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.

Definitely getting more of them.

I'm sitting I'm the car a couple of streets away from DDs school and it's terrifying. I've parked as safely as I can, but it's exposed here and there are trees everywhere. I'll walk up to meet DD in a few minutes

NE England should have been included in the red zone, then at least the school would have closed. I'm so bloody angry and sick of being ignored in this region!

There's an elderly lady about 50 metres away on exposed ground taking her dog for a walk. She was clinging to a tree for a few minutes, and I'm afraid I'm in no position to help her. Shes gingerly making her way home now thankfully, but she looks really shocked. What the hell are people thinking? The forecast was right, and the gusts here are strongest right now. Over 70mph. Utterly crazy.

Hope your fence holds up. I lost all my fences during Arwen, and they were only replaced in 2023. Thankfully so far so good!

Hope everyone else is OK.

Be careful @RainbowZebraWarrior! It sounds very dicey!

Thanks Pisco. We are all home safe and sound now. Hope your day has gone well. Is that your first week done now in your new job?

How's everyone else doing this evening?

Lordy @RainbowZebraWarrior that sounds horrendous. Glad you’re back safe. Our winds have dropped over here in Cheshire.

I’m tucked up in my heated blanket and ds2 is making a mild red lentil curry with brown rice for us. What a star he is. We have Monty Don on the telly box. 😀

Love Monty! Mild lentil curry sounds lovely.

IIRC you love your Dahlia's. Here's a clip from Violet Croll's garden which was featured on GW a few years ago. She's Jamaican by heritage and her use of colour in her garden is spectacular. She also has some amazing tips. I believe her garden is still part of the National Garden Scheme for anyone in the Kent area.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cw2ktq

Yep first week done and what a joy it has been. I am tired ( and also snuggled in with Monty and then Winterwatch) but very happy. Lentil curry sounds just the ticket @Bimblesalong.
Hopefully the winds have dropped and we all get a lovely sleep this evening and A happy weekend to all.

Good morning, all.

Just sitting with a cuppa, a candle and the radio on whilst the Christmas tree twinkles away - one week left - oh and the pickle is now on the tree!

I'm down to my last pack of M&S Spiced Shortbread and I'm annoyed I didn't stock up as they are now gone until next Christmas. So today's task is to replicate them. Shouldn't be too difficult; a basic Shortbread recipe with mixed spice, nutmeg and cinnamon and some flaked almonds. Nice and thin. I don't really like the Chunky stuff as its a bit sickly.

What's everyone's plans this weekend?

Spending the morning in a delicious fug of baking in the kitchen. My friend and her sister are coming round for tea before her next round of chemo on Monday and I have decided to go all out with the Spode tea set (courtesy of MIL RIP) and the silver cake stand which is a relic of the restaurant in the department store my grandfather used to manage. So British, as my Parisian friends would say! Rather relishing an excuse to stand on ceremony - if NVN!

How lovely @LillianGish I very rarely
Break out my tea set but it feels very special when I do. What a thoughtful way to look after your friend.

I'm sure you will be equal to the shortbread @RainbowZebraWarrior!

We have been for a bike ride in the very chilly but bright and very welcome sun. And a breakfast at our local greasy spoon. Rare to get all four children together at once doing the same thing so that was a win.
I'm about to scrape some moss off our flat
Roof to wrap around some hyacinth bulbs and make a little spring display. I bought a nice dish in the charity shop for it when out on our bike ride and managed to get it home unscathed dangling from my handle bars, then promptly smashed it on the front door when I got home which was galling! So I will root out something else for it.
I promised DSS2 some of his favourite brownie/cookie things that I make but he is being super rude today so I may not bother as they are a faff.

A lovely Saturday to all

Loving that pickle on the tree!

@LillianGish that sounds a real treat. I’ve hit the immunocompromised section of my treatment so my socialising is out of the house 6 feet apart and upwind! Had a lovely stroll in the sunshine today and now back for a nap under my snuggly heated blanket.

