Some comments on supermarkets here...

I'm planning a "search for all American necessities possible" day in London very soon. :-/

If you would like some company I would love to join you!  If I am feeling brave enough I just might do the full blown Thanksgiving dinner too  

Keep me posted!
expat  

If you're coming to London, there is a huge supply of American goods in both Selfridges off of Oxford Street (use Bond Street tube station).  I found pumpkin pie mix there last year.

There's also some seriously good stuff in Golders Green in some of the Jewish shops.  A lot of kosher food is made in the US so they import it over here....yummm!

I've found saltines, oreos, jiff, pretzels of every shape and size, real pickles, syrup, cake mixes, pancake mixes, even some American cleaning supplies, believe it or not!

Golders Green is on the Northern Line and you want to go to The Country Market on Golders Green road.  Let me know if you're popping down and I'll meet you somewhere and show you all my favorite hidden spots!  

Wishstar and expat, we may just have to set up a "American shopping in London" date - and soon!  I need to know exactly what I can't get so my mother can mail it to me in time!  She's already got a regular 9" pie pan in the mail...still working on the 10" one needed for most pumpkin pie recipes...and I need a turkey baster!!!!!

How does sometime the 1st week of November sound?  I'm serious about this!  Both of you - PM me and we'll firm it up!!!

I'm going to vote for the online shopping option.  I have the choice of Sainsburys, Tesco, or Waitrose online shopping -- all deliver to my area.  I've used Sainsburys so far, and really like it!  Especially the "Recipes" section -- find a recipe you like, click, and the ingredients are put into your trolley, along with a note to make sure you don't already have those things in your trolley.  Talk about convenient!  I also, like someone else mentioned, like the fact that the price totals up automatically as you shop.  Makes it easier to keep track of spending.

Stephanie

Does anyone ever feel like Lucille Ball when they are trying to bag all the groceries, and the belt won't stop??? I used to go into a cold sweat, but have done 2 things, order online, soo much easier, and if you notice at Sainsburys, they have a big sign that says they will help you with your order.  I admit I feel snobby, but when I got an order of about 250 pounds in my two carts to feed the animals, I ask, and they do....just have to ignore the suffering looks from the others bagging themselves!  

a food shopping trip in london....i wanna go!!   real dill pickles? oh how i miss those, hehe.  

Does anyone ever feel like Lucille Ball when they are trying to bag all the groceries, and the belt won't stop

YEP!, ive never thought about it that way before, LOL.  

im an online shopper too...id lose my sanity if i wasnt

I really miss the opportunity to do online grocery shopping here in Atlanta. We used to have it but they all went out of business unless I'm mistaken. As far as bagging my groceries myself, I don't mind but here you have to make sure they don't overcharge you (which happens a lot) and I can't watch the viewscreen and bag groceries at the same time.

In Sweden everyone bags groceries themselves, you even purchase the bags, but they have this nifty thing that separates the bagging area into two. They just move this divider that closes off the area with your stuff in it when they start ringing up the next person. That way you still can take your time a bit to bag your groceries. That seems like it would be a nice thing for them to implement in England since its so stressful to get everything bagged in time.  

They have that bagging area divider in IKEA too... must be a Swedish invention!

..... They just move this divider that closes off the area with your stuff in it when they start ringing up the next person. That way you still can take your time a bit to bag your groceries. That seems like it would be a nice thing for them to implement in England since its so stressful to get everything bagged in time.  

You arrived in the UK too late!  Most supermarkets used to have the dividers that you are talking about, but for some reason they were removed as supermarkets were refitted during the '90s.  

I think it was that if there was to much un-bagged stuff then the devider wouldn't move across properly, and if your stuff was on the far side it was difficult either to reach across or get back around to pay.