The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2024 Part 3

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Welcome to thread three.

The Christmas Chronicles is the story of Nigel Slater’s love for winter. Taking you from 1 November all the way to early February, The Christmas Chronicles covers everything from Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year to Epiphany. Throughout the season, Nigel offers over 100 recipes to see you through the build-up, the celebrations and the aftermath.

Anyone who hasn't yet joined in, there's still a big chunk of the book to go as you can see from the description above. It's in diary form with an entry most days and is easy to dip in and out of.

Anyway, welcome friends new and old. Pull a cosy chair closer the the fire, light a candle, pour a glass of something warming and settle in.

I was eyeing up bergamot lemons in the greengrocer at the weekend, thinking that I had no idea what they were or what to do with them! Now I know. I did stick a thumbnail in, gently, to see what they smelt like and decided they were just lemons really 🤷‍♀️ I should have bought one to test

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense is that a local greengrocer where we need to sell the family silver to purchase excellent comestibles? I recall once starting to buy a heritage tomato but when they weighed and priced it I declined!

@GlomOfNit summoning you for a bergamot lemon appearance!

It looks a lovely day outside. I hope everyone has at least a pocketful of happiness today.

Francis Thomas. Thomas Francis? Whatever it is called. I don't find it exceptionally expensive although I admit I only buy very odd bits and bobs there - but I think 'use it or lose it' and they have an incredible array of unusual fruit and veg there for what is in effect a neighbourhood grocer. I can't get pomelos anywhere else and DD3 is obsessed 😂and they have a massive range of named apple varieties. All of which I am allergic to so don't buy, but I really appreciate them for stocking them. Or did you mean somewhere else?
Agree is is another beautiful day - just went and poked my pond and it is frozen solid

Ah thanks - I was referring to the one in Hoole price wise!

I am hankering for some bulbs to transplant into china vessels and may just score those too at FT.

Oh my word - I want to visit this this fabulous greengrocers of which you speak. Actually it sounds a bit like the one downstairs here - pomelos a plenty and more named apple varieties than I can remember and @Bimblesalong I too have had the occasional heritage tomato price shock (and most recently a €5 bunch of grapes which I had sent DD to buy so I couldn't decline). But on the plus side its proximity means I only ever buy what I need so no waste at all and on the vanishingly rare occasion that something is not quite in tip-top condition (I once cut into an avocado to find it was black) the proprietor will happily do a no quibble exchange. I am going to check for Bergamot lemons later!

Ah no. I don’t buy basics in Hoole 😂😂 FT has the added advantage of being right opposite the storyhouse and I almost never go in to town without bobbing in there (I use the library) so it works well for me

@LillianGish when we first moved to Shanghai we had temporary accommodation in a very swish part of town, and the nearest supermarket was, unbeknownst to me, a fancy Japanese aspirational one. I bought a bunch of grapes there in our first week when I was still jet lagged and bewildered and it cost me £12!!! I nearly got straight on a plane back home 😂

edited to say: they weren’t even particularly nice grapes

That’s very interesting @SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense as my greengrocer is actually from Shanghai! Though I should add that her grapes- along with all her other produce - are excellent (much better than any supermarket) which is why I don’t buy my fruit and veg anywhere else. Also most things are more reasonably priced - you just need to be eagle-eyed at all times to avoid any nasty surprises at the till!

Carrying on with the grape theme, my best friend comes with me as my carer once a month for my biologics injections at our city hospital. She picked up a bunch of grapes a few months ago at the fruiterer outside and they were over £8. She nearly fell over as she's usually very thrifty. We scoffed them all on the metro home as they were the most delicious grapes we've ever tasted. Enormous, too. The ones we've seen since haven't really lived up to that bunch.

Bright and chilly here, too. I've been bobbing in and out of places getting more bargain candles and also a bargain cashmere jumper to celebrate my now two stone weight loss. Only 'cost' me £4 as I realised I had a £30 gift card from Christmas. I'm now off for my weekly hair treatment.

No bergamot lemons here, I'm afraid, despite being in a fairly wnaky region myself! 😀 The eye-wateringly expensive fruit and veg stall in Oxford's covered market might have some if they're in season - I'll look next week, perhaps. That does remind me that EVERY DAY this year, I've been intending to process the Seville oranges for marmalade, including the ones that my mum brought me back from their garden in Lisbon - one by one, those ones have gone blue and been thrown away and I must move now to save the rest! My marmalade is one of the few things my dad gets enthusiastic about, apparently, so there's an emotional freight to making a batch. Making marmalade - VN. Leaving the oranges for days and days until they start to go mouldy - NVN.

Bimbles, so sorry to hear about your bad reaction, hope you're able to regroup and enjoy the beautiful things before you resume treatment. Big huges. And unMNy hugs to everyone struggling and caring for unwell loved ones at the moment. It's a harsh month to wade through this stuff.

Jealous of everyone's green grocers and candles and bergamot lemons. I'm
Confined to house Mostly as we have some men in doing works on electrics and some plastering, plus I painted a bathroom yesterday which still needs to dry properly and everything is everywhere, so our only liveable rooms are the kids bedrooms and the lounge, none of which I'm happy to leave the puppy in unattended for too long.
Fortunately we have a Very not Nigel chicken shop down the road which will be supply tonight's dinner.
Grey and drizzly here so don't even much fancy going out and about really. Also a bit broke due to having to get my car fixed and said works.
Blimey this January seems to be lasting 12 years....

