I Really Miss The Following Things:

Rosie, Costco sells Skippy (smooth and crunchy).  Do you want me to send you a crunchy one?

Also I live (literally) next door to an Italian deli.  4 types of provolone!

Let me know if you need me to hook you up.

If she's like me with the Jif, Skippy won't do.

Umm... provolone, please!  Does it need to be kept refrigerated?  How can I get some from you?  Ooooh!  Bring it to the party/meetup we're meant to be coordinating!  Would you please?  Pretty pretty please?

I have Jif PB! I think I had my choice of crunchy or smooth when I bought it, but I prefer smooth so that's what I have.  The important thing is it's Jif.  I got it from Ocado, which is primarily supplied by Waitrose.  So, check Waitrose.  I didn't realize it was hard to find.  I let my husband eat most of it because I'm allergic to peanuts, so I can only have it when he's not looking.  ( )  Now, maybe I regret "wasting" so much if it's not commonly sold over here... 

I completely agree about the added sweet/lack of salt.  My first tin of green beans over here was a shock.  I could not understand why they tasted so bland.  It didn't take too much salt to "fix" them, but it really made me sad (I tried to replicate my mom's American-convenience tuna noodle casserole one night not long after I moved here, when I was feeling a bit on the homesick side; the noodles were wrong, the UK doesn't have condensed cream-of-whatever soup as a thing, and the green beans didn't have salt... the whole thing was a complete disaster, and it gave my husband no end of ammunition to criticize American "cuisine").  I don't see mention of pickles, but that's where the added sugar thing is the worst!

I miss the plethora of hobby, craft and fabric shops I had my pick of in the US.  I miss affordable access to different types of wood than just "white wood" (usually pine, but might also be fir) or oak.  I miss soooooo many foods that I can't even think of them all.  I just know if I ever do go back to visit, I won't fit on the plane to come home. 

I would murder a cheesesteak.  Rumor is provolone might be found at an Italian deli, if you live near a city that has one.

PICKLES omg I forgot pickles. I haven't been in a Waitrose yet, but will definitely see if I can find one near me. I'm in the center of Notts/Derby so it's definitely not a cultural hub LOL There's NO Italian deli's near me. Unfortunately.

Don't get me started on Hobby Lobby. I could live in that store. Not even playing. I live for their Christmas section. There's something here called Hobbycraft that isn't too bad as far as art supplies goes (I can get canvas, etc) but it's not a very huge selection and I can't get to my local one by bus so it's only on hubby's dime I get to go LOL.

Gah! Condensed soups. Yes. I can find Campells cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery. But no regular tomato soup-it's all cream of (and one of my favourite dishes uses condensed regular old tomato).

Cicadas!  Nothing like em.  And Lightning Bugs!!!  I think my husband thinks I’m telling porkies with lightening bugs.

We went camping in the East TN area last year for two weeks as a sort of honeymoon and I will never forget the look on my husband's face the first night when we were in a field full of lightning bugs. He was like a little kid, so excited. He had spent his entire life thinking it was just something made up for films. We took his daughter (who's 19) with us to visit TN last month and she was the same way. I miss them too.

Rosechassit, I could go on forever about plus size clothing....  And shoes, I too have US size 11 feet, but mine are very narrow.  So you can get size 9s in wide, but impossible to find them in narrower sizes. 

I'm surprised you say Boots doesn't have the makeup section - the one in mine seems big. I guess I've never been in a massive Walgreens with a big makeup section. 

As for things like dried pinto beans and cornmeal, if you can find a whole foods co-op type of store, than you'll be in good luck. But cornmeal can also be found in Indian supermarkets if you can't find in the supermarket (I can).
Apple butter , honey mustard, honey butter,  time to start making your own or bringing from the US. I bought a jar of pumpkin apple butter last time in the USA and I think it's about time to crack it open!  But it's actually really easy to make apple butter.   
Okra is easy to find, but again to bread, you'll need to make it yourself.  Idaho potatoes are just standard starchy potatoes, but King Edwards or Maris Pipers or Russets don't work for you?

'Rustic' Christmas decorations, would recommend scouring garden centres. 


I got an air popper for popcorn at Lidl a few years ago. The thing is ace. 

