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 |
Jim Fussell
Tunnocks Wafer Review |
Morning Nicey,
I've just got back from a nice trip to Tobago. After a couple of days of hurricane Ivan we enjoyed some nice sunshine and plenty of caribbean hospitality. Anyway, a trip to the hotel shop resulted in me spotting none other than the Tunnock Caramel Wafer for sale. We've had discussions in the past over their ludicrous claim of how many are sold each week, well, if they're being sold as far afield as Tobago then maybe it could be possible. Maybe we could initiate a Tunnocks Hunt. I wonder where the strangest place is that they can be found?
As an additional, we met a very nice couple while holidaying. They were interested but slightly disturbed by my interest and views on all things biscuit. Good news for you though as they are very keen to get on the website and purchase the book.
Jim. |
Nicey replies: Glad you are back in one piece. I have a pack of the Dark Chocolate Tunnocks Wafers downstairs which you have probably just encouraged me to open. Good work with the book advertising, we are off to see the first copies roll off the presses a week Monday, hopefully we'll have some pictures of that in the next newsletter. |
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Claire Hams
Rich Tea Review |
Greetings Biscuitologists
Here I was, at 11.30pm, sitting in front of the pc gorging myself on rich tea biscuits (a quater of the packet gone, a squidy mass stuck in my teeth). And I decided to type into google, 'rich tea biscuits' (like you do) and lo and behold, your site pops up....and it seems it has been reviewed by The Times newspaper from reading the emails. So this is no mere rubbish I though to myself.
I was now through half a packet of lyons rich tea biscuits....and the worst bit....I am eating them DRY...no tea.
I cannot comment on how I feel now about rich tea biscuits. I fear I may never want another in my life. Nice site, weird way of stumbling on it, sick feeling in my stomach (=21 rich tea biscuits all splurging out as they melt in my gastric juices).
Claire of Epsom, Surrey |
Nicey replies: Claire,
I'm concerned you may be spending too much time on the Internet. A well adjusted person would have gotten up to make some tea after one or two Rich Tea biscuits.
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John Hogan |
Nicey,
You may be able to shed some light on the amount of time a tea-bag should be left standing in the mug/cup after the hot water has been poured on. I give the mixture a couple of stirs then generally leave the kitchen, watch the tv in the lounge for no more than ten seconds, or walk to the lounge window and back which seems to provide reasonable timing.
However, a friend, Ian, uses his spoon to squash the tea-bag into the bottom of the mug/cup, which he then leaves for no less than four minutes. His tea tastes ‘stewed’ to me, but it made we wonder what the guidelines are?
How long does it take to brew the perfect cuppa and at what stage is it stewed?
Many Regards,
John Hogan |
Nicey replies: John,
Of course this is a very important subject you have raised. Whilst it would be very satisfying to have a definitive answer so that anybody who veered from it could be roundly denounced as 'doing it all wrong', alas there isn't one. I mean personally I'm with you, and modern tea bags are made to deliver the goods very quickly in terms of brew time. However there will be some like your mate Ian who genuinely like the taste of stewed tea, (which it most certainly is). The fact that he wrings the bag, actually contributes to a stewed flavour. Now thats well and good, and if that's how he likes it then who are we to disagree, however, he should accept that he does like his tea stewed, and that in general most other people don't. If he were to make tea for the majority of other people in this way then they would pour it down the sink. |
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Maryann McBreen |
Dear Nicey and Wifey
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy receiving your newsletter and also the website. I am an American ('Murrkin) who was fortunate enough to live in England when I was a child. I have many fond memories of the lovely teas and cakes and biscuits....>sigh< if only we could get biscuits like that here! I actually read the reviews, and drool over the pictures, lol.....then I get all hungry and go and eat some not-nearly-so-nice hard old crumbly cookies or something...it's just not the same. And don't get me started on the subject of sit-downs! It's as if the notion of a sit-down with a nice hot cuppa is totally alien!! Anyway, your site reminds me of many happy childhood teas. I had a notion, I noticed you had polled the site to see how many folks make their own bscuits...it would be really cool if people shared their favorite recipes for biscuits! And cakes too, of course, and all tea-ish comestibles, for that matter. I for one would very much enjoy trying out such recipes, and perhaps feel even closer to that long-ago childhood when things were so much less complicated. Just a thought...perhaps it might find favor with you.
I am looking forward to reading your book, and look forward to the next newsletter with positive pleasure. Keep up the good work!
Maryann McBreen |
Nicey replies: Maryann,
The internet is so full of recipe sites that we don't think it would be adding much if we got involved. Also the truth is that whilst homemade biscuits are lovely and all of that, they are nothing like our mass produced ones, which is as it should be. So even if you were to get hold of a recipe you would have a very hard time making a McVities anything, let alone a feat of biscuitry like a Wagonwheel. |
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Elizabeth Chow
Lincoln Review |
Hello Nicey,
While my husband and I were shopping for fathers day presents in David Jones (a fairly upmarket department store here in Australia) we saw and bought a packet of "strawberry biscuits". They were in a cardboard packet with a big picture of strawberries on it, but no picture of the biscuits. The ingredients listed strawberry flavour, and the packet said there were four biscuits in the pack. This sounded like rather luxury level biscuits to us, and we were eager to try them.
When we opened them, though, we found four (not five) Lincoln biscuits. As far as I know these aren't regularly available here in Aus, but I recognised them from your site which I'd been browsing the day before. Like you say in your review, the most exciting thing about them is the pattern of dots on the top.
So what I'm wondering is, are Lincoln biscuits normally strawberry flavoured? Is strawberry flavour one of the standard Lincoln ingredients? Not that it was very noticeable in ours.
Anyway, thanks for a very enjoyable website.
Cheers,
Liz |
Nicey replies: Liz,
Whoa, these biscuits are bringing me down. First off, four is a miserably small number isn't it? Typically that's seen as the amount for a small individiually wrapped serving (sorry to use a dodgy transatlantic term), as exemplified by the Oreo or even our own Penguin MIni Splatz. However, there is usually a bunch of said servings in the box not just four biscuits in total.
As for the strawberries I think there are some mixed metaphors going on here. Strawberry shortcake is a sandwich of shortcake (sort of as it's an American recipe) with fresh strawberries and cream. Fair enough. Lincoln biscuits are a shortcake biscuit, a fairly dull and unassuming one at that. They wouldn't even dream of getting a cream filling let alone fraternising with Strawberries. As for these biscuits only tasting slightly of strawberry despite there being pictures of them on the box, well that's enough to make your blood boil.
I await the emails telling me about Lincoln creams, now I've said that I'm sure there was such a thing. |
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