Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Read Along 2023 - Part Two

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Continuing from Part 1

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 began on 1st November, however there is still time to fully appreciate Nigel in All His Splendour as it takes us to Christmas and beyond.

Most of us already have the book (or Audio 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 continue to make a post each day and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the days recipes, sentiments and indeed Dear Old Nige himself.

Pull up a chair and a cosy blanket and join in. Twinkly lights are optional, but candle light is definitely recommended. Regulars and newcomers are welcomed like old friends.

Florence is also amazing at Easter as they really go in for beautifully decorated eggs and other sweetmeats. The eggs in Caffe Concerto Paszkowski on the Piazza Della Republicca were particularly lovely.

Show us your Not Quite Bake Off cake @LillianGish

I've attached my Celebrity Bake Off efforts Delia's Creole Cake, Nigellas Christmas Rocky Road and Delia trifle.

They aren't this year's efforts. Oh no. Currently languishing on sofa with covid and my kitchen has plaster dust and splatters from new windows 😬😱

Here it is @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat. I’m relieved to hear yours are from last year as I was starting to feel a bit behind with just my cake ready for action. Sorry to hear you have Covid - hope you’ll be up and about again soon.

@LillianGish that is a beautiful cake. It looks like my late grandmother's in a splendid way.

That's her trifle dish with the trifle in.

Her front room had cotton wool rolled out on the mantlepiece with glitter and coloured fairylights. Her tree had those lovely solid foil wrapped discs of Cadbury chocolate. And a bottle of sherry. And an open fire. Magic.

It looks like my late grandmother's in a splendid way mine too @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat! You have hit the nail on the head. That's what I meant when I said it's not very Bake Off. Somehow I am completely unable to visualise any other kind of Christmas cake. Yours is much more imaginative. Hoping it will taste good at any rate - planning to cut into it this weekend with our guests and then nibble on it in the run up to Christmas. This was suggested by someone on last year's thread and it worked rather brilliantly - it avoids that situation where you are accumulating lots of tasty thing for the day itself, but have nothing to eat in the run-up. Planning a cheese shop run with our visitors (always a popular activity - we have several on our doorstep and I noticed yesterday that another rather splendid one has just opened) as I do like to accompany my cake with a sliver of blue cheese (preferably Stilton, though that's not always easy to come by round these parts).

9 December

The Christmas card

The e-card, a modern day version of Henry Cole's 1843 invention, lacks everything that the traditional paper card embodies. The shuffle of envelopes as they fall on the doormat; the quizzical analysis of the handwriting; the tug of the slightly wedged card from it's envelope - and the delight on finding a greeting from someone you haven't seen in a while or whose writing you didn't recognise.

I'm a late comer to the thread, I googled Sapone al Melograno soap and was delighted to see free delivery if ordering from
uk.smnovella.com/collections/melograno

I ordered a 100g bar of soap and was able to choose 4 complimentary 2mil Eau de Parfum samples. Arrived today and the soap smells divine.

Yours is much more imaginative

Not really. I realised I had no plan, no theme, no decorations, no ribbon so fashioned together the slightly moomin trees and then our old dogs and some family members.

There are usually some really beautiful cakes on the Poncetasric thread.

Love the description. I do wonder about Christmases of old. Yes, part of it is the nostalgia of childhood memories, but I think we also used to live much more in the moment. We had less 'treats', so the lights and tree coming out, and family circle biscuit box appearing were such an exciting prospect. Plus, the seasonal things like satsumas being a real novelty that were utterly savoured. All of my memories of childhood Christmases, seem to invoke really specific, sensory elements. The darkness, punctuated by fairy lights (only ever 20 or 40 of them) that weren't too bright, felt magical. The smells that didn't actually involve any rooms sprays or scented candles, or even essenntial oils. Christmas Day had a smell of it's own! Coming into a lounge that was warmed by the fire. It was distinctive, because the rest of the house wasn't centrally heated. Thinking about it now, I think when our senses are heightened, we notice things more, as opposed to trying to artificially recreate them iyswim.

