DAILY DIRT: Anyone for some mushy peas and chip butty?

Daily Dirt for Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024

I have just added England to the list of countries I have no plans to ever visit … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 872 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Just in case you were considering a trip to merry old England anytime soon, you may want to prepare your palate.

The English have a number of odd foods that make no sense to anyone outside of the British Isles.

Here are some examples (get ready to pass the Pepto):

• Scotch eggs: What is a Scotch egg, we hear you ask? Well, it’s essentially a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs, and then deep-fried, so it’s crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. Yeah, it’s weird.
• Mushy peas: British people simply must have different taste buds than we do. What they consider to be British delicacies often seem like kitchen disasters gone wrong, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to mushy peas. After all, doesn’t everyone loves peas — so why fix what isn’t broken? But those Brits decided to mess with an iconic delicacy and mash those peas up to create a lumpy bright green sauce. Ugh. 
• Spaghetti on toast: This is nothing more than Spaghetti-O’s on a piece of soft pasta. Kinda gruesome, eh?
• Baked beans: It’s not so much the baked beans are bizarre, it’s that the English eat them with just about every meal.
• Jelly and ice cream: First of all, In the United Kingdom, “jelly” is actually Jell-O, but we’re not sure if that little clarification makes this British food better or worse. One thing for sure is that the Brits love this dessert combo. We can’t help but wonder about the strange textures going on here, though. 
• Chip butty: Basically, this is a load of fries between what amounts to be a sizable hamburger bun. I have no idea where the “chip butty” moniker originated.
• Laverbread:We’re not quite sure what is weirder here, the name of this strange food, its bizarre jelly-like appearance, or the fact that laverbread is actually made from seaweed. But the people there absolutely seem to love it, spreading this thick, brown spread onto their toast every single morning as part of their breakfast. 
• Cheese and pickle sandwich: No further explanation needed. Pass.
• Toad in the holes: This is essentially a few sausages sitting on a bed of Yorkshire puddings. And while it sounds very strange, the Brits absolutely love this dish, especially when it’s topped with gravy and served with mashed potatoes. 

2. Taylor Swift (yes, she’s everywhere) has some unusual quirks you might not have been aware of:

She can’t live without hummus. It is stocked in her fridge at all times. She eats it with carrots, bell peppers and celery.

She once donated $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The money funded the Taylor Swift Education Center.

Her favorite food is chicken tenders. She has admitted she would eat chicken every day if she could. In one video, she is seen eating chicken tenders with ketchup and ranch dressing.

3. No challengers were able to knock last week’s top three personal license plates out of the medal standings in The Great Plate Debate for West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri.

This week’s best spottings included:

• SUEY 1
• TURTLZ
• HARLEEY (yes, that was the correct spelling)
• R CAT DOG
• GUNS 1
• BONE 32

The leaders remain:

• Gold medal: DA LIFE
• Silver medal: BAT LADY. 
• Bronze medal: BUZZ.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — I’m still having trouble imagining what that cheese and pickle sandwich would taste like. I might, however, try the chip butty.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Scotch Eggs are delicious.