food today. here the boxes are only $25. we didn't do it this month but we'd like to. we can't find a local church that does it. i think it's a really wonderful ministry.

Johanna said...

The box for this month was only $25 here too. The prices go up for 2008, and since you cannot get a 2007 box anymore, I put the new price. Hey, your parents probably got some bangers too!

Joanna said...

i'm going to laugh my tush off if they did. my mom hates british food. if she did i'll cook them up all yummy for her and we can compare.

Joanna said...

by the way, the bit about the banger clock and reckless disregard for health was a crack up!

Kainoa said...

Bangers YUMMY!!!! My mom used to make those for us as a kid and I loved them! Then again she made a lot of british and german food and I love it all!!!! You enjoy the yummy food!

Joanna said...

that's funny. we did crazy food like navajo fry bread, mutton stew and grape leaves. mutton stew you should stay away from unless it was made somewhere other than the navajo reservation and/or you really like a layer of fat on top of your stew. navajo fry bread should be eaten any time you get the chance especially with honey drizzled over it. grape leaves are still questionable, but i have grown to like a lot of middle eastern food over the years, especially hummus and kibbe. i'm still iffy on the british food though, except for banger and mash.

M said...

I will second the fry bread, but I don't know anything about bangers and mash or whatnot.

Tina said...

I agree, the food tends to be a bit bland... but boy do they know what they are doing when it comes to the Sunday Roast! MMMMM.... Roast, yorkshire puddings (my favorite), and roasted potatoes, all smothered in gravy.... Oh, I am hungry!

Grandma said...

Okay, Johanna, I got some bangers as well - only I didn't fully read the package and didn't know it! I only knew they were very pale-looking sausages with honey in them, and didn't sound too great, but I figured I'd cook them up for breakfast. Now it looks like they're destined for dinner!
It was my first time for Angel Food as well - most of the stuff looks good but I've got my qualms about that cheeseburger dinner....

Grandma said...

By the way, Jo, there's an Angel Food site in Lakeland & a couple in Tampa. You can find them here: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/states.asp?state=FL