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?

@StormyCornishSeas I've bought lametta on Amazon before, though I suspect Nigel goes to some quaint independent tinsel shop.

Anyone tried the cheesecake yet?

@Claudethecat

Nigel would be AGHAST at you referring to his brandy in that way! I fear he is not a Yankee Candle fan.

He would, he would. A red Yankee at that. I had my first eye roll at him the other day when he said about the people jumping the queues at the Christmas markets, that he wanted to say "oi love, this queue's got an end" Nigel has NEVER said "oi love" in his life. He seemed momentarily to be channelling Pat Butcher in the Queen Vic.

Morning everyone!

More nisser have arrived at my house!🎄🎄

@Hexenhaus traditionally the elves are quite difficult characters and play tricks on the household unless they’re given gifts to appease them. They’re also (rightly) very offended by rudeness or bad behaviour.

A particular elf favourite, always left out at Christmas, is rice porridge.

@StormyCornishSeas my friend found some posh tinsel at an independent garden centre the other day, I imagine it would meet Nigel's criteria.

I'm chuckling away at the thought of someone giving Nigel a Yankee Candle for Christmas .

Is anyone listening to the podcasts that go with the book? I haven't this year but greatly enjoyed them last year.

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule I'm loving your characterful nisser!

I still haven’t read the last few chapters...or the last couple of pages of the thread. Have had a lot on my mind and just haven’t had the headspace to snuggle down and give it the attention it deserves. But I’m glad to see I was right on cue when I was looking at lametta yesterday! I remember it very fondly from my grandparents’ tree and since we can finally have a real tree this year I think I’m going to go proper retro and nostalgic.

Thank you @Dillidilly, I really love them. They feel like old friends...

I forgot one of the most important bits - if the nisser are sufficiently pleased they bring you presents on Christmas Day (or, more correctly, Juleaften - Christmas Eve - which is the main celebration day in Scandinavia).🎁🎁

@GoGoGretaDoll

Well I opened the apricot liqueur. DH doesn't like it - too sweet - so I'm now a bit nonplussed about what to do with half a litre of sweet booze. It is delicious, but you can't drink a lot of it. Maybe I just need to have a tiny drink every night in advent.

aah. I have acquired some more brandy and was pondering making a version of it, but don't want to buy a load of sweet wine. I was thinking,, maybe put proportionately, extra brandy in ? plus some alcoholic apricot juice I happen to have? and make half the quantity?

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule the Nisse are probably the origin story for the ugly Elf on the Shelf newbie then?

Season's Eatings from Nigella here

www.nigella.com/latest/seasons-eatings-2021

Give it a go @herecomesthsun

I did actually (now I think about it) use a dessert wine that I'd had lying around for ages, so that probably didn't help.

@OnTheHillNotOverIt yes I suppose that could very well be the case! Although I’m loath to let my countrymen take the blame for that...

We’ve tasted our liqueurs. The apricot brandy is good (I used brandy and sherry as we didn’t have any sweet wine), but we fished out the star anise to avoid it getting too close to cough syrup territory.

I hope I will be able to sit down and catch up today - I feel like I haven’t been properly engaged in ages. I do remember the banana and cardamom cake which I’m looking forward to making. We’ll have bananas when our next veg delivery comes in a week’s time, so we’ll have to wait ‘til then!

Whoosh, caught up on the book and the thread after another mad-busy (but very christmassy - soooo much snow!) weekend.

We've managed to get our advent wreath put together, assembled from various bits ordered on line. Must get a new candle for the centre - Nigel would not approve of me using the old one we've got there at the moment! The wreath will get progressively more decorated through advent.

Mark Forsyth points out that if your Christmas tree hasn't got tinsel on it, it's not a proper Christmas tree: it represents the devil climbing the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and the baubles represent the apples growing on it. I will resist the arrival of our christmas tree for as long as I can, but DP has been known to just go and buy one while I'm out, so I might not last very long.

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule please keep us updated on the antics of the Nisse!

@ExcessivelyDisorganised do you have a picture of the posh tinsel? I'm struggling to picture it mentally.

@footchewer these nisser are quite benign - they just sit there being friendly and ‘hyggelig’.

I’ve got my Advent candle holder out too but it’s got no place for the 5th candle, so I put a new Christmas candle on our dining table on Christmas Eve in its place. I love the little vintage straw angel which I found on eBay last year.

Ooh I meant to say our kids love the Jacquie Lawson online advent calendars, in case it's of any interest to the sort of MNer who might be reading this thread!

www.jacquielawson.com/advent

I couldn't remember the surname of Jackie Weaver - had to look it up.

I wonder what a Jackie Weaver advent calendar would be like...

Jackie Weaver Calendar

Sorry I’ve been missing several days. I’m really enjoying reading Nigel’s book again (need to catch up fully this evening). Earlier today I was reading about the museums in Vienna which sent me down a rabbit hole looking up art pieces. I particularly like Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap. Nigel’s book is more than a recipe book; it is a the book that just keeps giving, I absorb something new each time I read it 📖.

@OnTheHillNotOverIt thank you for the suggestion 🙏. Love your username. Over the hill rather than under it is my sentiment 😬

@footchewer

Whoosh, caught up on the book and the thread after another mad-busy (but very christmassy - soooo much snow!) weekend.

We've managed to get our advent wreath put together, assembled from various bits ordered on line. Must get a new candle for the centre - Nigel would not approve of me using the old one we've got there at the moment! The wreath will get progressively more decorated through advent.

Mark Forsyth points out that if your Christmas tree hasn't got tinsel on it, it's not a proper Christmas tree: it represents the devil climbing the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and the baubles represent the apples growing on it. I will resist the arrival of our christmas tree for as long as I can, but DP has been known to just go and buy one while I'm out, so I might not last very long.

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule please keep us updated on the antics of the Nisse!

@ExcessivelyDisorganised do you have a picture of the posh tinsel? I'm struggling to picture it mentally.

Unfortunately not, I could ask my friend if she has still got the label.

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule oh my goodness … just seen your meal from 27th November. Looks so appetising 😋😋😋

@HollyandIvyandAllThingsYule I think ‘hyggelig’ might be my favourite word of 2021; maybe I should have used it as my MN username (even though I speak hardly a word of Danish) - it's very me! (I chose footchewer because I'm a bit outspoken, gaffe-prone, and spend most of my life with my foot in my mouth, but I don't really like it ...)

Anyway, just don't be over-confident about those naughty Nisser! Keep an eye on them, is my advice.

Just finished todays chapter isn't malt extract Marmite? He was saying it was hard to get hold of. Unless this is a very niche Nigel malt extract

@ExquisitelyDecorated oooo I like a posh garden centre. Especially at Christmas. Might have to investigate posh tinsel a bit further. I have a penchant for anything glittery and if it's a bit posh even better

What a gorgeous thread! I was on the "old lady things/cosy things" thread and there was a link to your first thread.
I would love to tag along please. The book sounds right up my street and is arriving Friday. I know I have missed loads but am enjoying all your lovely posts and will just hop in when I can.
It's given me a warm glow inside