The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024

[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 good few pages by way of introduction. This is why I start the thread now; so that we have time to prepare and settle in.

A lot 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.

I shall post each day and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the day's recipes and sentiments. It's particularly lovely to share any memories and personal traditions (as Nigel himself does)

Note: Reading by candle light can be particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nigel's favourites but they are somewhat pricey. Share your festive finds here, even if they are at the cheaper end of the scale and possibly NVN (Not Very Nigel)

Pull up a chair, grab a cosy blanket, and light your candle of choice. It's that most wonderful time of the year!

I'm saving today's chapter for this evening. It's prime hygge fodder for me!

It's cold here today. Maybe not exactly hat weather yet, but pretty close...we'll go for a walk at lunchtime and I'm going to bring a hat because I hate feeling the chill too much.

Hope each of you will have a good day until I see you again later.

Belatedly joining the thread, under maybe the third different name on various iterations over the years. Sending well-wishes to all who are under the weather, and I’m really enjoying all the photos and recipes. I was finally prompted to post by the Christmas cactus chat - mine has burst into flower and is full of buds. It belonged to my dear mum who I lost 4 years ago now, and who loved Christmas - so it’s become a bit of a difficult time for me now, and not celebrated nearly as whole-heartedly as it used to be - but I do enjoy reading along to the thread with my copy of Nigel's book.

By the way - the latest Private Eye just gave 'A Thousand Feasts' quite a drubbing. Oh dear! 😅

Beautiful flowers @ElectiveAffinities and a lovely way to remember your mum. I can imagine ATF being prime fodder for Pseud's Corner but I am loving it.

Candle bargain alert - having half an hour to spare whilst in town yesterday, popped into TKMaxx and to my surprise saw a large display of various scented St Eval candles and oil diffusers. Treated myself to orange blossom maxi scented tea lights £6.99 (normally £19.99) and Bay and Rosemary oil diffuser with oil and frosted glass container £9.99 (normally £33.00]. I’ve occasionally seen a St Eval candle in TKMaxx before, but only the odd one now and again - well worth keeping a lookout for them.

By the way - the latest Private Eye just gave 'A Thousand Feasts' quite a drubbing.

Oh I can just imagine! 😆

Sorry about missing your mum @ElectiveAffinities. 💐 How lovely that your cactus is blooming for her (and you).

I've just seen those Reed diffusers on the Tk Maxx website. Amazing value!

I'm so cold. I'm sitting in the car with my coat and gloves on. Everyones car headlights are on and I can see lights in windows and smell woodsmoke. I'm trying to time it so that when I wander to meet DD she will be just coming out and I won't be standing around in the cold. We do have a rather jaunty southerly breeze which is likely making it feel colder than it is. Sunset at 4.15. I may hibernate like a dormouse this evening.

It's really mild here in the SE, 13° and I'm wearing sandals, so grey and damp though it is quite miserable. Sunset 4.30 but it feels as though its been dark all week.

Mild here in Cheshire too. I've got a nice new winter coat and would really like it to get a bit chillier please so I can give it a whirl. We haven't even really put the heating on yet, just the occasional hour in the evening. The skies are So Grey.

Unfortunately I’m in a whole lot of pain with my back at the moment which has ruined the Christmas spirit for me and I can’t get into the doctors for another 2 weeks. I’ve had this ongoing back and pelvic pain for a few weeks now and it’s driving me insane. I want to be able to get in the kitchen and cook something festive. However Nigel’s book is certainly cheering me up, it takes the edge off the pain for a little bit while I’m reading the chapters.

i can agree with the people saying the air feels crisper! It’s been pretty mild here recently but the past day or two I’ve definitely felt a chill in the air.

Just come across Anja Dunk's Advent book in the library, so I've borrowed it.

I’m looking for some advice, hopefully from someone who knows more about these sort of things than me.
Last year I made the Christmas pudding recipe from the book and it was delicious. I’d like to make it again but as individual sized puddings. does anyone know how long I should cook them for? Should they be steamed in a pan like the large one or cooked in the oven in a bain-marie?

@sueelleker Advent's a beautiful book - I caved & bought it last year. Only tried two recipes so far though & they were both very wet mixtures that didn't quite work out...maybe "user error" though 🤷‍♀️ I will try both biscotti and stollen again but maybe different recipes.

A large Christmas pudding is usually around 800g, so if you want to make individual ones, you should be able to get around six from the same amount of mixture. If you did them in a bain Marie in the oven, they should only take around an hour to an hour and a half. Alternatively, you can do them in a slow cooker which may take slightly longer on a more gentle heat.

