Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Annual Read along 2023

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, it's nearly that time!

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition.

The book begins on 1st November, however there are a couple of chapters of preamble. That's why I thought I would start thread one now, so that we have time to prepare and fully appreciate Nigel in All His Splendour come 1st November.

Some of us already have the book. For anyone who doesn't, it's a challenge to see of you can pick up a bargain. WH Smith has come up trumps in the past, as has ebay. A rare and precious charity shop find is the holy grail and adds a certain special-ness that simply extends that warm, fizzy Nigel feeling (and some well earned smugness)

I shall make a post each day and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the days recipes, sentiments and indeed Dear Old Nige himself.

Note: Reading by candle light can be particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nige's candle of choice, but it's somewhat pricey. We don't discriminate against other less expensive brands - even if they are NVN (Not Very Nigel)

Pull up a chair and a cosy blanket and join in.

What a great find @Wren77

Hope your walk helps calm you @YuletideSolace Sending good charity shop vibes!

I've just finished pouring some candles. I 'nicked' Neom's Complete Bliss recipe, which is Rose, Black Pepper and Lime. They really need time to cure properly, but I'm dying to light one and see how it smells.

Just finished the pre-amble ready for Wednesday and also just read this thread through. I started last year but things got in the way so I didn’t keep up, I hope to do better this year.

It's at times like these, when you improvise and throw different ingredients in, that you stumble across something you love! My problem is remembering what I actually did, as I never make notes!! 🙄

Complete Bliss is one of my all-time favourites - please let us know how it turns out! Always more impressed with the diffusers, but candles are good too!

I am so pleased with how the essential oil blend turned out, as Complete Bliss is one of my all time favourites too (I use the magnesium body butter every night) It smells exactly like it. I can't light any of them for around a week as they need that long to cure, so I'm making a date for Bonfire Night! I've bought the oils to make the Real Luxury blend too, so that's next on my to-do list.

So many people saying they've had good intentions in previous years then life got in the way - please can we make this a no-pressure, no need to apologise for missing three chapters zone. It's about creating some space for us all, not putting more pressure on.

I'm frantically burning my Jo Malone Lime, Basil and Mandarin candle down so I can light my new St Eval on Wednesday!

BTW what/where's the companion thread please?

Would you be prepared to divulge the proportions of the oils?

Absolutely.

I've done two slightly different versions.

10 drops black pepper oil
15 drops rose oil
5 drops lime oil (any more and it overpowers)

Variation:

10 drops black pepper oil
10 drops rose oil
5 drops rosewood oil
5 drops lime oil

I know there are probably other oils involved in the Complete Bliss blend, but both of these smell pretty spot on to me.

@LaviniasBigBloomers I agree, absolutely no pressure. (The last thing we need at this time of year isnt it?) I enjoy the reading aspect, but I'm not a big one for trying Nigel's recipes religiously (for background, I'm an ex professional chef but I'm now disabled so I'm limited in what I'm capable of now - especially on bad days)

Just to note, the book gets off to quite a gentle start on 1st November, then no further entry until 4th.

Yeah I didn't cook much last time I did it. I made All the Booze though. Gotta get those priorities straight.

OH I JUST REMEMBERED when I did it a couple of years back I made one of the liqueur drinks and kept moaning to DH about our lack of liqueur glasses. (Not that one is posh or anything, but you don't want to be slugging your Nigel Nightcap out of a tumbler, do you?) Anyway, DH bought me a set of vintage liqueur glasses that Christmas, and I've never used them. But I will this year!

Have read the introduction over the weekend which I enjoyed. Looking forward to the 1st!

I might have to resort to making the alcohol. The hot apple drink sounds good and we do like Mulled cider (Nigella) and Mulled wine.

I'm veggie so that ruled out lots of recipes. DS is now vegan so our choice is even smaller.

I might make one of Nige's puddings though and I'd be interested to hear views on his dark recipe vs. his light one.

I usually use Nigella's Pudding recipe. And Delia's cake. However DH has declared that he prefers the Dried Pear loaf in Anja Dunk's Advent book to traditional cake. The Pear Loaf is great with cheese and easy. Much easier than Christmas Cake as it just needs a dusting of icing sugar and a Holly sprig to look like a log.

I'm shocked I tell ya. No cake to make.

Good morning all. I can't believe that All Hallows' Eve is apon us already. I have pumpkins to carve today. Which brings my mind to the same old question - what shall I make with the flesh of the fruit? In the past, I've made soup (hate it!) Added to casserole, and made the ubiquitous pumpkin pie. This year, I have decided that scones are the answer. I stumbled across a sort of hybrid pumkpin bread / scone of Nigel origin after an early morning search. I've decided upon a more traditional scone recipe though so im linking to it here.

Happy Halloween, all 🎃 🎃

https://eatlittlebird.com/pumpkin-scones/

Happy All Hallows’ eve. I plan to go for a walk this evening to spot all the trick and treaters (mine are grown up!). I know Nigel isn’t keen on that but I love youngsters being out at dark, not squirrelled away. I will then light candles and take a moment to remember my lovely grandparents.

pumpkins - I have small gourds this year and will keep them for as long as pos then roast in chunks for winter salads? Agree that pumpkin soup can be very bland especially the big orange ones. The scones look amazing!

That Dried Pear cake sounds good @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat.

