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

Crikey - are things really that bad in the UK?! There was a run on mustard here back in the autumn, but otherwise it seems to be business as usual.

Eggs are tricky.

Butter is just expensive!

@Dillidilly hard luck on the dratted Covid. But lovely to hear from you.

I'm liking the advent corner @picklemewalnuts. The candied peel looks delicious, even though I don't actually like eating it! Ham egg and chips on the other hand, I love that! We've got fishcakes and parmentier potatoes tonight - a nice bung it in the oven type of meal.

It doesn't taste anything like commercial candied peel. It's more like a cross between marmalade and a fruit pastel!

3 December
Mince pies and the shop windows of Nuremberg
I love the illustrations nearly as much as the writing in this chapter. I am very much a star topped mince pie aficionado as I don't like the mince meat to be overwhelmed by two much pastry. I'm now wondering if I should flick back to November 10 and make some mincemeat since I can't easily buy any here, but have some dried fruit left over from making my last minute Christmas cake.

Do it Lillian 🤶😁

Yes do!!

I hate the stuff, but it's the spirit of Christmas if you like it!

The illustrations are beautiful. Is he a photographer too?

Star topped mince pies for me too - I like the pastry fragile and thin. Small mince pies too - too much and it all goes a bit 'claggy'.

Got my candle going and about to catch up properly. Might make a Christmas cake today, despite deciding I wasn't going to this year - I found a recipe from Honey & Co that is done in a loaf tin. I think that is more the scale we need this year. Kids aren't keen but OH would like it.

Finally caught up properly over the last week 🎅

Not read today's chapter but keep thinking about the giant stollen from a few past chapters!

Also loved the pictures today and the different mince pie suggestions. I like the idea of making my own - I’ve got a week off in the run up to Christmas so might give it a go then. I’m not very good with pastry (don’t make it often) but I think mince pies should be quite forgiving if the pastry is a bit rubbish?!

Mincemeat made - thanks for the encouragement @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat and @picklemewalnuts. Just spent a delicious hour bumbling around in the kitchen with some festive tunes. Apartment smells wonderful now!

Ahhhh so wonderful to see you all. <hugs everyone in distinctly un-British/un-me/un-MNetty fashion>

Haven’t read back through the thread yet but the past few chapters have been so lovely. Proper happy Christmassy memories...🎄❤️

I made an upside down apple cake yesterday and added a layer of mincemeat to it (as we still haven’t made any mince pies), it turned out really well.

I have one more thing to do - pack up a Christmas/birthday parcel and get it sent off to my daughters - and then I can properly relax.

@LillianGish your nutcracker is lovely. I’ve valiantly resisted this year (and last!) but I might have to give in and get some.

I made mince pies this morning before I even opened the book! Must be something in the air. The first ones of the season always come out a bit wonky. DH is very particular about mince pies and always moans because I make small ones - he likes loads of mincemeat - but he said my pastry was good 🙌🙌

(I’ve just ordered a new tin because my bigger one is rusty)

The nutcracker came from a Christmas market in Berlin @TangledWebofMincemeatDeception and has been a fixture at Christmas for as long as my kids can remember. They used to watch a DVD of the ballet on a loop at this time of year (far less grating on the nerves that Tweenies Panto which was the other seasonal favourite). They also loved something called Beutolomäus und der wahre Weihnachtsmann which was about an animated sack of presents looking for the real Santa Claus - in fact I'd completely forgotten about it until I started typing this post.

@LillianGish well done on the mincemeat. I am still plodding through last years, which I made with amaretto.

I love The Nutcracker and always used to go and see the ballet at our local theatre. I have had to settle for a dvd the last couple of years, and will do the same again this year.

Loving the mince pies and the mincemeat! I made my Christmas cake yesterday. I'd love to say it was a delightful Christmassy experience but it took ages and I got very cross in my tiny kitchen. Ds came in to cook burgers and chips and I wouldn't let him open the oven door to put the chips in. I hope my grumpiness didn't get into the cake. 😆

Also for those who want a Nutcracker fix but don't have a theatre close by, it's being screened live this Thursday at cinemas (and repeated on Sunday).
cinemas.roh.org.uk/in-cinema/the-royal-ballet-the-nutcracker-2022-2023/vue-cinemas-finchley-road-02-centre

😄 If any of your grumpiness did fall into the cake I’m quite sure it will have all been cooked away!

I’m not near to any cinema and we no longer have any television channels, so I think I’ll need to buy a few DVDs/Blu-rays for the season. Last year I had access to NOW TV and Amazon Prime so I could find loads of classic films and programmes.

I already have White Christmas which I picked up at the charity shop, also already have The King and I (not officially a Christmas film but I like watching that sort of thing at this time of year). Would like to watch a couple of ballet performances, Carols at King’s, and maybe the NY concert from Vienna too, but I’ll probably be able to find that on YouTube. Definitely need to get The Bishop’s Wife (original version) and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Oh I just remembered, DH accidentally signed up to a free trial of Prime! I might be able to find what I need on there. 😊

@bigbadbarry ah it’s nice when the pastry comes out just right! I don’t make it enough for me to be confident with it, so DH is always in charge of pastry. We’ve got a plan to make orange pastry for our first lot of mince pies (orange zest, not orange in colour!). Star lids are my favourite, they look so festive and almost too good to eat!

Today is the day for making beef bourguignon (for post Christmas entertaining) and stollen. Yippee!

Nutcracker question- when you use a Meerkat code can you book ahead? Do you use this week's code even though you aren't going for a couple of weeks? I missed the Matthew Bourne Nutcracker, but I'll try for the RoH one.

Your cake looks lovely @Swissnotswiss. No entry for today, so I just had a quick reread of yesterday's quite lengthy one and reflected how I share Nigel's love of rituals. Having the right dish for the olives and their stones or in my case always making tea in a pot on a tray with a strainer (because I only ever use loose tea) even if I'm just making a cup for myself. And having the right cups or mugs or the right glass, depending on what we're drinking. You soon realise what your Christmas traditions are when you hear the kids say things like "but we always do so and so" or "we never do it like that". It reminds me of my own father asking every year to a chorus of protest why we didn't just have Turkey crown as no-one really liked the legs. He never lived to see the day, but two years ago during the pandemic when there were only four of us for dinner, I did just that and literally had tears in my eyes as we carved the Turkey realising that in fact he had been quite right. That is our new tradition in his memory!

Ah @LillianGish Christmas is so full of moments like that isn’t it.

I’m just the same, very much about rituals and constancy. Life is lived in the little moments, and all those little things do have lots of meaning for me.

I enjoy the rituals and constancy too.

However I do struggle with special items with limited use. I can't justify the cupboard space for a special olive dish.

I regularly cull items in the kitchen and sideboard. If it doesn't earn its keep, it's rehomed.
That does mean special items are even more special as they have survived so many culls! My wooden fruit bowl was turned by my grandad, for example, so I'll never get to buy another fruit bowl!

Just cut into my last minute Christmas cake and DH says he thinks it's even better than when it's been left to mature for a month or so. Really moist and delicious and just the thing for a chilly December afternoon so I think that's going to be another new tradition. Thanks @ThreeRingCircus and others who encouraged me to go for it.