The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. Read Along Thread 2022 PART 2

[LillianGish]

A continuation of the brilliant thread started by @Dillidilly who I hope is still lurking somewhere and reading along

What lovely traditions! I'm glad they are still celebrated.

I could get behind a steak pie tradition... I think I have a salmon side.
We'll have raised pie today, so something a bit lighter will be welcome. I really need to stop the over indulgence now- I have a weigh in due in a week or so!

Just looked it up - Christmas only became a public holiday in Scotland in 1958 which chimes with my Dad's memories.

For the Scottish readers - a wee bit of the Broons fur ye -

1 January
A new loaf, soup and salad
I realise this is a day late, but as the next post isn't January 4 I thought we should squeeze it in. Also, while I certainly won't be making my own bread (it would be madness in Paris where I am surrounded by boulangeries), I'm definitely in the mood for soup and salad after the excesses of the past couple of weeks. I might even walk to Chinatown to pick up some tamarind paste and try Nigel's lentil recipe. I always enjoy these low key days after all the festivities where there's no pressure to do anything, but you can still enjoy the final days of the tree and the glow of Christmas lights (and catching up with some of the Christmas TV I never have time for in the full swing of celebrations. The Detectorists anyone? Finally got round to watching last night and it was perfect New Year's Day viewing).

Well done Lillian! I'm all out of sync!

I wondered if you were perhaps having a particularly extensive celebration (DS arrived home at 7am and spent most of New Year's Day asleep!) I've also lost track a bit, but back home and calm I've picked up Nigel again and rather like the fact that he takes us right through to February - so a gentle tapering off rather than sudden halt.

I am totally clueless as to what day and date I am in at the moment.

I like the thought of soup and bread, but have no intention of making bread. However the focaccia did catch my eye and I may make one of those either before DH starts his healthy eating kick or when he starts to ease off it.

If I remember correctly CC goes up to Candlemas which is well and truly the end of the Christmas season. I will be looking to take down the decorations later this week. The pot grown tree will definitely be ready to go back outside if it stands a chance of surviving another year. I personally think that the odds are stacked against another year.

👋 to everyone! DH and I are still ill, albeit a little better now. I’ve not picked up the book since several days before Christmas, in fact we just skipped Christmas all together.

I might feel inclined toward reading a little, later on.

Anyway, I can’t remember if I’ve been on the thread to say I hope you each had a very happy Christmas 🎄🎄and also a great start to 2023. 🥂🥂

And to you Tangled I hope you both make a full recovery soon.

Lillian I enjoyed the Detectorists too.

4 January
Pear and pickled radish
I like the sound of this salad - and I am very much in the mood for salad now.
I picked up some tamarind paste on a walk to Belleville (Chinatown) yesterday, but ended up in a dumpling restaurant so have yet to make the lentil soup. It's just good to have a change from festive food and helping to ease me into 2023 and spur me into taking down the tree which is now looking very dried out.

I am about to settle down with today’s helping from Nigel.

I was going to start taking down some of the Christmas Decorations but DH has got an awful bug with a temperature and is currently in bed. There is no way I can get the boxes down from the loft on my own. My pot grown tree is thankfully still looking ok, but I am sure it will benefit from going back outside when the time comes.

We had a chilli last night and are at about at the end of the festive treats. Although whilst we didn’t buy that much in the way of treats, even less is required next year.

Strictly speaking (and to remain in tune with Nigel) decorations can stay until the 6th so no rush @Ihavedogs. I think I'll be cosying down for another night with mine. Hope your DH is feeling better soon.

@HannahDefoesTrenchcoat Thank you! We're feeling better every day, thankfully.

@Ihavedogs sorry to hear your DH is ill. I hope he'll be on the mend very soon and that you manage to dodge it! But as @LillianGish said, this will, happily, allow you to BMN!

I've taken down a few things in the hallway and dining room - I like to do it in a relaxed, staggered way. My personal rule is that the tree, bay window decorations, wreath and candle bridge stay up until 12th night but other things can be taken down as the mood strikes me.