@RainbowZebraWarrior - I managed to grow three large pumpkins this year and am not doing any carving! I like pumpkin soup. Also like a pumpkin and leek risotto with some chilli and lots of Parmesan. I’ve also seen recipes for pumpkin curry. I used to have a nice recipe for pumpkin bread too.

DO bought a pumpkin to carve so I will have pumpkin guilt when it is time to throw it away. None of us like pumpkin that much but it seems very wasteful so I shall try to find a way to repurpose it. Scones sound good.
Read the introduction last night in bed; was very soothing after a stressful day.

I buy a really large pumpkin for carving with the dc and I just compost the flesh - I’ve never found the big ones to be particularly nice and they’re grown for their size rather than their flavour. If I’m cooking with pumpkin, I’d look for smaller ones.

@HannahDefoesTrenchcoat I had my eye on that cake last year but never got round to it, so I’ve already got the dried pears ready to go. We like our cheese at Christmas (at any time of year, really...) so it’ll be a great accompaniment. I didn’t buy Advent last year but probably looking to buy it this year. Need a new Christmas book to pore over!

My trip to the charity shops yesterday yielded a good haul - I found two boxes of baubles (changing the theme slightly this year so needed a few more to add to the ones I’ve already bought), four light-up tin houses plus one which doesn’t light up - I can use those in lieu of a gingerbread village as I’m not allowed to try my hand at gingerbread structures anymore after ‘the incident’ of 2020.

I also found a little Christmas recipe book and a winter-themed novel. I’d like to find some brass candlesticks as well. I left the copper-themed pot pourri which would look nice in my copper bowl, because I’ve already got pine cones that make a great vehicle for my essential oils. But I might go back for it...

@RainbowZebraWarrior your candle mixes sound beautiful! I’ve already got black pepper, cedarwood and bergamot so I might try that for December, but bergamot always seems quite summery to me...trying to avoid buying any more oils for now, but I might cave and get some clementine.

I know what you mean about planning being a big part of the pleasure. It’s actually my favourite bit. In my planning stage anything is possible and I get a huge amount of joy from imagining all the things I might do. Then it always turns out that actually, I like doing as little as possible, really, so that I can keep things as gentle and stress-free as possible. I had a very difficult time at work some years ago and became really unwell; since then my body/mind can’t handle any stress or pressure.

I’ve not been able to start reading yet. The house is in complete disarray with piles of things everywhere as we’ve got lots going on with building/renovations that we’re doing ourselves. I don’t do well with everything being everywhere (ADHD and overwhelm/paralysis) and find it almost impossible to function well atm. But hopefully today I can make a bit more progress in the living room and by tonight I should hopefully have a Reading Nook ready.

@YuletideSolace your charity shop wander sounds lovely. Don't stress - be your name - create your reading nook and post a photo. No-one need ever know about the chaos which surrounds it. I have a friend who post close-ups of various elements and blooms in her garden - to the casual observer you'd think she was Monty Don. Her actual garden is frankly a tip, but you'd never know that from her Instagram account. My point is everything doesn't have to be perfect and indeed even where other people's surroundings appear to be perfect this is not necessarily the case. Enjoy your planning and preparations, stay zen and keep posting.

Thank you @LillianGish you're so right and that's definitely my aim, as it is every year. I prefer to do few things and do them well...it'll just be a bit more of a challenge this year to keep myself on an even keel - I do so much better when there's a place for everything and I can keep things clearer in my head.

I'll snuggle down tonight and just immerse myself in the joy of the intro.

DH has requested no lentil dishes this time (he loves them in dal but isn't otherwise a fan) so I'll be doing fewer of the dishes than I did last year. But I'm excited to try a couple of new ones!

I tested the little houses I bought yesterday and they still have battery in the lights so that's one less thing to worry about! They look adorably festive with their pinpricks for the light to shine through. It'll be hard to keep them for December as it'd be nice to light up the gloom a little bit now! That's definitely one thing where I'm closer to Nigella on the Christmas scale - I love a bit of twee in the right proportions!

Sounds like a very productive charity shop haul @YuletideSolace!

@Peridot1 It was! And I forgot one thing: I found one of those rolling pins for embossing patterns onto biscuits. I was going to buy one to use for the clay heart ornaments I'm going to make to send to my family members. It's not the exact pattern I had planned (wanted snowflakes) but for £1.50 I'm definitely happy enough!

@YuletideSolace your charity shop haul sounds incredible. Especially the rolling pin - result! You've reminded me that I'm going to make some clay hear ornaments too so I'll grab the air drying clay out of the craft cupboard. I also picked up one of those houses in the charity shop last Friday. Paid 30p which I was pleased about. I already have another four, so my village is growing. (They stay out all year here)

I'm currently sitting looking at a very large pumpkin. The pumpkin is looking back at me.. I've set a timer for 2pm to make a start.

Just to also say, Yuletide that I'm also the same regarding overwhelmed-ness (AuDHD here) in fact now more than ever (menopause amplifies Autism, + physical disability) It's so important to be kind to yourself and not beat yourself up or expect too much of yourself. I had to come to terms with the frustration of not being capable of spinning plates any more a while ago. Still stings though. I'm like the friend that @LillianGish mentions. Beautiful close ups of the pussy willow in my garden, bees on the Lavender etc. The bigger picture is that it's messy and wild, as I'm incapable of keeping it tidy and weed free. It takes roo much from me mentally and physically. To me, it's great for wildlife. Fantastic for the bees and two fingers up at any neighbours who think I'd be better paving it over. I do like to embrace my rebellious side and try not to
give any more fucks worry too much 😉