Thanks for the sausage recipe Rick, I'm going to make! 

I'm currently missing Cinnamon LIFE cereal,  but my British friend is in the US right now on holiday and bringing me some back!    Funny, it will probably be too sweet for me now, but the craving is hardcore.

If she's like me with the Jif, Skippy won't do.

Umm... provolone, please!  Does it need to be kept refrigerated?  How can I get some from you?  Ooooh!  Bring it to the party/meetup we're meant to be coordinating!  Would you please?  Pretty pretty please?

Yup, just remind me.

Jimbo, the underwear thing is annoying to me, at least lol.

I've not yet sat foot in France, but I've had French food in several places here and....I'm not inclined to be impressed so far LOL the last French cheeseboard I tried was like trying to eat moldy old socks. Awful.

THE CANADIAN THING KILLS ME.  I am DEFINITELY from the Southern US and sound like Foghorn Leghorn if not careful.

nctami72...YOU HAVE QUESO?!AND A Mexican Market?! *sobs*
Your pizza looks amazing, btw.

OOh you mentioned sausage gravy....I miss JImmy Dean sausage in a roll that you gotta make the patties out of by hand. I hate the sausages here. They're bland and tasteless. I even miss those crappy Banquet heat and eat sausage links that cost $1.

My daughter who's 10 is going to miss Takis.

MissRadiohead...omg buttered popcorn. We go to the cinema a LOT and I've learned to just get salted....but it's not the same. I w2ant to swirl my fingers in the bottom of the bucket and get all the buttery goodness....and it's just not meant to be.
(See you're going to Penrith, I just stayed there this past weekend and ate at Salsa's...great place and great drinks and propbably the best nachos I've had since coming here)


KFdancer, while I appreciate the offer, my ALdi sells crunchy Skippy and I bought a jar all excited thinking I had finally found an acceptable sub....only to be disappointed and reminded of why I never ate the Skippy brand in America. However, your offer of provolone cheese is a completely different story.


words. Words and their meanings and pronunciations...dear sweet baby Jesus. I can't stop referring to trousers as pants to save my life. I also flat out refuse to say aluminium or fillet. It's aluminum and filet!

phatbeetle, my feet are also narrow. I've had to resort to men's boots but they're usually too wide so foot pain and it's just tiring. And not all EU size 43's are made equally LOL.

I didn't mean Boots didn't have a makeup section, it's just not as large of one as what I'm used to and I miss some makeup brands really badly. (Covergirl, ELF, Hard Candy)

the only time I've ever found cornmeal in the grocery store it was in enormous bags. And my personal pref is to have self-rising anyhow. I suppose I could make certain things myself, but I miss the convenience of not having to. SOme brands just have stuff that I really miss the taste of.
If I made apple butter in my house, my husband would freak out. He hates cinnamon so much...which is sad because it's not Christmas without an apple stack cake (and who eats Christmas pudding anyhow-ew). Idaho potatoes have a different consistency to them than the potatoes over here. The King Edwards, etc are great for stews and roasting but not the same for baked potatoes or for potato soup.

I LOVE the garden centres around here. I love the idea of them in general, and one of my favorite places to go is the big centre near me.

I work at Boots and our make-up selection is incredible!

Besides the normal L'Oreal, Rimmel, Max Factor, Maybelline, Revlon we also have Liz Earle, Smashbox, NYX, Soap and Glory, Benefit, No 7, Sleek, Bourjois,  and several others I can't remember. And we have an even bigger selection through Boots.com including YSL, Lancome, Bare Minerals...

We have an actual Benefit Brow Bar in my store.

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phatbeetle, my feet are also narrow. I've had to resort to men's boots but they're usually too wide so foot pain and it's just tiring. And not all EU size 43's are made equally LOL.

I didn't mean Boots didn't have a makeup section, it's just not as large of one as what I'm used to and I miss some makeup brands really badly. (Covergirl, ELF, Hard Candy)

the only time I've ever found cornmeal in the grocery store it was in enormous bags. And my personal pref is to have self-rising anyhow. I suppose I could make certain things myself, but I miss the convenience of not having to. SOme brands just have stuff that I really miss the taste of.
If I made apple butter in my house, my husband would freak out. He hates cinnamon so much...which is sad because it's not Christmas without an apple stack cake (and who eats Christmas pudding anyhow-ew). Idaho potatoes have a different consistency to them than the potatoes over here. The King Edwards, etc are great for stews and roasting but not the same for baked potatoes or for potato soup.

