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"Bangers and mash" is called "bangers and thump" in scotland. Pretty awesome by my standards. I also love eggy in a basket.

Emily

Strange as it sounds coming from a guy who grew up in West Virginia and spent time on farms with chicken coops, the first time I ever had Bird in a Nest was in Prague. After a tortuously long trip from Budapest that involved getting on the wrong train once, jumping off a moving train at the wrong station once, and a friendly ride from the wrong train station to the metro station with some language-barrier challenged but astute Prague police officers, I got my eggs and toast.

In Prague, and much of central Europe, they add a healthy dash of paprika to the eggs when they fry them. Add a mound of potatoes and onions and some blessedly strong coffee, and you have the makings of a meal that fortifies the weary traveler.

I don't know if the Boat House hostel survived the floods that ravaged Prague several years ago (I doubt it did), but I'll always remember Vera and Zitka and the long tables in the dining room with smiling faces and warm home cooked food that was my introduction to a beautiful city.

Slightly off topic from the post's request, but that's the story I always remember when I see bird in a nest.

that picture of toads in a hole...my aunt makes that and calls it rocky mountain toast! when she lived in aspen in the 60s they'd make that over a campfire all the time. finally got to taste it - friggin' awesome!

Oh, my family loves toad in the hole -- it's sausages *in* yorkshire pudding, btw. And can't forget sticky toffee pudding, jam roly poly, bangers and mash, and my favourite dessert, Eton Mess! (no strawberry season is properly celebrated without a few Eton Messes!)... not bad for a Czech married to a Frenchman, with no English roots whatsoever!

(kitchengeeking, the Hostel Boathouse is still there )

In my family (here in the US), we've always referred to eggs cooked in slices of bread as "eggs in a frame."

Hoppin John (beans, rice, with fried chicken)

Hoppin John (black eyed peas, rice, with fried chicken)

I think most of our funny names were my dad's fault - I always liked an unnamed concoction of cream of something soup and tuna over toast, which my dad later told me was "shit on a shingle". There were also Dad Sandwiches (magically delicious fried egg sandwiches - the magical deliciousness has something to do with bacon fat) and Chicken McRicks, dad's approximation of a McDonald's chicken sandwich.

I didn't realize untill I was grown that blood sausage wasn't just an odd name.

Lumber Jack - massive sausages, bacon, fried eggs, home fries, and pancakes (with massive amount of real maple syrup)

We used to stumble into our local all night diner around 4 am and order "Happy Waitresses".

It was a grilled cheese with tomato, delish!

when i was little, there was an episode of reading rainbow that discussed diner lingo. ice and rice? shingle with a shimmy and a shake?

How has no one mentioned spotted dick yet?

My very favourite is son-of-a-bitch in a bag, a frontier-era "food" which was essentially a lot of scraps and leftovers, mixed with oats and some liquid, placed in a big ol' bag and hung out the back of a wagon for the day's travels. Apparently, it would get to the consistency of spam, get sliced, fried and served to starving, but thorougly unimpressed cowboys, hence the name.

LauraII!! My friend's step dad also makes a breakfast sandwich that I named Dale Sandwiches because only Dale makes them the best.

I love fried egg sandwiches, but I love Dale Sandwiches more!

My dad likes to make a camping treat every summer. He calls it Grease Toast.
it's really exactly how it sounds. He fries a piece of bread in the bacon fat and then enjoys it's crispy bacon flavour.

In my german family we eat something called Tote Oma, translates into Dead Grandma, it is a sausage (of course) made of "fresh" (lol) pigs blood. Sometimes available in the States. Talk about feeding starving people, you've got to be really starving to eat that, I hate it and it makes the whole house stink!!! :P

When I lived in Kenya, EVERYONE sauteed bitter greens and onions and then maybe added a dash of milk or spices if any were available. This is served with rice or ugali (bland cornmeal cake) and called "sukuma wiki" which translates to "to push the week" because it's the cheapest thing to make, and the batch you make on Monday can be supplemented with more greens and feed the family all week.

Also, I always thought the name "trifle" was funny, because in spite of all the fruit my family adds, it's quite a heavy dessert and not "trifling" at all. (ba-dum-bum)

A chip buddy is a french fry sandwich.

Highlights for Kids magazine called the 'birds in the nest' a "one-eyed pete" where you used the cutout bit of bread as an eye patch for pete the pirate. If you cross two rashers of bacon to make an 'x' and put that under the pete it looks a bit like a pirate ensign (with a little imagination).

My boyfriend is english, so I hear you with the funny names for things!

My favorite is Egg & Soldiers.. Yum!

Cat heads which are southern style biscuits.

I too first heard of the eggs in toast pictured as rocky mountain toast and still think of that first.

well, we named a pot "Ed" because i need to ask my husband- please get out the pot- you know, the one that's non-stick, and 6 quarts, and lives in that cabinet...

much easier to just say "Ed"

When I was young, the ball stadium used to serve "Pork Bellies" or "pepper bellies."

An individual sized bag of fritos opened up with a scoop of chili and cheese on top. Ya eat it right out of the bag with a spoon.

my mom always called the birds in a hole "gas house eggs." I have no idea where it came from, she's from brooklyn, but that is always what we called them in my family.

and I know it isn't too odd or funny, but I always feel virtuous eating my favorite plain chocolate digestives. if it is called a digestive, it has to be good for you even if it is just a cookie covered in dark chocolate...