@ThatRealFawn so sorry to hear about your back and pelvic pain. If this is back pain that has come on suddenly, and you don't already have a previous diagnosis, then coupled with pelvic pain, you should be seen as a matter of urgency. I have back pain, but it is due to a combination of diagnosed spondylitis / spondylosisthesis and arthritis. When I had pelvic pain, I was seen quickly and scanned to rule out anything nasty. Hope it gets sorted soon and doesn't continue to ruin your enjoyment of life.

I made a return trip to Parfumer H today in the interests of the thread and took DH with me (he needed to collect some trainers he had ordered from a nearby shop - NVN!) The shop itself is VVN indeed - sparse and minimal and looks out onto a leafy courtyard at the back. There was no one else in there and two glamorous Parisian shop assistants so we had nowhere to hide, but they couldn’t have been more delighted when we announced we had come to check out the Nigel Slater collab. I don’t think they really had any idea who he was, but had obviously had some briefing and were absolutely thrilled to bits that we had made a special pilgrimage, drawn in by their window display. They didn’t mind at all that we weren’t buying anything and completely understood that we needed to have a good sniff. I’d like to be able to give the range a rave review - even if the price is more than a little prohibitive - but sadly the candle was rather underwhelming. The predominant smell (unlit) is slightly smokey which I imagine is the Birch tar. Not a patch on Trudon Carmelite and more than twice the price. The range features incense sticks (and a holder) a teeny tiny soap (€30 - more than double the Santa Maria Novella he loves so much) and some very expensive green tea. There is also a limited edition eau de parfum Ink Rewritten by Nigel Slater for €150 (for 50mls) much nicer than the candle and I wondered if DH might like that, to be more Nigel - he said he was already in a perfume shop in the Marais and that was as Nigel as he was prepared to go. We both left with the feeling that when Nige recommends other people’s stuff you know he must genuinely love it because there’s nothing in it for him, this felt more like he was cashing in. Came home and had a cosy read of today’s chapter and flicked back to see all @IngenTing’s lovely Norway photos.

Yes I’m going to call up again at 8am to see if I can get an appointment for tomorrow, it’s been going on for a few weeks but the GP has been messing me around for appointments. I first called about my pelvic pain and they referred me to a pharmacist because they believed it was a UTI, the pharmacist disagreed and referred me back to the GP. I then got an appointment with a practise nurse who also agreed I should be seeing a GP, but I was unable to get an appointment until the 19th of this month. It’s slowly gotten worse and now I’ve been having constant back pain for the past few days. It puts a right downer on the cosiness, it’s impossible to get comfy when you’re in pain!

I loved today's chapter too. I can't believe I didn't know the story behind the tree and I'm so touched that the Norwegians still gift it to us ( I've become accustomed to us mainly being the bad guys in our dealings with other countries).

With talk of such expensive candles, I hesitate to mention the humble ones on offer at Muji, but they’re really rather nice. They do a basic range which come in tins, and have scents like log fire, sea salt and neroli and basil - all nice, especially the hinoki wood one (Japanese cypress - VN). But also now there are candles in glass holders with three seasonal scents: Winter Plum, Burning Embers and Juniper Forest (which I really liked). They’re a bit of a bargain at £12.95.

I was in the Oxford St branch tonight in the interests of research for this thread and took a pic of the Christmas lights. Also passed by the Scandi Kitchen shop, mentioned upthread, which is definitely worth a visit if anyone’s looking for a break from festive shopping and to stock up on Scandi food treats.

We love a reasonably priced good quality candle recommendation on this thread!

🕯️🕯️🕯️

I shall soon be making an order from Scandinavian Kitchen! But very, very small this year. I can't eat a lot of treats anymore as they really don't agree with me. 😭

@bigbadbarry thanks! I might get myself one since it sounds like something I can handle.

Those photos are really pretty @ElectiveAffinities - @LillianGish I enjoyed the VN reportage, merci!

Yes @LillianGish it was fab. Loved your DH's comment on Being Nigel Enough!😄 Not surprised that the candle costing hundreds of pounds was a bit of a letdown tbh!

@ThatRealFawn I hope you get some help and relief for your back.💐

@ThatRealFawn think of us cheering you on when you calmly say that you need an urgent appointment because it is urgent now. Yes it's urgent. Yes I need to be seen today. It's getting worse. It's become urgent. Yes that's right, urgent.