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!

Couldn't resist trying the figs and maple syrup liqueur. Very tasty so far.

2*2 November

Gold, frankincense and myrrh*

The nisser liked it here so much last Christmas that they showed up early this year (they wanted to be sure not to miss the start of Advent*). 🎄🎄🎄

Today will be a catch-up day. I think I’m three chapters behind. Hope you’re all well!

*actually I had to dig the string out of the crate, to tie up the Christmas pudding, and I couldn’t be bothered to re-jig everything to make it all fit back in!

Very festive! I've not read yet.

Bold is clearly failing for you too, Tangled!

Oh no that was just an asterisk for effect...the formatting isn’t right for bolding the text. Is bold being a moody mare at the moment, then?

I get a mixture of bold, asterisks and plain text whether I use the MN buttons or the formatting functions on my phone or iPad.

Bah Humbug. It means the days and headings haven't been clear. I seem to get started before anyone else, the last few days at least.

Let's see what happens there

Huh. So it only works when it's not necessary 😂

Hahaha isn’t that typiçal!

I have yet to sit down and start today’s read as have been busy this morning with the supermarket and then preparing some soup to have with dumplings for dinner tonight.

I do like the focus on the roots of Christmas traditions, if you like. The Magi, the gifts etc. I like the way it adds meaning to the rituals and traditions, rather than Christmas being just a massive stress fest of shopping for expensive gifts and food.

I don't think we'd 'do' Christmas at all, without the meaningful elements.

He's really, really wakened a need in me to go to Köln, eat sausage, and walk the cathedral and markets! It's going on my bucket list!

Yes, it’s one of the things I really like about this book. I especially like that although Nigel is an atheist he is still respectful of the Christian heritage of this Kingdom and of others, and this holiday (and also of the traditions that pre-date it), and doesn’t sneer at concepts such as prayer, devotion, gathering to worship, etc. I can’t abide it when people sneer at things they don’t understand. Spirituality matters to a great deal of people, Christian or otherwise, and respect ought to be afforded to those whose faith matters greatly to them (with some obvious caveats!). But that’s really a discussion for another day...

On Christmas without the meaningful aspects, I absolutely agree with you - we certainly wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t anything in it but consumerism/materialism. There are many layers of meaning for me. Too complex to talk about here (I was raised as a Christian hippie of sorts, rejected it all as a young woman, and am now coming round to a less vehement view on those who do believe). As the world gets ever more batshit crazy, I place much more value on the need for a spirituality of some kind to balance humanity’s other elements.

Christmas for me means family, friendship, memories of loved ones, an appreciation of history, heritage, and the importance of coming together, no matter what is happening or has happened in the world at large or in our own small worlds. A deep understanding that these traditions and rituals do matter.

I stirred the pudding from east to west. Not because it actually matters which way I stirred it (of course it doesn’t) but because for me keeping to tradition matters. It creates a mindfulness, a mindset that values what was before. Not necessarily all of it, of course. But valuing what came before means we’re more likely to value what is now. Traditions, customs, rituals - little memories of how it’s always been done - tie together all the strands of our pasts and connect us to them and to each other, here in the present, and in the future. These are the ties that bind.

(Sorry, I do waffle on sometimes!)

I enjoyed your waffling. 😊

😊

@TangledWebofMincemeatDeception I enjoyed your waffling as well 😃

Me too!

Speaking of enjoyment, the lentils were nicer cold today than hot for dinner last night.

And I've used the left over vinegar from the quinces for a dressing for some cabbage. It's been sat pickling for a couple of days and it's blooming lovely!

If I do nothing else, I'll make his vinegar again for pickling onions and cabbage.

@picklemewalnuts that is interesting that you found the lentils better cold.

Next chapter's not until Friday! 😢

Give me a chance to catch up on previous days. We can still chat about what Nigel moments (and recipes) we are sharing and enjoying!

Yes, I’d already designated this week to be catch-up week so a few days with no entries suits me well! Although now that I have been to the farm shop to pick up belly pork squares (in lieu of slices) for the miso pork and pickled pears, I’m out of pears as the ones I had were ripe a few days ago and needed using. 🙄

Made the cauliflower soup with melty cheese toasts today.

Used NVN part-cooked sourdough rolls as that’s what I had to hand (picked them up at Aldi last time I popped in - 75% off so I couldn’t resist! We’re having soups for lunch a lot this autumn and I’ve not yet found a good bread roll recipe). The plan was to make a loaf of my rye bread with caraway seeds to go with the soup but had to wait til today to get the cauliflower in our veg delivery and in the meantime I’d picked up the rolls so they need using before I can bake bread.

The soup itself was a bit meh but entirely my fault as I only had the tiniest bit of parsley but decided to go ahead anyway and I also under seasoned it because I was in a rush. I didn’t blend it in two lots either - just gave it a quick whizz. It was nicely balanced once the savoury cheese toasts were added, though. I used an aged gruyere and some picante Gorgonzola. I’ve got leftovers for another day, to which I’ll add blue cheese and maybe a little nutmeg or cayenne.

I do think he's overly reliant on parsley and basil, for the time of year!!

Sorry...forgot I’d decided on the blue cheese. I’ll add cayenne. Had I decided on gruyere in the soup, I’d have added nutmeg.

We need a thread 2!🎄🎄🎄

That looks lovely! <eyes up cauliflower >

Sourdough rolls sound like a good score! I try and keep my yellow ticket bounty in the freezer. I do love part baked rolls!