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1. How do you insert images into a post without using photobucket? I tried using flicker and it did not work. The only thing that worked is photobucket and apparently I can't use that any longer.

2. Is there a British version of an American Biscuit and what is it called? Note the American version of a British Biscuit is called a cookie and the reason we call it a cookie, is well, because our biscuit isn't a cookie.

I was pondering this while watching the Great British Bake-Off...in which they were doing savory biscuits and I thought, I don't like those..then realized their idea of a biscuit is not what I'm thinking of at all.

I have a craving for bread, but can't eat bread...I blame the Great British Bake-Off. Going to try an almond flax roll.

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From:

cactuswatcher

Our biscuits would qualify as scones. But there is more to scones than that if I understand correctly.

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yourlibrarian

I've also often wondered what pudding is called in the U.K. -- by which I mean actual pudding and not "dessert."

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I've been trying to figure that out as well. When they had their pudding episode...it seemed their idea of pudding is a spongy cake with sauce.

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cactuswatcher

Yes, the Cratchit family plum pudding from "A Christmas Carol." My mother made one or two of that sort of pudding for us. Lots of work and somewhat disappointing for mid twentieth century American tastes.

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ex_peasant441

Pudding is just a synonym for dessert or sweet. It can also more specifically mean almost anything steamed or baked in a pudding basin, so things like Christmas Pudding, syrup pudding, suet pudding or chocolate pudding. There can also be savoury puddings like steak and kidney pudding. And there are Yorkshire puddings which are... hard to describe but basically an excuse for carbohydrate soaked in gravy.

I don't know what American pudding is so I can't compare.

That American biscuit recipe doesn't sound like anything we have. Scones are closest, especially savoury scones like cheese scones, but there are some key differences. I assume one would never put clotted cream and jam on an American biscuit?

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Well, actually one would put jam on an American biscuit, just not clotted cream. But we don't really have clotted cream over here, except to the degree we export it from Britain. And it's rather expensive. And only used with scones...for British High Tea.

An American pudding is...usually a somewhat thick, sweet, mixture, similar in taste to a custard, but not texture. It's thicker than a gravy, but thinner than a custard. Similar in consistency to porridge but not porridge. Often served in bowls or cups, since it doesn't maintain a shape. Often served when people are sick - tapioca pudding.

Wiki has a good description:

The second and newer type of pudding consists of sugar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar, milk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk, and a thickening agent such as cornstarch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornstarch, gelatin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin, eggs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_(food), rice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice or tapioca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapioca to create a sweet, creamy dessert. These puddings are made either by simmering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simmer on top of the stove in a saucepan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saucepan or double boiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_boiler or by baking in an oven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oven, often in a bain-marie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bain-marie. These puddings are easily scorched on the fire, which is why a double boiler is often used; microwave ovens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven are also now often used to avoid this problem and to reduce stirring.

Creamy puddings are typically served chilled, but a few, such as zabaglione https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabaglione and rice pudding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_pudding, may be served warm. Instant puddings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_pudding do not require boiling and can therefore be prepared more quickly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pudding

From:

ex_peasant441

So when and how do people eat American biscuits? I thought they were a breakfast dish and eaten with gravy.

We do have rice pudding and tapioca pudding, also blancmange made from cornstarch and ground almonds. Or maybe the closest to what you describe would be mousse. That sort of pudding is fairly old fashioned now and probably not eaten much. I would rate them all from disgusting to indifferent.

The queens of British puddings that are called 'pudding' in the sense you seem to mean IMNSHO are sticky toffee pudding, Christmas pudding and baked pudding. All food of the gods.

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cactuswatcher

That was the traditional way to eat biscuits for poor people, and it might substitute for any meal for them. They are just a cheap, quick-to-fix form of bread, so became associated with breakfast (with butter and jelly) for most of us. Restaurants serve a much fancier version (without gravy) any time of the day.

Edited Date: 2017-08-07 01:39 pm (UTC)

From:

cactuswatcher

Ack, I should have said "jam!" "Jelly" is another loaded British vs American term!

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Eh...actually they were a Southern tradition, originated in the South. You get biscuits and gravy a lot in the South-Eastern US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit

"A biscuit in the United States and parts of Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada, and widely used in popular American English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English, is a small bread https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread with a firm browned crust and a soft interior. They are made with baking powder or baking soda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_soda as a chemical leavening agent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavening_agent#Chemical_leaveners rather than yeast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast although they can also be made using yeast (and are then called angel biscuits) or a sourdough starter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sourdough_starter.

