The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater: Read Along Thread 2

[Dillidilly]

Here's our new thread!

I'm having such problems with the site, please could someone post a link to the old thread for me?

Looks amazing!
You've all got me now wanting posh little antique liqueur glasses instead of the ones we get free with the milk.

LilianGish ooh the candoes! How lovely.
ExquisitelyDecorated that looks an amazing place.

I'm catching up with you all with the read along

I looked for glasses in a few charity shops today but they were all a bit too tiny, I like a bit of ice in my drinks and most wouldn't have had enough space, the only ones that did looked a bit like cheap shot glasses.

@LillianGish hard to resist putting one on the credit card! @ExquisitelyDecorated did you pick anything up, looks tempting too and maybe a bit more attainable than the big bucks candle.

I didn't, I was in a bit of a hurry as I just popped in for a coffee with only 10 mins left on my parking ticket but it's very close to home so there will be other chances.

Geamhradh 😀glad to help. This one is really gorgeous. I bet your house smells wonderful. I have Delia’s Creole Cake in the fridge at the turning the fruit stage.

ED that shop looks amazing. Nigel would definitely approve.

5 DECEMBER
Krampusnacht, and a cake that smells of sugar and spice

I’m so loving this thread, it’s getting me through my COVID isolation! I made the apricot brandy and immediately thought the star anise taste was too strong for me, I’m not an aniseed fan, so I took it out too - great minds etc! Haven’t tasted it yet. Made the celeriac/apple/black pudding dinner before I went down with COVID and it was delicious - also made the lighter Christmas pudding. Can’t smell or taste anything now sadly but the book is actually lovely to read right now as it’s so evocative. Would LOVE to know what the candles smelled like @LillianGish! Looked up Cire Trudon and as expected a little out of my price range. Hoping my smell and taste come back before Christmas.

I made the mascarpone mince pie that was in the book a few days ago. Someone in the thread mentioned Nigel not liking his mince pies sweet. I agree with you totally. I used his mince pie recipe and it was very tasty in a cheesecake. But with non sweetened puff pastry and mascarpone, it’s just too bland for me. I need a lot more sugar. Either a sweet pastry or more mince pie and less mascarpone in the filling.

We went to a children’s trail in a country park today. It’s lovely and quiet and the kids get a bear too. If anyone is in Hampshire, I totally recommend it. They do it in the New Forest, Southampton and Portsmouth. It’s £6 and you get quiet a good sized teddy bear. The trail is fun and it’s great for getting the kids out for a walk.

I mean mince meat in a mince pie!

I hope everyone has managed to avoid Krampus this evening. I've seen photographs of some of the processions in Europe on Krampusnacht and he does look quite scary!

@ChildrenGrowingUpTooFast I'm in Hampshire too, albeit the Surrey end, my DCs are a bit old for organised trails bit do still like an amble through a country park on occasion.

My DM insists on unsweetened pasty for mince pies and if I'm honest hers aren't great. I sometimes use bought pastry which is unsweetened but if I do I always glaze the tops with milk and sugar. My top tips are to stir a little sherry into the mincemeat as you use it and to microplane a smidgen of orange zest into each pie before putting the lids on, one satsuma does 12 mince pies it only needs a tiny amount. Really lifts the flavour.

Oh and going back to the special glasses, I found some lovely little tumblers in Sainsburys today, £2 each and will be perfect for special Christmas drinks. In the dishwasher now but will try and post a photo sometime.

Made a bastardised Stollen yesterday. It's the size of a toddler! I followed Nigel's dough recipe, but realised halfway that I didn't have almonds, so used hazelnuts, and used cinnamon and nutmeg in place of cloves because otherwise everyone will go euwwwww. I looked at the Advent book's Stollen but it had a lot more ingredients and I'd have ended up saying "nope, not got that, I'll sling a bit of spinach/custard power/cat food in"
Anyway, it looks, as Nigel said his did, very homespun, but blimeyheck it's good. Highly recommended and very easy to make.
DD says it's like a Christmas hot cross bun but better.

I had some M&S stollen instead and it was very Christmasy. I will try Nigel’s recipe.

6 DECEMBER
A tale of two polentas

Been a few days behind, but did manage mince pies. I always use this recipe from the BBC, which is great. They call it 'no rolling required' but I think its easier to get the right thickness if I do roll it. The dough is so crumbly - almost shortbread - that it's difficult to roll, but easy to 'patch in' with fingers where it inevitably does crack. The end result is perilously crumbly but so melty!

I use a shop-bought mincemeat as a base, but then doctor it up loads - tangerine flesh and zest for freshness, booze (cointreau this year, but other options will no doubt work), other dried fruit depending what I've got lying around, spices (cinnamon etc). They were very popular and even MiL had to concede that the house smelled gorgeous when she got back here from shopping in London as they came out the oven!

@cakegoblin sorry to hear you're stuck at home. We're home-schooling this week (fun fun fun) but at least not isolating. Hope you return to full health for Christmas and enjoy the Apricot Stuff in the mean time!

Hello all

Lovely to read your posts, needed to catch up a bit! Enjoyed the Nisser and the advent candles. I also love those Parisian candles, but burning one would make me wince all over because of the cost!

I still haven’t got around to making Gnudi, but it is on my list. We had the beef brisket last week and the sauce was divine, I reduced it right down and it was so delicious.

I have made a Christmas cake, not a traditional one as I am not a massive fan. I made this one It looks good, hopefully it will taste good too.

The apricot brandy is still maturing, but I did fish out a couple of the star anise after reading some of your comments.

Hope you are getting over Covid now @cakegoblin. At least you have got it out of the way before Christmas and there is plenty of time to get your taste and smell back.

It’s getting a bit stormy here...

I fed my Christmas cake with a bit of the apricot brandy today which felt very festive. I do really like it but the star anise is just on the cusp of being too strong for me (personally.) I've made a note in my book and think I'll only use 2 star anise next time I make it then I can compare.

The polenta, cheese and roasted onions recipe today sounds delicious and I think I'm going to put that on the menu for this week or next as we're trying to save money at the moment and want some really cheap meals, this one sounds cheap but delicious. Definitely nicer than the beans on toast we're having this evening.

7 DECEMBER
A cracker, a quacker and a Danish charm

Loosely joining in if I may.

I've been reading through this thread and have actually bought this book for mum as it sounds the sort of thing she would love.

I wish I'd bought a copy for myself now so will have to live vicariously through you all instead.

We love all things cosy and homemade although I'm not much of a cook but I have a go!

Re. Special glasses someone in our village was moving house so for a few days there was a help yourself box outside we did great out of it, go past there twice a day on school run so we got loads. We got some beautiful vintage wine glasses they are tiny but remind me of my grandparents and we will look forward to using them at Christmas to toast "absent friends"

This thread has reminded me that my toddler and I need to make mince.pies ready for playgroup Christmas party

I made the polenta recipe! Well, I merged the two recipes and made the thicker one with spinach but topped with the roasted onions. It was really, really good, dirt cheap and a perfect comfort dish for a cold evening. The polenta would go really well with sausages I feel.

I reckon Nigel has really posh crackers! I he's probably never come across a fortune telling fish in his life! I don't get how you can not like crackers and for making you grumpy

I'm with Nigel on crackers, they look nice on the table but I hate the hats and the plastic waste from the gifts.

Test drove my new Sainsburys glasses last night, I found some sloe gin left from last year. Unfortunately it had lost its flavour a bit and tastes very sweet but it was nice and warming.

@FireworkParrot the polenta looks great, I'll have to try it, I've never had much luck with it in the past, always gritty

8 DECEMBER
Spice, crumbs and cream