I LOVE the garden centres around here. I love the idea of them in general, and one of my favorite places to go is the big centre near me.

My husband hates cinnamon too. He can smell it a mile away. I once made him gag when I was eating cinnamon Altoids too close to him.

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I work at Boots and our make-up selection is incredible!

Besides the normal L'Oreal, Rimmel, Max Factor, Maybelline, Revlon we also have Liz Earle, Smashbox, NYX, Soap and Glory, Benefit, No 7, Sleek, Bourjois,  and several others I can't remember. And we have an even bigger selection through Boots.com including YSL, Lancome, Bare Minerals...

We have an actual Benefit Brow Bar in my store.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I'm dead serious when I say that the Boots where I live has Rimmel, The Boots brand, Maybelline and Max Factor. And that's it.

I've been to a big fancy Boots and bought Benefit stuff cause they have the travel sizes 3 for £25, but I can't get there on the bus so it's not somewhere I go often.

*Sigh* I miss driving. I got to drive last month when we visited the US and I MISS IT SO MUCH. I can't deal with the traffic here or the roundabouts or the narrow streets or much of anything really. My anxiety is awful enough with my husband driving and he's actually a great driver compared to everyone else I've ridden with here.

There's a Hobbycraft on the way into Swansea, and I've been there for a quick walkthrough, just to see what they have.  It is two storeys, and for the UK, I thought it was a pretty impressive selection.  But it's nothing like the warehouse-sized Hobby Lobby or the huge Michael's I would frequent in North Little Rock, that had huge selections of supplies for every type of craft/hobby imaginable.  People who don't even think they're crafty would find something they want at a Hobby Lobby or Michael's.

I'm only (under) 5 feet tall, but I have disproportionately long, thin feet... I wear size 8.5 to 9 in the US, but can only wear certain brands that aren't too wide.  I have not yet attempted to buy shoes here.  I came over with a pair of flip flops, a pair of suede demi boots (from France, actually, but they fit SO nicely!), and some sketchers sneakers (trainers?).  My husband gave me a pair of Heely's for my birthday a few years ago, and I've been wearing those when I go out grocery shopping lately.  But at some point, I'm going to have to get new shoes, and then I'll have to sort out finding ones to fit my weird feet.

Do those condensed cream-of soups taste like the American ones, with all the expected salt, or are they reformulated for the UK/Europe?  I need to look for them to see... I want to make a cheaty "recipe" again one day, just for nostalgia/comfort eating.

Oh, speaking of comfort eating, I miss Spaghettios.  Proper ones from America where the pasta has some 'bite' to it, and the flavor is sharp and tangy, and not all sweet and sickly.  Do not feed me UK tinned pasta slop.  It is an abomination.

Rosechassit, are you sure the peanut butter you got at Aldi is genuine American Skippy?  I've seen fake Frank's Red Hot in my Aldi.  I'm not defending Skippy peanut butter (I mean, really... who tastes Skippy and Jif and says, "I'll have Skippy"?), but Aldi might not even be selling you proper Skippy.

My husband doesn't believe me about fireflies (what we call them in Arkansas), either.  I have sooo many happy memories of chasing fireflies at my grandparents' land as a child... I mean, the memories were happy for me.   Probably not so much for the fireflies who just wanted to fly around and find a mate.  I would love to share that experience with him.  He'd love them!

*Sigh* I miss driving. I got to drive last month when we visited the US and I MISS IT SO MUCH. I can't deal with the traffic here or the roundabouts or the narrow streets or much of anything really. My anxiety is awful enough with my husband driving and he's actually a great driver compared to everyone else I've ridden with here.

