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.

I also feel a bit sad about him saying if you use shredded suet, you may as well buy the stuff in jars. A lot of love and care goes into my mincemeat. Adding cranberries some years, our own home grown apples. Some orange zest, a glug of really decent alcohol, buying the best, plumpest dried fruits I can find. And anyway, I only ever really bought slabs of suet from the butcher to hang in the garden for the blue tits.

I feel rubbish today - sore throat, bad head and aching shoulders. Thankfully, my responsibilities today are light, but I had wanted to make a start on these. I'll be pickling the jalapeños and I'll probably thread the Scotch bonnets on raffia.

P.S. Loving 'Nigel Adjacent' I always laugh at the bit about the candles "I'm not a food snob, but I'm definitely a candle snob" No, Nigel, you can be a food snob at times, too.

Oh what if give for someone to bring me a cup of tea and a slice of Orange Poppy seed cake.

Yep, dissing the Atora is definitely not being not a food snob!

Your mincemeat sounds divine even if you didn't slaughter and butcher your own suet!

Nigel's world view is very much based on assumptions drawn from his own current circumstances - an environment populated with like-minded adults, no howling toddlers, sulking adolescents or grumpy oldies. It's the one thing I consistently don't like about his stuff, which mostly I adore.

See for me, that is the escapist part of his writing that I do like 😂 Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be without the howling toddler and grumpy elders, but I would also love to be able to spend more than 10 mins cooking a meal, or a whole afternoon baking or making jam... Can't have candles because they set off DH's chest... (compensate with fairy lights, NVN I suspect)
One day I will see the Norwegian pine forests and the Christmas markets of Berlin.

Probably not on the same day.

@Nothingbuttheglory the escapism part is the bit about it I love as well.

I’m having a hard time with this being the first Christmas without my Mum, so I’m loving having found a thread of kindred spirits who love Nigel and the whole Christmas thing without the commercialism. What a brilliant thread, one of the nicest on Mumsnet.

You have to laugh at his claim to not be a food snob, as he has half of mumsnet scuttling about trying to source lardo and bemoaning the lack of italian delis. My mincemeat made with bought suet is perfectly delicious and much nicer than even posh shop-bought.
I listened to 'in and out of the kitchen' this year. Miles Jupp is 100% channeling Nigel and I loved it.

@LadyPenelope68 sending hugs to you.

"You have to laugh at his claim to not be a food snob, as he has half of mumsnet scuttling about trying to source lardo and bemoaning the lack of italian delis" @bigbadbarry this is so true!

By happy coincidence we have people coming for dinner this evening and I am cooking a ham so delighted to see that this mirrors Nigel's message for today. I have pressure cooked it and will glaze it with maple syrup and bake it later. Having it with mash, tenderstem broccoli and leeks in cheese sauce. Then a Nigella marmalade cake for pudding. Yum. Gorgeous sunny but freezing day here.

I'm going to try the aubergine thing this weekend. Will report back!

My first two jars of mincemeat are made and will have a few weeks to mature. My cake fruit is having its overnight brandy top up before tomorrows baking.

Just caught up with CC and I have to agree reading about Nigel’s idyllic life is a bit of escapism from the reality of mine. But I did particularly like his entry about sticky tape “Anyone who has wasted an hour of their life trying to find the bloody sellotape will know what I mean”. Now now Nigel, that’s NVN 😆

It's turned really cold up here and was a beautiful day today. Just about to take the dog out in the last of the daylight. Was delighted to read the ham recipe today as the November chapters are very dried-fruit heavy, which I loathe in all its forms.

Actual lols at Nigel's claim not to be a food snob

Oh and DH and I have just booked a December weekend in Warsaw - has anyone been? I'm hoping it's Highly Nigel Adjacent. Would love tips if anyone knows the city.

Ham and Cauliflower cheese is one of my favourite things. It always strikes me as reminiscent of Enid Blyton books for some reason - very famous five-esque. Slow cooker curry here tonight though as it's all the energy I had. Though I've managed a batch of sausage rolls as well.

I've not been to Warsaw, @LaviniasBigBloomers only Krakow, but the markets of Krakow were some of the best I've seen so I'm sure Warsaw will be beautiful. Take your thermals as it will be biting cold I'm imagining. Hoping for a sprinkling of snow for you while you're there.

Today, I have been/am making Delia's spiced red cabbage with apples - it's in the slow cooker and the house is filling with lovely smells. I have mincemeat from last year, Christmas cake ditto - maybe this year I'll get around to icing it in time.

