The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 2

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Welcome all new and old friends.

The journey continues.

Haha. I read her into and also thought she seemed rather smug and annoying, so I'm skipping though parts of the book that appeal to me, and ignoring the rest. DD has just read her entry on 'make a wood fire' and said she sounded rather patronising by saying "there is no need to use toxic firelighters if your wood and kindling are dry" Yes, we know that, thanks. I must say though that I'm not sure what some people use on their stoves and fires, but there's one person near me who - if my nose is correct - appears to burn horse manure. They do have horses, so this could baffling-ly be the case. They are moving soon, though, so hopefully, a more responsible home owner will move in.

Speaking of noses and scent, I checked Nigel's Instagram today and was happily corrected that his 'Ink' fragrance was not, in fact, scented fountain pen ink but an actual cologne. Because scented ink would be weird, yes? (Or incredibly indulgent!)

Also, 'seasonal nonsense' is a great term.

I feel the need to use that in a sentence. I think we are now approaching full-on seasonal nonsense time. Falalalalalalalala!

@RainbowZebraWarrior her stained-glass cookies are nice, you could skip to that page. I think they were in her book.
I admit we do use (natural, non-toxic) firelighters, because we no longer buy a regular newspaper and because our wood-burning stove is temperamental to say the least. Firelighters seem to keep it happy. I imagine it would not enjoy horse manure.
I used to like a scented felt tip in the early 1980s! NVN

I absolutely love The Twig and it made me really smile reading it!

I have to admit that I’m with Sheherazade and it’s a matter of personal pride that I light our fires using kindling only. DH is always tempted to go for handfuls of firelighters which is very much nvn. We do have the fancy fluffy wood firelighters but I tend to save them for our little pizza oven.

Chilling out after a treatment. Or I would be had ds2, currently staying over 2 hours away not phoned to say he had forgotten a crucial part of his diabetes kit and was due to be unable to get insulin into himself, with his reservoir running out in an hour. Fortunately, I’ve found a friend from our t1 family network who is not far from him and they have the bit of plastic he needs. Otherwise dh would have been driving down to meet him in the middle to pass kit over. But … argh!! Never a dull moment.

I’ll light a fire, make a herb tea and catch up with Nigel.

DH is the fire-starter in our house and he spurns fire lighters - he lays very neat fires with kindling and rolled-up balls of newspaper, and sometimes we chuck pinecones on if we have any (we're by the sea with pinewoods). A few pieces of coal, and once it’s got going a decent-sized log keeps it ticking over.

I'm enjoying the stories about various Twigs. My mum always used to cut (rather stealthily and often at dusk) branches of holly from our neighbour’s tree next door - it was very large and came over our fence so I don’t think they ever noticed. We knew Christmas had properly arrived when we'd spend an afternoon painting the edges of the leaves with gold or silver paint, ready to arrange in an old Ironstone jug that traditionally sat on our oak dresser at Christmas. Happy times.

Evening all 😊 Lovely few days chatter to catch up on, and beautiful photos. I'm looking forward to picking up the ingredients for the orange and poppy seed cake at the weekend - everyone's efforts look divine!

I had a nice, slightly snowy, walk to work yesterday. It makes even the grotty area we're in look pretty. Unfortunately, more grey & wet this morning though. I was slightly gutted there wasn't more of it - a "snow day" of gentle mooching would have been lovely.

I'm thinking to re-start the actual book rather than the audio book. I'd already listened to today's entry, without realising & was a bit disappointed. Weekend morning quiet time might be the way to go - we'll see.

I'm currently burning an Ikea candle - second of two I picked up over half term - and am quite disappointed in the lack of any kind of scent. I wholeheartedly agree with the poster who recommended the Yorkshire Candle Co though! Their coffee one is lush, and I very much enjoy their seasonal scents too.

What other festive books do you all enjoy? Doesn't have to be food based, I enjoy flicking through them regardless.

Speaking of noses and scent, I checked Nigel's Instagram today and was happily corrected that his 'Ink' fragrance was not, in fact, scented fountain pen ink but an actual cologne I actually have a sample of his new scent @RainbowZebraWarrior, squirted on one of those little strips of card from my reconnaissance mission to the Perfumer H shop. I’m using it as a bookmark in CC.

Can you describe it, paraphrasing Nigel, @LillianGish ?

Pastiche of Nigel in Private Eye today. First paragraph in photo.

I've not read Private Eye for years, but that reads more like something from The Viz.

We're the dry ingredients standing for a week waiting for the fruits that were steeping in the alcohol?

I might change my user name. Sheherazade’sSeasonalNonsense?

@Bimblesalong your treatment day seems to come around alarmingly quickly, bless you. Hope you have a restful night after the shenanigans with DS. Pleased he got sorted in the end.

This is such a lovely thread thank you. A beautiful mixture of simple pleasures, daily life, Nigel and a lot of kindness. But I'm sad as for the first time I made the orange and poppyseed cake, cooked it for the right time and it is nicely browned but I think it isn't cooked inside... ? I had hoped it was because of ground almonds but other ones here look more like cake. Not sure I can successfully cook it now as it has the lovely syrup on 🙁 is it a disaster?

It is warm and woody, a little bit spicy and slightly sweet. Not sure I can detect all the notes mentioned in Nigel’s Insta post, but the mention of Frankincense reminds me I bought some in a Berlin Christmas market last year along with some myrrh so I must go and dig that out.

That would make sense. I don't remember fruits soaking, but I seem to recall that there was a can of Guinness involved. There was seldom alcohol at home, so this was a Big Thing. You have great deductive powers!

I would say that it is calling out to be heated and served with custard or cream if it is a bit moist still. A brief encounter with the microwave might solidify it if needed. It looks beautiful already, and if I were not coeliac, I'd definitely be pleading for a slice.

I think many parts of A Thousnd Feasts are beyond parody (and I mean that in the nicest possible way as I absolutely love it). @bigbadbarry I definitely think you should adopt that new name.

Thanks! All is not lost...

Ah @CrepuscularCritter a can of Guinness would have been a great solution for pudding in a house without bottles of brandy, whiskey or sherry languishing in a cupboard.

I've always use a bottle of Guinness export in my Christmas cakes. I think it's from a Good Housekeeping recipe circa 1960s / 70s.

@ElectiveAffinities i go out at dusk for Holly and Ivy when I make my wreath. I go down the street and surreptitiously help myself. I’m sure I would look less shady if I did it in broad daylight but it seems wrong! I’m glad to be in good company with your mum

Is anyone making a pudding? I must confess it’s the thing I always buy - neither of my kids eat it so it’s scarcely worth the effort. My MIL always used to make one and bring it with her on the plane when she joined us for Christmas in Berlin - in fact I now have her pudding bowl. I enjoyed today’s chapter though I found it slightly contradictory in that he says Its long list of ingredients is generally unsullied by the ‘creative’ cook then then goes on to list any number of variations by Mary Berry, Nigella etc etc.

21 November

Fairies and Flammkuchen

Nine in the morning, church bells ringing, feet scurrying over the frosty cobbles. I'm warm with toasted rybebread and cherry jam, with bircher muesli and sweet apple pastries, and have set out looking for decent coffee. The Christmas markets open at ten. Markets with canopies of twinkling lights and rows of starlit trees, stalls of painted wooden toys, nougat and Flammkuchen and later, much later, mugs of Glühwein to warm hands and souls.

I've not made a pudding in decades @LillianGish as there's only myself and DD these days for Christmas dinner. She doesn't eat pudding or cake, so I get a decent mini pudding for myself.

Happy birthday @IngenTing

Just peeped outside. Looks like a flipping skating rink out there.