happy tastebuds

There is something about very tube station in London that makes it unique.  Some stick out in my mind because three or more subway lines intersect, making it seem like an underground ant farm for humans.  Others come to mind when I think of the words “stairs” and “quadriceps.”  The Waterloo station however just makes me think of sugar.  Anticipating the Mr. Humbug Sweets stand at the top of the escalators makes me salivate.  That’s probably due as much to the fact that I only buy super sour candy from the stand as it is that anyone with a sweet-tooth would be drooling.  Don’t believe me?  Well, as their slogan says, “Suck it and see.”  Ha!  Oh, and FYI, “American Hard Gums” are not that great.

Ps - How does this woman stay so thin?

That’s right, you heard (read) it.  My fiance and I have come to the conclusion that despite his great love for cheese, it doesn’t love him back.  I think he’s lactose intolerant.  It literally took moving to another continent to get away from the dairy temptations our social lives teased us with and go without it for several weeks (in other words, we don’t know anyone here yet, so we’re not resisting dairy while with friends).

I’m not willing to be a puritan so I just cook without it when we eat together, but it’s really not been that bad.  Switch oil for butter, soy milk for cows’ milk, broths for creams, etc etc and there you have it (I’m still working on a cheese substitute).

My soon-to-be-sister-in-law is also plagued with being lactose intolerant and has given me some pointers.  She sent me some recipes, one of which I tried tonight, with a few personal tweaks added.  We had sausage-gnocchi soup (here’s the recipe).  It was so easy to make I almost thought I was doing something wrong.  I added spinach, green onions, spices and garlic to add kick and some color (leave it to the artist to require dinner have a complimentary color scheme).

We spread whole cloves of garlic roasted in olive oil over toasted french bread topped with sauteed oyster mushrooms.  Add a little candle light and it doesn’t really sound like a compromise.  Now, if I can just talk him into being vegetarian.  He does eat veggie burgers and tofu with me.  We’re a good match.