Introducing Forever Nigella

This page now serves as a hub for the Forever Nigella series, documenting monthly themes, hosts and available round-ups, alongside a collection of Nigella-inspired resources. Where round-ups are no longer online, the theme, host and badge are still listed for reference.

I had been a huge fan of Nigella Lawson ever since she wrote the monthly Vogue Food Column in the 1990s. I bought a signed copy of Nigella’s first book How To Eat but it was the book signing for Nigella Express when I met her in person. By this time Nigella was a hugely popular food writer and TV cookery personality. I’d been a fan for ten years or more, familiar with all of her recipes and owning copies of each of her books. When considering a blogging link-up for Maison Cupcake in 2010, Nigella seemed a natural theme. The name Forever Nigella was inspired by one her earlier books, Forever Summer.

The monthly Forever Nigella themes were chosen according to the season i.e. Easter, Christmas or something happening at the time – for instance Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. Each month the new host would publish an announcement post which was often signposted in the first Maison Cupcake post of the month.

Popular themes that were repeated in subsequent years were Christmas and Chocolate; at its peak Forever Nigella attracted over 50 participants in a month. Forever Nigella also covered themes such as Italian food, picnics and ice creams. Some months simply had an “anything goes” theme to publish any beloved recipe by Nigella. Unfortunately some round-ups are no longer online but all editions in the Forever Nigella series are listed below.

Nigella Lawson Resources

No Nigella books yet? Search these resources online:

• Official Nigella site: https://www.nigella.com/
• BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chefs/nigella_lawson
• Food Network: https://foodnetwork.co.uk/chefs/nigella-lawson
• YouTube official Nigella channel: Nigella YouTube
• Food 52: Our Favourite Nigella Recipes
• The Guardian: The Best 20 Nigella Recipes Part 1
• 365 Days of Nigella A Nigella fan’s daily blog – he even met her in real life and raised money for Fareshare UK along the way.

 

The Forever Nigella Rules were:

Blog checking lines:
Forever Nigella #[number] is being hosted by [name] of [blog]. This month’s challenge is to prepare and blog any Nigella Lawson recipe [describe theme]. Forever Nigella is organised by Sarah at Maison Cupcake.

1. Blog your entry by the date shown displaying:
a) the current Forever Nigella badge
b) a link to this announcement post
c) a link to the Forever Nigella page at Maison Cupcake: https://maisoncupcake.com/forever-nigella

n.b. posts must have been published since the announcement post. Archived posts need to be re-published afresh if you wish to submit.

2. Remember copyright.
You must NOT reproduce Nigella’s recipes verbatim. Tell us which book it is from and/or link to it online. If you’ve adapted the recipe in some way i.e. changed at least two ingredients or amended the method then it’s ok to publish the a recipe in your post but you MUST write directions in your own words.

3. Submit your post
Use the linky tool or email the host cc’ed to sarah AT maisoncupcake DOT com.

The Forever Nigella page shows a list of online Nigella resources, future hosts and links to past themes and round ups.

Tweet your post: #forevernigella