Those birds in a hole....

..."hobo eggs" over here!

In elementry school we had something in the lunchroom almost weekly called "Flying Saucers," which was a slice of bologna, fried, topped with a dollop of mashed potatoes and a slice of cheese. I am ashamed to admit that describing it just now made me REALLY want one, despite how totally disgusting it sort of sounds.

While touring an old decommissioned aircraft carrier, my father- and grandfather-in-law reminisced (not so fondly) about sh*t on a shingle (chipped beef on toast), which was apparently a staple in the navy.

My dad grew up calling them Gaslight eggs. He said it was from an old movie called Gaslight from the 40's. Not sure what the eggs had to do with it, as I've never seen it.

sos
from my father's day in the navy, chipped beef and gravy on bread
literally: shit on a shingle

my babysitter used to call "birds in a nest" a "one-eyed egyptian"! don't know where that came from, but that's what i've always called the egg fried in a piece of toast.

Hee Hee...
Shit on a Shingle for Chipped Beef and Toast, and my Dad always called the Eggs in Toast Roody Kazootie Eggs. I have no idea where that came from, it was just fun to say when we were children. Well, still is...

My mom made "the pyre" from old bread, raisins and apples. I think it's called like this 'cause is always fals apart when you try to get it from the cake pan onto your plate.

goosebucket: what memories you just elicited! I went to college in Houston - before the days of attempted good nutrition in dorm cafeterias. I LOVED "frito pie," which was essentially what you described, but served up in a bowl. I recall picking up the local accent and calling it "FREE-TOE Pah."

What, no 'pigs in a blanket'? Mmmm, little porkers (sausages) wrapped in bacon - and an extra layer of pastry, sometimes - and baked until crispy.

Glarp on rice.

Ground beef (cooked) thrown into cream of mushroom soup. Once warm, pour on top of sticky Japanese rice.

My family's favorite comfort food.

why has nobody mentioned spotted dick? to me that takes the prize every time

How about Devils on Horseback (stuffed dates wrapped in bacon) and Treacle Tart (shortcrust pastry with golden syrup and clotted cream)? Great names but Spotted Dick is still the best.

Welsh rabbit, something even the historians can't explain to satisfaction (rarebit, maybe?)

But yeah, spotted dick definintely wins.

spotted dick wins, hands down

"Sh!t on a shingle" (chipped beef on toast) was also an Army staple, at least in the 50's when my dad was a member.

those eggs in toast we call one eyed popeyes

my favorite is Slumgum
its anything you throw together in a pinch mostly in one pot (usually hearty) often using whatever is available no recipe required

I never saw eggs prepared that way until the movie "Moonstruck" when Olympia Dukakis prepared them (with pimento on the top?).

Dad used to make 'slop' for dinner: browned ground beef and canned baked beans, with liberal dollops and splashs of ketchup, brown mustard, Worchestshire sauce, and brown sugar. Eaten with a side of buttered white bread: no nutritional value but beyond yumminess.

The worst meal ever? 'Poor Man's Lobster': boiled cod and new potatoes with a side of melted butter. Yeah, even the butter can't redeem that. And as an adult, I have and never will eat frozen cod again.

Bubble 'n' Squeak which always sounds hilarious (and doesn't conjure up the cooking sounds to me)...

I loved Ants on a Log as a child and now as an adult: spread celery with a layer of peanut butter and top with raisins in a row. Deeeelicious.

Reggiesoang, where I come from a Lumberjack is one-half maple syrup and one-half Jack Daniel's!

Funeral pie is pretty weird. And shoo-fly pie!

At my first job after highschool graduation, I'd work long shifts at a pool window at a country club serving short order junk food to snobs for eight hours a day. The chef I worked with, Steve, noticed I wasn't taking my lunch breaks as regularly as I should be (no one would cover my breaks, another reason it was the perfect/stereotypical first job), and asked me one day what I wanted for lunch. I was embarassed and said I didn't know, and that nothing on the chicken tenders/hamburgers/mozzerella sticks menu sounded good to me. He turned around and whipped up something he named a "Steve Sandwich"-- a PB&J (with strawberry preserves out of dry storage!), thrown onto the griddle and made crispy in clarified butter. I still make them at home, an excellent comfort food!

Cuppa cuppa cuppa's (cookies)!

Cuppa flour
Cuppa sugar
Cuppa canned fruit cocktail, still in the juice

Mix it all up and bake!

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

French toast - bread dipped in mixed egg and then fried is called Gypsy toast in our house - who knows why?? And blood sausage is called black pudding here, there too?

I love the name Sussex Pond Pudding - which is a lovely lemon and suet pudding ... Delia's recipe is great!

@ Dusa: My family makes "slop" for a week after thanksgiving... basically take a scoop of everything that was on the table, dump it in a microwave-safe dish, and nuke until done. All the flavors have a chance to mingle, and it's almost better than T-day itself.

No one said hush puppies!

During early school years, the cafeteria made ham and cheese "Yum-Yums." I only liked the breading on these things because the ham was barely recognizable as ham. And I don't mean to sound vulgar, but what about "Shit on a shingle"? My dad would always refer to this as food they ate in Vietnam.

Millionaires shortbread, Baked Alaska, monkey custard, Eton Mess, jam rolypoly, there's also an English Rarebit, and in Scotland there's neeps and tatties and bubble and squeak is Rumpledethumps!