A day in the life of President Bush (1/23/05) photos

WhiteHouse.gov; various news sources ^ | 1/23/05

[snugs]

I am still confused what biscuits are I think from what Justacowgirl and others have told me they are similar to our cobblers or scones which we have traditionally with jam and cream am I right?

[Wolfstar]

Sorry, should have done that first before I bothered you.

No bother at all. Glad you found what you needed.

[Wolfstar]

Good day, snugs. It was announced today that President Bush and Jacques Chirac will have dinner when GWB travels to Europe for the NATO summit next month. The AP described it as a working dinner to take place Feb. 21 in Brussels on the even of the NATO summit and meetings with the EU.

[snugs]

Our VAT (value added tax) is 15% as well and is paid on all non essential purchases which is roughly translated as anything other than children clothes and food we even have to pay VAT on sanitary towels and tampons which as you can imagine causes outrage amongst the female population.

Services like yours I think are 8% such as phone, electric, gas etc.

So we are fairly similarly taxed how much is your petrol ours is something like 4.00 a gallon.

[snugs]

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Question about the Yorkshire pudding recipe: most of the recipes I've seen in books mention using drippings from the roast instead of the oil. I take it that the pudding comes out all right without the drippings, so I guess that's just for flavor? ***

May I answer this from an American viewpoint? My recipe also calls for using drippings from the roast to line the pudding pan. But those precious drippings go into the gravy instead. The way meat is cut in this country today there isn't much suet left on the roast. In fact, I have to make sure to shop at a meat market that will still even HAVE suet to add to the roast since I prefer a ribeye roast and they come really pared down without fat. Pouring the delicious gravy on the pudding does the trick. I guess it might be a matter of regional ways of cooking.

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You are quite correct it is regional I come from the south of England and we tend to use oil instead of dripping. Also a lot of people nowadays because of health issues/fads do not put fat/meat juices in gravy just use stock cube or gravy mixes.

I have always used vegetable oil for roast potatoes and Yorkshire and dripping in our household was put on bread or toast the following day for breakfast. The meat juices were used for the gravy but nowadays same as you say in the UK because of health fads you cannot get enough fat on the meat to get dripping and meat juices for gravy you have to choose which you want, I go for gravy each time.

I sometimes put the Yorkshire round the roast in the tin or just quickly dip in the juice to give a nice flavour especially if like dad you do not like gravy.

I think this shows in someways we are not too different.

[snugs]

Naughty naughty but I have to agree Leahy had it coming to him.

[kitkat]

***I am still confused what biscuits are I think from what Justacowgirl and others have told me they are similar to our cobblers or scones which we have traditionally with jam and cream am I right?***

Perhaps a list of ingredients for biscuits would help explain what they are:

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

We have them with chicken and gravy; some people (I'm one) like them with strawberries and whipped cream for strawberry shortcake; also served hot with butter...yum; or in place of bread for just about anything.

They're similar in texture to scones, but have no sugar in the recipe.

[snugs]

What is shortening is this like cooken (white vegetable fat)

[luvie]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Thank you so much! Of course, if I could have thought this through, I guess I could have found them for myself--I am sooo lazy! The video was just so cute! Nothing more fun than having a new puppy or kitten around. I loved it when the President said that she is "well-behaved, like Barney" (a little sarcasm there!)

[Wolfstar]

I'm anxiously waiting for the next photos of Beezie to become public. There's a new one of the President and Barney on Yahoo News Photos. He must have taken Barney to Camp David with him, because the shot is of GWB carrying (naturally) Barney to Marine One in the snow. I'm sure whoever does the Dose today will find and post it.

[luvie]

I intend to call Boxer's local and DC offices to tell them I think she's a blithering idiot and an embarrassment to the state!

Good for you! I don't know how much good it would do, since the people in her district seem to be as "blithering" as she is, but you can tell them that hundreds of your friends (all of us here on the forum) also agree with that assessment. She has truly become unhinged! In her manner of speaking of Condi and the things she says about her, it sounds like pure fear and jealousy to me. GW has done more to advance talented people of all ethnic groups than the so-called enlightened DUM-o-cRATS, and that just scares them to death! It is giving them "ethnic-envy!"

[luvie]

I will be impatiently waiting for that one! I am sure it will be added to my huge growing collection of GW pictures! Maybe even another new wallpaper! I think all these just wonderful pictures from the Dose are the main reason I am running out of disc space on my laptop, but I can't seem to ever eliminate one, darn it!

[kitkat]

***What is shortening is this like cooken (white vegetable fat)***

That's what it is--vegetable fat. But when a recipe calls for shortening here it usually gives the cook the choice of butter or shortening. Sometimes I use half and half of each. But in pie crusts, it's definitely all butter for me, and in cookies. just my own preference.

[speekinout]

The English are much more creative with sandwiches than Americans are. American sandwiches are mostly bread, more lunchmeat than anyone ever wants, lettuce and tomato (hothouse), and maybe cheese.

When I was working in London, I loved the sandwich trays that were brought in each day. My favorite was a cheese and pineapple salad sandwich - have no idea what was in it. And when I ordered sandwiches at the local shops, I always said "yes" when they asked me if I wanted "salad". I loved whatever they put on those.

But I admit that I do not have a good ear for accents, and most of the people who worked in these places had Cockney accents. I can no more communicate with someone who speaks with a Cockney accent than I can with someone who speaks, say, Chinese. So I never did find out how to make my favorite sandwiches.

[speekinout]

I really hope that the Liberals in this country don't manage to get our taxes at the rate yours are. I've been hopeful in the last few years that people are beginning to realize that we really do manage our money better than the gov't does.
But if we fall for "hillary-health-care" and insist that our Social Security system is just fine, we will be going down that same path.

[WestCoastGal]

Boy am I behind, computer trouble. ;(

Thanks for the pics, they are great!!

Does anyone remember a saying on one of these threads about Laura looking so great lately? Someone responded by saying something like 'a woman's beauty is a direct reflection of how much her husband loves her' or something to that effect.