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.

Another vote for butter being fine for mincemeat - we lived in Shanghai for 5 years and suet was impossible to source. The mincemeat I made there was potentially better than the batches I've made here and I wasn't sure why so I appreciate that reminder. I might give it a go.

I made Nigel’s salted peanut butter biscuits from the recent recipe in The Observer. Awesome flavour!

I am enjoying the baking photos and the chat. Thank you.

My leftover leek and bean mixture from yesterday wasn't particularly soupy (also used much less liquid) so I turned it into a gratin tonight which I ate with some ham and roasted tomates.

Still not had time to bake a cake but my Fortnums Christmas order arrived today. As I had snuck in some salted caramel florentines, I was not deprived of a pudding course.

I've followed him for a while, and yes he does mostly seem to reply to folk. I've never interacted with him, but I've been dying to tell him about this thread. Shall I do it?

Does anyone have a specific question and I'll ask him tonight. Otherwise I'll just tell him how much I like his latest photo and say we have a read along every year.

ooh yes please tell him, it will be like touching the hand of god if he replies!

I have been pondering making those - will give it a go now - thanks!

Me too- they sounded lovely.

The cookie dough uncooked is quite something! I think I needed more flour and definitely cooked them a little longer - I have an old tired oven tho.

@StarryAnise
i made the marmalade pears too
I found the same , that it didn’t reduce enough , next time I would use 100ml apple juice

I did tweak it tho by using maple syrup instead of honey which did give it a toffee ish flavour
next time I will use honey

I coukd t find posh sausages so I will be making the sausage beans and leek , with pork sausages with honey and mustard tomorrow or wed

I am racing ahead in the book
I read just before I go to sleep , tucked up in bed so I don’t light the candles . I love rhubarb, so I might get the white co version
I don’t know if Nigel would approve , maybe .

Don't tell him I nearly set my house on fire! It was nothing important that got caught, just a bank statement I had printed out to try and work out where all my money had gone and only the corner got burnt. It is a lesson about candle safety though.

Talking of extravagant candles, I was at a friend's house recently and she had a huge, gorgeous candle in a jar lit in her kitchen. It had the make and name printed on the glass so I took a photo as I thought I might ask DH for one for Christmas. Google told me it cost £220! I nearly fainted.

I made Nigel's Christmas pudding yesterday, quarter of the recipe as only 3-4 to feed. It smelled gorgeous as it was steaming. I have used that recipe for several years now. I always use Atora veggie suet in my pudding and mincemeat.

Stumbled on this article about Nigel's VVN house...

https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/nigel-slater-london-home

It’s a very beautiful house but to me it doesn’t look very cosy - it doesn’t look like the sort of home I could relax in.

"The intricacy of his object selection"!!

Just putting stuff away counts as a win here, that's about as good as my object placing gets. It's a different world! But one I'm enjoying vicariously very much.

14 November

Candlelight and roast cabbage

I wake early, sit at my desk and write. A daily ritual which if missed sets my world briefly off it's axis. For the best months of the year, it will still be dark, a prickle of cold in the air, the slightly too long arms of my sweater (my writing jumper, a dear old friend) slipping softly over my fingertips as I type, as if I was wearing fingerless gloves.

I think today is one of my favourite chapters. I love the intro, reading about his writing in the early morning (and I imagine his jumper to be cashmere) I also share his love of early meanings. I love reading about the history of candles too. Although I admit, I have probably become a bit candle obsessed. All in the name of research, I keep telling myself.

On his home, I think it's lovely, but slightly too bare for me. It never really looks cosy as @ChessieFL has said. Although I imagine it would in the evenings with fires lit and lights twinkling. I used to live in a large period flat and it was similar (pre child, of course) I do miss the kitchen there with the wonderful slate flooring.

Thanks for the link @SqueakyDinosaur. I had, for some reason,thought of Nigel as some urban Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall living in a somewhat shabby bucolic chaos. But it seems he lives in an art gallery/ Japanese monastery. It’s stunningly beautiful and must require such discipline to create and maintain. No impulse purchases, no accumulation of objects over the years, and everything with a serious provenance. Writing cookery books must be very lucrative.
Reading that back, my comments seem a little scathing but I do really admire what he has created and wish I had the ability to edit like that.

I agree. He has some beautiful pieces but the whole look is too stark for me.

It might be NVN - it's certainly NVMumsnet - but I like clutter.

Gosh that’s a lovely place. I wonder if he’s friends with the guy who has the princeletdrift account on instagram. He has a place in Spitalfields and a farmhouse in Norfolk.

Do tell him! It must be nice to hear the positive impact of your writing. Yes very monastic Japanese style. He has tiny white pots in one room by Edmund de vall (might have got the spelling wrong there) that I saw in a mag once. Very beautiful.

That's probably why he loves the Japanese onsen he talks about.

A lovely entry today. Starting the day writing is a positive - daily pages or on here!

Lovely article, I imagined it being a bit more cluttered and cosy too, but it's beautiful and very calming. I wonder if he's got a cupboard full of random crap and a huge flat screen TV hidden away somewhere. The two kitchens thing is interesting, when I see TV chefs in home kitchens I always wonder if that is their real kitchen (I remember Delia used a temporary one in her conservatory for TV).

Oh I adore Nigel's home. In my head that's exactly what I want my home to be like. My heart wants different though (or maybe it's my budget that dictates).

I love seeing snippets of his home and garden on Instagram.

To whoever asked, I don't remember there being issues with Nigel's recipes on the whole.

I'm late to this but am going to observe keenly.

God I love his house.

Imagine dusting 276 Edward de Waals every day though...