I have pretty severe driving anxiety, it takes a lot out of me to go places that are busy - and I research which roundabouts I'll hit on the way if it's somewhere new. Waze gives much better roundabout directions than google maps sometimes. But I can't take public transit so I had to get used to it quickly because my husband doesn't drive at all. I'm still nervous about the road test and have a lot more lessons to go before I'll be ready for that. But genuinely, if you can work up the nerve, take driving lessons in an automatic. You may find with an instructor there (who can both take you to less populated areas to get you ready, and take over the driving if necessary) you can overcome that.


One of my local friends puts in orders from sumawholefoods for a group of her friends so it hits the minimum order (£250 I think) and I am getting frozen amy's free from mac n cheese and I am praying it's like the one I got in the states. That was like my supreme comfort food post-gluten free/dairy free diet. And I'm getting a full litre of maple syrup. For allll the homemade pancakes. I've gotten over the trauma of suddenly having to make *everything* from scratch and having no pre-made options, but I do really miss a lot of things from the states. My first stop when I'm home next will be Wegmans for some sushi and mochi!

I haven't done much clothing shopping here yet, I brought a lot from the states, but I will be doing my shoe shopping when I go back home (whenever that is). I need orthotic shoes and they just don't really sell those over here in anything except ugly styles. So I'll be saving my pennies before that trip!

I wasn't such a huge fan of Michael's tbh, but I'd take one now over Hobbycraft tbh. I REALLY miss Hobby Lobby. It's probably one of my favorite places to shop other than Lowe's. (B&Q is marginally ok)

Good luck with the shoe hunt. Thing here is that the store you're in may organize shoes by US size or UK size or EU size and sometimes women's sneakers are in the men's section (I've found this a lot with Vans and Converse) and it's just mostly a mess. TF for Dr Scholls.

As far as I can tell, these Campbell's are alright. Not quite as good as the American ones, but not completely bland. Just no regular damn condensed tomato.

Spaghetti-Os. Chef BOyardee Ravioli or Beefaroni. Velveeta Shells n Cheddar. Ramen noodles with freakin salt in the seasoning packet. Instant Cheddar and Broccoli Rice A Roni. (Why is it always stilton here?!?!)


TBH no I'm not positive it was real Skippy. It was super dry and bland (do they purposely suck the oil of the the peanuts here or what?), so probably not.

Ooh I love Frank's Red HOt. My Lidl has the real deal. There's also a North Carolina bbq sauce by Red's True Barbeque (I have a restaurant in NOtts too-omg it's great and they have cornbread-sweet but cornbread, and fired pickles with chipotle mayo to dip them in). It's great if you can find it (both my Asda and Tesco have it). Like a mustardy-bbq, not too sweet or thick.

which reminds me oddly...hot dogs in a can?! WHat is that malarkey? I will say no more to that weirdness.

I could talk about food I miss for forever and ever.

I know I'm going to have to drive here eventually, it's just terrifying to think about even over a year later. I can drive a manual nbd...for a left-hand driven car. My husband's tried to teach me about some of the road rules but it's ridiculous to me. I don't understand any of the signage.

I gave away or donated almost everything I owned before moving. I kept 1 suitcase of clothing, and all of my photography stuff and books. I have 3 rather large solid oak bookshelves in US storage...and I miss them because they were my grandmother's. I probably won't ever ship them over here though. It's just too much money.

I could talk about food I miss for forever and ever.

There's a whole thread called "What food are you craving right now?" over in Food Talk... It's on page 131.

For shells 'n cheese, if you can get Velveeta, just buy a big bag of conchiglie (shell) pasta, boil and drain a serving or two, add diced velveeta and some milk, stir 'til the cheese becomes a creamy sauce.  It's amazing and so much cheaper than the boxed kit.

I like sweet cornbread with salty butter on... I usually don't like cornbread, but when it's like that, I am all, PASS THE CORNBREAD!!! 

Re: Hot dogs in a can... avoid.  Avoid at all cost.

Driving:  Do not learn from your partner!  Use The Stationery Office (TSO) learning materials to prepare for the theory test.  Then get actual lessons from a driving instructor.  Take it as slowly as you need to.  But if you were comfortable driving in the US and you miss the independence, do take baby steps toward this goal so that one day you can be like me... (I got my license last April after being here since 2013, and only got a car in June of this year, but now I get to go places all by myself like a grown-up!).