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.

Do you have the recipe please?
Would make a great pressie!

@HannahDefoesTrenchcoat yes, please! That would be brilliant.

I made non-paxo stuffing one year in the run-up to Christmas, thinking to use it on the day if it went down well. Neither of the girls liked it, so paxo it is here 🤷‍♀️ (tbh, it's usually a supermarket one over actual paxo...NVN at all 🤣)

@MadMadMad if it helps persuade you, I found it (like new) for under £16 on ebay last night 🤣

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166371614759?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=S-QR_h4oQkm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=mXwCyuwyTNm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY hopefully that works

Stuffing is a funny thing. I don't like mince and only like certain sausages. I always think sausage meat sold for stuffing generally looks awful, though there are a few better ones around now. I've tried allsorts over the years. One particular year I took great care and made what I thought would be a beautiful one with fresh sage from the garden. It was perfume like and overpowering. Tbh, there's only me eating it here, so I'm trying a new approach this year: Buy favourite sausages from waitrose, remove from casing, add lots of pepper, shape into balls and put in oven with a few knobs of butter. I must admit I like that gnarly-ness of the uneven surfaces that come from rough rolled stuffing balls. They do need to be large enough to be slice-able for turkey sarnies though.

I've always thought that Advent book looked beautiful, but I have no need for Yet Another Cook Book. I've been quite sensible and have been ordering ones I like the look of from the library lately. I do amit to buying Merry Midwinter a couple of years ago on the back of a recommendation here. I've just dug it out as I never really read it. It can be my 10 minute read whilst parked up waiting for DD to come out of school book.

@lucysmam we always use a dry stuffing pack. It’s what we like best - tend not to want yet more richness on top of all the other feast foods - cheap and convenient, and some of them are very nice. In bygone years we’ve tried several labour-intensive from-scratch recipes (one of them took hours!) but it’s just not our thing and I like to keep things as chilled as possible cutting out extra work wherever I can.

I made the stuffing balls with cranberry sauce a couple of years ago but although it was nice enough as a dinner, DH isn’t all that keen on what he calls gimmicky food (with apologies to Nige) and we didn’t think it was worth the work. We generally try to keep November’s food a bit more simple and plain anyway, and mostly not ‘festively spiced’ or too reminiscent of the feasting we’re going to do in December.

Haven't caught up on the thread yet, will enjoy it later after dipping into CC for the day. Woke up in the early hours of the morning and DH joined me at about half five and made the lovely suggestion that we ought to watch a few episodes of Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen, which we duly did. So we have had a lovely start to the day! 🎄🎄🎄

Mix 2 teaspoons of instant coffee (hazelnut flavoured if possible) with 7 tablespoons of boiling water and leave to cool completely.

Take a big bowl and pour in -
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1/4 bottle of whisky (about 175ml)
4 teaspoons of vanilla essence
1 1/2 teaspoons of liquid glycerine
And when the coffee mix is cool, pour that in too and give everything a good mix. Taste to see if you want to add more whisky.

The original receipe added ground cinnamon but it looks very off putting in the bottle.

Keep refrigerated and drink within two weeks. Shake before drinking. Makes a very nice Christmas present if you put it in a swing top Kilner bottle.

That sounds a lovely way to start the day @YuletideSolace , I've started mine in silence. Should move soon ish though.

On cranberry sauce, that's usually dd1's job. However my dad has bought me four bags of dried cranberries over the past few months, so I was going to play with those & see if I can come up with something decent.

@RainbowZebraWarrior the Merry Midwinter book looks lovely too.

Paying close attention to these. I have a Secret Santa coming up and handmade or second hand is the rule. My giftee has tonnes of cash, hates stuff and loves food, so shall be making the homemade Baileys and some other edible bits.

Love this thread - I bought Christmas Chronicles a few months ago, it's very beautiful. I feel proper posh having it on my bookshelf. Although I haven't gotten around to actually reading it yet, but I will now that it's proper wintery.

Unfortunately we've had no heating for a few days as the boiler packed in, so I'm not in a very festive mood and just trying to keep warm. I may end up cheating on Nigel by baking Nigellas Christmas fruitcake today to make me feel better and so I can stand beside the oven and warm up.

This thread is a wonderful comforting corner of the internet!

