Discussion: Commute

I hope the early bike commute will work out for you. I am totally worried about my new commute and have no idea about what to do when I can't bike from South Station.

Alison comes in from the same direction as you and is going to give you lots of tips for getting across town! Hopefully some of them are okay!

My office mate brought me a real English pudding from the UK after her holiday. I've never had one and didn't realize steaming (lots of steaming) was involved. There are also microwave directions, but I'm anxious to try it the traditional way. I don't have any brandy to flame it though. Would tequila work? :)

Haha! What a question! I have to say, I don't really like these puddings, so I'm not the best one to advise on brandy vs tequila. I think you'd maybe be better with a dark liquor like scotch or dark rum than tequila! And the alcohol burns off anyway so you could probably just skip it entirely...

Do other Brits have better suggestions?! I am a bad Brit when it comes to traditional steamed puddings!

I'm assuming that by "English pudding" you mean Christmas pudding, since you mention pouring brandy over it & setting it alight. There are lots of varieties of steamed puddings eaten in England, so you have to be specific with a name.
Christmas pudding is delicious! The large ones are definitely worth steaming (sit the plastic basin in a saucepan with enough water at the bottom not to dry up and a tin foil hat over the top. I'd advised folding a strip of cooking foil into a 'handle' that goes under the plastic basin & up both sides, so you can get it out without burning/scalding yourself. I microwave the single-person ones & they taste just as good and take far less time. Burning brandy over it is for visual effect (turn out the lights & you get lovely blue flames), but doesn't really affect the taste so can be omitted (we've never done it). The important thing is to serve it with brandy butter, which is traditional & delicious. Brandy butter is sold in the UK at Christmas time, but you can make it at home e.g. https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/brandybutter_2535 or http://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/christmas/brand...

Ok, thanks! Yes, it says right on the label "Christmas Pudding," from Huffkins Cotswolds Bakery and Cafe' Tea Rooms, High Street, Buford. It fits in the palm of my hand, so I assume its a single serving. I'll see if I can find some brandy butter. The only alcohol I have around the house is beer, a bottle or two of merlot and a rather old, barely touched bottle of tequila. Tequila butter does not sound good.

Maybe this will help while watching the grand jackass braying on TV tonight. Maybe I should just down the brandy first...

Buford is a lovely place - but I still don't like Christmas pudding!

steam it or microwave it per the instruction, it won't really change the pudding because it is sealed in its wee tub steaming doesn't moisten it or anything, its just how it was done before microwaves were invented. That said, ours got steamed on Christmas day (left overs got microwaved)
Lots of other "steamed" puddings (i.e. not Christmas ones) can be made from scratch in a microwave
you could make your own brandy butter - if you had brandy. (butter, sugar, brandy)
or have it with custard,
or with cream
or with a combination of any / all 3
even make the custard with cream...
Oh and you should of course precede it with a starter, full Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, various glasses of wine. Its important to be fully prepared for the pudding :-)