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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread

992 replies

RainbowZebraWarrior · 26/08/2024 10:22

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)

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
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Confusedmeanderings · 29/09/2024 00:19

What lovely photographs in this thread! I love seeing them.
@Taytocrisps what lovely cats! My cat Muldoon is currently curled up on my lap. He won't demean himself by doing this in the summer, but at the first sign of a chill in the air, he's back again!
@Gettingannoyednow I'm no expert but I think you might have dodged a bullet with the fungi.
@Bubblesbythesea I'm so glad your husband is getting his energy back a bit and @Bimblesalong a 10 minute walk is a great achievement! Getting out and about a bit is such a morale booster!

It was a lovely day in my part of the south west today. Blue sky with white fluffy clouds and sunshine. I was working today. I'm an antiques dealer and I work 4 days a month in an antiques shop as part of my rent for a bit of retail space. There are all sorts of lovely things in the shop, but when I unlocked it and went in this morning I was confronted by the object pictured below. It made me jump out of my skin!

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
MontyVerdi · 29/09/2024 00:23

Ha! He's terrifying! Deffo NVN!

Have attacked hedges in the front garden. Looking much better. Round two after bin emptied on Thursday.

Confusedmeanderings · 29/09/2024 00:28

There are 3 or 4 traders in the shop who are absolutely lovely, but I've nicknamed them The Wide Boys in my head because they are involved in so much wheeling and dealing! Not just with antiques but all sorts of stuff. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I found out the scary man belonged to one of them. Heaven knows where he found it, but it's already sold and will be going on Monday! He moves and talks as well. He is operated by a motion sensor, so kept going off and making me jump every time I went past him. It made me laugh though!

HannahDefoesTrenchcoat · 29/09/2024 08:41

Beautiful sunrise this morning

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
RainbowZebraWarrior · 29/09/2024 09:00

Wow that is beautiful @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat I missed sunrise this morning as I've had a little lie in.

@Bimblesalong your knitting is simply divine. I love colour (which is probably why I have 30 pairs of cashmere gloves in all shades) DD wears 99% black and always points out that I constantly look like a rainbow! Rainbow by name and nature lol.

I'm taking DD and her pal into the city centre later this morning. That will be around 3 hours in the Geek stores and HMV. Wish me luck!

This is just one of my Glove Drawers 🙈

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
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SunshineonLeaves · 29/09/2024 09:11

I’ve been away on holiday so just catching up with this thread - it was 28 degrees where we were so coming home to find Autumn has properly started was a bit of a shock! We’ve had the terrible rain here and my roof is leaking which is a worry but I’m trying to distract myself so yesterday I got all my Autumn things out - candles and fairy lights and cushions etc, it definitely made everything feel more cosy.

@RainbowZebraWarrior i love that your daughter collected all those conkers for you. My dad taught me to play when I was very young, he died last year and as I went up to his coffin to say goodbye I found I had a cocker in my pocket so I left it with him. They’ll always have a special feeling for me now - if they do keep the spiders out that will be a bonus!

I’m back to work tomorrow and determined not to be grumpy about it - I used to hate the winter and the thought of it coming always depressed me but as I’ve got older I realised every day and season is precious and I actually enjoy and find comfort in the familiarity and predictability in what can be a very unpredictable world.

I’m going to order Nigel’s book as a welcome home treat and have decided to buy my Mum the St Eval Oak candle for her birthday, she’ll be 80 and apparently oak represents that so it’s a good excuse!

Would we be able to share our daily happy moments here or do we think the thread would get too long and unmanageable? 🤔

RainbowZebraWarrior · 29/09/2024 09:20

@SunshineonLeaves leaving your Dad with that conker seems so very poignant and comforting. I can imagine doing similar for mine.

My Mother is also 80, soon. I've already bought her some cashmere stuff, but I didn't know about the oak link, so I'll have to look into that.

With regards to the joyful moments, I say share away. I have a feeling we will need a new Autumnal thread anyway before I create the CC thread (in 24 days time)

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UnimaginableWindBird · 29/09/2024 10:29

I'm already hoping that we'll move from Autumn to Christmas through Spring into Summer sharing photos and knitting and scents and recipes and all sorts of seasonal delights through the whole year. This thread is such a joy.

HannahDefoesTrenchcoat · 29/09/2024 10:39

Here's my closer to Nigel than it was on Friday herb and spice drawer.

Yesterday I did an audit of empty or nearly empty jars and toddled off to get refills, which was actually all rather Nigel in a bit of time to myself way.

