I’m an Afternoon Tea girl since forever. My High School friends and I would occasionally do afternoon tea during weekends desperate to play grown up. Wearing makeup, high heels, shopping and acting grown up high on high tea was the ultimate teenage weekend day for us. Bear in mind that I grew up in the 80s so the makeup was a tastefully dubious blue eyeshadow and pink frosted lipstick and the high heels were pastel pink pumps. We would spending our parent’s hard earned cash on Duran Duran records (yes these were pre CD times), frill skirts and tube skirts. Hot huh? 
A high of a more gustatory variety is finding the perfect scone. There are so many bad scones, masquerading as light scones but really playing the part of rocks or weapons. During afternoon tea, when faced with a three tier layer of sweet goodness, I always eat the sandwiches first, and then go for the scones as they are warm. The cakes go last as they are dessert of course. If the scones are good then I will eat them but if they aren’t fabulous I simply won’t waste the stomach space. I’ve left behind more scones than I have boyfriends
One place that does a terrific scone is the Tea Room at the QVB and Gunner’s Barracks (scene of the infamous kookaburra sandwich stealing incident). In fact they do my favourite scones ever. Their recipe was no doubt a highly protected secret but I thought I might cheekily ask if I could get the recipe. After all it never hurts to ask right? Fearing rejection I was delighted to hear a perhaps and then a resounding yes. I was even offered a scone making lesson at the Tea Room QVB location!
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| July 27th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
No-one has ever accused me of being balanced. I throw myself enthusiastically head first into every endeavour I commit to (and perhaps why I commit myself to so little). I believe the word is obsessed which my family and friends call me, often in whispered tones and it’s such a pejorative statement anyway. Working on the the blog seven days a week from 9am until midnight is no hardship though although Mr NQN has suggested recently that I give myself a rest.
“A rest?” I looked at him with one eyebrow raised. It’s as if he suggested that I run a marathon or cut up my credit cards. Yes he said simply, you need one, otherwise you’ll become exhausted and jaded. The idea of becoming jaded with food was horrifying. The reason why he takes the photos in restaurants is because his hands are steadier than mine and I get so excited when a dish is brought to the table that I start shaking in excitement. I did not want to become jaded.
Oops missed one!
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| July 15th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
They say that behind every great man there is a great woman. I also believe that behind every fun adult there’s a child lurking behind. I don’t mean literally, but having a connection with the child within certainly opens up the world to fun. I do worry that sometimes I will be the 50 years old still dressing like I’m much younger – I believe the phrase is “mutton dressed as lamb” (and I am aware that I may barely getting away with it now ).
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| June 8th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
It was late one night – my danger time is around 10pm. I know I should brush my teeth before then and not be tempted by things but it’s always around then that I get very peckish. After quite some years I’ve figured out that I like something to crunch on a bit late at night just before bed (I’ve always feared going to bed hungry, I don’t think I ever have, much the opposite given my late night snacking activities). That night it was cold and I was nursing a hot chocolate and all I wanted was a cookie to dunk in it.
See you can be truly lazy and stir it with the same knife that you used to get the peanut butter out of the jar!
I’ve always been the obsessive type. My shoe collection is a case in point – who really needs over 100 pairs of shoes when you really don’t out that much? My obsessiveness extended to these cookies. I used up more than half a jar of peanut butter trying to get these just right. I first started with trying to make a white chocolate, oatmeal and cranberry cookie (inspired by the Donna Hay cookie mix) but found that oatmeal was a hard ingredient to microwave dry in order to get the correct texture. Four attempts were made and then suitably humiliated, I regrouped and came back with a sugar cookie.
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| May 18th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
Coco Chanel once said “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off”. Whilst I appreciate Coco’s sentiment, it’s something I’ve never been able to do. You’ll catch me leaving the house lit up with jewellery looking like a Christmas tree. It’s this lack of self control and discipline that I think led to me almost leaving the house looking like a pirate the other night and it’s one where I am attracted to sparkly things like a magpie.
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| April 15th, 2010 by Not Quite Nigella
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