The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hi, and welcome to the Nigel Slater appreciation society Christmas Chronicles Premable thread.

The thread will start proper in late October where we begin our annual journey of reading the Christmas Chronicles in real time. It is a cosy, heartwarming event that one can dip in and out of as life allows. Think flickering candles, woodsmoke, delicious recipes, the odd home made tipple, and bucket loads of touching Nigel-esque anecdotes. It is a veritable Hyyge of a thread.

This thread is to see us through until that time. You will find me, like a squirell, checking on my store of candles at the back of the cupboard.

It's also worth noting that Nigel's new book; A Thousand Feasts is out on 26th September. (with a deliciously Autumnal cover)

Glad you are home Bimblesalong, Lovely photo.

That night of the Northern Lights in May was amazing, the DCs and I drove out to a fairly remote north facing viewpoint several miles from home (Hampshire, so we don't get them often) but even when we got home they were visible by eye with streetlights all around. I didn't realise till then that even phone cameras see far more than the naked eye, I saw them here again in Aug but only by photo, not eye. I'm out there whenever I see them mentioned as a possibility on social media now

Oh you've reminded me of my grandma's little soup bowls with handles and I wish I'd asked for them when her house was being cleared out! 😞

Congrats on getting through it and being home to recover now. Hope you feel better quickly and glad you're being looked after. ❤️

Yesterday did not feel autumnal at all, the tomatoes are still going, but it looks like the rain is blowing in today. SW.
I’m going to have a cosy kitchen weekend, 101 things to do with kale and apples

Thunderstorms here in Cornwall this morning going to make myself some lovely warm chia pudding topped with stewed apple for breakfast and settle down to catch up on the thread. @EternallyDelighted thank you for sharing the article just about to read it over breakfast. @Bimblesalong glad you are home and doing well . I'm not great at links so hopefully this will work but tried (yet) another apple cake recipe this one was a super easy loaf cake and tastes lovely using stewed apples - particularly nice enjoyed with some butter! 😋 - applytofaceblog.com/wprm_print/apple-loaf-cake

My copy of CC is due to be delivered today. I hope the weather cools a little this evening so I can be cosied in to start reading it.

Quite a mild morning here in Dorset. Coffee and omelettes before starting the usual routines!

Oh no don't read it yet @Champere! Save it for second half of October when we'll start on the (very lovely) intro. The journal itself starts on Nov.1st.

Okay maybe a little peek, if you must. ☺️

DH is doing more building work this weekend. I have the biggest pile of washing to put away. Later I'll make a spiced shepherd's pie. The meat in gravy is already done - leftovers from a roast, which reminds me I need to take it out of the freezer to thaw!

I found this book recently, secondhand. Looking forward to reading it. I like the little drawings on the dust cover.

I've caved in and am watching Nigel's Twelve days of Christmas on TV (while doing the housework).

Hi all, lovely to see all your photos and @HappyDane what a bargain on your bowls. We have a lot of the Royal Copenhagen Christmas crockery as my DMIL buys me some each year and I can’t wait to get it out again! Today is going to be full on autumn for us (even though the sun is shining). Our best friends are coming for dinner and we have agreed that instead of a traditional roast we’re having game as it’s now in season. I managed to get a venison shoulder in the supermarket this morning which is currently in the slow cooker, I’ll be doing various sides so I’ll keep you posted with photos as I go! DH took DS to a pumpkin farm last weekend and bought back an assortment of mini pumpkins. Any ideas on how to arrange them apart from planking them on a plate like this…

Maybe add some foliage and candles?

They are lovely the way they are though. Hope the venison goes well - really seasonal.

Thank you to @all for lovely pictures and posts. Just lost a huge post inc. how to make a simple hand apple press with a car jack, a wooden frame tray and buckets, for @@LemonTurdCart! Will try again when time permits if details are wanted.
For now: if you have a tin bath or similar sized item then yes dancing on the clothed mash between two boards is an old way of questionable efficiency dependent on your dancers. You need a fair amount of last years cider to keep the energy up! 😀Is sadly incompatible with wheelchairs so I built something very basic that doubles for dye extraction, utilizing my vehicle wheel jack.
Resulting dry mash from any method doesn't look very pretty but goes into frittata's, casseroles, cakes, muffins, and flapjacks well.
Kale, apple, and smoked pepper or kale, butternut squash and apple frittata's go down well here.

@Bimblesalong fab pic, and glad you're home recovering.

