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 |
Victoria Baker
Caxton Pink'n'Whites Review |
Love them or shocked by them - the pink n white movement has arrived. Tens of thousands of pink fluffy lovers are buying these moreish treats in their masses.
The popularity of the Pink'n'White movement is now so great that there is now a website to go to enjoy the full pink'n' white experience. So throw away the marigolds and embrace the movement or just play to win the free monthly case of yummy fluffy 'pink n whites'. |
Nicey replies: Thanks Victoria,
Winning a whole case of Pink'n'Whites would be quite shocking! |
| |
Grace Ingram |
Just a quick note to say that your website enabled me to have a 'proper' Christmas this year - that is one which included Chocolate Oliver biscuits. I had been monitoring the Huntley & Palmer website after news (on your site & in the Telegraph) that they were planning on manufacturing them this Christmas but it hasn't been updated since October, so your news that they were available at Waitrose sent me off to my local branch - no luck but I did find them at a larger branch the next day. Totally yummy & chocolatey.
Keep up the good work
Grace Ingram (Mrs) |
| |
Keith O'Kane |
Dear Nicey and the wife,
Haven't been in touch for quite some time, new job, family commitments etc, so I thought I'd just take the opportunity to wish all at NCOTAASD HQ a very merry Christmas and a happy & prosperous new year.
I also thought that you might like to know that we had some American visitors at work recently and one of them, Jack, showed a keen interest in the whole British tea tradition.
We tried our best to explain the whole concept, how to make and drink a proper cup of tea etc, but I'm not sure if it really sank in.
I did send him back to Boston with my copy of the NCOTAASD book to read at his leisure so I'm hopeful that the American tea situation will improve in at least one small corner of the union.
|
Nicey replies: Seasons greetings to you too Keith,
Nice to hear from you and to know that you are helping out your fellow man at this time of year.
We have just had our Christmas Dinner, which traditionally Wifey and I have on Christmas Eve evening (Its a long story and not terribly interesting, but we do and that's the way we like it). It gives us lots of time to play with our presents on Christmas day. However, I'm having to sit a little bit further away from the keyboard that usual. The younger members of staff have knocked off early for the day, in some rouse to make Santa come along quicker, and I have an important bottle of vintage port that requires my attention.
Once again Merry Christmas
From Nicey, Wifey and the YMOS. |
| |
Peter Hartley |
I think it's a shame that my favourite yuletide tea companion, stollen, came dead-last in your special-report poll, but, on the basis that many worthwhile enterprises feel the need to take on extra temporary staff over the busy Christmas period, here are some remarks on the stollens I've tried so far this year:
Marks and Spencer: good marzipan, interesting addition of pecans which gave a not unwelcome frisson of the Deep South USA to the otherwise Teutonic experience, but really far too many glace cherries (12%, says the label) and made with vegetable oil, not all-butter. Some other M&S Christmas gear comes in regular, luxury, or connoisseur; I had a look but stollen seems to only come in regular. Quite frankly the version I had could do with connoisseurring up a bit. 3/5 snowflakes.
Tesco Finest: no pecans but plenty of almonds, more proportionate glace cherries (7%), good stickiness from all the butter and brandy. 4/5 snowflakes.
Unfortunately neither gets all 5 snowflakes, as neither one is quite as good as the one some friends got me the other Christmas, which came all the way from Germany in its own wooden box, proudly labelled "Original Erzgebirgischer Butterstollen", and thus joined the select group of foods which take more calories to pronounce than they actually contain.
Next I'm hoping to score a Waitrose one. Or maybe see if the big Sainsburys on the ring-road do a Taste the Difference one, but the little Sainsburys in town didn't have stollen at all when I looked.
Peter
|
Nicey replies: Good work Hartley the Elder,
I did go through a short phase of making my own Stollens about four years ago but the dough is so rich I found it tricky to get it to rise nicely. I may have another go now I have a mighty food mixer. Logic dictates that Lidls should do a good one and my Dad always used to get one of theirs. A nice bit of rum in a stollen and brushed over is very festive too. We also had a Bahlsen one a while back and that was very Rum laden.
I now have a big stollen head on. |
| |
Nicky Bramley |
Hello and thank you for the review of Mince Pies. My husband makes the mince pies in our house every year, and then doles them out to all and sundry. We normally get through 48 in all. This Saturday is baking day. Basically I abandon him in the kitchen and allow him to emerge several hours later, sweating and dredged in flour, bearing a piping hot mince pie for each of us, topped with rapidly-melting brandy butter. It doesn't get much better than that.
A very merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and yours, and thanks again for yet another entertaining and illuminating year on NCOTAASD.
Nicky
|
Nicey replies: Hoorah for your Old Man!
That sounds top notch. I love all these food based Christmas family traditions, they are the real fabric of Christmas to me.
We watched Nigella last night go through all of hers. Whilst it is was exciting to see the McVities Ginger Cake go into her stuffing I'm not all sure I fancied the result, bacon, onions, apple and ginger cake - hmmm not keen. Then again we couldn't help thinking of Kerry Katona who is going to be shoving stuff straight from the freezer into her oven. Mind you she always seems to have a huge spread in those adverts so perhaps next year she could have Nigella and the rest Saatchis round, and save Nigella going to all that effort.
Seasons greetings to you and yours! |
| |
|
|
|