@RainbowZebraWarrior ....and now I want some huge and delicious grapes! I rarely buy grapes as they go in about 8 minutes between the kids here and I never get a look in. Might treat myself to some later.

@SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense and @LillianGish I had a similar experience when we first moved to Toronto. Our local supermarket was very bouji and jet lagged me couldn't compute all the taxes-in particular the extortionate dairy tax, so I ended up paying for some
Cheddar that was probably more than it's equivalent weight in gold.

Thanks @GlomOfNit this too will pass.

loving the grape discussions. I had a similar experience with the extra tax when we lived in Montreal, @piscofrisco very puzzling for my jet lagged brain too.

The greengrocer was full of lovely things. I had an experience similar to the parody of Betjeman’s poem “and is there honey still for tea?” … “honey’s off, love” when I asked if they had satsumas. “Satsuma season’s over” as if I should have Known!

you’re spot on about the apples @SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense , I bought some russets, a favourite of dad’s and mine.

That greengrocer looks fabulous @Bimblesalong Barmy about satsuma season being over, though. I forget how short some seasonal fruit and veg is sometimes though. I've got blood oranges hopefully arriving on my Waitrose order on Saturday which I'm really excited about. My most anticipated seasonal offering is Jersey Royals and I get ridiculously excited about them. They still somehow don't taste as good as the ones from my childhood, however. Asparagus is another. I tried to grow it myself, but failed miserably. My Dad must be heartily sick of having to give over parts of his plot for my (mostly failed) experiments! We are now approaching the Hungry Months, so I'm looking at my seeds for the year ahead, and choosing wisely.

My Dad had an appointment with his consultant today, so I took the dog for the afternoon (pic attached from our walk at school pick up) After many scans over recent months, it seems his Interstitial lung disease has not progressed to an advanced state, therefore his prognosis is 3 to 5 years. If it had, it would have been 3 to 4 months. We are all very grateful for that this evening.

I'm glad your dad has had some better news @RainbowZebraWarrior

Loving the apple variety and seasonal fruit talk. I had a delicious apple from the Riverford box today. Occasionally I do wonder at their prices but try not to look as lots of things are still off the menu die yo continued low histamine efforts (which are helping).

Due to

So many stars and planets visible this evening if you have clear skies where you are

Ah great news @RainbowZebraWarrior really great news!
How did you find Montreal @Bimblesalong? I didn't love Toronto really. It was pleasant enough and we were lucky to live by the lake, but a bit meh. I loved the weather though and wider Canada- and really liked Montreal when we went. A great adventure on the whole and I found the Canadians we met to be lovely in general.

17 January

Toasting the trees, roast pork and apple cake

Those sad souls who fail to appreciate the cold months might feel better when they remember that the winter solstice was once the time of much making merry. The festivities lasted from harvest until Candlemass. Drunkenness, debauchery and feasting were the rules of the day. A far better idea than sitting around moaning about the cold and rain.

Really good to hear your news about your Dad's situation @RainbowZebraWarrior, still painful things to deal with, but very much something to have gratitude for.
Ps the cake made me smile, it's lovely.

(Glad you where/are still enjoying your tree. Ours would generally be coming down this weekend, to comply with 'modernity,' but I'm so overloaded time, work and health wise, and it takes entirely as much organization and time, taking it down and packing everything away in acid free tissue, and labeling it all,
as putting it up does, that we may well be going for old rules and taking it down for Candlemas here. Also I have to make new boxes for all the new ornaments brought back from Belgium...)

Been meaning to post this for an hour.. today's chapter reminds me of the lovely @EphemeraleEudemonia and her festivities. I love reading about these traditions so much. Possibly perhaps because I can't imagine partaking. They sound so wonderful and full of colour and life, but would be too much for me.

Paperwork day today. Last prep for the hearing on 30th (has to be submitted Monday) and notes for DDs ADHD assessment on 29th. Tax return still to do I'll likely end up leaving that till next weekend I also have to prepare an email for school as, I'm planning to pull DD out. If we don't win our appeal to move, l intend to home school until September. I'm at the end of my rope with them and DD and I are utterly burned out from it all. I've spent years banging my head against a brick wall here and I'm done.

My mother's brother is coming down today with his family, but I won't be partaking. Mum texted me at 10pm to say she was worried Dad was fibbing about his prognosis. I replied with respect, take it at face value just once for the love of bloody god. I genuinely wish I had the energy and head space permitted for such nonsense (harsh perhaps, but oh so very true here) Apparently she's now had a strong word with herself.

I sound a real delight today, don't I? 😆 What I've said is with humour, however self-preservation is the order of the day. Saying NO MORE facilitates that and is extraordinarily liberating.

Hope everyone has a good day 😊

I've also decided to keep my tree up till Candlemass. I'm loving switching it on early morning still for a quiet cuppa and a read as it is still dark. It also feels just a little bit deliciously rebellious!!

In fact you are in company with the late Queen @RainbowZebraWarrior, who used to keep up her decorations until the anniversary of her father's death on February 6 (not sure whether King Charles has kept up this tradition). My tree is long gone, but I still have a few lights twinkling and I am very glad of them during these dark days. Happy to hear the good news about your dad and hope you can resolve DD's schooling issues (you've shared some spectacular pictures from pick-up over the course of these threads so that is at least one positive!)

DS is still with us until Sunday when he goes back to university in the UK. He was up at the crack of dawn this morning to queue for a seat in the spectacular newly-refurbished BNF library near Palais Royale, where anyone can go and study on a first-come-first-served basis. He just sent me this photo.