I’ve often said things happen very serendipitously for me, especially as far as this blog is concerned. One afternoon I was strolling through Woollahra and I decided to pop into the Donna Hay General Store. I enquired about Halloween decorations (as I tend to do) and the salesperson said that she’d go downstairs and ask Donna. My head did a swivel. Was Donna Hay in the actual store? It turns out she was! She came upstairs with Petrina her business manager and when I mentioned needing the Halloween decorations for my blog they said “Oh you’re Not Quite Nigella?”. You could have knocked me over with a feather. They knew who I was? “We were just talking about you!” they said. It turns out that they actually read my blog!
Donna was dressed casually and she is small in height-I always assumed that she was quite tall from her appearance on Masterchef. They even mentioned taking down the prices of the macarons and making them bigger after reading my comments on it and how for the next 5 days after reading that they asked the customers in the store about how much they’d pay for a macaron! We also discuss her brush with Nigella Lawson – literally, as Nigella rushed past Donna while exiting a London Department Store and getting into a waiting car (she has good manners and apologised for bumping into Donna) and it is with reluctance that I leave as it felt like we could have chatted for a long time.
Rum & Craisin Ice Cream Puddings using a Donna Hay recipe
I had to dash so I chalked that up to one of those funny coincidences and wonderful moments that happen in the food blogging world. Fast foward a few days later and Donna had happily agreed to an interview! So without further ado, here is a Q & A with Donna Hay!
How did you make the transition from a food stylist to food editor at Marie Claire to a cookbook author? Was it hard? What obstacles did you face?
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October 20th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
Sometimes I think that fate has arranged for it that I am my age and without a license. You see I can be a very distracted driver. This is a habit borne out of many years as the passenger always gawking at the passing shops. One such time where I was glad that I wasn’t driving was when we drove past Nookie Cafe in Surry Hills. It’s rather eye catching amongst the industrial looking warehouse types of buildings with shuttered windows. Literally a tiny room, a sign and 2 milk crates. Yet still, the lines come in waves and at any time you go past on a week day there could be 5 people waiting in line for their coffee.
This morning, my dining companion and I need sustenance before a day’s shopping so we stop by Nookie on busy Cleveland Street to partake of a coffee and whatever else they may have to offer. We walk up to it and it’s tiny – adorably so, and it’s like peeking into the room of someone’s house. The friendly barista Tom straightens his hair for the photo “Oh no, I don’t know if I’m quite photo ready. I had a big night for my birthday”. “That was 2 days ago” remarks another customer. I get the feeling everyone is a regular down this end of Cleveland street where there are many hidden offices and few places to get a good coffee.
Swear Jar
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October 19th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
Desserts are like expensive shoes. You know you shouldn’t buy more but they’re just so irresistable that you just cannot say no. So when I invited my friend Queen Viv to accompany me at the Sugar hit at the Inter Continental Hotel I had no idea that she was in her final days of a detox. But like the trooper that she is, she decided that today would be the last day of her detox and if you’re going to celebrate the end of a detox, you may as well do it in style.
So on this Thursday night we arrive at the Intercontinental. We find a park a few streets away and in the cold wind and the high heels we’re just glad to be able to sit down and have a nice glass of something and a dessert. We’re a little early for the Sugar Hit by about 20 minutes so they ask us to take a seat and they’ll bring it out. We choose a banquette of course and sink our weary wind battered selves into it and before long, the waiter arrives with the dessert wine. For the cost of $20 you get a dessert and a glass of Brown Brothers Moscato dessert wine which is a lovely, very sweet drop.
Front to back: Gold Leafed White Chocolate Dome, Dark Chocolate Chilli Slice and Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroon with Chocolate Ganache with Nashi Pear Chutney & Vanilla-Honey Syrup
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October 18th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
The Big Merino
Australians have a love of big things. Big icons of things in smaller towns to be precise. These were often used to lure tourists who were also into photographing and seeing large things. There’s even a movie about it called “Big Dreamers”. There’s the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour where my brother in law The Assman worked as a train driver and more close to home, there the 97 tonne and 15 metre tall Big Merino dubbed “Rambo” which we’ve happened upon. Standing proud and grey, Queen Viv told us of the tale where his modesty was clipped as it was deemed too offensive. Well, the balls are back baby and we find ourselves contemplating them closely.
They are lighter in colour you know…
“They’re a lighter colour!” exlaims Queen Viv and indeed they are a lighter shaded family jewels. Locals were offended by the sight of the anatomically correct Merino but apparently he has had them restored in their lighter colour. We can’t go up very far – once upon a time you could see out his eyes, but we feel affection to this dignified beast that had some rather undignified things done to him in the name of decency.
The Loaded Dog
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October 17th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
I’m a Gleek. Yes, there I said it. If you’re not sure what I mean, I’m addicted to the show Glee and the songs and one of the first meals when we moved into our new place was this Japanese Pizza pancake called Okonimyaki as it was an easy dinner that wcould be made on the stovetop as we’re still waiting with bated breath for our new oven to arrive. And one of the first things I did once we had moved in was sing my little heart out to the theme song, something that I couldn’t do while staying at my parent’s place. I like to sing alone, yes I do. Whilst I appreciated my parents opening up their house to us, a girl has got to sing.
The renovations took about 2.5 months and we breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was finally finished. I had no idea how stressful renovating was until our bathroom guy showed up at 11:30pm and proceeded to hammer until 2am. We had no idea until one of our neighbours called me the next day saying apologising that she had to go down and tell him to stop hammering. Great” I said to my husband. “We are off to a great start with our neighbours” and I was sure that we were the least popular people in the building.
But now that it’s all finished it seems a distant memory (apart from the dozen boxes that greet me every day waiting to be unpacked). When I served this up to my husband, with the intention of sharing it, he wanted to appropriate it all for himself which I suppose is the ultimte compliment. It’s a ridiculously easy recipe and it is part of my new monthly column in Web Child (yes I’m a columnist! How Carrie Bradshaw 
). The editor SydneyGalwho is a long time reader of NQN wanted me to do a story on making cabbage edible for kids and Okonomiyaki was the first thing that sprang to mind whilst still making a dish palatable for adults. It’s also very economical, versatile and relatively quick.
I went a bit artistic with the feathering details but a lattice pattern is more traditional and of course if you’re doing it for a child, a smiley face is almost de rigeur. They will love the pancakey taste and the hidden cabbage provides a nice crunch but it’s subtle enough so that they aren’t scared away. Plus with Halloween coming up, add some fake spiders and you have a spider’s web! The best thing about it is that the meat can be changed to whatever you have to hand or it can easily be done as vegetarian and it still tastes great.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you sing in front of people or only alone? Are you a karaoke star or strictly a shower singer?
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October 16th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
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