What’s this thing Michelle Muscat has for gingerbread men? Is it ironic, or what?

Published: April 23, 2013 at 3:09pm

gingerbread men 2

gingerbread men

Michelle and Joseph Muscat once gave an interview to First magazine, in which the gushing interviewer (a gay man, a fact I mention because it is relevant here, who also took the pictures,) remarked favourably about the fact that he was served gingerbread men which Mrs Muscat had made earlier.

I inwardly remarked on the inappropriateness of serving gingerbread men at anything other than a children’s tea-party, and moved on to the next paragraph, in which two of the Muscats’ friends ever so unexpectedly dropped by while the interview was taking place, and ever so coincidentally happened to be a gay couple: a French professor and his make-up artist boyfriend.

They were offered gingerbread men, too, and I found myself writing the comedy skit in my head and wishing I lived somewhere where it would work on television or in print, instead of in a country where people think in terms of attakk fahxi u moqziez and laugh at Zoo instead and at some actor dressed as a 1950s priest and driving Sandro Chetcuti’s red Ferrari (ho ho ho).

Ever since that interview there have been sporadic jokes about Mrs Muscat and her gingerbread men (the fact that she’s got a real, live one doesn’t help). But today the Labour Party’s website reported that she gave out another bunch of them at a primary school this morning – straight out of a handy Tupperware box.

I’m beginning to think that where baking biscuits is concerned, this lady is a bit of a one-trick pony.

Oh and incidentally, Mrs Muscat – when you offer biscuits (yes, even to children), you pass the box round. You don’t stick your hand in the box and literally hand out a biscuit.

Most children hate gingerbread anyway. Gingerbread men are one of those peculiarities that tend to get left on the plate or eaten by the parents out of boredom: a grown-up taste in a child-appeal shape.

She’d have had more success with chocolate chip or bourbons, especially with boys.




65 Comments Comment

  1. Bubu says:

    Part of the drive to combat obesity in children I would assume.

  2. U Le! says:

    Should one pick finger food and hand it to someone else to eat or should you allow others to choose from a tray? Or am I going to be branded as a hygiene freak?

  3. botom says:

    Ma tal-biza. As you rightly point it out, you do not stick your hand and dish out biscuits to children. You pass the box around. This is basic hygiene, Mrs Muscat.

    [Daphne – Well, it’s actually basic good manners, not basic hygiene. It’s more hygienic to have one hand in the box (the hand that made the biscuits) rather than several children’s unwashed hands. That’s probably her reasoning, but good manners dictate that you don’t point out through your own behaviour your belief that your companions’ hands are dirty.]

  4. mandango70 says:

    Had to write in this space rather than as usual in the Name section, the kinda twitter messages I love sending you.

    How the fuck do you know she actually passed the biscuits herself, one by one? The picture merely shows she’s picking one up. Perhaps she was about to it. Or stuff up your asshole for all I know.

    Secondly, still we don’t fucking get it why you mention the gay men. So there were three. And your point being fucking what? That they were about to have a threesome in michele’s presence or fuckin’ what?

    Thirdly, what’s your fucking obsession all about? Can’t you just have a good look at the mirror and fucking throw up ? As for me, I use your image in my mind’s eye when I need to shit and feel constipated. You make it all go runny to me.

    Bil-malti, qazziztilna raz zobbbna, foxx kemm ghandek.

    [Daphne – And then you get upset when people call you a bunch of social-climbing hamalli. Oh sorry, you don’t social climb. You’ve just created your own middle class in which you feel safe and unchallenged.]

    • Jozef says:

      Oooh Mandango, ginger really gets you going.

    • Stefan Vella says:

      Some things never change.

      Hamalli kienu, hamalli ghadhom

      • ciccio says:

        Ah, but Labour does change. In fact, the more Labour changes, the more it remains the same.

    • Bahrija says:

      With all the f**king thrown in the little piece above, you must be Mrs. Brown’s stand in.

      Only you aren’t funny by half, quite the opposite.

    • Dejjaqtni Mandango 70 says:

      Jekk dejqitlek zobbok, xiz-zobb tigi taghmel taqra l-blog taghha? Ma nafx kemm il-darba rajt kummenti tieghek! Sinjalli ma ddejqekx hux.

    • Toyger says:

      If you don’t get the irony of someone, anyone, serving gingerbread men to gay men, then you’re beyond hope.

