The Story So Far ...

We said farewell to our work friends at the RSPCA and BBC on 14 September, farewell to our families on 3 October, and set off for Africa to save cheetahs, decorate school buildings, and look around a bit. After a trip home for Christmas, we headed for South East Asia on 6 January -- where we were stunned by Qatar and Cambodia, taught novice monks in Laos, and acted as security guards at an Elephant Festival. It was back home for four weeks to look after John's dad, before we tangoed our way through five South American countries in fifteen days. We then snooped our way through New Zealand, dipped our toes into Fiji, drove-thru California and were home from home with family in Vancouver.

Now, we are home itself. Fulfilled, happy, and ready to earn the respect of our friends and family by knuckling down and earning some money once again ...

Sunday, 22 May 2011

Martha's Biscuits


One of the things that makes travel in the USA easier than travel in, say, Laos, is that you don't have to worry about what you're going to get when you order a meal.  We all speak the same language, don't we?

I'm not sure that Martha always speaks mine.  She's worked at the Palm Cafe in Orick, northern California for 52 years, and now runs the place with her husband Red.  A grand lady originally from Pennsylvania, she once served  President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Ladybird.

I'm Martha, and I'll be your slice of Americana today

I wonder if the First Couple, like me, ordered biscuits, gravy, sausage and hash browns for their brunch?  And I wonder if they, too, were presented with two plump scones, smothered in a savoury white sauce, with a burger on the side, all served on a bed of rosti?  Because in American, a "biscuit" is a scone, "gravy" may well be made with milk, a "sausage" is often flat and round, and "hash browns" (that ultimate all-American gut buster) appear to be Swiss.

I had a hunch this might happen.  Multiple visits to Vancouver as a child have prepared me well for the continent where, after your brunch, you order the check (bill) before paying with a bill (banknote.)  Canada, in fact, is up next, with its added French twist.  Vive la difference, I say, and bon appetit.

Surprise, surprise!
(with our friend Donna, a teacher from Michigan we worked with in Laos)

"The pancake stack is HOW large?"
John

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