CENTERVILLE, Ga. — Every Thursday this month the Macon Food Story has been exploring holiday food traditions from around the world.
In England, no matter what time of year, you will always be welcomed with a nice cup of tea.
Reporter Grant Blankenship with Georgia Public Broadcasting takes us to British Pantry and Tea in Centerville, where a little tea and gravy stir up strong holiday memories of home.
Owner Jeannette Francis: "If the flag's not flying, we're like the queen -- she's not at Buckingham Palace, and we're not here either. My name is Jeannette Francis. What do I do? I cook. We have a little tea room, and I do all the cooking in the back. I've been here over 30 years right now. I used to go home and stock up and come back and then when my uh... parents passed away, I thought, 'Hmm, I can't get my bisto for my gravy,' so I opened the shop. It makes me feel warm and cozy to have a good English meal, because you miss it."
(Bisto is a gravy thickener, similar to bouillon)
Lizzie Douglas, employee: "It's like looking at old photographs... I am Elizabeth Douglas, or Lizzie Douglas. And I've been working with Jan here for four years, nearly five years. Deep down, it's the proper English Sunday dinner -- roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, as many vegetables as you can get your plate and proper meat gravy. It just takes you back, when you make a proper gravy, it just takes you back... like your mum used to make... it just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling."
Francis: "Things that fly off the shelves right now are: sausages, bacon, mince pie...."
Douglas: "My mum's still alive -- she's 90. Wait no she's not, she's 84 on the sixth of December, and that's a time when I just want to give my mum a hug. And everybody's fine, I just miss being with them... as we all do. To be honest with you, if I hadn't found the British Pantry and Tea Room four years ago, whenever it was, then I don't know what I would have done with my time. It just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, that you belong."
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Coming up in the New Year... your favorite cold weather comfort foods!