My first order of business on my first day in London was grocery shopping.

(Well, that’s not quite true.  First up was a shower, which I always appreciate after a day of travel.  Then came an English muffin (a muffin?) for breakfast because I was starving.  Then came stopping at a store on my way to the grocery store, which I will talk about in the next post.  Then came grocery shopping.)

I’m not sure if it’s a British thing or if it’s an urban thing, but there was a remarkable amount of pre-prepped meals.  I was focused on produce today, but I want to come back next week so I can try out some of the options.  There’s an entire refrigerator case of quick-cook Indian food alone!  Yum.

My stomach was set on salad for lunch today, so I hit the produce sections hard.  As always, I also enjoyed the novelties of a foreign grocery store.  For example, there is a great deal of patriotism wrapped up in the fruits and veg:

(Side note:  “Veg” is a term that surprises me with its lack of use in America.  I can’t figure out why we hold exclusively to the four syllable version.)

As you may note on the British Carrot Batons, I was amused by the number of items that are called by a French derivative.  The flat, stir-fry green beans was my favorite:

Mange tout indeed!

I also appreciated that the French dressing wasn’t the over-sweetened orange goop, but was a Dijon vinaigrette in a very handy bottle size:

The cheese selection was varied and, handily, included a rating system:

Alas, I was so focused on my soon-to-be-salad that I forgot that Jason lives literally across the way from a cheese specialty store.  I imagine he’ll point this out to me as soon as he spots the Sainsbury-brand cheeses in his fridge.

Speaking of a rating system:

I wish we had cheeses with ID laws in America.