They are traditionally served as a side dish with a meal. As a breakfast item they are often eaten with butter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter and a sweet condiment such as molasses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses, light sugarcane syrup, maple syrup, sorghum syrup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghum_syrup, honey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey, or fruit jam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jam or jelly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_(fruit_preserves). With other meals, they are usually eaten with butter or gravy instead of sweet condiments. However, biscuits and gravy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuits_and_gravy (biscuits covered in country gravy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_gravy) or biscuits with sausage are usually served for breakfast, sometimes as the main course. A biscuit may also be used to make a breakfast sandwich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_sandwich by slicing it in half and placing eggs and/or breakfast meat in the middle."

scones frequently contains eggs, biscuits do not
scones always call for sugar and are generally (but not always) sweeter than biscuits, which calls for much less sugar (or no sugar at all).
scones have a heavier and denser characteristic making them more cake-like than biscuits, which have a light, fluffy texture
scones recipes utilize more liquid than biscuit recipes
scones are usually triangular shaped, biscuits are round
scones are Scottish in origin, biscuits are often associated with the Southern United states
scones often contain dried fruits, biscuits don't
Biscuits and gravy are common, scones and gravy are not

Feathery, light biscuits originated in Southern plantation kitchens but, now are popular throughout the United States. Rolled biscuits were a staple at most meals, but beaten biscuits became another Southern favorite. Beaten biscuits are made light by beating air into the dough with a mallet or a rolling pin (up to 100 strokes “or more for company”). Beaten biscuits are typically thinner and crispier than baking powder biscuits.

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So when and how do people eat American biscuits? I thought they were a breakfast dish and eaten with gravy.

Down south, sure - and it's a white gravy.

But you can also eat them with lots of butter for dinner, or use them as the base for strawberry shortcake. (Cream on top!)

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To clarify further, peasant:

"While biscuits and gravy generally refers to sausage gravy, it can also refer to egg gravy, made in one of two ways:

by scrambling eggs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrambled_eggs in bacon grease (dripping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon#Bacon_fat), then adding flour and milk to make gravy, and adding crumbled bacon back to the mixture[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuits_and_gravy#cite_note-7
by making a basic roux https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roux, creating a brown gravy base, then whisking beaten eggs into the boiling gravy"

It has flour as a thickener not corn starch.

It's a traditional SouthEastern US dish...although I've seen it pop up in Texas and the Midwest. My mother had it as a child in Missouri.

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And only used with scones...for British High Tea.

Which in the UK means "the evening meal, but you eat it a bit late" and in the US means "a fancy meal with lots of pastries".

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No, scones are less fluffy than our biscuits, and of a denser bake. I know I like Scones. I had a gluten-free one not long ago.

And you can't do Scones with gravy.

I don't think they have the equivalent, any more than we really have an equivalent of scones?

From:

cactuswatcher

Fluffy biscuits? I have to say I never had a fluffy biscuit before maybe 1970, and then mostly from chain restaurants. So as a young adult I would have told you there was no such thing.
Home-made biscuits were pretty dense till those awful canned things came along, and I wouldn't exactly call them fluffy. All of them still are still pretty dense if you let them sit for awhile. ;o)

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By fluffy, I mean it stands up, has bubbles in the center, and is not ...well, you know what I mean, right? The scone and American biscuit are very different. That's why we have the word scones and biscuits.

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A biscuit shouldn't have bubbles in the center. It should be flaky. That's why you fold it so often and work with frozen (or at least, very cold) butter.

From:

cactuswatcher

I agree. But I have been served biscuits made as Shadowkat describes, mostly at restaurants.

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Hence the reason that I didn't like them, I think? Can't have them now of course, although the gluten-free version is...well...like a rock. So not recommended.

Pillsbury's often came out with the bubbles. There's a lesson in there somewhere...about home-made vs. non-home made?

From:

yourlibrarian

You need to get an embed link for them. I haven't looked at Flickr lately but when I did about 3 or 4 years ago I couldn't figure out how to get one either.

Similarly, Google discontinued its Picasa project which offered embed links, and moved content over to its Google Photos which does not. However, there is a tool which will create them for you here: https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/

I'd used Picasa because of its vast free storage and the fact I'd found it easy to use. I find Photos clunkier but there are a limited number of free photo storage sites and, at least, I didn't have to change any of my old links.

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Unfortunately Google wouldn't let me upload photos to it.
So, I'm stuck.

Dreamwidth needs to fix their photo uploading. You can do it elsewhere without an embedded link. And I can upload photos to DW, just not post them. Which is odd.

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yourlibrarian

That seems really strange. I can't speak to DW's hosting because I haven't used it since I already have the GPhotos. What sort of error message are you getting when you try to upload?

