Today is World Nutella Day

You had no idea there was such a thing, did you? 

Really though, if you’re going to celebrate a product, why not Nutella? Nutella is delicious. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Nutella. And if you do indeed not like Nutella, I don’t want to know you. Go away. 

 Happy Nutella Day!

Nutella almost deserves a Day for its international popularity. A staple of breakfasts all over Continental Europe, it is as popular if not as ubiquitous in America and Australia. The product was developed by Italian chocolatier Ferrero in 1944 but released onto the market as ‘Nutella’ in 1963. Not unsurprisingly, it was instantly popular. For me, Nutella is so reminiscent of Europe. Going on family holidays in Europe, I got so excited by the little packet of Nutella sitting by my plate every morning. Who am I kidding, I get pretty excited about that now.

Nutella Marshmallow French Toast. Image courtesy of Go Cook Yourself.

Nutella crepes. Image courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Nutella pretended to be healthy. The goodness of milk and nuts, the energy-beneficial chocolate, all of that toss. With ads full of happy smiling kids, you had to believe it. Let’s be honest though, it’s not healthy. Not even vaguely. But no one cares. Except for the people who sued Nutella for incorrect advertising. It is delicious, glorious, nutty chocolaty spread goodness and I can’t keep it in the house because I Will Eat It.

Nowadays adverts tap into the morning ritual or Nutella as delicious everyday indulgence. Or this great one from 1996 that is artisan and family and breakfast all rolled into one 

Nutella is delicious in any pastry or sweet like situation. In cakes, on toast, on crepes, in cookies, on ice cream, on bananas, surrounding strawberries, on danishes, in croissants. The way I usually eat it? Out of the jar. Using a tiny, tiny spoon because then I can ‘eat’ more without actually consuming more. Yes, I have a method for eating Nutella out of the jar. So judge me.

Several months ago I made Nutella-stuffed browned butter and sea salt cookies. They were incredible. Here is the recipe. 

Just one of the dozens of Nutella recipes you can find online. So do yourself a favour and look through some of the recipes below and when you're nice and drooling, pop to the shops, buy yourself a jar and celebrate this wonderful breakfast spread.

My favourite food blog, Smitten Kitchen have a list of Nutella-inspired recipes.

Joy the Baker also has a selection of recipes.

The best Nutella crepe recipe (apparently).

Nutella fudge brownies.

2-minute Nutella mug cake.

Mango and Nutella crepes. Image courtesy of Closet Cooking.

Kitten meets hedgehog

I don't think there is any possible way this could be more cute. Happy Tuesday.

TV review: Elementary

Last night Channel 10 aired the first episode of Elementary, a CBS re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes. It was not an outstanding debut for an 'American' Holmes. The case itself was not that intriguing and I was thoroughly underwhelmed by what was merely a good – not hyper or exceptional – level of observational skills in Holmes. The patches on the wall denoting frames that have been moved or changed, surely that is blindingly obvious and part of the dull first glimpse into Sherlock's skills. The episode is overall ok. There was obviously a lot of potential, so for a pilot it was pretty good. As inducement to watch the series, I'm not sure it would fly without the strength of the Sherlock Holmes canon. 

However, I would encourage viewers to stick with it. As murder mystery crime drama, it pays off. It is easy to watch and entertaining, with the right amount of dark content and the occasional nod to classic Holmes (the title of the show, for example, being a nod to the line "Elementary, my dear Watson"). As a reconstruction of one of the best known detectives in the world, it is rather liberal. What remains of Holmes is his name, his nationality, parts of his personality and his profession. What remains of Watson is the name and profession; doctor, or former-doctor, who spends time with Holmes as his 'companion'.

I know I shouldn't compare Elementary with Sherlock, but it is impossible to avoid a comparison when there is a British and an American re-invention Sherlock Holmes on our televisions at the same time. My conclusion is that they are both enjoyable and both have excellent qualities. Personally, I would infinitely prefer to sit down to the BBC version. The relationship dynamics are better, the cases, though bastardised, bear an infinitely closer resemblance to the original stories. I know that a re-invention takes liberties and that it is a great thing, to re-invent Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Austin and revitalise a great story. But there should always be respect for the inestimable base material.

Five for Friday no. 54

A small list of ways you can help with the flood recovery effort across Queensland:

• Donate to the Red Cross 
• Join the state-wide Mud Army 
• or register as a volunteer
• Check out the Queensland Government Emergency Services website for more information and updates. 

