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.

@RainbowZebraWarrior I think with families sometimes you have to choose to disengage from drama to save your own peace-but most importantly you have to tell yourself-and believe-that's it's ok to do this. Because it is, but women in particular
I think, struggle to do it.
I admire those keeping their tree up. DH would pitch a fit if I did this-and as we always have a real one it would be skeletal by now. I do trim up for Easter however, similarly to how I do for Christmas but different colours and lots of eggs etc obvs. I also pop some bits up for Valentine's Day which I like as a celebration. I know it's
Been commercialised to high heaven, but it breaks up the long dark months and if you take as a general celebration of all kinds of love (family, friends, etc etc), not just competitive gift buying between couples, as they sort of do in America then it's quite nice. Plus to date I've got the kids involved in the craft for it-though I think this year my last youngest might refuse on the grounds that he is 11 and much too cool for this stuff.

Stuck in today on day 2 of the works being done. Dh is at least home this afternoon so might be able to get out for an hour or two. Or I might join Nigel in some 17th January drunken debauchery! It is Friday (and my last non working Friday!) after all....

A happy day to all....

And lots of supportive vibes for you and DD's assessment. What a relief it will
Be, either way, when it's done.

What a superb library @LillianGish I would feel cleverer by about 70% I think if I had chance to study in there! (As it is I in e got stuck between two mobile shelves in the basement of the Brotherton library at Leeds uni-it did NOT look like that!)

All the best with the paperwork @EphemeraleEudemonia I appreciate how hard it is. Pulling her out is a good option. Hopefully the head who indicated he would provide a place in September will come through with that. Pleased to hear re your dad too. We are the sandwich generation and the filling is thin.

@LillianGish I love that library. Have you been to the amazing museum upstairs? Some of the manuscripts on show brought me to tears - such as the original handwritten manuscripts for some of my favourite music. I found a copy of my favourite Camus essay, sat and read it, which felt very special. I studied existentialist French writers as part of my French degree and Camus is such a lyrical writer (at times).

Great news here - my injured kitchenaid artisan is back from the menders! It has been out of commission since September and was sent off to be refurbe before Christmas. It’s 25 years old, which made it repairable apparently as the parts are mechanical. If it had been newer then it may not have been repairable as the parts are more electronic and plastic. Looking forward to doing more baking and also to using the various attachments. I’ll need the beater to puree veg for when I need softer food in the coming weeks. Dh understood when he came into the kitchen and I was standing hugging it!

Camus is responsible for one of my favourite quotes which helps in hard times. From L’étranger (the stranger) and to all of us pushing against things right now:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.

And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.“

That is such a fantastic and inspiring quote @Bimblesalong ❤️

Fantastic quote @Bimblesalong and I'm pleased for return if your Kitchenaid. Not much survived our big house fire but our kitchenaid did and I was delighted!

Keeping a close eye on the weather for next week in manner of my youth (I grew up on a working farm) by way of preparation for starting work as a therapeutic farmer. Hoping my Waterproof trews and fleece leggings arrive in time!

Great news about the kitchen aid @Bimblesalong (loving the mental image of your DH finding you hugging it)

Oh wow, @LillianGish what a fantastic space to study! It feels like it would be the most amazing and inspiring place (and hopefully peaceful, too!)

I'm very excited on your behalf for your new job @piscofrisco

I've just had a total brainwave. We thoroughly enjoyed Copenhagen, but DD doesn't want to go back again this winter as "been there, done that" so I've been looking at Cologne, Iceland etc. I suddenly thought 'Rome!' It's one of my favourite places in the world, but is hideous heat wise in ssummer. DD has never been but is very keen, so a December break in Rome it is.

Little moment of joy today; I found a Louis Armstrong CD in the charity shop for 50p so grabbed it for DD. She was delighted and we played it in the car on the way home from school (she's just getting into Jaz)

Hope everyone is OK this evening. We had Chinese food delivered which was delicious, but I'm now feeling in a somewhat post food slumber. Is it time for bed, yet?

2nd little moment of joy; DD bought me a Darth Vader lego helmet for Christmas. She's now assembled it for me and he is on my desk next to some of my favourite Nigel books. <wonders if Nigel is a Star Wars fan>

I have Seville oranges for a marmalade day over weekend

It was so peaceful in the library @RainbowZebraWarrior that DS described it as like being in a concert hall - when one person coughed another ten coughed, as if to get all noises out of the way in one fell swoop! Rome sounds like a lovely idea.

We took our boys to Rome in May. They loved it! So much to see and do and food they would actually eat and enjoy-fussy eaters as they are. We also got the very fast train to Naples and stayed there for a night (and went to Pompeii) which is also well worth doing if you have the time. The train only takes an hour and ten minutes or so and Naples has a great food scene and is so colourful (though much less polished than Rome of course). In sure DD will love the trip!
I'm just looking at taking dd1 on the glacier express-but in summer. She is obsessed and always has been, with The Sound Of Music so she wants beautiful alpine vistas and fresh air, so it seems just the ticket.

Good luck with your marmalade @frozendaisy mine did not turn out too well

18 January

Crumbs

At first glance, a visitor might think my long, thin, green-upon-green garden wouldn't be especially friendly to wildlife, but listen and you will know better. The birdsong in this little urban space is relentless and delightfully so.

Good morning everyone 😊

I'm just having a quiet cuppa with Nigel before starting the day properly.

Lots of catching up to do, I see! I hope you're all well & new jobs are going alright.

I took a pretty picture of the moon, on my way to work on Tuesday morning, and promptly forgot to share it! So I'm sharing now 🌙

Oh no

It's our first time so I think just the smell of Spain will have to do!