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I upload without any issues. They just won't post to the entry. Or I can't get them into the entry. But they are on my "manage photo uploads" page.

From:

yourlibrarian

Ok, so if you're looking at photo X, and you've clicked on the < share symbol, clicked "get link" and copied, did you paste that into the https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/ tool to get the embed code?

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I can't get the google photos tool without paying for it apparently. In my own google free gmail account -- it says photos coming soon. (I did this last night. At work now, so not possible to play with it on this computer.)

The upload, I was discussing, was direct to DW. I uploaded to DW but not able to share.

From:

yourlibrarian

Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. But that's really odd. If you go to https://www.google.com/photos/about/ it says on the front page "Back up unlimited photos and videos for free, up to 16MP and 1080p HD. Access them from any phone, tablet, or computer on photos.google.com – your photos will be safe, secure, and always with you."

I'd assumed that Photos was created for Android (thus the lack of embed codes) but was open for anyone to use.

From:

elisi

Try

http://postimages.org

From:

jesuswasbatman

US pudding is known as custard or blancmange in Britain.

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Interesting, while custard over here is ...sort of similar to what you might find in flan or a key lime pie or pie. Pudding is more wobbly, it doesn't hold its shape enough to be in a pie, and can only be served in a bowl or glass. I have a friend who doesn't like the texture of custard, but loves pudding, for example. Do you have a word for something that is thicker than a sauce, not gravy, sweet, and too watery to be in a pie or won't hold it's shape? Would that be blancmange?

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ex_peasant441

Hang on - what does 'gravy' mean in this context? In Britain 'gravy' is a savoury sauce made from thickened meat or vegetable stock, you would never mention it in the same course as pudding!

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That's mostly what gravy means in the US too, except some Italian-Americans say "gravy" when they mean "red sauce", aka "tomato sauce".

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cactuswatcher

It's kind of how you see things. I always saw custard as a kind of pudding and flan, when I learned about it, seems the same to me. Even mousse, I see as a kind of pudding. The formless, more liquid pudding as you describe, for me is just one kind of pudding, and some of those are put in the little glass holder to set well before serving, which makes them not all that different in texture from custard. Not arguing with your definition. Just saying some of us see it differently.

If I remember correctly ordinary Jell-o brand pudding (if they even make it anymore) also calls itself pie filling on the box! It's only their 'instant pudding' that stays liquid!

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Eh, just trying to figure out if they had a word for tapioca pudding, that wasn't the same as the word used for desert or Christmas pudding. Struggling to explain what I mean. LOL!

Ah, the problematic nature of language...in the attempt to parse out the meaning of words, one inadvertently gets caught up in a debate over whether a mousse qualifies as a pudding and pudding can be used in a pie or not. LOL!

The English language is tricky because depending on the country, region, etc we use the same word to mean many things. And in some regions or dialects, we'll use a different word such as pudding to mean a dessert in general, or custard to mean a variety of pudding, while tapioca pudding is just tapioca pudding. It is important to know what word is being used and why, when reading a recipe or ordering a desert. Particularly if you don't like the texture of say a custard, but love the texture of mousse or plain pudding.

From:

jesuswasbatman

Custard in the UK is almost always liquid.

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Interesting. Here, I think of it as more substantial like in creme brulee. This is how Wiki showed custard:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custard

I'm wondering if over here..the French and Spanish influence has an effect? Along with Asian and African?

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Note the American version of a British Biscuit is called a cookie and the reason we call it a cookie, is well, because our biscuit isn't a cookie.

Had a very interesting conversation with somebody on Reddit about this. He knew that chocolate chip cookies are cookies, but somehow he had trouble wrapping his head around the concept that in America, it's all cookies, even if they don't have chocolate chips. Three or four rounds of "but how can it be a cookie if it doesn't have chocolate chips in?" and he still wasn't getting it.

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LOL! I've had conversations like this....

Were you able to post photos or links to it, sometimes that helps. I'm wondering if the chocolate chip cookie is a purely American invention. Because a lot of Brits seem to think a cookie = chocolate chip cookie, not any other type of cookie. We can't call them biscuits like the Brits do...because we see the Southern Biscuit.

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According to Tollhouse, it is an American invention :)

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LOL! Yeah that was I found when I looked..it wasn't only an American invention, it was invented by the originator or namesake for Tollhouse.

Which Nestle had obtained the copyright/patent to and was exclusive to Nestle as a brand. Although that doesn't stop people from improving and playing with it. LOL!

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Okay, this is the weirdest thing. Somehow, your perfectly normal comments show up in my inbox with
very
weird line
breaks.

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Odd. I'm responding by email so maybe that's it?

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That might be it, then. It's not a big deal, of course, but it's weird :)

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