February 11, 2008

Today, I have learned to like Marmite. I got home from picking up our new car (which drives like a dream- I love it already) and as I was making a Britishy style sandwich I remembered that I had a teeny bottle of Marmite in the fridge for visitors to try. Having tried Marmite before, and not being overly fond of the flavor, I decided that today was the day to start liking Marmite.

Britons tend to either love or hate Marmite- a bit like Southeast Asians and durian, a rotting flesh smelling fruit native to that region. Whether they love it or hate it, Marmite is iconically British. Not only that but it is quite good for you- it is packed with B vitamins, Niacin, and other very good vitamins. It's also a good product because it essentially uses what was a useless byproduct of the brewing industry, that being yeast extract.

Quoting from www.ilovemarmite.com:

"Marmite is dark brown-colored savory spread made from the yeast that is a by-product of the brewing industry. It has a very strong, slightly salty flavor. It is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it type of food.

It usually comes in small (2-5 inches high) bulb-shaped glass jars with a distinctive yellow lid. You can also find individual portion sized Marmite in hotels and cafes and for the really adventurist, you can find large plastic tubs for the catering industry.

Children in Britain are generally fed it from the time they are weaned, and most never grow out of it. It has a high B-vitamin content, as well as riboflavin and niacin—and as such is very healthy. (The vitamin-B complex helps prevent anemia.)

Marmite may be stored at room temperature, even after the jar has been opened. Large jars will last months—even years—without any spoilage.

The most common use is as a spread on toast or in sandwiches. Note: it is generally spread very thinly because of its strong flavor—don't use it like jam."

I saw some Kiwis (the self styled name for New Zealanders) in Oz (the self titled name for Australia) eating Marmite on sandwiches, so I put just a little on my sandwich. And you know what? I liked it. Being predisposed to like it I shouldn't have been surprised, but I found that I liked it more than I had anticipated (which is generally the case with new foods for me, and a main reason why I keep trying things I think I won't like.) From an American point of view it looks a bit like thick dark brown caramel-like boullion. I think some people use it in soups in fact. It has a tangy, strong flavor, slightly salty, and tastes like concentrated vegetable paste. Sorry if it doesn't sound very tasty. :)

The same website lists the following as the ingredients:

• Yeast Extract
• Salt
• Vegetable Extract
• Vitamin: Niacin
• Spices
• Vitamins: B1, B2, Folic Acid, B12

Not much- mostly yeast extract.

Anyway it's apparently also good on crackers with strong cheese, which I might try next. I'm going to keep putting it on my sandwiches and finding other uses for it. If you are inspired to try some, you can buy it in the International aisle at Meijer, and Hillards also has it in Ann Arbor. Maybe get a couple of people together and buy a small jar and try it- it's a bit expensive if you don't like it, and you're stuck with a jar unless you determine to eat it all.

You can barely see the marmite on this piece of toast (courtesy of Kuri in Japan), it's the slightly wet looking brown stuff under the guacamole. :)

In other news, I figured out today what Nelly's been up to being outside for hours at a time- she is basking in the sun, not far from "her" compost pile. :) Just sitting there enjoying the warm sun, keeping away cat fiend, and in general enjoying her life as a cat and her ability to go outside again after 4 weeks in an apartment.

We had our Arena leaders meeting last night, and they always ask you to go around and say something about yourself right? There is generally too much to say about what I spend my time doing, so I'm always at a loss. But they have this interesting phrase here that they politely use to describe a wife who doesn't have children and doesn't have a formal job- they call that being a "lady of leisure." When I first heard that I thought the person was joking- what sorts of ideas about that phrase come to your mind? I couldn't help but think of those saloon girls in the wild West. :) Obviously the speaker wasn't implying any such thing, but I thought it was funny anyway. :) They in general try to avoid the title "housewife" actually, because I think people feel put down by it in a culture where most couples have 2 income earners. Some American women feel that way too- there is certainly nothing less valuable about being a housewife I think, but some people don't feel that way.

I got to thinking about the whole "lady of leisure" idea- it makes it sound like I don't have to do anything at all, as if all day long everyday I just wander around with no responsibilities and sort of goof off I guess. I started thinking about my "leisure" this past week (5 days I guess since we've been back), which consisted in part of the following:

-unpacking and putting away everything in 5 suitcases
-washing 6 loads of laundry,
-all day rotation of 6 loads of laundry on the radiators to get them all dry
-folding of 6 loads of laundry (thankfully no ironing- they have to be bad for me to pull that thing out)
-putting away all 6 loads of laundry
-loading and unloading the dishwasher 4 times
-handwashing and scrubbing quite a few dishes that couldn't be washed in the dishwasher
-hand scrubbing the bathroom sink, toilet, and bathtub
-hand washing most of the window sills in the house
-vacuuming the entire house
-taking out the duvet to shake out the dust
-sterilizing all the kitchen counters
-emptying and hand cleaning 2 cat litter boxes with boiling hot water and bleach
-pruning most of the garden plants
-digging out all the weeds with a hand trowel
-spending 2 hours everyday looking for cars on autotrader and ebay
-cooking dinner everyday

Whew! That is quite a bit of work. When I thought about all that stuff, I was reminded why G and I decided on this system where I would essentially stay home and take care of most of the household running- it takes a lot of time to do all of that stuff, and I would rather take care of it while G's at work so that we can enjoy our time together in the evenings. It's simply more efficient, and efficiency is high on my list of values. :) That said, now that it's the season for gardening I'm keeping an eye open for some volunteer gardening positions or something part time at one of the big estates around here- gardening never really feels like work to me. :) I suppose if I didn't mind things being dirty I would have a lot more free time, but I like things to be fairly clean, neat, and tidy and that takes time to do everyday. I don't necessarily enjoy the process, but I like the results. :)

The weather has been in the 50s and sunny for the past 3 days- it sure seems like spring is here to stay. I hope it is- I'm enjoying the nice sunny days everyday and biking on the various paths around Swavesey. Even with all this nice weather here we haven't forgotten you all in Michigan- be careful walking on the sidewalks, and look out for ice! (Living Proof friends we especially don't want to hear of any icy slip and fall accidents- be careful and take care of yourselves!)