Rest assured the rest of my house is nowhere near this organised, although I would like it to be.

The Nigelesque bits are:

  1. it runs A-Z, from Allspice to Za'atar

  2. the pleasure it's given me, so much so that I opened it just to look at it

To be more Nigel I could invest in matching jars or hand write matching labels but I'm content with the slightly hotch potch collection of refilled jars from over the years for now. I think he'd get that too.

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
Bearsinmotion · 29/09/2024 10:45

I want a dedicated herb and spice drawer!

Yesterday I made crumble with the 4 apples from our tree and a sauce for chicken from our garden tomatoes.

This week I am away for work so my mum is staying to look after the children. I have a cosy chair in the bedroom where she like to sit and read, I have left Nigel prominently by the chair to see if I can recruit her to the cause 😁

MontyVerdi · 29/09/2024 11:21

Love the spice drawer. I've a shelf with raised steps, higher at the back.

We were going to renovate our kitchen, had a corner pantry in the design but alas, the kitchen estimate proved too high so I'm continuing as is with my usual kitchen! I did have a peek at Nigel's basement kitchen - very calming. He has another upstairs for filming near the garden.

Work is a bit very stressful at the moment (lots of change and a difficulty with a colleague above me) so this thread is keeping me sane. Usually I like going to work but I'm just coming off annual leave and dreading returning.

I loved the kaleidoscope of glove colours. I keep to two pairs because I'm prone to losing one and I can manage two pairs. Really need to sew elastic on each glove and thread through my coat!

TheOnlyMrsW · 29/09/2024 12:05

Love the spice drawer @HannahDefoesTrenchcoat and your sunrise! @Bimblesalong your knit is gorgeous and also very jealous of @RainbowZebraWarrior drawer - such lovely colours 😍.
Did well with conkers and squash yesterday, dad's coming over for dinner today which means roast and going to batch cook for the week whilst it's in the oven. Will beva pottery day today, planning on putting summer clothes away and starting to muck out DD 's room - wish me luck 🤣.

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
EternallyDelighted · 29/09/2024 13:03

I have a spice drawer too, it used to be chaotic but I acquired some small jars recently and sorted it all out, haven't got round to alphabetic order yet though

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
Autumnorganising · 29/09/2024 13:13

Ok! I’m getting spice drawer and glove drawer envy. You are all very organised. Keep the lovely photos coming.

HannahDefoesTrenchcoat · 29/09/2024 13:30

Autumnorganising · 29/09/2024 13:13

Ok! I’m getting spice drawer and glove drawer envy. You are all very organised. Keep the lovely photos coming.

I'm not very organised! That's why the tidy drawer makes me happy otherwise it would just be normal for me and I'd have other drawers with beautifully arranged gloves 😍

HannahDefoesTrenchcoat · 29/09/2024 13:31

When in fact I would struggle to locate one pair in real life

Autumnorganising · 29/09/2024 13:39

HannahDefoesTrenchcoat · 29/09/2024 13:31

When in fact I would struggle to locate one pair in real life

😀. As per my (latest) username, I’m trying to get organised, buts it’s very much work in progress. I think that’s why I love Nigel’s house. It has no clutter.

Bimblesalong · 29/09/2024 13:48

@Bubblesbythesea glad to hear re your husbands recovery. Steadily does it.

these drawers are wonderful - RZW I love the rainbow glove drawer. I’ve just ordered a red drapey jumper to snuggle in over the winter - I love black clothes with a bright scarf but have had some lovely bright dresses too in recent years.

these small moments of VN joy are most sustaining!

imp2007 · 29/09/2024 14:07

Very wet and cold morning watching DS play football just about to settle down and catch up on the thread. My contribution today - some hydrangeas picked from the garden. I'm not much of a gardener but planted the shrub when we moved in and the flowers have just turned the most beautiful faded old pink colour. Popped them in the vase we used for flowers on the table in our wedding day. Think it's the first time I've cut flowers from the garden for the house!

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
Taytocrisps · 29/09/2024 14:39

I bought a posh spice carousel a while back. It looks very swish but the herbs and spices aren't ones that I use very often. One of these days I'll have to sort them out - chuck the herbs/spices I don't use and replace them with the ones I do. I suspect my plastic white labels from work won't look as neat as the tiny transparent labels on the pots. Maybe if I put the labels at the back of the pot?

