I have to admit that my habits of late are changing. Apart form the occasional movie which I enjoy if it’s not too commercial and “Hollywood blockbuster”, I watch much more television than I do movies. I think it’s because I often find myself disappointed in a movie whereas with  a television show, I know roughly what I am going to get. Mr NQN thinks it’s this same creature of habit status that means that OCD trance-like, I repeat songs over and over again and it is why I don’t really listen to the radio as I want to know what song will be on next. I hate to think of myself as predictable but then again, all evidence does point to me winning the Miss Predictability award at the pageant.

When I do watch a movie, however, it is much more likely to be a movie that I watched when I was younger. I hate to sound like a whiner, but they really don’t make movies like they used to. My two favourites when I was young were E.T. and The Wizard of Oz. My favourite part from the Wizard of Oz were the parts with the Wicked Witch of the West. She scared me a little but I did like the music that they played whenever she came on the screen and the fact that she could ride a bike in the sky. As someone that a) cannot ride a bike or b) fly she seemed to be somewhat of a superhero (did I mention I wasn’t quite a normal child?).

Regular readers will know how much I love Hallowe’en for it allows me to invite goblins, demons and witches into my house. And this year I wanted to make a gingerbread house with a difference. Rather than being nestled in the snow and possibly have Santa Claus as an inhabitant, I wanted the owner to be a witch. I wanted there to be cobwebs, spiders and pumpkins and I also wanted it to be dark as the night as would befit a witch.

The gingerbread recipe that I used is one that is soft and easy to roll and reroll and reroll. Like all gingerbread houses, you can really let your imagination go wild as far as the decorating is concerned and of course readers in the United States will undoubtedly have an enormous range of impressive candy options at their disposal. You don’t have to royal icing the outside of the gingerbread house in black, indeed this would save a lot of time if you didn’t. To save your precious sanity, you could also buy gingerbread house cutters. There are gingerbread house cutters for sale here at Mini Gourmets which you could also use for Christmas (I’m not into single use items ). And they’re giving NQN readers 20% off these gingerbread house cutters if you use the code: lovenigella – this expires on November 18th, 2010.

I won’t lie, it did take me ages to make but I always feel an odd sense of satisfaction when making a gingerbread house-it’s like a miniature version of building your own house. I also wanted to pay a little homage to the Wizard of Oz-can you see where that is Dear Reader?

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When I was young, I thought that the most sophisticated things were French. I loved those wobbly supermarket creme caramels where you would break off the tabs and the whole caramel would come shimmying and wobbling down the sides. I always thought that it was a marvellous feat that it was able to do that-it seemed almost magical or as if science were involved.

I was in my thirties before I tried a gougere at of all places Alain Ducasse at the Dorcester Hotel. I didn’t like a terribly sheltered existence at all, quite the opposite at least food-wise, but when I sat down to a bowl of gougeres I became hooked. I was all too familiar with choux buns as a sweet item but as a savoury item they were a wonderful revelation. I scoffed gougere after gougere, forgetting the fact that I was about to embark on the degustation meal to end all degustations.

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“I think a lot of people come here after the gym” Dillon says and we look around. Well, if I were to sweat it off at the gym I might reward myself with a burger. Mr NQN, my buddy Christie and her husband Dillon and I are at the Grill’d in Darlinghurst. Mr NQN has had a hard day at work and all he wants is a juicy burger. This branch of Grill’d is so new that there’s a “You can’t touch this” sign over the beers in the fridge as they await their liquor license (slightly torturing the boys I can imagine). There is a Learners sign asking diners to be patient as the staff are new.

We’re sitting at the large communal table at the front and looking at the menu. Burger fillings are divided into beef, chicken, lamb, veggie and steak sandwiches with most of the burger options being for the beef burgers. I have a hard time choosing as I usually like veggie burgers but they aren’t jumping out at me. Another unusual thing is the lack of side orders. It’s chips with a dipping sauce and that is it. No other types of fries, desserts or drinks aside from pre packaged soft drinks. Even if you wanted to buy more, you couldn’t. There are two sample rolls on the counter, a large flour dusted soft white panini or a wholemeal roll. There is a gluten free option but oddly it does say “Gluten free rolls may contain traces of gluten” which I suspect would not please a celiac’s disease. Perhaps they’re being overly cautious as they may be processed on the same equipment as other buns.

The Almighty $12.50

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