DH has bought me some beautiful flowers to look at, currently in a gentle sunbeam. Bulbs sent by friends for indoor arrangements are blooming and smell lovely. I have also scraped moss @piscofrisco

Sending forbearance @piscofrisco Sounds as if those brownies would do you good! I sense more bagel baking next week here once my energy kicks up. They’ve all gone down super well with my boys (ds1 had his in his hand luggage for a plane snack and it caused his luggage to be hand searched!).

Hi there! Lovely to see everyone's photographs and read about what's happening. @piscofrisco your new job sounds incredible! Similar to @Bimblesalong I have spent many years teaching and supporting children who need a little extra. Luckily we have huge playgrounds here that often run into the forest, so no shortage of outdoor space for us. I am very envious of your work.
@RainbowZebraWarrior sorry to hear of the problems with school closures and everything that goes along with that. Reading about you thinking of home schooling though sounds like it could work perfectly. Sometimes I think schools give students the education that is deemed appropriate to all, but you have the chance to give your DD the education that she needs and you can really tailor it to her interests. No more fitting to the 9am -3pm box.
@Bimblesalong I hope your latest treatment is being kind to you.
It's been a busy few weeks here with seemingly something for either DS or DD. Last week DS had an orthopedic appointment at our "local" hospital, which was a full day out with around 7 and a half hours on a train. Our local hospital is the equivalent of the distance between South Cheshire and Taunton. It was a long day, but nice to have some time with DS. We even found a shopping mall and ate in a Peppes Pizza! I took some photographs from the train as it was a stunning journey and saw some incredible icicles at one station in the mountains.
Wind storms here too, gutted today because the lifts were closed becauseof the high winds, so no snowboarding. Double gutted because we've had so much new snow, it's my favourite type of snow to snowboard in too. Big drifts of deep fresh powder snow all going to waste!
This is a photograph from my lounge window this evening, the smaller wall is over 4 ft high, so much snow!
Happy Saturday evening!

Lovely photographs @IngenTing .

@Bimblesalong I hope you get through the immunocompromised it unscathed. I did, but have to admit that I was a bit slapdash about avoiding contact!

I am going to a craft session at our local pub tomorrow. I am looking forward to it! It all started because I put a post on our village Facebook page asking if there was anyone who would be willing to teach me to crochet. A couple of other people wanted to learn too and someone else volunteered to do the teaching. Then another poster said that they would really like an informal craft group where people could just bring along whatever they are currently working on and things snowballed from there. Tomorrow is our first session.

Well that sounds very lovely @Confusedmeanderings...I hope you enjoy it.
Great pics @IngenTing, as always I'm very jealous of your snow.

How long does the Imunocompromised bit last @Bimblesalong? Sending you lots of love and patience. I see we have another named storm en route so at least it's good weather for hibernation.

I'm off to London today to see my two oldest friends. We haven't been all together for four years as one lives in Australia and the other has had some pretty severe MH issues, (anxiety and severe depression) so for various reasons it hasn't happened. I'm excited about seeing them but also (sadly) a bit nervous. Anyway we shall see how it goes. Will have to get up shortly and get going as the trains are of course up the swanee due to planned engineering works (for about the next ten years every weekend, so a 30 minute journey will now take an hour and 40 minutes and involve the dread rail replacement bus).

Wishing everyone a calm and peaceful
Sunday

@Confusedmeanderings what a lovely thing to do! Crafting and nattering is so lovely. I found a stitchers group at our local library about 18 months ago. The group is amazing and has a lovely supportive WhatsApp. They’ve baked biscuits and dropped them off with me as well as a box of treats. Can’t wait to go back. We all just take whatever we are working on and craft companiably for a couple of hours. They’re mostly younger than me but age doesn’t matter with crafting. I was expecting blue rinse brigade but end up with a vibrant palette of new friends.

Immuno compromised is probably a week or so each time. I have a week of bone marrow stimulating drugs to inject and then get the white blood cells tested to see if I’m good for the next round. If they’ve dropped they have to give me a bit more time off to recover before the next cycle. Fingers crossed!

