Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas

[Elthamjohn]

Did anybody watch this?

What will you be making from it?

I might try the Christmas cup. And then eat some chips with mayonnaise on as a ‘post carousal carb’.

'I noticed the slurring...I thought she might have new teeth'

Yes, I couldn't decide if it was new veneers or new work on her face, but the slurring was real! My DP thought she sounded like Liza Minnelli 😁

'took a random Labrador for a walk and then walked through Tewkesbury grinning inanely at the lights'

Yes, the inanity is a bit much. I love licorice, but didn't need a 5 minute guided tour of her 'licorice box' 😏 and all the wistful gazing at the lights on the river 🤦🏻‍♂️ just too much

I assume the people at the party were from central casting and not actually a few of her closest Dutch friends, but was surprised they all looked about 30 years younger than she is (although she looks amazing for 63) except for one older woman.
Was impressed by the idea of doing chicken skins in the air fryer, though. I've done them in the oven and they're delicious, but that looks so much easier.
I'm another who wants the "wand".
I bought a Masha when I saw her using it (yes, I'm gullible) and it makes brilliant mashed potato.

The random Labrador was the nadir.

Nigella didn’t look comfortable with the dog, or in the forest.

The last Christmas special for Cook, Eat, Repeat was a bit more plausible, though. A less gimmicky series all round.

I just wonder if Amsterdam is about to have a culinary ‘moment’. And, if so, should we all be paying attention?

Why can’t the Daily Mail do a ‘Nigella’s fake friends: where are they now?’ article? Or will they all be bound by NDAs and unable to talk?

I find her ridiculous, like some comedy sketch from the 90s.

Catching up now.

I lost it at the "hair in curlers" look. Really? It just emphasises the fake cosy chumminess of it all.

I had salty licorice on my Santa list, I hope I get some!

I think a simplified version of gingerbread with advocat cream adapted for one might make it onto my menu plan.

I thought the barman, mixing the cocktail, copes very well with the intense eye contact and faux flirting (even getting in a "What can I do you for?" of his own), but the cheese shop guy looked a bit nonplussed.
She's not yet straying into Harry Enfield "Ooh, young man!" territory - still far too beautiful and, atm, too young - but if she carries on...

I didn’t think it would be a repeat watch, but I might have to go back and study it for the innuendo!

She's not yet straying into Harry Enfield "Ooh, young man!" territory - still far too beautiful and, atm, too young

I certainly couldn't pull off the sultry flirtiness and those wide eyed "innocent/vulnerable/whatever" looks and I'm younger than her 😂

I love her recipes and she comes over really well on social media but I find her so odd on TV, always have done.

I remember seeing her on This Morning when I was off sick from school some time in the late 90s doing some sort of panel food review I think. I wish I could find a clip on YouTube, because her persona was so incredibly different. Still uber posh, but none of the flirty body language. Came across as pretty humourless and taking herself extremely seriously. I'd love to see it again to see whether my memory is correct!

I think she came across as fed up with it all and seemed quite irritable at the start.

It's a very old fashioned /grim trope to be weirdly flirty with young men and all your "friends" are your adult children's age .
Pushing booze " don't you have a cocktail shaker on you at all times" is so early 2000s .

Reverse it and she's an early 60s man.
It would be utterly grim if he was fawning over young women on TV.
Time to change tbh

Maybe I'm too used to her, but I didn't really see the innuendo.

It may have been a ‘look’ in the ladette days, but in 2023 is this a role model for our young girls?

I find that charge so boring. Not everyone wants to be a role model for our 'young girls'.

I thought the food looked underwhelming but I've always found the food in Amsterdam to be underwhelming too.

SoupDragon

I certainly couldn't pull off the sultry flirtiness and those wide eyed "innocent/vulnerable/whatever" looks and I'm younger than her 😂

Actually, that's true for me too.
I should have said "too young looking...

'I find that charge so boring. Not everyone wants to be a role model for our 'young girls'

Totally agree. So boring and so pious

She's a hell of a great role model for middle aged women who love stuffing our faces 😁

I remember one programme that still makes me and DH laugh, we cite it when saying someone is being pretendy "yoof" or home with the downies.
Nigella made some delicious mushroom soup. At the end of the programme she told us it's great to put in a flask and take with you when you're going on a bus journey 😆 then they showed her mounting the stairs of a Routemaster and she sat upstairs in the bus and got her flask out for a sip of soup, eyelashes fluttering. Imagine the pong, I'd have something to say, but the idea of Nigella popping out on the bus!

Oh god ,@Davros , I remember the bus soup! I'm sure Nigella is a frequent bus user 😁 it was utterly bonkers

I think it was in the same series that she made a load of cinder toffee stuff to take to a 'friend's' dinner party, but apparently couldn't resist it and pretended to eat the whole lot in the taxi on the way over 😂

Completely bananas

I remember another series when she gave a party for random members of the film crew her closest friends, when she smeared the avocado dip over the prettiest (well, 2nd prettiest after Nigella, natch) woman's face, saying it made a good face pack...🤔

I wonder what ideas they reject?!

She had a chat show at one point.

Overheard in the production suite:

How about we get her to don rubber gloves and massage some frozen peas? Or, hear me out, a chicken that needs 24 hours cooking time! Now, how are we for sparkly twinkly lights. And we are going to need the best focus puller in the business.

I’ll be watching with DD and her bf from Amsterdam, mainly for place spotting but also so he can critique her food choices (he’s a chef)

👏 👏👏@Sandytoxic

Or this script, found in the wastepaper basket of the same production suite:

‘Nigella releases the clasps of her liquorice casket, sultrily lifts the lid and brings out a box of Liquorice Allsorts. Her fingers wriggle over the endless choices before her. Finally, she selects only the pink round ones with knobbly bits on the outside and melts them down for ‘my liquor-ish festive cocktail’.

Later, she sips the cocktail while being rowed in a boat by ‘my good friend, Bertie Bassett’, who declines the drink on the grounds that it would be cannibalism.’

There. They can have that for free.

I put this on while wrapping presents the other day... I wanted something I didn't need to concentrate on too much... and I seriously thought it must be a very old repeat! I was a bit taken aback when I saw this thread and realised it was new! It had such a dated feel to it. And found the slurring very strange!

And I know I will be shot down in flames because the whole point of Nigella is the decadence... but I just found myself thinking, 'HOW much money?' The cheese shop!! I mean a little escapism is fine and pushing the boat out at Christmas etc but CoL anyone? Just felt like the whole thing didn't read the room very well!

Ah Nige, she is who she is.

Two things I like about her, I read something from one of the camera crew filming at her house back when her children were young. They were prepping and Nigella had a dressing gown on. He said her nose was running, she dug in the pocket and pulled out a child's sock. Blew her nose on it 😛

Also when Cameron was PM and had made a comment about people eating better food. She was asked about it on morning television, and said along the lines of having a problem with rich privileged people telling poorer people what they should and shouldn't be eating. Which she doesn't do herself, to be fair