So lost without my pies and Mac and cheese

My local Tesco has a small, but pretty good American section. They have the exact same Kraft Mac and Cheese that's found in America. I love it, but not paying £5 for just a small box. I too found my pie pan at TK Maxx as well. A deep dished, heavy one. TK Maxx is really wonderful for kitchen supplies. Also I love my ice cubes and use them pretty frequently but I found ice cube trays VERY hard to find over here. I went into countless stores and the best I could find were flimsy silicone trays with teeny tiny sections for ice cubes. I eventually found a two pack of large, plastic ones on Amazon and they're exactly what I was looking for. 

I get a lot of kitchen stuff at Nisbets.  They've got a few shops in the UK and you can order online.  They're a catering supply store (but you can buy in small quantities) and everything seems to be good quality so far.    I got a pie tin there last year and it's done me well so far. 

Nisbets is great! I used to order from them in my old job.

Is it weird that in 20+ years in the UK, I've never felt a need for an American pie tin? What's the difference?

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Is it weird that in 20+ years in the UK, I've never felt a need for an American pie tin?

I haven't either!

I make mac and cheese, and I use LowLow (as we are trying to be healthier) which melts down really well. I'm the Brit but DW says it tastes good!

Pie plates - she's bought a couple no problem and also found pre-made pie crusts in the supermarket.

Yay!!  Thank you so much Mrs_T_M the recipe looks amazing.

Thank you all for the TK MAXX suggestion, I didn't even think to look there.  Am going into town this week to pick up my Santa suit for the Santa dash so I will look in there while I am in there.  Never heard of Nisbets but will have a look there as well for other stuff I made need in the future.

Karlee, I have seen the kraft mac and cheese, but was never a fan....i prefered the Velveeta ones better.  I brought my ice cubes trays from america, but found that the ice cube bags from Home Bargains are just as good.  And take up less room in our almost non existent freezer.

Albatross and Chary I wouldn't mind using a UK pie tin, it is just all I have found are the tart/flan pans and they are too shallow for my pie recipes.

Tykeman will have a look at lowlow if the velveeta recipe doesn't work out.  Do you know what stores she found the premade crusts??  I can only find tart bases at tesco and asda.  It drives me mad walking up and down all the aisles looking at every item trying to find things.

Thanks again all for your help!!

You can find pre-made shortcrust and puff pastry next to the butter/spreads in just about every supermarket.  Look for Jus-Roll.  I think it's sold in the freezer section too. 

Albatross and Chary I wouldn't mind using a UK pie tin, it is just all I have found are the tart/flan pans and they are too shallow for my pie recipes.

Maybe it's time to switch to UK recipes? 

Tykeman will have a look at lowlow if the velveeta recipe doesn't work out.  Do you know what stores she found the premade crusts??  I can only find tart bases at tesco and asda.  It drives me mad walking up and down all the aisles looking at every item trying to find things.

It was in Morrison's, same aisle as flour etc. She used them for pumpkin pie but you might consider those are for tarts. Any large supermarket would have them though.

I just found this recipe/article for American Cheese. I have tried mixing cream cheese with salt, milk and medium cheddar in lieu of Velveta with some success, but it isn't quite the same. This looks like it could be the real deal though. Although you may want to add some food coloring to get the whole fabulicious fake American flare. I never thought I would ever appreciate fake processed food, but on rare occasions my soul cries out for it

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/09/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-super-melty-cheese-slices-like-american.html

I made apple pies a couple of times and used deep ceramic and glass dishes that were sort of oblong since it's what I had. Also used them for chicken pot pies a lot. I guess they were maybe casserole dishes? They're not going to be all round and lovely and perfect for cutting even pieces, but they were deep and the Jus Roll pie crust cooked properly in them, so that was enough for me!

Maybe it's time to switch to UK recipes? 

I'm all for that -- only UK recipes are all in flippin' metric now!  Milliliters are OK because they're on the measuring jug but the recipes often now give you minute g weights where before they'd say tablespoon or teaspoon.

I'm all for that -- only UK recipes are all in flippin' metric now!  Milliliters are OK because they're on the measuring jug but the recipes often now give you minute g weights where before they'd say tablespoon or teaspoon.

Can pick up electronic scales, switchable between metric and imperial, for about £20.
Much easier and more accurate than using cups and table spoons. Trouble with cups is it's measured on volume, I couldn't believe it when DW was trying to squish butter into a cup...hardly an exact science when baking is actually a science. When she asked me to check online what a weight of flour was in cups, and after I told her she was going to do the same in cups for butter until I pointed out that it's volume so will differ.

I'm all for that -- only UK recipes are all in flippin' metric now!  Milliliters are OK because they're on the measuring jug but the recipes often now give you minute g weights where before they'd say tablespoon or teaspoon.

I don't use metric for teaspoon and tablespoon measures. I haven't come across many recipes that do that, unless they're ones that have been translated (poorly) from American recipes.

I don't use metric for teaspoon and tablespoon measures. I haven't come across many recipes that do that, unless they're ones that have been translated (poorly) from American recipes.

Until DW came with her measureing spoons I never really knew how to interpret thouse - was it a heaped teaspoon or not. Now at least with her measuring spoons I know it's level. So I use the measureing spoons a bit, but the cups I only use for measuring out rice.