London Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow

 

London has a sameness, an old grandmother of a city, but at the same time, you might easily be surprised by changes.  

 

Where I stayed in Kensington, there were five coffee shops on the street facing the hotel. Four of them no longer accept cash.  Gotta use a card.  One waitress offered to take cash, but added, “I have no way to give you change.”  It was £5 for coffee and toast.  I had a £20 note.  No choice but to use my card.  Nothing appeared on the menu and no warning on the front door that said cash was not used.

 

London (don’t know about the rest of Britain) is not the only place on earth getting rid of cash. Sweden is almost cashless and furthermore your card better be a “tap” card, although some places may still accept the old fashioned cards.

 

In London pubs, at least ones I went to, do accept cash, but I wonder for how long.

 

Not everything is changing. Pubs are still open at eleven o’clock or noon. I don’t know why; some are 11 and some are 12.

London has a vast array of museums of every sort, 192 museums in fact, placing them #5 in the list of cities with the most museums.  You can look up the rankings, but you probably want to know who is #1. Paris with 297.

 

My favorite London museums are, in no special order:

 

The British Museum with everything imaginable, including miles of architectural exhibits from all over the world, as well as the famous this and that, of which my favorite is the Rosetta Stone, from which linguists learned the secrets of many ancient languages.

 

The National Gallery, housing art of every sort, including a masterful collection of Impressionist paintings.

 

And very close to the National Gallery is The National Portrait Museum where I recently viewed a collection of David Hockney’s work. 

 

The V & A Museum (Victoria and Albert), which houses so very many cultural items.  I had a wonderful guided tour, with a guide who knew everything about clothes worn through the ages.

 

There are many war museums, including Churchill’s War Rooms and The Imperial War Museum, plus many others.

 

Special exhibits change, so look before you go.

 

How about evening activities?  My favorite, bar none, are the theatres. I buy my tickets at the discount kiosk in Leicester Square. Leicester is pronounced Lester.

 

Very easy to get around in London.  The Tubes (Underground rail) connect every part of the city. With a new twist, you no longer have to use an Oyster Card as a ticket, which is a card that you refill with £ on machines (that are in every station). These days you can use your credit or debit “tap” card to ride.

 

How about getting from the States to London? There are Atlantic crossings if you prefer to go by ship.  Or, if you want to dash over and back, air travel is in great supply.  My two favorite airlines to London are Virgin Atlantic and British Air.  Not fond of the U.S. airlines. 

 

Heathrow and Gatwick are the two major airports that service London.  Very similar in distance, but my favorite is Heathrow with an easy tube ride to the Kensington area where I usually stay. Lots of nice hotels, pubs, restaurants, and transportation to every part of the city.

 

I’ve been to London off and on for over five decades and written of my adventures.  Below is a list of those on my blog.

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2017/11/theres-something-about-london.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2016/01/posh-london-tour-of-st-james-street.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2015/04/london-various-pubs-various-pleasures.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2015/02/going-down-tubes-part-tube.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2014/12/finding-london-bookstores-adventure.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-national-portrait-gallery-london.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2012/06/down-tha-local-tasty-british.html

 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.com/2021/11/theatres-fun-in-london.html  Especially for plays, it’s best to check online.  Theatre productions come and go.

 

When to go?  I like early fall, or early spring.  Not so crowed and I’ve had great luck with the weather.  BUT, whenever you go, London is going to be a wonderful treat!

Parmesan and Chives Drop Biscuits by the Careless Cook

 

Want a quick, but impressive breakfast nosh for company?  Maybe you just glanced twice at your watch and looked in the mirror to see a face streaked with shame.  Maybe you can’t remember who or what you promised, and your bottle of breakfast wine is empty. Maybe your wife just gave you that look that says….oh, you know what it says!

 

The Careless Cook has just the solution to satisfy guests and expunge a budding domestic problem.  

 

Best of all, when you spy the recipe you’ll find it much cheaper than red roses or an offer to treat everyone to a Champagne breakfast at the Ritz.

 

Let’s get started! 

 

Parmesan and Chives Drop Biscuits

 

Ingredients

First off, heat your oven to 450ºF or 230ºC

You’ll also need two baking sheets, two bowls, one of them large, and your choice of something to stir with.  I use a large Dutch Dough Whisk.  Amazon, about $14

Shall we finally start?  Yes, we shall!

 

3 cups all purpose flour  (I stir the flour with a fork before measuring .)

1.5 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

a generous palm full of well chopped chives (A little more or a little less is ok…hey, this is The Careless Cook!)

a generous cup of grated Parmesan cheese (I grate my own because I think it tastes better than the grocer’s already grated version)

1 stick of refrigerated butter for the dough

½ stick of melted butter to paint the biscuits

1 beaten egg

1 cup buttermilk (I used whole milk and added a few quirts of fresh lemon juice instead)

 

Puttin’ It T-gether

 

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Either chop the stick of butter into very small bits, or do as I did and use a box grater.  I grated the butter right on top of the dry ingredients, then add the chopped chives and the grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Mix well!  I used my floured hands.  The butter should then be pea-sized.

 

Mix the wet ingredients and pour into the dry ingredients.  This is where the Dutch Dough Whisk really comes in handy.  The dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but not much of it sticks to the whisk.

 

Use a tablespoon to drop the biscuits one by one onto the baking sheets. No need to mash them down.

 

Paint the biscuits generously with the melted butter.

 

Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the biscuit peaks are dark brown.  See photo!

 

As the biscuits bake and the aroma  makes your guests suddenly decide it’s time to invade the kitchen, you might want to have a bottle of Prosecco or Champagne handy.   (I much prefer the Prosecco)

 

Those guests who told you they must jump on the highway early, may suddenly change their minds.  Oh, yes, time to pop the cork on that second bottle…