Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
Steve Britton |
Just thought I'd offer some feedback about causing a stir with a personal mug I used to use.
It was at a previous company, where the unspoken policy was that anyone making a round of teas had to wash up ALL the mugs before brewing up.
Now, I (being somewhat busy most of the time and rather extremist in my right-wing, goose-stepping views) stood up like Mussolini, gesticulating wildly and tried to implement a policy of "if we have our own mugs, we can each be responsible for them.. blah blah blah." Surprisingly to me, no-one responded to my elitest suggestion.
However, wishing to set the example, I persisted in my regime and one day was unfortunate enough to find myself in close proximity at the sink to a certain colleague (female by nature) who was enjoying a rather 'sensitive' moment of the month whilst washing up. Wishing to expand the borders of my personal-mug-usage empire, I engaged the fair maiden in a discourse about individual mug usage. I'm pretty certain that the turning point came when I made a rather blase comment that other people using my mug was (to me) tantamount to 'raping my mug'.
Suffice to say, my imperialist 'Tea Reich' came was reduced to a smouldering wreck on the highway of history by a very soapy dishcloth, slapped with socialist vehemence in my face.
Despite having now changed companies several times, I continue to remain happy to enjoy my morning cuppa served in the 'people's cup'.
Steve Britton |
Nicey replies: Steve,
Yes I too have worked at places where the policy was for people to take turns in washing up all the mugs. Mostly this resulted in the 'busiest' most 'too important' people not washing up mugs ever, whilst everybody else who appreciated a cuppa from a clean mug was forced to wash up the collective mugs. This created many unpleasant scenes not least the shirkers scratching around for anything at all clean that they could use at 3:30 on Friday afternoon to drink tea from. You could always spot these people as they would happily drink tea from a vase, or plastic bag if it meant they didn't have to wash it up. |
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Jim Fussell |
Nicey,
Have just converted to shopping at Morrisons. Nice and cheap and a large biscuit selection. One of the main bonuses is that they always have loads of buy one get one free offers all around the store. The downside is that these shelves are normally empty or close to empty unless you're lucky with your timing. Not last night however, when I spotted a shelf dedicated to giving you double the value in pink wafers. It was rammed, fit to burst with the nasty things. The nation has spoken.
Jim. |
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Rhydderch Wilson |
Dear Nicey and the good lady Wife,
To say that I enjoy a nice cup of tea and a sit down certainly would be an understatement. In fact, I can in all honestey say that a sizable proportion of my working day is not only spent sitting down and drinking tea but also thinking about the lovely cup of tea and sit down that I'm going to have when I get home.
Unfortunately, however, my girlfreind, as is often the case, is not as well groomed in her tea drinking habits as I and frequently commits the almost unforgivable crime of failing to finish her cuppa. Which brings me to the point of this communique...
Last night, as we were both enjoying The Glimmer Man starring Steven Seagal, the cat, who is not averse to a bit of mishief, hopped up onto the coffee table and started lapping at her unfinished cuppa. Jeannette moved to chastise her but I intervened, pointing out what an incredibly well cultured cat we must have and how she should be encouraged to drink tea. And then, if that was not impressive enough, the dog, who's behaviour is readily influenced by that of the cat, then followed suit and finished off what was left. Fantastic!
From this day forth the cat shall always be welcome to hop up onto the table and share a cuppa with me - but not the dog, because she frequently visits the cat's litter tray and eats her poo.
I wonder if any of your other readers out there have any tea loving pets.
Sincerely,
Rhydderch Wilson |
Nicey replies: Well I can understand your pride in your cat's taste for tea, and of course dogs as you so rightly point out will of course eat virtually anything. I always think those Mr Dog pet food commercials are funny when the woman in the evening dress tempts her small white scotty dog with a plate of Mediterranean herb flavoured dog food (or something like that) with a small red rose on one side. I'm sure like most dogs it would be just as keen to get its teeth into the crust from the top of a cow pat.
Anyhow enough of this unsavory topic. I think the main concern is if you have to start making the cat a cup of tea as-well it could become a bit of a chore. |
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Damian Kelleher
Lincoln Review |
I have a particularly nasty association with Lincoln biscuits which I would like to share.
Like most kids, my brother and sisters and I were always on the scrounge for biscuits and sweets. Chocolate biscuits were the work of Beelzebub, and disapeared too quickly for my mother's liking. Sick and tired of our constant pleas for interesting biccies, my mother decided that we obviously all had worms and invested in some worm powder which she duly administered to us all. No excuses were allowed.
I don't know if anyone can remember what worm powder tasted like in the 60s but it was foul. Supposedly 'rapsberry' flavoured, it cam in little orange sachets and was the most disgusting, chemical, pungent concoction I ever tasted.
Under my mother's beady eye, I was told to hold my nose and tip it back, which I duly did. Then my mother passed me a biscuit to 'take the taste away'. It was a Lincoln biscuit.
I bit into the biscuit and a couple of minutes later, threw the whole lot up, worm powder, Lincoln biscuit and all.
I can never even look at a green packet of those bobbly, boring biscuits without the painful memory resurfacing. They are the sort of non-descript, unadventurous biscuits that nobody likes and people buy just so they won't be tempted to eat biscuits. Or worse still to take the taste away of something filthy.
I say stop these travesties of the biscuit tin! Ban them NOW!
Yours in biscuitry
Damian Kelleher |
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Phil Dennison |
Dear Nicey,
I'm an Englishman abroad in California. I've just looked in the fridge and a stick of butter is indeed 4oz. Bizarrely, the paper wrapper has markings to show some kind of spoonful conversions, and cup conversions. It is very odd that people do not weigh ingredients here. And of course they use a 16 fluid ounce pint rather than the 20 ounce pint which used to be used in the UK.
I try my best to confuse my colleagues by using the 24 hour clock and metric measurements.
I've attached a photo of our kitchen tea station, as we found a rather fetching cup of tea sculpture in a local bargain store.
The best local biscuits that we buy are Graham Crackers. Quite light and suitable for regular consumption, particularly the honey flavoured kind. More serious biscuit enjoyment is restricted to imported products.
best wishes,
Phil.
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Nicey replies: Phil,
Thanks for the butter info. You seem to be doing splendid work out there in California getting the tea making sorted out. That's a very nice mug you have there. Wifey says she's concerned about which teabags you are using in it. I trust from time to time you have baked beans on toast for lunch to further unsettle the locals.. |
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