For me, these lovely cakes are one of the nicest reminders of Christmas past. It's something that seems to have stayed the same. There's no effort really in recreating them, it's an organic process and often made all the more wonderfully reassuring by using old cake decoration s that come out every year.

The only other thing that really makes me stop and appreciate the time of year is the faint smell of woodsmoke that hangs in the air. Again, it's not trying to be anything, it's simply a brief reminder of the comfort of warmth caught on the breeze.

You’re so right about those childhood Christmas sensory memories, @RainbowZebraWarrior. We didn't have masses of money growing up, and while we sometimes had a real tree (usually bought and decorated only a week or so before Christmas) my Mum had to make the money stretch. She and her friend paid into a hamper scheme throughout the year and this meant we had the luxury of knowing the special 'extras' would be taken care of. I’ll always remember the excitement when a big cardboard box would be delivered one evening just before Christmas and be unpacked with much ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

From memory it usually included the Christmas pudding, tins of ham and maybe things like salmon (quite pricey items then), boxes of shortbread and dates, a packet of tea, chocolates….I can’t remember what else though it seemed to go on for ages. But it felt like a really festive and special thing, as much a ceremony as unwrapping the Christmas presents. People nowadays would be nonplussed at how frugally we lived in the 70s but this was pretty normal. We weren’t poor - though we’d be considered poor now, I’m sure - but there just wasn’t anything extra to spare.

I’ve still got the old cake decorations. My lovely mum died 3 years ago. I miss her terribly, especially at this time of year, as she loved Christmas and made it so special for us kids.

For me, these lovely cakes are one of the nicest reminders of Christmas past. It's something that seems to have stayed the same. There's no effort really in recreating them, it's an organic process and often made all the more wonderfully reassuring by using old cake decorations that come out every year. This is so true @RainbowZebraWarrior - the smell of the cake baking, the reusing of old decorations, the fact of the whole ritual being passed down from one generation to the next (in fact this has just reminded me of Nigel’s own tear-jerking account). Essence of Christmas!

I’m so carried away by our delightful thread digressions I almost forgot to comment on today’s entry which is one of my favourites. DH is instinctively Nigel when it comes to cards - insisting on writing with his fountain pen and then being thoroughly infuriated when it doesn’t work on his carefully selected environmentally- friendly recycled ones. We both love Nigel’s checklist - which is now religiously consulted and adhered to and haven’t posted any yet (for fear of being a trifle too early!)

@Octothorpe Your 1970's Christmas sounds like my own. We had a huge white artificial tree, every year without fail it would topple over. Goodness knows why DF & DM carried on using it. DM also had a hamper from a "club". I remember there was a choice of hampers and me & my sister used to spend ages looking at the pictures deciding which one we wanted mum to buy.

@LillianGish one of the Nigel Slater books on my kitchen shelf (I seem to have acquired almost all of them somehow 🥴) is stylishly signed in black ink with a great flourish. I can just imagine him wielding his fountain pen, but sadly I didn’t see him doing it - the book just arrived pre-signed.

I now have a Kindle copy of the Christmas Chronicles (thank you so much to the posters who advised it was on offer!) so I can read and (hopefully) try some of the recipes.

I love your mouse story @RainbowZebraWarrior and your gorgeous cat. Sorry to hear about your PIP ordeal. I hope you have managed to rest & recuperate.

The fishmas tree is amazing! I showed it to Mr Cardigans (who is a former North Sea fisherman) and he loved it. And the fabulous cards and bakes! So many clever, creative posters - I take my hat off to you all. 🎩

I look forward to reading all your stories and reminiscences every day. This is such a beautiful thread. 💕

Oh gosh, yes. The hampers! My Mum would diligently pay each week and I used to pore over the catalogue, imagining all the delicious things arriving. Actually, I've just remembered, it was from the Autumn / Winter Kays catalogue and the back few pages were dedicated to Christmas hampers. There was always a Plumrose ham in a funny shaped time that was terrible to open. There were often a few peculiar items that would languish at the back of the pantry the whole of the following year. It also contained a box of Christmas crackers.

