Normally, Invisible Friends, I’d ramble on about how darling Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella, our new Creative Woman of the Pond is.  I’d blather on about how she’s a fabulous, Sydney born, glamorous food-lover and cook who writes the best restaurant reviews ever.  As a unsophisticated duck, I don’t really know about anything other than American and Southern classics, bbq, Mexican food and a bit of Italian.  But whenever I pop over to Not Quite Nigella, I see all these darling places and darling foods and feel as if I’m in a whirlwind of food whimsy.

And normally, I’d blabber on about how she posts meat on a stick which always makes me giddy and is one of the sweetest Invisible Friends ever, but I won’t.  Because she does a fabulous job of introducing herself.

You know you want to know more…

How did you get started blogging? How did you come up with your title/ name?

I started blogging about 2 years ago after my husband and friends urged me to start doing it. It took me a few months to actually get started – my husband practically had to sit me in front of my computer, point to the monitor and say “Here, put the story in here”. And ever since my first story I haven’t left the computer I came up with the name as I adore Nigella Lawson but I am not quite like her–although I’d love to be one day!

What does being creative mean to you?

It means being able to express what you want to do even if it’s called kooky or weird. Case in point is my utter love for Halloween and anything to do with it. We don’t even really celebrate it here in Australia but you can be certain that I’m there every Halloween making slime and pus out of jelly and tarantula cupcakes with my Halloween music on full blast. I’m sure my neighbors wonder how this normal-ish looking person can be so strange.

Why do you think it’s important for women to balance creativity in their daily lives?

Life can get so dull with details otherwise can’t it? I can’t draw and I can’t really dance but I can cook and can decorate so that’s my outlet.

What kind of creative things do you do every day?

I cook and I bake and I write. I keep a big list of ideas I have whether it be to cook, write about or do. By the end of the day my head hurts as my fingers keep churning out this list but I can’t stop writing!

Tell me about your family.

I’ve been married to my husband for 3 years now and he is the polar opposite of me. He’s into sports, doesn’t care for food much and grew up as a country loving hippie. Think North of that and that’s me, the polar opposite. Yet we have the same values, morals and politics and balance each other well. Other than that there’s no other small creatures, human or animal aside from my monkeys. I love monkeys and we have a tribe of stuffed monkeys. And they talk too of course.

Would the monkeys like to visit the Pond?  Queen Bitty wants to know.  Favorite food?

Too many!  Although at this moment, I’m craving a delicate, buttery, flaky French pastry. And I always crave toasted cheese sandwiches done my way (where you butter the outside of the bread and fry them in a frypan).

(Wipes off drool, pretends to be serious.) Favorite song?

Defying Gravity from the Wicked Soundtrack.

Do you like to dance?

Yes but only silly dances. I can’t really dance that well and I get too self conscious. You know when everyone stares at you dancing because they’ve never seen you dancing and the stares and elbow nudges put you off from dancing again? Vicious cycle, that.

If you could take a trip with anyone and go anywhere, where would you go and who would you take?

My husband of course (he carries the bags!). Perhaps Spain-hubby is a skinnier looking version of Rafael Nadal (Spanish tennis Player) so that might be amusing. We tend to take everything but the kitchen sink so of course the laptop, phone, camera etc and I tend to overpack clothes and shoes. The ratio is 5 pairs of my shoes to 1 pair of his. Sounds fair, right?

Perfectly fair.  What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?

My engagement ring? It was perfect. OK– I chose it but he paid for it!

What’s your ideal pet?

I’m allergic to most dogs although I’d love a pug. Other than that, a friend has the cutest shaggy black poodle that I am not allergic to although he chews shoes so that might end in tears (mine) as I love my shoes. Other than that, an albino axolotl. I’ve always been fascinated by them.

There’s an enormous present waiting on the kitchen table for you. What’s in it?

Ooh a classic Chanel flap bag in Black?! You got me all excited there for a moment!

How did you get started cooking and doing restaurant reviews?

I’ve always had an opinion about the food that I ate and I think I have pretty good tastebuds. My friends and I have always discussed food in every way, shape or form.

Have you always been interested in food?

Absolutely. I remember my life through food and I remember pivotal events for the food that was served at them.

So do I! What’s your favorite thing to cook?

Undoubtedly, sweets. There is more color palette to work with and most people can be bribed for their affection with sweets.

What’s your favorite recipe to serve to guests?

Ahh. Well you see for dinner parties, I’m a big fan of doing easy cook meals. I made the mistake one year of making risotto and spent the whole time in the kitchen stirring the stupid thing while everyone was having a great time in the other room. I resolved never to have that happen again. So something that can be made ahead of time and then finished off in a short time so usually something in the oven rather than on the stovetop.

If I came to visit, where would you take me?

Darling, if you came to visit I’d show you so many places you’d think you’d gone around the world. Sydney is a really multicultural city and there are so many places to eat and we could eat from all over the world.

What’s your favorite place you’ve reviewed, so far?

Hmm, that’s hard, I have so many favourites for different reasons. I love top end places as they provide an amazing, soothing environment so Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road and Petrus or Alain Ducasse at the Dorcester are favorites. Then there are places like Perama in Sydney where I enjoyed a 35 course Greek banquet and rolled out of there one happy little piglet.

Do you have a favorite post?

Probably my Freeganism post. I know it probably freaked some people out but it was rather exciting and I was entering another world. It needs to be read with an open mind.

What do you want to achieve with your blog?

I just want to keep doing what I’m doing with it, basically. At the moment there are so many opportunities for it which is really wonderful.

What do you hope people get from your blog?

I hope they are entertained and perhaps even inspired to give the recipes a go or to eat out of their comfort zone.

Who’s your favorite chef/ cookbook? Why?

My favourite chef is Gordon Ramsay because he is a perfectionist and dining at one of his restaurants (even though I know he doesn’t actually cook there anymore) is a seamless experience. My favorite cookbook is How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. I hope to achieve Domestic Goddessery status one day although it may come with the help of a maid.

What are your goals with your cooking and reviewing–do you want to open a restaurant, write a cookbook, get your own reality show?

I would loathe to open a restaurant!  That’s way too hard work and I think it would take the fun out of it for me personally as I don’t have the skills for it. I’d love to write a cookbook or do something to do with presenting food on TV. Anything that puts me within a few inches of a plate of food, really.

What other creative hobbies/ skills do you hope to tackle?

I hope to tackle (one day) learning French or another language. Being able to read cosmetics brochures and menus isn’t quite enough, me thinks!  Other than that I’d love to improve on my photography.

What’s the greatest comment you’ve ever received on your blog?

I receive so many lovely comments so it’s really hard to isolate one; but ones where people take the time to write to me and tell me that they’ve tried one of my recipes or been to a restaurant or even when they communicate and help out other readers that have left comments shows that there’s a lovely spirit in the readers of my blog. So, of course, I’m eternally indebted to them for reading.

For more, visit Lorraine at Not Quite Nigella!

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends! We’ve got a new week of stories and fun coming up!