I hope the trains play ball and you have a lovely catch up @piscofrisco

Morning everyone, not much to report here as my body has decided after weeks of busy work and stress to give up on me. Alternating chills and sweats all weekend which has set off my inflammatory arthritis so everything hurts.

Glad everyone survived the storm- the angle of the wind made it not quite as bad here as it was just a few miles away.

@piscofrisco hope you have a lovely time with your friends.

@confusedmeanderings craft group sounds a fabulous idea. I have all the ideas in my head but my fingers rarely do what I want them to

@RainbowZebraWarrior I don't have that book from Tessa Kiros, but I have a couple of others of hers and love them.

@IngenTing lovely photos as always! I love the snow and haven't seen more than a few flakes here this year.

@Bimblesalong good luck with this stage of the treatment.

We made it through the storm and the fence held. Just. We pootled off to North Shields Fish Quay yesterday. Had a lovely if blustery walk along the quay. I do live those crisp winter days though. We bought some fish, scallops and the most humungous prawns. Fish pie on the menu tonight.
Mouth is watering at the sound of spiced shortbread.
I also have a cross stitch kit I'm thinking of starting. I just need to get motivated. I'm in awe of all of the crafty people on this thread. So much talent out there. I can knit a scarf but anything else is beyond me. 3 friends have tried to teach me to crochet. I broke them all 🤣
Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

Those are stunning photographs @IngenTing I'd have home schooled years ago if it wasn't for DDs school and her 'home are different' mentality. On paper it seems perfect, and an obvious choice, but whilst she loved my style of teaching initially in lockdown, it soon became clear that she just didn't associate home with a learning environment and her attention deficit is a real stumbling block. It will be a last resort for us. It's a difficult one, though I totally agree about the restrictions of 9 to 3 traditional school environment.

Also lovely to see your gorgeous photos this morning @dazzlingdeborahrose that's one of our favourite dog walks.

I agree your crafting companions group sounds so lovely @Confusedmeanderings The closest we've had to that is some sessions run at our local library (mainly knitting which I can't do, and caligraphy) but I've never got round to joining any of them. I like the idea, but then I'm never totally sure.

The Spiced Shortbread is in now. I figured it would be better making it today as the oven is on to roast a chicken anyway. It smells gorgeous.

Very cold and frosty here so I'm listening to Nigel's Cooks chronicles podcast. I did have the radio on, but Elaine Paige's showtunes are sometimes a bit frenetic for my short firing neurons. I did enjoy 'Oh what a circus' by David Essex before I switched her off.

Sorry to hear about your flare up @BobBobBobbing Twelve by Tessa Kiros is a beautiful book and definitely one of my favourites. Here it is.

Oh my. I am vair happy with my Spiced Shortbread. One batch Spiced with flaked almonds added. 2nd batch with a couple of tablespoons of last years (very mature and boozy) mincemeat added.

I don't think they will last long. DD has already earmarked a few of the almond ones for pals at school.

@dazzlingdeborahrose what a lovely walk! Sounds like you have a delicious supper planned (& I don’t eat anything that has had a face!).

loving the look of those @RainbowZebraWarrior I’ve used my spoons today to bake the Gluten free bergamot cake for dh. The smell is permeating the house and is gorgeous. He is raiding the supermarket for me so will have a good slice to eat with a cuppa when he gets back in.

I just have the thumbs to do on my mittens. Slow progress and lots of chemo brain errors but I love them. Hope we don’t have too much cold weather to wear them through - it’s looking bright to the end of this week.

Good evening lovely Nigellas…

I’ve loved reading all the updates and seeing these beautiful pictures. So gorgeous.

I’ve spent the weekend with my lovely friend Helen. She’s very close to the end now so I’ve been washing her and keeping her comfy, brushing her teeth, talking to her. Her husband is amazing and her DD too. Last night she was awarded an Annie - it’s like the Oscars but for animation. She’s so clever.