    • WhoamI? says:

      Mandango70, Mandango70. L-elite tas-socjeta. Impressive.

    • Mr Meritocracy says:

      I would ignore them completely, Daphne. Scum like this chap don’t deserve any attention, answers or to see the light of day.

    • Catherine says:

      Lili ma qazzitniex ta. Nies bhalek qazzuni. Semmejtilna zobbok, threesomes, il-hara li taghmel got-toilet, u hlief titkellem hazin ma tafx taghmel. Min jaf eh, x’tip fik…

    • La Redoute says:

      Mandango70 is gay, I take it. That explains why he’s so upset at criticism of the gingerbread man.

    • TinaB says:

      Mandango70, your favourite party won the elections last month. Haven’t you heard?

      If you do not like what Daphne writes, on her own blog, do yourself a favour and don’t take the trouble to log on and read it. It is that simple.

      Mamma mia, how rude and cheap you are.

    • george grech says:

      The fucking point is that there might have been four gay men in the room.

      [Daphne – No, my point was that they organised the casual ‘dropping in’ of a gay couple (one of whom is a professor, and wow, French) so as to impress the extremely impressionable (I know him) interviewer/photographer with their ‘some of my best friends are gay’ lifestyle.]

    • Victor says:

      mandango70 your manners are impressive!

      Actually it’s people like you li-qazziztuna. Apart from not respecting freedom of speech, you write in the most obnoxious way. And then you feel offended when someone calls you hamalli.

      Perhaps getting a proper education would serve you better in your life.

    • David Ganado says:

      Mandango, did you watch the news? You would have seen her actually handing them out one by one. So much for your colourful language….

    • Rita Camilleri says:

      @mandango70 – do you have to be so rude? Yes you have to, you’re Labour. Xi dwejjaq ta nies – you never never learn, or rather you prefer not to learn.

    • Jozef says:

      Dawn se jahtfu kull ma jistghu.

    • Mister says:

      Tajjeb eh …. L-ALFA taghna lkoll.

    • Joseph Muscat's Tberbiq u Hela says:

      We need more details about the way that Euro 7,000 was computed.

      According to The Times, the PM said that this figure was arrived at “in terms of a system introduced by the previous government.”

      It is essential for the MPs or the media to establish if that system makes any reference to the value of the car, and if this is the case, what value was attributed to the car. Was the fact that Muscat will be refunding to himself the registration tax on that Alfa – we need to know how much this would amount to – relevant to the figure of Euro 7,000?

    • Giovanni says:

      It has to be zezik.com to wake up the Times of Malta.

  5. Giovanni says:

    Well she has to do something if she is on the payroll of the Office of the Prime Minister.

    Mela:

    Joseph Muscat’s pay
    Michelle Muscat’s pay
    Joseph Muscat’s car on lease to the Maltese government.

    Kemm huma tosti hames mija hadu wkoll.

  6. Helen says:

    It’s the ginger Daphne, that’s the secret, ginger is an anti-nausea remedy.

  7. Mandy Mallia says:

    I wouldn’t even have put them in a box. They would have looked more appealing to the children had they been presented on a large plate or tray, or simply piled high on an average-sized plate, especially if they were prettily iced. (Judging by the size of the box, there couldn’t have been more than 30-40 in it, anyway.)

  8. anthony says:

    I wonder whether it was outside office hours or maybe she took a day off work.

    I hope we are not paying her to dish out gingerbread man cookies.

  9. marks says:

    There was the ugly grey wolf as well.

    • ciccio says:

      That probably explains why the First Lady held the box and handed out those gingerbread men. The wolf would have snatched the box and gulped down all those poor gingerbread men.

  10. c mangion says:

    You’ve missing the whole point here. When I did my food handling license I was told it is completely illegal to give out home made goods to third parties due to sanitary reasons.

    Even when sending your kid to school with birthday cake – it’s meant to be shop bought for traceability purposes.

    Tut tut Mish, hi.

  11. Joe says:

    I think its more imitating the other Michelle at the White House, Christmas Decorating, First Lady Style – ABC News
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2011/11/christmas-decorating-first-lady-style/

  12. TinaB says:

    Joseph and Michelle’s attempts in trying to imitate the Obamas are so pathetic.

  13. maws says:

    Can you provide an equation showing us how leasing an Alfa costs 7000euro a year

  14. vince says:

    So is this why she is the first PM’s wife to be on her husband’s payroll – to go round and distribute yummies to kids?