11 life lessons from Liz Lemon. 

This week is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my favourite books ever. Here is a little look back on 200 years of book covers. I still cling to the 1995 BBC adaptation and have never seen the 2005 film adaption. The trailer made me nauseous.  

Mean Girls: the Musical is in development.

Image courtesy of Boo You Hodor. 

The Federal Election has been announced for 14 September 2013. That makes the campaign 227 days in length. Can we, as a collective nation, stand that much campaigning? I doubt it. But it does give me a link to share this photo of PM Julia Gillard, which she posted herself on twitter. I'm not a huge Gillard fan (though I loathe Tony Abbott) but I like seeing little things like this that are humanising of our politicians and public figures.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, one person's 16 reasons you shouldn't vote for Abbott.

A wet and windy day of celebration

In a brilliant flash of fore-thought, some of my friends booked an apartment up in Caloundra for the Australia Day long weekend and invited all comers to drive up and enjoy sun, surf, BBQ and beer. It would be a glorious day that would celebrate what we we love about Australia.
 

However, as we all know, the day was cold, gloomy, rain-lashed and flood-ridden. It was awful. This particularly irritated me as I and my housemate were playing host to British guest who was celebrating his first Australia Day and I wanted it to be glorious and scream AUSTRALIA. Not be borderline Scarborough.

Nevertheless, we headed up the coast in the lashing rain and proceeded to have a pretty classic Australia Day. The only thing that was missing was the sunshine.

My friend Kiki (who just launched a new blog) decorating the Pavlova nice and early, before too much beer was consumed.

Kitsch Australiana: green and gold macarons, enormous glasses and decorative flags.

Applying temporary tattoos. Because on some days, you can leave the class behind.

Earworms: A Nightmare for Our Times

Anyone who knows me in real life knows I get songs stuck in my head with alarming regularity. It's a thing; if I hear Robbie Williams on the sound system in a shopping mall, or someone singing a nursery rhyme under their breath, or even if I catch just a snatch of a Miley Cyrus tune from the window of a passing car, sometimes I'm doomed to have it niggling in my brain for hours.

Sometimes I don't even have to have heard it; sometimes I get a song stuck in my head that I haven't heard in months. I've even woken up in the morning a few times, and had a song stuck in my head before I'm even properly conscious. (Appropriately, this happened most recently with the theme song for Degrassi. Don't go listen to it, though; damn song is catchy!)

According to this article, people try all sorts of things to get rid of ear worms. Listening to other songs, distracting themselves with work (as if that would help), and even not drinking (why would that work?). But, like the pink elephant in the room, trying not to think about the song you've got stuck in your head is actually the worst thing you can do.

In my experience, that's actually very true. I've found that ignoring the strains of If I Could Turn Back Time as it circles endlessly around in my poor brain actually almost never works for getting rid of the damn song. On the contrary, the thing that works the most often is getting hold of a copy of the entire thing and listening to it the whole way through a couple of times. Which, when the song stuck in your head is something excruciating, is usually the last thing you want to do. But sometimes it's the only way.

Even if it means downloading Call Me Maybe.

(Sometimes you get to be this guy though. That's cool.)

Five In Five

Would you go on a date with someone for charity? Not because they haven't had a date in so long, but for a bona fide not-for-profit cause?

Five in Five challenges single people to go on five dates in five weeks and raise funds for charities that work to break the cycle of social disadvantage. It runs from 2 February - 8 March 2013. Five Saturday nights, if you're a Saturday-night-date kind of person.

Looking for people online is strictly out. This is about good old-fashioned see someone and want to see them again dating. Five in Five encourages you to ask out people you meet in the everyday – your cute barista, that guy who catches your bus, or perhaps someone you already know but have never had the guts to ask out for a drink.

If you register for Five In Five, you will be sent a bundle of information about the project, who to find your dates and importantly, how to raise funds. Friends and family can support you on your dates (presumably in exchange for the juicy details) and all the money you raise goes to charities that work to break the cycle of social disadvantage. Helping those people in need in your own community – where you also found your dates.

This is a sweet and fun way to make a grass-roots difference. You make a difference to yourself by accepting this challenge, because it takes courage to ask someone on a date, and the money you raise gives others a helping hand as well.

And if you do have someone in mind that you’ve been dying to ask out, what could be a better reason for the big ask than ‘It’s for charity’. 

Find out all about Five In Five on their website, follow them on twitter and see if you know anyone who is taking part.  

Images sourced from the Five In Five website.