On saveral British shows I have noticed that the people have these tiny refridgeraters, is this really common over there? I couldn't even fit all my mustards jams etc in one of those! The only British show I can recall seeing a big fridge on was Ab Fab and it was stocked with champagne so it may not be "the norm."
shareWhen I was in England (London, then Notts, then back in London) I noticed in both city flats and suburban semi-detached houses and one (back in London) millionaire's home, that all of the appliances were tiny. My friend in the flat even had a device that was both a clothes washer AND dryer. I would have loved that when I lived in apartments. How efficient! My friend explained that it's a small country and they've learned to live with small spaces. It is true also that they keep their butter out on the table, which I would never do in the States.
shareKind of sideways on the topic, but butter doesn't spoil too quickly. We leave ours covered on the counter, I'd say easily at times a week to ten days. We've never had a stick go bad.
shareI live in the South.. my hubby and I use a small fridge. It's a little bigger than the one on the show, but it holds plenty for us and we shop weekly. Now the freezer section is another story.. have to budget the space if I want to keep ice cream or ice.
Vranger- as a kid I remember us keeping the butter out.. do you do it in the summer, too?
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I'm not Vranger but I keep my butter out, even in the summer but I also air condition my house so that probably helps. (I live in south-central New York State or Outer Mongolia to those who live in NYC.)
I just read the other day in an AARP (retired people) publication that certain things actually should be refrigerated because they can go rancid and natural/organic peanut butter was one of them.
Hi Sleepy - Yes we leave it out year round. In the summer it is softer and easier to spread, which I like. LOL
shareI can't believe I sat here and read this entire thing! I stayed at people's homes when I visited England. In a South London flat, tiny everything, including those double-duty washer/dryers. Same thing in a duplex (I forgot the Brit name for duplexes) in Nottinghamshire. Tiny! Then I took a train back to London and stayed with a very wealth family in Regent's Park. They did have a full sized fridge. They had a huge house, too.
The thing that drove me INSANE was that there were no showers. i could not stand having to bathe in a bathtub everyday. To me, a bathtub is something you lounge around in after a hard day's work--with Epsom salts and lavender to take the aches away!
Thank you, Missrhea & Vranger! I appreciate the replies!
The thing that drove me INSANE was that there were no showers. i could not stand having to bathe in a bathtub everyday. To me, a bathtub is something you lounge around in after a hard day's work--with Epsom salts and lavender to take the aches away!
I guess it depends where you stay. In the motels and B&Bs we've stayed at in England, there were always showers. Most of them had those little "on demand" water heaters. The thing we found amusing (and at times frustrating) was the dearth of ice cubes. When we'd see a sign for "ice cold drinks" we'd just laugh. At least in the years we vacationed there they didn't chill drinks nearly as cold as we are used to in the USA. On the other hand, we did discover and come to appreciate Shandy's. :-)
shareIt really depends where you live. I have family in Michigan who can do that pretty much year round but I'm in the Washington DC area and while I can get away with it during the cooler months it wouldn't work during the summer.
Same with fruits, veggies, breads. I keep them out during cooler months but they have to go in the fridge during the summer or they go bad too quickly. I hate my fruit chilled so I end up shopping more often during the summer.
I could probably adapt to a smaller fridge, I would probably need a stand alone freezer in the cellar or something, though!
This is a regular topic of conversation for us, as American expats living in Europe. The only people I know with American-style large refrigerators are people who bought big houses & American-style appliances during the boom. Once a year or so I go to Harvey Norman's to see the big refrigerators and dream...
But to be honest, after a few years here, I can't remember what I used to fill up the fridge with. I don't even fill up our small fridge now.
I think the appliances here a much smaller for two reasons - homes & the rooms in them were much smaller here until the last couple of decades, so a full-sized refrigerator would dwarf the common kitchen; and second, because electricity over here is more expensive.
You should see the clothes washers here. I don't know how a family of four ever gets all of their laundry clean - it must take doing laundry every day of the week.
having dated an american who lived over here - and had a huge fridge - i can only say that they had all manner of stuff i wouldn't have put in the fridge in theirs. then again they had all manner of high fat stuff that i wouldn't touch with a bargepole as well. marshmallow fluff...pilsbury doughboy cans....packs that i thought would feed 4 that were labelled for 1 etc.
once when they were hospitalised they complained about the 'rations' they were being served. i was there visiting just after one of these meals and have to say that the portions were normal my other half's appetite was not (as indicated when we had meals together as well)
i took great delight in clearing their fridge out during their stay in hospital...and packing it with healthy salad and stuff that was non fattening for them coming out
of course within a week or so when they could drive again it was full of american high fat crap again but i did try to change some habits
Veering off-topic here, but I have to say, when I moved to Europe I was looking forward to "normal" portions and healthy, non-processed foods.
I have been very disappointed to see Europe moving very quickly in the direction of the US, with restaurants and grocery stores serving up super-sized portions and shelves stocked with processed foods because they are cheaper.
We've always had a small fridge and freezer. It's common in the UK. I spread the shopping throughout the week, buying bits here and there when I need them. I also have a big pantry, which I store the jams, conserves, vegetables, cereal, etc. in. I hardly ever keep the margarine, butter and eggs in the fridge.
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It looks as though the only items kept in that tiny fridge are milk, cream, butter, and the ever-present and consoling bottle of white wine. That's about all one needs to keep in a refrigerator, I suppose. Even the likes of mayonnaise can stay in a cupboard.
On a slightly OT note: There's a series seven or eight episode where the fridge door is left open for the duration of the scene between Jean and Lionel that's hilariously distracting to me.
This show was filmed almost 25 years ago so it may have been common then to have little refrigerators especially if you lived within walking distance to shops and had regular milk deliveries. But today I am sure refrigerators are much larger. I was considering buying a summer home in Ireland and the house had a refrigerator much larger than Jean's, but it was still considerably smaller than American ones. I knew that refrigerator would be too small so I checked out an appliance website and they do sell "American-sized" refrigerators in the UK and Ireland now. I do believe it was part of their culture in the UK to shop for food every day so they did not need a large refrigerator if food was consumed daily. However it is part of the American culture to shop weekly, so Americans need larger refrigerated storage. The UK has adopted the American practice of shopping at large supermarkets and buying larger quantities of food, including frozen food, hence the need for larger refrigerators. With the cost of gasoline being so high it makes more sense to buy larger quantities of food thus eliminating excess trips to the grocery store.
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