I don’t know how to navigate this new part of my life. I know about poorly grandparents and parents. I’ve nursed both. I know about babies that die - I’ve looked after dozens. I’ve lost count of how many. But this is my friend and there isn’t even a word for it is there. This is the first time I’ve done this.

Here is a photo of my local cemetery - snowdrops out in force this weekend. Just perfection. I feel like the timing of all this is so poignant. The earth is just stirring from its winter rest as Helen takes her final one.

Sending gentle hugs to you @AgathaMystery This is such a difficult path to navigate. What a tremendous accolade for Helen to have been awarded an Annie, but in such awfully sad circumstances. My sister has been on my mind this week as it would have been her birthday on the 23rd. She passed away at the age of 29, and I can safely say that it was the most difficult time of my life. I was with her at the end, and her final week on this earth was such a confusing time to navigate for me. She fell ill on my birthday and was gone a week later. My biggest challenge was the day of her funeral as I had to navigate this on my own (my Mum and Dad were abroad, and it's a very complicated background story) I was so overwhelmed and barely coped, so I decided to go home immediately afterwards. I returned to the cemetery a couple of hours later in order to read the messages on her flowers and take photographs of them. It felt so much easier to process this without being surrounded by people wanting to offer condolences. I can honestly say that this was the best thing I did as I felt I had some final quiet time to process, reflect and have some final thoughts and say goodbye on my own terms without being 'observed'

Sorry if that's a bit of a brain dump. I just felt it might be useful to share. I also have a camelia planted in her memory (of a variety the same as her name)

@RainbowZebraWarrior I’m so sorry your sister died. I can’t imagine actually. It sounds so complex and lonely. I agree about having time. I had to get away for a few hours today - keenly aware that her husband doesn’t have that luxury.

sorry to hijack. I also want to say very clearly that I feel those shortbread are perhaps peak Nigel.

Thank you @AgathaMystery x Yes, I'm rather proud of the shortbread.

@Bimblesalong I think making something delicious is all the sweeter when one has used the days available spoons to do so. We perhaps take for granted when we are in full health what we are able to do. Your mittens look gorgeous. I also hope there aren't too many chilly days left this winter to wear them, but I guess it is still only January.

The weather is atrocious here. Thankfully I made a well timed trip earlier this afternoon to meet my Dad at our allotment to survey the damage. We had one greenhouse pane that was blown out and smashed. Thankfully it was a double glazed pane, and only one side of the glass was broken. One of our polytunnels was ripped to shreds. We partly dismantled the other ones in the Autumn, as otherwise they have to be rebuilt every winter. Such is the weather these days. The girls are being kept in their covered run at the moment as per the avian flu risk. Thankfully, it's a large space and there are only four of them. It's sad not to see them happily pecking about outside though. It was lovely to hear a Robin singing from the yew tree the whole time I was there, mind. Not many signs of growth here yet. I feel it's going to be a late season for us this year.

@AgathaMystery what a moving post and a beautiful photo. You’re doing just what she needs and supporting her family so well. Does she like any particular music that might be played to establish a sound link? I read somewhere (maybe even on this thread) that someone’s precious link was a felt heart that the loved one had held in their hand during this time. Have you read any of Donna Ashworth’s poetry - it is very helpful for times like this (she has an Instagram ).

@RainbowZebraWarrior out of the strong comes forth sweetness comes to mind in trying to conjure up unconjurable words to try to communicate my feelings of support. Im glad to hear you’ve been able to get to nature and make some practical repairs. Doing is such a positive thing.

@Bimblesalong funny you should ask, I’m going to play her some Jackson 5 later - she followed M Jackson around on a world tour in the late nineties. Moscow, LA, London, Sydney 😂

I also realised it might have been insensitive to discuss death like this when I know you (& maybe others) are in active treatment. To clarify, Helen’s cancer isn’t like that, it was never treatable and never survivable. Xx I don’t want to frighten anyone xx