This is the time of year when comfort food is in order - and comfort food usually means food you ate as a small child.
English food in the 1950's was spectacularly bland - but excellent in parts.
Take bubble and squeak - a mixture of cabbage and left-over mashed potatoes - fried of course.
Bangers and mash...and so on.
Luckily I'm within walking distance of Tea & Sympathy
a wonderfully retro cafe where these things are to be had.
To be washed down with copious cups of tea and followed by custardy puddings to fend off the cold and replenish the calories used up walking there.
It's always very crowded with attests to its appeal. The decor a mishmash of things British
rather heavy on royal memorabilia - so I get to see the coronation mug I managed to smash on the very day I was given it.
Nikki Perry, the owner, can be relied upon to have lots of opinions vociferously aired - currently the fact that proper English Cadbury's chocolate is no longer to be sold in the US.
Luckily the shop next door still has some in stock as well as sherbet fountains, Maynard's wine gums and large boxes of PG Tips and all the things much missed by us ex-pats.A blessing indeed.