I went to Rome, Capri and Pompeii years ago- it was October and the weather still really warm. Italy was a lovely place but I found Pompeii overwhelmingly sad. Absolutely fascinating from an archaeological perspective (I was with 2 archaeologists and did it as my subsidiary subject at uni), but also an atmosphere that very much reminded me that it was where many people died. I'd go back to Pompeii again, but I'd be better prepared for the way it would make me feel.

Last night we left the house in the hands of a group of teens for DS1's birthday do (he's 18 on Tues!) and headed out for a meal. Theres an old industrial stables that have been turned into a food and drink place with different restaurants and bars. We went to a pan-Asian place and had very yummy food before a few drinks. I nearly made us late for the bus home as the air was so clear I was busy trying to work out the constellations and planets. I've got an app (skyview free) that you can use to line your phone up with the object in the sky and it will tell you what it is. So I was standing in the street waving my phone about shouting star names while DH was trying to get me to hurry up

House still in one piece post party, but the hound is a very tired boy after all the excitement of lots of people in the house and a late night. So much so, he's not budged from the sofa even though I'm in the room eating my lunch. The is a sign of a very tired lurcher indeed!

We also have visited Rome, Capri, Sorrento, Florence in various Octobers. I found Pompeii intensely moving and had a big cry at one point.

DS1 is in Milan with his girlfriend this weekend and has just FaceTimed me from a thermal spa in Milan. Lucky so and so. Think it’s cold though.

Seville/ Andalusia is a place of choice over the winter months. Can’t wait to travel again. Will need to be back at work just to pay the travel insurance 😬

Just a heads up that next year is a Jubilee year for the Catholic Church in Italy, so the centres of religion will be busier.

It was the smaller more human bits of Pompeii that got to me-the little snack bars, the mosaic of the Dog in the Villa (where the owners were clearly dog lovers), the election graffiti. People just like us going about their daily lives with no idea of what was about to unfold.

Hard to tire a lurcher @BobBobBobbing so that's quite the feat!

I have been suckered into purchasing a highly expensive coat for the Sausage this afternoon-made the mistake of going into a 'dog lifestyle store' after having two glasses of wine with Dh. I beg of you. I've rarely spent that much on a coat for myself even!

@piscofrisco theres a £200 coat for the hound that I would totally buy if I ever won the lottery. It's better than anything I own Said hound has only moved from the sofa for his evening walk and dinner and spent the rest of the time snoring. Maybe I should invite DS1s friends round more often...

Spent the afternoon grappling with my tax return. Always stressful as I'm terrified of putting the wrong info in. After hours checking what to put and gathering the evidence, it spat out a number that seems lower than I expected but I've checked 50 million times so have hit submit and made the payment. Emerged from the stress to find DH has prepared pork belly with a fennel seed rub which will be stuffed in bread buns with gravy. One of my fave dinners and a lovely reward for a week that has included a tax return and an audit at work.

Come on @piscofrisco - we need to see Sausage in his new coat!

@BobBobBobbing pork belly with a fennel rub sounds fab!

@RainbowZebraWarrior sounds like you are having such a hard time at the moment. But you do have to step back sometimes and give e yourself a break. Rome sounds like a great idea. I love Rome! I also love the Amalfi coast. Pompeii is amazing, but I prefer Herculaneum. It's quieter and easy to get away from crowds. I have a lovely photograph of me and my DH and my late father sitting in the changing rooms of the baths in Herculaneum eating a picnic lunch, sitting on the stone benches with the cubby holes for clothes above our heads. The room is intact with plastered walls, mosaic floor and a ceiling. It is exactly as it would have been.

@LillianGish what a marvellous library to study in. I have never been there - I must add it to my list of places to go!

Morning all… you’ve all been so busy!! I am in bed, gritting my teeth for the day. Some days are just like that aren’t they.

To London yesterday with DD and her friend for the Percy Jackson musical. They absolutely loved it. DH and I dropped them off then nipped to Bond Street for a wander. We looked and vintage fine watches and had a nice browse. Ran out of time for a drink at the Ritz! Did take the girls to the London Graphics Center at Seven Dials though. Heaven. VN I thought to myself.

well, Nigel adjacent

Morning, all. No further CC chapter until the final one two weeks today.

Bitterly cold here. Yesterday was a beautiful, bright day without a cloud in the sky. I had a smashing morning with a cuppa and a catch up with the lovely @GettingFestiveNow at a super little café we discovered at the coast (who also sell the biggest cheese scones and flapjacks I've ever seen!)

Off into the city soon with DD. The cold is playing havoc with my joints so I'm timing the meds with military precision!

Here's one of my absolute favourite soup recipes which I'm going to make this afternoon.

Don't forget Nigel and Adams farm kitchen part 3 on BBC2 at 11am!

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/easy-meat-free-recipes/tuscan-bean-and-pasta-soup

Meant to add images. 1. Tuscan bean and pasta soup and 2. Virtually cloudless sky yesterday.

A little glimpse of @@RainbowZebraWarrior candles lit today - I took them in the bathroom with me!

Freezing here - we had a birthday party for my friend Helen. So, so many people came & it was perfect.

@LillianGish the sausage wouldn't stay still long enough to be pictured in his coat. I will try again later. He's going through a charming never sits down phase just now.

First day on the farm today. I consulted the weather on Country File (felt more legitimate-and Nigel-adjacent-for farming than the normal weather ) and I've treated myself to some new neoprene wellies and some waterproof over trousers so I'm all set!

I like the look of your soup @RainbowZebraWarrior. I put some pork in the slow cooker with some
Cider yesterday with the intention of having it for dinner. It was in for 6 hours and still not cooked so we plumped for a fish finger sandwich instead in the end!