I attended an international meal at the little baptist church up the road that I have been going to since arriving here. They were low on people to set up and low on puddings* so we arrived early to help set up and made chocolate chip cookies. They were the most American pudding we could think of.
They turned out with quite a different texture and taste because of the differences in the ingredients that are available here. The flour is a little coarser, the brown sugar is thicker and tastes more of molasses than what you usually find in the states, and the vanilla is quite different as well. It is also nearly impossible to find chocolate chips, and if you do find them, they're in very expensive little bags. You would need to buy at least two bags to make a batch of cookies.
But I was not intimidated! I kneaded the dough with my hands to get the extra crumbly dough together and chopped up a dark chocolate bar to sprinkle in. I was afraid that one chocolate bar wasn't going to do, but my goodness did it. I don't know if I'm going to buy chocolate chips for my cookies anymore. Right out of the oven, the cookies have these melting pits in them full of gooey chocolate. So wonderful.
The dinner itself went off without a hitch. By arriving early and helping set up, we were able to meet the group of people who is most active in the church while proving to them that we actually did want to be involved. We aren't students just wanting to come and be fed, but we want to give back as well. Helping serve turned out to be a stroke of genius as well because everyone knows who we are now and we didn't have to stand around and make small talk with the small number of people that we already know for four hours. A splendid success all around. A huge plate of steaming exotic foods, hours around other happy people, and lively barn dancing to end off the night. Most certainly the best £2.50 admission I've ever spent.
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