I plan to settle down for a good, long catch-up of CC today, as soon as the sun begins to set (for the added ambience). I'll light all the many candles in the living room, cosy up under the fleece blanket in my little reading station sofa with a cup of something soothing, and enjoy the hygge.

Tomorrow evening we hope to have a belated cosy evening together, enjoying canapés and bubbly - DH will hopefully be able to enjoy the Christmas tree/lights (He's hardly seen it!) and feel a little bit festive before everything then comes down on the 6th.

@LillianGish surely it's not 4th already?! Blooming Nora. I need to get a grip.

Anyone got a spare one?

@TangledWebOfDeception I am already been suffering, but I didn’t have a high temperature. I am hopefully through the worst of it now, other than the pesky cough.

I wanted to take a few things down, and did take the outside lights down yesterday as their boxes were not in the loft. The tree, garland and wreath will stay up until 12th night.

Ah sorry you've been unwell too!

Oh, very similar approaches to deconstructing the decorations then! We've taken down the outside things and the garlands. DH got a bit carried away and stripped some other things too, which I was rather sharp with him about. I hate things looking messy, and we'd agreed a leisurely approach that let the house look nice, no matter how long it took. Instead we have a few half and half corners, and a stack of boxes. Sigh.

I finally caught up! I love the sound of that bread, but there are too many ingredients missing for me to do it for a while. The soup however I can manage. I may do the salad one day- or at least, elements of it.

I like the idea of baking on NYD and could adopt that tradition.

Still have not sat down with the book!🙄

Yesterday ended up being a bit busy, DH and I also had a (very minor) row which meant I wasn't in the mood, then later in the evening FIL was taken ill and is now hospitalised.

Will try again tonight.

I bought this pomegranate bauble today - I was very taken with Nige's description of the one he found, so when I saw this I couldn't resist!

Lovely, Tangled!

Life does get in the way, doesn't it?!

@TangledWebOfDeception I hope your FIL is ok.

The pomegranate bauble is quite novel. I rather liked the look of the tangerine and am somewhat grateful it is out of stock.

I think our decorations will be staying up another day (at least).

As it is another sofa day for me, I have started reading Laurie Lee, Village Christmas.

@picklemewalnuts yes it does. Thankfully FIL is being well looked after and has had a procedure to help the issue.

@Ihavedogs I was very relieved that the lemon and mandarin were out of stock as I would have had them too! They are actually more to my taste as the pomegranate is a bit...full on for me. But I'm sure I'll make it work.

And knowing my hyperfocused/obsessive nature, it's quite likely that I will track down the other two baubles too, sometime before Christmas.

6 January
Epiphany or Twelfth Night
The decorations are down, I now have to remove the tree by chopping it into bits so it can be carried outside in bags and thus avoid the wrath of the concierge by sprinkling pine needles down the staircase (a tip passed on to me by a friend of my
mum’s who lived in Paris many moons ago). All rather hard work in fact. Next job is to make my galette des rois - I could buy one, but this way it will make the apartment smell wonderful and counteract any despondency induced by the removal of the tree.

I did manage to get my decorations down. Some done yesterday and the rest this morning. The boxes have been stashed into a spare room until we are well enough to get them put back into the loft. The poor bare tree will have to remain in situ as its too heavy for me to get it back outside on its own. The poor thing is showing signs of distress and shedding needles, so sadly I don’t think it will survive another year.

I'm mid task. A few bits here are there. The tree still to be done.

I like the sound of the character cards. I wonder if I could fashion something similar here, to be accompanied by that delicious sounding mousse?

7 January
A breakfast of silence and solitude
After a breakfast of porridge and yoghurt and a lunch of baked potato and cheese I have just opened today's chapter to discover I have inadvertently been VN. I'm not sure I could wax so lyrical about the joys of a jacket spud, but I did bring rather an excellent piece of vintage Cheddar back with me from Blighty (DH thinks it's ludicrous to carry cheese back to the land of cheese, but there's something about a very good Cheddar that can't be replicated).