I picked up some containers from the garden centre and planted some of them with spring bulbs. I also re-purposed an old container. Just about got the third one done when the rain started. I've a mix of mini daffodils, mixed tulips and fancy pink tulips. I've some lovely crocus bulbs also, so I might put them in window boxes on my front window ledges. Nice to think the bulbs are resting under the compost and will make an appearance when the time is right. I think the rain is easing off now, so I might plant the big container outside my back door.

Looking forward to a tasty dinner and my apple and toffee cake. After I spent ages flicking through the Mary Berry book in search of the recipe, I remembered it's a BBC Good Food recipe. Enjoying a day pottering about the house and garden. Wish I had more days like this.

EphemeraleEudemonia · 29/09/2024 15:26

This thread is moving so fast!
@Gettingannoyednow Bottom line is if you don't know for sure, avoid.

I grew up with some idea of what was 'free food' and some idea around what was a bad idea and what had 'interesting' uses, but I'm no expert, just know some things.

The saying here is that "everything can be eaten, but some things only once."
Also " eat nothing grown on conifer or yew, even though some will, can, and do."

The smaller pics could be many things, and I wouldn't hazard a guess without seeing the gills on the underside and stalk.
The big pic is almost certainly one of the many types of ink caps, some are edible, some not, but to identify safely you need to be able to see not only the underside but also the join between stem and head, and any 'skirt' on the top of the stem. Smell can tell you a lot, as does where is it growing and what's growing around it. It's a balance of 'evidence' generally.

If you pluck one and it dissolves into mush overnight then it's an inkcap and generally* best used for drawing. (boil it up with cloves or back in the day; urine, for permanence.) All inkcaps deliquesce at around 48 hours, so if it's still with you after that, it's not in that group.
Many but not all inkcaps contain a substance incompatible with alcohol (including up to 48 hours either side) which used to be used as method of controlling alcoholism by 'wise women' in the know, those are also known as Tipplers Bane. They're theoretically fine to eat if no alcohol in the system, but will cause vomiting and the world's worst headache for hours if there is, but actually do no permanent harm. But, some inkcaps are considered to have chemicals now considered potentially carcinogenic, whilst others are really nutritious, but another general rule is none should be eaten raw.

*Shaggy inkcaps are the only inkcaps I'd suggest are relatively easy to safely identify and eat. They are pale finger length cylindrical 'lollipops' with shaggy 'scales' and smell sweet and earthy when young. Best when the gills are pink and they haven't started to develop a dark ring at the base or 'bell out', but still edible when black.
They're very easy to spot and the only inedible thing they're similar to in the UK, are Magpie inkcaps. The Shaggy has a white head with white scales, the Magpie a black head with white scales.

Young Shaggy's can be gently sauteed in olive oil or butter and draped with small amounts off very thinly sliced mild cheese and go really well with young asparagus, or make a umami sauce if a little older, but their flavor is delicate, earthy and very easily swamped.

As with all wild grown food crop conservatively, unless there's literally loads.

Worth remembering mushrooms and fungi are the visible flowers of a much bigger organism underneath or inside, many of which have incredibly useful but also often poisonous chemicals going on.

Some people are allergic to commonly edible wild mushrooms and fungus, so always advisable to try a very small amount if you've not eaten something before. Any odd pins and needles or stinging in mouth or lips, stop.

Gettingannoyednow · 29/09/2024 15:58

Wow @EphemeraleEudemonia , thank you! I will stick to harvesting my mushrooms from the supermarket for now. I'd love to know more but will definitely need to put in the hours.

Today is a day of joyful bounty here. We'd decided to do slow-roast lamb, but when doing the supermarket order the leg of lamb suggested in the recipe was going to cost thirty quid a kilo (now thinking that must have been a typo as it's more like 13 a kilo even at Waitrose). Anyway, to keep costs down we decided to do lamb shanks instead. Fast forward to this morning, and they didn't have any lamb shanks, so they sent FOUR LEGS of lamb as a substitute, but charged for the shanks. So the next few Sundays are going to be pretty tasty. I don't know who does the picking, but we are very grateful.

DH demanded I make space in the freezer, so I dug out the apples our next door neighbour grew, and the rhubarb my colleague's MIL grew, and made a crumble. (A bit Nigel. Used oats and demerara sugar) And custard 😋

Gettingannoyednow · 29/09/2024 15:58

The crumble.

The Autumnal Christmas Chronicles Preamble thread
HappyDane · 29/09/2024 16:01

Oh my goodness @Gettingannoyednow, that's a fantastic bounty!!