I lit my St Eval Embers candle earlier in the week - it's a lovely, woodsmoke scent - I liked it so much I ordered some tealights in the same scent (and some Wild Gorse ones too, but those are for Spring).

Tonight, we're having homemade pizzas - not very seasonal, but a bit of an effort with making the dough etc. Tomorrow it's free range pork chops with stuffing and sprouts, and probably the first taste of this year's red cabbage etc. A bit more Nigel!

I'm glad I made the mincemeat last year, because I'm finding it impossible to find non-veggie suet this year (let alone proper suet from the butcher). Tomorrow's sprouts mark the first time this year I've managed to order them in our online shop - for some reason neither Tesco nor our local supermarket (Supervalu, in Ireland) have had them in stock until now - same goes for the red cabbage. I'm sure I've always been able to get sprouts in October in previous years - wonder what's going on?

You need a bit of frost for sprouts @Inextremis, maybe it's just not been cold enough this wet autumn?

Yeah @RainbowZebraWarrior it's going to be cold! Hopefully super-pretty too though.

Sorry to hear you’re feeling rough Rainbow but sounds like you had a productive day

more leafy walking for me today. Big fan of red cabbage love that stuff

Red cabbage is an interesting thing. I'm weird with textures and absolutely love the crunch and sour hit of pickled cabbage. I don't like it so much when it's been braised and therefore sweetened. Thinking about it, I think I'll get some and pickle it now. Means I can have it with cold cuts, cheese and chutney on boxing day. Maybe turkey and chips with pickled cabbage and bubble and squeak the next.

I feel the need to make a meal plan for Christmas week. I'm keen to avoid waste this year, so I'm mindful of buying only what I need when it comes to fresh food. I'm also going to spend the next few weeks using up things from the freezer to make space.

Thanks @Newgirls I'm feeling a little better now, although still achey. I'm going to set out ingredients tonight to make a citrus cake tomorrow. I've a real craving for a soft, moist citrus scented loaf as Nigel describes it. Plus I've got butter that needs using. I'll have to rely on tweaking my go to madeira cake recipe though as I've not got ground almonds for Nigel's. Have you seen the price of them lately?

The citrus and poppy seed cake sounds great. Ground almonds are not too bad if bought in Middle Eastern shops but sounds like you are quite remote. Im
sure it would work very well without - the poppy seeds are the key aren’t they

I'm loving this thread and this is the first time I've done this read along. I love Nigel but his comments about suet annoyed me this morning. I am making my mincemeat tomorrow with own brand suet not even flipping Atora for me. However, Nigel, if you are reading this (and I really hope you are) I never lose my sellotape, it's in the third drawer down in the kitchen and my family know i will kill them if they don't put it back

Newgirls you've just jogged my memory that I have a 1kg bag of almond flour in the pantry (bought when DD wanted to make macarons a fee months ago) I'm not sure if I can convert Nigels recipe by using all almond flour, but I've found another recipe online that looks pretty foolproof.

Checking in again after a few days. I made the sausage and bean dish yesterday. It was ok but quite soupy,and that was even after adding another tin of beans.

But oh my goodness the soup I made from it today! I blended it up, added some more stock and fried some bacon to scatter in and it was divine. Would definitely make that again.

Strongly considering making some mincemeat tomorrow. I make mince pies every year - I like mine to reek of booze so I always end up fiddling with the jarred stuff as it is.

I’ve just baked a Christmas cake for my mum and the house smells heavenly. I enjoyed it so much I’ll probably make another one when I get back to Paris. She’ll keep hers until we all return for Christmas, but we’ll probably eat ours through December (as recommended by a poster on this thread last year). I love seeing (and hearing about) your mincemeat. I usually make my own as you can’t buy it in France, but I never use suet. I’m another one who loves Nigel’s snobbery in all its forms - candles (especially) and his very strict dos and don’ts of Christmas card etiquette including his insistence on using a fountain pen. Martinmas was one of my favourite days when we lived in Berlin, with lantern parades and bonfires (and often a man on a horse playing St Martin and ripping his cloak I half). It was the closest thing the Germans had to bonfire night - my DCs still remember the words to all the songs.

Sending un mn hugs to those having harder times. This is as comforting and warm thread for all.

I’ve made the fig liqueur and it smells
amazing. I poached pears in with the figs for extra flavour and took them out for pudding - they taste amazing. Then bottled the figs with extra vodka!