I was watching the 2010 Academy Awards. Of course one of the benefits of working from home is the ability to camp yourself in front of the television popcorn at the ready and taking in the important bits – you know, the red carpet. I was delighted to see Jack Donaghy hosting (yes I know his name is Alec Baldwin but he’ll always be my TV husband Jack Donaghy) and that it would start with red carpet interviews.
The dresses were of course gorgeously couture and because it’s the Oscars no-one goes quite as mad or edgy as they do at the Emmy’s or Golden Globes. Sadly there was no Bjork and I don’t think Bai Ling scores an invite and I’ve read Pamela Anderson is banned after her last drunk escapade (and yes I avidly read trashy mags, it’s my guilty pleasure).
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March 16, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
My friends and I are terribly busy people. So much so that when this dinner idea was first conceived it was around the time of the Global Financial Crisis last year. And whilst we love dinner parties, the fact was one friend was mid renovation, another mid toddler and we were mid moving so our GFC themed dinner ended up happening a little after what we had initially anticipated, almost a year later in fact, but we thought that the idea had merit and most importantly, the potential to have fun and be creative. After all when you dine out you can pay quite a pretty sum doing so, so we wanted to explore whether it was possible to eat a delicious three course meal for a mere $5 a person. And usually every time we entertain, it usually involves buying the best quality items and not really paying attention to cost as it’s all about spoiling your friends so we wondered whether putting together a dinner party this way would change the dynamics of a dinner party.
My main: Chicken & Pea Pithivier
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March 8, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
I hate wasting things. So much so that I’m forever trying to find ways to use things – some less successful than others. Case in point: pumpkin seeds. I used to bake pumpkin pies for a living (much more fun than it sounds) and I’d go through kilos of pumpkin each week.I tried to do something with the seeds – after all weren’t pumpkin seeds an edible commodity? One day I was horrified to discover that stashed in the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge, I had amassed kilos of slimy pumpkin seeds. I proceeded to wash them and then was so exhausted after that that I simply gave up and threw them out. Like I said, some instances were more successful than others.
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March 4, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
Where did this month go? For a moment I swore I was still in January and then February rolled around and swept me off my feet like a hurricane. Two of my favourite bloggers Aparna and Deeba were hosting February’s challenge and even though I knew exactly what flavour of Tiramisu I wanted to make it still took me a while to get my act together. When a friend suggested I join Daring Cooks I looked at her like she was possibly insane and wondered how I could possibly fit another commitment into my crazed schedule.
Those that know me know that around 4pm every day I will probably be making myself a cup of tea and will be eating it with a biscuit. My favourite kind of tea is Earl Grey followed by Lady Grey which gives me more of a pick up than Earl Grey. So early on in the month, when I was thinking of a twist on tiramisu, I immediately thought of tea. It sounded like an easy enough substitution, just switch the coffee for tea. With that idea, I had no excuse for delaying it which I had been doing lately. Perhaps I had caught Mr NQN’s procrastination bug? The one where he said that fixing the balcony lock was next to impossible until his brother came over one afternoon and fixed it within the space of five minutes. I hoped not.
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February 27, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
I am a woman of ratios. For someone that was average at best at Maths at school, for me food is all about ratios. The correct ratio of moisture to dryness the correct ratio of salt to sweet and the correct ratio of popcorn to caramel. I always find that when I get a bag of caramel popcorn there are never a) enough caramel to coat the pieces or b) enough good nuts. I understand that for them it’s not so much a matter of ratios but more a matter of economics with ratios running a poor second.
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February 25, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
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