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 |
Brian Barratt |
Mornin' Mr Nicey,
Refs to the Army's oatmeal block take my mind back about 60 years (temporarily, you understand). During or after WWII, in which my three brothers served, we received from somewhere a few tins of Army rations. If I recall aright, they contained those oatmeal blocks, which my small teeth couldn't manage without risk, and also some dark and equally hard chocolate. These items were edible but, at the time, stimulated more curiosity and sympathy than good taste.
Much nicer were the tins of Devonshire cream, the real clotted stuff, my sister used to send from Devon. I was allowed to scoop it out with a spoon. Just a little, don't be greedy. Oh, bliss! I'm still trying to lose weight.
I remain, dear sir, ever your 'umble,
Brian Barratt
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Lillian
Afghans Review |
Dear Nicey,
Stumbled upon your great site and I've been coming back to check out the biscuit of the week. I think the afghan biscuit (this week's pick) may have Australian origins because of the name. Perhaps you should look at it based on the people from Afghanistan. In Australia, during the gold rush days, there were Afghanis living in Australia, transporting goods with their camels across the great distances. One of the great railways of the world which runs from Adelaide to Alice Springs is called The Ghan, a name derived from the Afghanis.
Lilly
PS. This is also where the source of feral camels in Aust. came from. |
Nicey replies: Lilly,
Thank you for that. Yes they seem like much better reasons than the ones I made up. |
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Ben Mawston |
Dear Nicey
With winter approaching here in Australia, I decided to buy myself a tea cosy and was delighted to find that my local charity shop had several colours to choose from (knitted variety only though, and all the same design). Am enclosing a photo of the one I bought to share my excitement with others. I am a bit peturbed by the fact it has two pom-poms though -- is this perhaps a genetic mutation?
Cheers
Ben |
Nicey replies: Ben, your new tea cosy is a source of inspiration to us all, you should be proud of your extra pom-pom.
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Jess Mar
Marie Review |
Hi Nicey,
In response to Sue Northcott's horror at Marie biscuits + Vegemite, as an Aussie girl who's been eating Vegemite for all my 22 years of life, I feel like I have to offer some kind of a response. As kids, it used to be great fun to sandwich butter or margarine + a generous layer of Vegemite between two savory multigrain biscuits called Ryvitas and squeeze to awake the tiny brown and yellow worms beneath! (I can't remember if Ryvitas are available in the UK, I doubt that they're exclusively Australian). So while Marie biscuits are quite different from Ryvitas, and I concede that it's probably not the nicest combo, it sounds like Sue's classmate was trying to make do and recreate an Aussie favourite (probably in the absence of Ryvitas).
Cheers from the Land of Oreos & Peanut Butter! :-)
Jess |
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Sue Northcott
Marie Review |
Dear Nicey,
At my Welsh class last night we were very kindly given a plate of biscuits to go with our tea. Amongst them were some Maries. It's been many years since I've indulged in that childhood favourite, the Marie Sandwich (with best salty Welsh butter, of course) and I was horrified to notice that although the biscuits had lots of little dimples there were no actual holes.
This means that you wouldn't get the little butter worms when you squeezed the biscuits together. Is this the usual state of affairs these days, or were we supplied with inferior Maries? (Incidentally, an Australian girl in the class said that her favourite Marie Sandwich involved butter and vegemite. Doesn't bear thinking about, really!) |
Nicey replies: Noswaith dda Sue,
If your looking to blame somebody then try the Dutch I think they make most of the Marie biscuits we eat.
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