We had a silver tinsel tree and it sat on a stone ledge build into each side of the chimney breast. I remember in 1975, my mother's brother and his friends (they would only be about 18) calling by. They were en route to someone's house in the process of revelling. One of them drunkenly stumbled against the silver tree and it snapped in half. I wasn't too sad though, as Mum promised a real tree the following year (which we had, although it was knocked over repeatedly due to our cat Trixie being a climber)

Incidently, and as I'm reminiscing, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was Christmas number one in this year. It was also the year that Lonely This Christmas was released by Mud.

Image attached of similar 70s hamper from Kay's catalogue!

That’s a really extravagant hamper @RainbowZebraWarrior! We never aspired to one as lavish as that 😂 I do suddenly remember the slab of Christmas cake, though, with horrible inedible marzipan and rock-like icing. Nobody ever ate it, especially since we always had our own nice home-made cake with lovely marzipan (we all loved marzipan so Mum made and put on an extra-generous layer).

I think there might have been some alcohol in the hamper too. Ginger wine was definitely a thing at some point….

Very extravagant @Octothorpe Ours definitely only had the one tin of ham. From memory, I think Mum used to stick to a £20 ish budget as she would be able to order in January, and have it paid off by October at a manageable 50p a week. My Nanna used to also get one which I think was mostly sweets and chocolate and was about £8

I've just thrown out some 5 year old ginger wine! It was bought from Holland and Barrett on a whimsical bout of reminiscence, but I'm not really keen.

If I ever get myself into gear, today I am cooking Guinea fowl. I'm contemplating the potato and lemon stuffing. Bizarrely, I have some left over moussaka and am contemplating a bit of that on the side (can you tell I'm in use up mode, to make fridge and freezer space?)

I think we might have all had the same childhood Christmases! I miss the rock-hard Christmas cake icing, modern shop-bought ones (I’m not nearly Nigel Enough to attempt my own) all have that soft icing.

We weren’t well-off either, and while we never had a pre-assembled hamper there were ‘luxury’ food and drink items that my mum only ever bought at Christmas. orange juice (in a glass bottle from the milkman) and a box of Alpen muesli are the ones that stick in my mind!

As for Christmas cards, I love them (the card string is an essential part of Christmas for me, though I lack the green and red plastic pegs we used in my childhood). But I send and receive fewer every year; just a handful really in the last couple of years.

I fear that ginger wine is NVN, although it does make for a warming Whisky Mac in cold, wintry weather 🥶❄️

Wrong Christmas thread...

10 December

Choosing the tree

Today, the tip of a fir tree waving past the shutters, is carried past the house on broad shoulders. It's branches are tied firmly to its trunk with netting and there is the sound of an excited child or two in tow. I feel they are a little premature, but in truth I can't wait to join in. Forget making mincemeat and baking the cake - it's only when the tree is up, shimmering with lights, that it is officially Christmas.

Looking forward to seeing your trees - in much the same way Nigel enjoys seeing Kirstie Allsopp’s retweets. This year as usual I am indulging in both types of tree hunt - the determined hunt for a symmetrical specimen here in Paris followed by a last minute search for the spindliest little runt - the lonesome tree that no one wants when we arrive at my mum’s just before Christmas (the last two years we have had to make do with the last one in the garden centre). DS is disappointed to be missing both hunts this year as he doesn’t fly home until late on December 23 (he has asked me to send a daily photo of our decorations in lieu of an Advent calendar). It does really feel like Christmas when the tree is up. We also cut into the cake today and it is delicious.

11 December

Decorating the tree and a lamb roast

A poignant chapter, today.