Here in England you may not find pumpkin, strawberry rhubarb, lemon meringue, or other American favorites but oh you will find plenty of pie! Steak and Kidney Pie, Fish Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Cottage Pie, and even something called Chesire Fidget Pie. The Brits may like their pies savory instead of sweet, filled with meat instead of fruit, but to that I say variety is the spice of life!
And on that read-between-the-lines theme of cultural tolerance, let me just report from London how ecstatic people are outside of the USA about the presidential election. People stayed up through the night to hear the results and, finally, at 4:20 a.m. GMT we got the good news about Barack Obama. People were toasting pints of Guinness in pubs all over Great Britain and beyond. We may be sleep-deprived here today, but we’re not too tired to get started immediately in helping mend America’s reputation in the world.
With that, I am about to teach my British hosts how to make an apple pie, American-style — an appropriate flavor, I feel, because with a new president life does indeed seem very SWEET.