When my dad is in the U.S., He goes to WalMart, grabs his shopping cart, grabs some nuts and probably a drink then starts eating while he shops. He usually finishes the drink before he's done but regardless he always makes sure the cashier scans the empty/half empty container so he can pay for it.

Agreed!

Those recipes sound great, thanks a lot. I'll probably try them soon!

Those sound great! Thanks! Never thought about allspice in pasta, I have both the regular allspice and the ground one. Should be interesting to taste.

Thanks!

Haven't even heard of it before. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out!

Thanks! Haven't thought about turkey in pasta. Your mention of diced ham in the baked macaroni reminds me of my aunt's baked mac with ham... heavenly!

Silly question. Made a few mistakes but it came out OK. I'll definitely try it again.

And to think that I joked to my sister about mixing them. I won't cook it tonight but I'll look into cooking it in the near future! Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions! I noticed that the Tagliatelle recipe that you gave lacks sauce or any cheese. Is that intentional or was it just so obvious? I've never cooked pasta in that way before so it's new to me, for me it's always a basic pasta + sauce + cheese (most times) + meat.

So, my sister is gone for the summer and left me with half-bags of random pasta. Spaghetti, Macaroni(?), Penne and Tagliatelle. I also inherited some cheddar cheese and grated parmigiano/parmesan. I should have a large bottle of bolognese sauce.

Any ideas on what I can make? Haven't seen any recipes that appeal to me as yet. And it might seem weird, but I prefer a dish that looks great, just a bit striking, or perhaps some tips on how to make regular pasta look more interesting :)

I'm open to buying ingredients. I don't have any suitable meat at the moment so I'm probably going to get some ground beef.

Thanks in advance for any ideas :)

Made peas and rice tonight. I did a thorough rinse. Didn't have a reason to use water as I used coconut milk. Didn't notice the problem (you can smell the difference). I think it's the washing of the rice that solves the problem.

Thanks all for your input!

Since YummaYum mentioned that rice from UK stores need to be washed I was starting to think that maybe it's a combination. Thanks.

Thanks for that info. Yes my sister lives here also. I was wondering if there were differences in the rice. I guess that's another thing to add to the list of foods that taste different from back home (Caribbean).

Thanks. I'll try. Although if I finally see sunlight again I might get too excited and forget this little experiment :)

Thanks, I'll try. I used Evian once or twice, which describes itself as "Natural Mineral Water", and had the same issue.

Hi.

Just as a background. I moved from home to the UK at the beginning of the year but before then I was cooking rice for me and my parents ~4 times a week using the "absorption" method. I can make perfect rice pretty much with my eyes closed and I don't need to measure my rice or water. So I don't have any issues with method/measurements.

Now, a few weeks after I started cooking rice when moved to the UK, the first few pots of rice were fine, then I started noticing that when I put the rice in the boiling water, whether I'm cooking peas and rice, yellow rice or regular white rice, the water would thicken and turn white (well, the water for the peas & rice/yellow rice doesn't exactly turn white but the colour of the water gets lighter as if it was mixed with white water). It also has a undesirable taste that comes along with it.

I have no clue what's causing the problem.:
- It doesn't happen to my sister.
- I tried my room mate's pot and one of my smaller pots, same issue.
- I changed everything from the rice (same as what my sister uses), to the butter & oil, the salt, even tried bottled water instead of tap. Same problem.
- I notice that if I wash my rice vigorously it's barely noticeable, although sometimes it still happens.
- I even tried basmati and jasmine rice. Same issue.

I would hate to think that it's because the rice needs washing, because my sister doesn't wash hers as thoroughly as I wash mine and she doesn't have the same issue. I have a gas stove and she has electric burners but I've cooked rice loads of times on gas burners so I'm absolutely clueless.