    Asregards the car, one might note that the Muscats are claiming refund of the VAT (or is registration tax?) on the same car for which they are being given 7K euro per year.

  15. Grezz says:

    The video’s on http://www.tvm.com.mt . Her accent is terrible, to say the least.

  16. Tracy says:

    Wasn’t Michelle supposed to be working at the Office of the Prime Minister this morning, nor is this part of her job?

  17. L.Gatt says:

    http://zekzik.com/2013/04/23/tal-alfa-joseph-qed-idahhal-iktar-milli-tiswa/

    Does one need a license/permit to grant a lease on a car in Malta? Does he have one? U dawn kienu jghidu bl-arroganza.

    Now I see why she’s in the PM Secretariat. Malta always lacked an official Fairytale Reader. However she should have started with something simple to pronounce like Snow White and not Gingerbread Man which probably ended up as ChincheRRR Brettt Men.

  18. thinking says:

    Hmmm, next time she might want to try carrot cake instead.

  19. TROY says:

    X’jitpaxxa biha, Evarist. Nesa kemm qal kontriha fi zmien Alfred Sant.

  20. Matthew S says:

    In his last article for The Times (he’s presumably too busy to write now that he’s head of Malta Enterprise), Mario Vella the Marxist tells us that the Nationalist Party governments, which he calls a ‘historic bloc’ of network within networks, created cartels which hindered competition.

    He also worries about the effects these historic blocs left on Malta’s cultural and artistic lives.

    The blatant rewriting of history is unbelievable.

    Where would you even start comparing market competition under Nationalist governments and market competition under his beloved Mintoff? There barely was a market because everyone was broke.

    How would you even start to describe Malta’s cultural and artistic lives under Mintoff? Do we start by saying that Mintoff thought that all authors were time wasters and probably a threat to government stability?

    Good riddance to Mario Vella’s pseudo-philosophical articles.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130422/opinion/Once-every-other-Monday.466590

  21. H.P. Baxxter says:

    BAXXTER’S EASY READING (Form 2 and upwards)

    – THE GINGERBREAD BOY –

    Once upon a time, in a little cottage, there lived a little old young man and his little old young wife. They had lots of big cars and many handbags and they also had two children and nice jobs.

    All day long, the man would smile and wave, and the woman would simper and greet their friends. Everybody loved the old young man and his wife.

    “What more do we need?” said the old young man to his wife?

    “I know, we need a gingerbread boy!” said the wife.

    So she took out her pots and pans, her rolling pin and baking tray, her flour and her sugar and ginger spice, and baked a nice gingerbread boy. She made him a little slim-fit suit out of piping, and three round buttons made out of currants on his fat belly.

    “Oh, what a lovely gingerbread boy, come and see,” said the wife to the old young man.

    The old young man and his wife looked at the gingerbread boy, in their lovely cottage with the ginger curtains and the ginger cat, with their ginger hair and their ginger ale brewing in the back yard. Everything was ginger, and they smiled.

    The gingerbread boy smiled back.

    “Oh!” said the woman.

    “What the hack!” said the old young man.

    “Hello sailor!” said the gingerbread boy.

    Then he jumped right out of the baking tray and ran skipping out of the cottage before they could shut the door.

    He ran and skipped, and ran right onto the high road.

    “Hello cow,” said the gingerbread boy to a cow.

    “I am going into town to get a nice big sack of money.”

    “How will you get the money?” said the cow.

    “I will dance on a table, and skip up the stairs, and smile at the people and sell them my wares,” said the gingerbread boy.

    “But you are a country boy,” said the cow, “and have no wares to sell.”

    “I can sell my body,” said the gingerbread boy, “and I am a man, not a boy.”

    So he hopped and skipped all the way to town.

    He skipped right up the big stairs of the big house where the big men were.

    “Hello men!” said the gingerbread boy. “You can have every bit of me.”

    So the big men ate the gingerbread boy. They began with his legs, then they ate his arms, then his round belly.

    “Now give me a big sack of money,” said the gingerbread boy.

    But the big men laughed.

    “You have no arms and legs. What can you do now?” said the big men.

    The gingerbread boy looked at them and tried to move.

    But he couldn’t.

    Then his smile turned into a frown.

    – THE END

  22. steph says:

    Hilarious

  23. Me says:

    Daphne,

    Surely Baxxter’s comment above deserves more exposure!

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