@RainbowZebraWarrior Am in awe of you and your bees holidaying and your keeping of them.
Very basic simple hive here, but apart from sugar cakes and insulation in winter, I'm afraid they're expected to keep themselves. Have handed over land rights to the miner bees that have colonized a piece of garden, and made it a no dig zone. The (mainly black) tree bees are provided with wooden boxes to nest in, and I've made the hairy footed bees their own habitat that's working well, and everything gets feeding and egg laying planting, and no pesticides etc, but that's as good as it gets for them here.

Agree with @MontyVerdi that they are beautiful as they stand. Foliage to sit on or place them on a plate, or in a bowl, of copper, red, and yellow leaves...

Another warm day yesterday here with many large white butterflies aflutter, and got buzzed by an emperor dragonfly still about their business.

Couldn't get a picture of the amazing waning gibbous moon last night. It was a glowing yellowing ivory orb, now missing a slice. Tonight the seven sisters or Pleiades star cluster should be visible and hopefully a luminous blue near the moon before it passes slowly through the accompanying cluster of around a thousand stars. Depending where you live and your eyesight you should be able to see at least six if not seven of the stars that are named to represent the daughters of the ocean nymph Pleione. The cluster is considered very young with life spans of 'only' a few hundred million years, which always makes me smile to think those before and after me, have or will, gaze at the same stars as I am tonight, and reconsider how young or old we are.

@MontyVerdi that looks lovely, we’re going for a walk in the forest before dinner so I think some foraging could be in order!

@EphemeraleEudemonia thanks for the info on the seven sisters, I’m just reading the seven sisters book series by Lucinda Reilly which is inspired by the stars so I’m now going to do some star gazing tonight (if it’s visible from here).

Lovely picture @Bimblesalong . Glad the op is over and you are home safe. I had an op related to a mammogram a few years ago and felt like I was in shock for a week afterwards. Be kind to yourself and get plenty of rest.

Morning everyone, I've been reading your lovely Autumnal posts and admiring the seasonal photos. We've had glorious Indian summer weather during the week, but today is overcast. I'm just back from the supermarket and I was admiring the trees on the way there and back. They're not quite there yet but the leaves are starting to turn - some are green, some are yellow and some are orange/brown.

I was tempted by some lovely Autumnal platters and jugs in Carraig Donn (Irish homewares and clothes shop) but I resisted for now.

Work is very busy but I've been making a point of getting out for a walk at lunchtime. It's good to get some fresh air and sunshine and it clears my head of the stresses of the morning. I'm going to keep it up as we head into the winter. When it's dark in the morning and dark in the evening, you need all the daylight you can get.

I worked overtime recently and I was hoping the payment had come through as I'm treating myself to a bookcase. No sign of it yet. I'm looking forward to displaying my CC and Advent books in style and maybe a pumpkin or two. I've some Hallowe'en decorations (Hallowe'en is huge in Ireland) but it's too early to put them out. I've two lovely scarecrows (a man and a lady) and I put them in my porch every year. I'll take a photo when I root them out. I also have an Autumn wreath I made with DD a few years ago - it was something to keep us occupied during Covid.

I need to tackle the back garden today - it's starting to resemble a jungle. Then I'll make dinner and light a candle and watch Strictly don't tell Nigel but I'm quite partial to my Yankee candle. But I'll make another cuppa first and have a read back.

@Bimblesalong so happy to read that you're home from hospital now and I hope you make a good recovery from your surgery. Glad to know you have good friends watching out for you. Is that the same Edmund de Waal who wrote 'The Hare with the Amber Eyes'? Such an amazing story.

I've had a lovely autumnal morning with a swim and sauna at a beautiful lake. The sauna door looked right out onto the lake, and one point we could see 22 ducks all paddling around. I have 2 weeks off work which I will mostly be spending decorating my house, so this was a very relaxing start to the holiday.

@IngenTing thank you for sharing your forest photos and the lovely mushrooms you've foraged. My button mushrooms from Tesco look very bland in comparison. The red mushroom is so pretty - like something out of a fairy tale.

@Midlifeshenanigans of course you need an Autumn wreath.

@EternallyDelighted your wreath is beautiful.

@Taytocrisps it is the same. A real Renaissance chap like Nigel. There is a link with the Ephrussi house in Paris that no doubt @LillianGish knows well. This house is the subject of his fairly recent read “letters to Camondo”, a bittersweet collection as it is a conversation with someone gone before us.

@Taytocrisps I'm Irish too. I so miss Dunnes Stores which is probably not very Nigel, but what can I do?

I love Halloween too 🎃

@Greaterthanthesumoftheparts enjoy your venison meal and a catch up with your friends. Your mini pumpkin arrangement is lovely. You could jazz it up but sometimes a simple look is more effective.

@UnimaginableWindBird what a lovely retreat. Nice to spoil yourself before you get stuck into the decorating.