I have been very Nigel this morning and taken his advice to clear out and stock take our pantry. Very gratifying to put things in order and only a few condiments out of date

For anyone wanting candles I have purchased this Candle for myself. Not quite CT but hopefully Nigel would approve as it’s M&S

Isn't it just a lovely thread ❤️

That candle looks lovely aswell and a good price

Enjoying reading this again. I still have one of the fruit drinks from last year! So will try it this evening and chuck it if need be, but hopefully will enjoy.

Candles: I have a rosemary and bay candle from St Eval that smells perfectly winter and Christmas-like to me.

Stuffing - this is the taste of Christmas for me. I am vegetarian, have been since the age of five. I was always given what I now realise was basically meatless stuffing at Christmas (being vegetarian in the 1970s was - interesting. A little pile of grated cheese or a boiled egg was quite often what I was given at school dinners). The taste of sage etc is so festive to me. Going to search out a recipe that does not involve meat to plan for Christmas today. I love a nut roast from Jamie, involving a tomato sauce too, which seems stuffing like to me. Going to compare a few recipes and make a decision. May even make it today and freeze portions - that isn’t really in the spirit of leftover sandwiches etc but needs must, as the only vegetarian in the family.

I also do the 10 mins reading outside school thing 😁 need to get there early otherwise the non blue badge holders take the spaces! (I have disabled DC and this winds me up)

@Decafflatteplease I have to get there early for exactly the same reason! (I've had to start parking up 30 mins before she comes out as it's really bad) People park so inconsiderately, too. I hate seeing it, so burying my head in a book is definitely the best option.

@lucysmam (or anyone else who is considering it) you should definitely buy the Advent book. It's a hardcover book - or at least, mine is - with a green velvety textured cover with gold writing on the cover and a picture of a wreath.. It's a bit bigger than the Christmas Chronicles book. The illustrations are just gorgeous - I've attached photos of a few of them. I think every second page has a colored photo. There are approx. 270 pages in the book - so many lovely recipes to try. I'm not related to the author at all, I promise although I'd love to be her friend so she could make me some delicious biscuits and cakes.

Disclaimer - I haven't actually made anything from the book yet, despite buying it a few years ago. But I love flicking through the book and admiring the beautiful illustrations and thinking, "One of these days .........".

Merry Midwinter book, you say? <goes off to google>. When I buy my bookcase, I'm going to have a whole shelf dedicated to beautiful Christmas books. Which reminds me, I have a book full of Christmas stories which my nephew got me a few years ago. I must root it out. They're Christmassy excerpts from longer books or novels.

@Taytocrisps wow, the book really does look beautiful! It's a Christmas Coffee Table Book if ever I saw one.

The candles I made will have finished curing and be ready to burn tomorrow. Because of this, I have made another one today. I've decided that if I make one or two a week, I'll have rolling stock for the rest of the winter. I collected so many pretty jars and tins this year, I might as well use them! Today's scent combo was Blood Orange and Nutmeg. The kitchen smells divine!

Cold here today. It was 3 degrees when I poked my nose out from under the duvet this morning. I've been out earlier, but now I'm wishing I'd gone to the wood shed before I got comfy. Oh well, off to do battle with the spiders.

I've been reading Merry Midwinter this week and the Advent book is on my coffee table right now (alongside The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol - Robert Ingpen versions of both, check them out if you like a beautiful illustration).

I collect Christmas/winter books and have a real love of vintage and children's books in the genre. I have three wicker baskets full of them and they come out around now and go away again in early February.

16yo DD has pinched my Christmas Chronicles book this morning and is catching up...

Just started Christmas Chronicles. Have a new item on my To Do LIst: move lamps, furniture and plants to get a "more intriguing shadow". It's going to be a busy afternoon..

Drying rose hips and oranges whilst ironing to Mary Berry's Ultimate Christmas on iPlayer 🤣. I know this is a Nigel thread but the book has really got me in the mood for all things Christmas ❄️🎄

Sorry, here is the pic!

Caught up on reading which has resulted in an impulse purchase of bay leaf oil.

Tempted to make some of the drinks for the by-product of "fat, alcohol-soaked little fruits, each one as pissed as a newt".

Blissful afternoon.

That looks lovely. What do you use the dry rose hips for? Are you air drying or using oven. Thanks!

@Taytocrisps I'm sold 😊 it does look lovely!