The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. Read Along Thread 2022

[Dillidilly]

INTRODUCTION

Nigel begins his Chronicles proper on 1st November, but there is a lovely, quite lengthy introduction we can dip into during the second half of October.

Last year, posters were also kind enough to share where they had found cut price copies of CC, so hopefully anyone late to the party still has time to find a copy before we start the first chapter.

I had forgotten the lovely introduction. Together with the beautiful photograph at the very beginning of the book, flipping through it and seeing his headings reminded me of why I loved it so much last year!

Thank you-I'll give that a try.

lucysmam
BBC Good Food have a wonderful recipe for 7 hour lamb. It's dead easy, and the meat just falls off the bone.www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooked-leg-lamb
ImNotOnTwitterButMySupportGoldfinchTweets
My dahlias are still in bloom too, and the antirrhinums that I planted in May show no signs of stopping! My summer jasmine has come back into leaf too.

Good morning everyone, just catching up and then have a few days of Nigel to read this week.

I made mincemeat a couple of weeks ago, and made caramelised red onion chutney at the weekend. I must do some labels as the jars look very similar.

It's very mild here and several roses are in full bloom, incongruous among the autumn leaves.

@ThreeRingCircus I absolutely love the fact that you have a photo of last year's effort on the soup. A true Nigel aficionado. I was just remembering that I made the pot roasted partridges a couple of years ago when BIL offered me a brace he had shot (not my thing at all - I had no idea what to do with them until Nigel saved me and I remember being rather proud that I had juniper berries in my store cupboard and glad to have a use for them!) Sadly I didn't take a photo.

14NOVEMBER
Candlelight and roast cabbage

One of my favourite chapters! I love the descriptions of his expensive candles.
Nothing so extravagant here I'm afraid..but I felt a frisson of Nigel earlier this year when I decided to have the Aldi Jo Malone dupes as signature scents in my home: Lime, Basil and Mandarin for Spring and Summer, and Pomegranate for Autumn and Winter. I have the reed diffusers downstairs and one upstairs in our room, and the candles for the evening. I know Nigel would disagree, but I find these scents quite subtle and fresh/welcoming depending on the season.
I do burn other (usually Aldi!) candles that I've been given, especially at this time of year.

One top tip: any used candles in glass jars that have unfortunately 'tunnelled' get put in wardrobes, my Welsh dresser, the airing cupboard. The scents remain and are lovely when you open the doors.

@ThreeRingCircusgosh that looks absolutely delicious! I'm liking the sound of today's roast cabbage too.

@ShaunaTheSheep
"I made mincemeat a couple of weeks ago, and made caramelised red onion chutney at the weekend. I must do some labels as the jars look very similar."

I think that might be a good idea!!

I really don't like scented candles and neither does the H. Even Diptych which I've had as presents. I do love a beeswax candle or six though, and that other thing that Nige dotes on which is beeswax furniture polish. I might do that retro thing of clove-studded oranges later. They'd look good on a lordly dish with some pomegranates - such beautiful fruit. There'll be the scent of pine and juniper too if my plan for decorating comes to fruition. Of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions......
The cabbage sounds surprisingly good. We have our usual brassica glut.

I popped into Trudon today to sniff some candles in Nigel's honour and I've lit Carmelite now the sun has gone down. We really need a scratch and sniff feature.

Oh gosh @LillianGish, I think you are the only one of us with an actual Nigel Approved candle!! 👀
Please report back!

Ancient stone walls in the shade of cloisters and convents pretty much sums it up! But seriously, sort of mossy and earthy - not overpowering, quite subtle and yet you still get a waft of scent when the candle is not lit if it is sitting next to you on the table or as you walk past. It's also in the loveliest dark glass holder with a gold label - everyone who sees it (and smells it!) loves it. It was a ridiculous extravagance, but in my defence I didn't pay for it and it is very long lasting (55 to 60 hours according to the packaging) so works out at approx 1.5 euros per hour - which is less than a takeaway coffee. Also the shopping experience is incredible - all the wonderful glass domes which you are encouraged to lift up to smell the candles underneath and no obligation to buy because with such steep prices no-one is surprised that you might be taking your time to choose between scents.

Thank you Lillian, a glimpse into a different world!

Oh my, those candles under their domes are beautiful to see. Sadly, well out of my budget after a quick google.

I agree that the cabbage looks good @Bideshi. Unfortunately, I don't have a cabbage atm to try it out. We are likely to visit the market on Saturday though so I will try and remember to buy one to try it.

@LillianGish those candles look amazing.

@Dillidilly I saw a tiktok about how to restore candles that have tunneled, it involved making a little foil lid with a hole for a chimney.

I like some scented candles, essential oils and reed diffusers but am VERY fussy. Not in a Nigel sort of way, I just have distinct preferences and can’t bear strong, sweet, fruity or floral fragrances, those can give me migraines. For winter I like orange, cinnamon, pine. For summer I like lavender or citrussy fragrances. My current favourite summer reed diffuser is M&S Neroli, Lime and Bergamot, which reminds me of the fragrance toiletries in a posh hotel we stayed at once. So I couldn’t resist this NVN offering yesterday.

I alos finally got around to doing the bay oil on pine cones things - I tried one cone last week and it was not enough so I have done a bowlful now.

I like the sound of the cabbage too - I don’t like creamy vegetable dishes with my roast dinner (cauli cheese, creamed leeks etc) but as a standalone like this they are lovely. I also don’t like traditionl braised red cabbage.

@EspeciallyD I did try that once but it failed spectacularly...I think I need to re-investigate how to do it, as I clearly didn't do it right lol!

I did the foil collar to rescue my Baies candle and it worked, but it took a few goes! Was just going to recommend it.

The roast cabbage looks good, will be making that. The Frost Fairs - magical, but we will never see one. The candles - I cannot read that bit paying too much attention as I love the sound of the scents, but certainly do not have the money to spend!

It is absolutely hammering it down with rain here, perfect morning for a cuppa and a bit of Nigel time. Sadly I have to go to work but another nice chapter today and I like the sound of the braised beef.

15 NOVEMBER
Frost fairs and braised brisket

Nostalgia...when you could cook something in your oven for 4 hours!
(2017, only 5 years ago)

We still can, we have an Everhot range cooker (always on, like an Aga). It guzzles electricity but is perfect for long slow cooking and between that and heated throws we use the central heating a lot less than we used to.

I can totally recommend the brisket recipe, it is lovely. Needs a cold day to be really appreciated though. This mild weather feels so odd.

I would love an Everhot, but don't have enough kitchen for it.

Our kitchen is not huge, this is a 90cm wide one like a normal range cooker and they do a 60cm model. I love it to bits but am very grateful we fixed the electricity tariff a year ago.

I did the brisket just the other day - looked ahead as I knew there was a recipe coming up, but again had to go with ‘loosely inspired by’ as didn’t have swede or shallots. It’s getting irritating as these are things we have in most of the time, just haven’t got any right now. I made mashed potato to go with it, and roast carrots and parsnips with honey and thyme.

I’ve decided that in January I’m going to sit down and write out a reference list of chapter/recipe/ingredients (didn’t want to do so in October as I thought it would ruin the read a little bit), so that next year I can make sure to shop specifically for what’s coming up. Brisket is absolutely lovely however you make it, and let’s face it, there aren’t all that many variations, but the whole point (for me) is to cook to the recipe. Otherwise I might as well cook my own go-to recipes!

It was (and still is) properly misty and not very nice at all, here. So braised brisket was actually just right!