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.

@Bearsinmotion , so sorry about your rat, you do get attached to them.

Sorry to hear about the little fella @Bearsinmotion Bless him. Sending love.

I went to check out the preposterous Buly candle lamp in Bon Marché this afternoon. My friend and I asked so many questions and had the full demonstration I think the salesman thought he was we were about to shell out the 635 euros (plus a further 135 for the candle itself!). Instead we made our excuses and left, but not before checking out some of the other nonsense on offer - including scented matches for 15 euros (what is all that about?) and 17 euro toothbrushes! We did have a lovely afternoon tea in the Rose Bakery tearoom, but didn’t spot any stars.
Sorry to hear about your rat @Bearsinmotion. I sobbed when DD’s hamster died. We buried him (secretly) under a tree root in Père Lachaise cemetery.

Thanks all. Now eating lebkuchen and watching the Holiday and worrying about whether I am taking a risk getting the turkey delivered on Christmas Eve!

I have a very un Nigel confession to make. Today I cooked my first ever roast chicken at nearly 50! I have been vegetarian most of my adult life but DD wants chicken for Christmas dinner so this was my test run. All went very well in the end, took a fair bit longer than I expected though 😳

I’ve very sorry about your rat @Bearsinmotion , losing a pet is so horrible. Well done on the roast chicken though!
I’ve spent the weekend tearing my hair out but here we are Sunday night: all children home for the hols, decorations mostly up, the Christmas ocado order ordered, and 3/5 of us packed ready to fly to Krakow tomorrow (CC too heavy for my bag so I’ll be catching up when we get home) . I even had time to go to the library and borrow a guidebook! And we had Nigel’s cabbage with cheese sauce for dinner (getting ready for Eastern Europe ha ha) I’d like to do an hour of wrapping tonight so I’m not faced with it all when we get back - at least DD3’s birthday presents if nothing else. Hope you all have a peaceful week x

At the risk of being banished from the thread, I must speak out in defence of the candle lamp concept. I have this $25 specimen and love it, because you can 'light' your candle without any flame or smoking wick (RIP the wall above my candle shelf), but you get to enjoy all the lovely candle scent without burning all the wax - it lasts a lot longer. And it looks nice!

However I definitely wouldn't pay 635 euros for it

Really sorry about your little pal @Bearsinmotion

Ah @Bearsinmotion so sorry about your wee rat x

16 December

Pickles, pruning and a baked apple

I crave sharp, piquant flavours. That snap of acidity, that spike of lemon or vinegar. A spoonful of fruit chutney, a curl of soused fish or a little pile of pickles on my plate. It is these bright, clean acidic side notes that keep me interested in what I am eating.

Morning everyone just joining the new thread - love and peace to all xxx

Morning all. Will make an effort to catch up with the book this week. Very sorry about your rat @Bearsinmotion

Can't remember who asked, but I got some Proper Satsumas in M&S today. I know we have the conversation every year.

@noodlezoodle I genuinely didn't know they were a thing. I went down a rabbit Warren on Amazon. Some of them look lovely as lamps in their own right.

Happy travels @SheherazadesSeasonalNonsense

I've finished wrapping. I've finished shopping.

Absolutely fascinated to learn that candle warmers are a thing @noodlezoodle. I can understand the logic of not wanting to have a bare flame burning for all sorts of reasons, but it had never occurred to me you would buy a scented candle in the first place if that was a concern. I am relieved and I suppose not entirely surprised to learn that - as with all things candle - cheaper versions are available.
Loving today's chapter - especially: I came late to pickles. It's the price I paid for having first tried the sugary, sour 'pickle' of commerce. Quintessential Nigel - it reminds me of the passage in ATF where he describes having only the second cup of tea of his life (pale green and smelling of new-mown summer lawn) on his 50th birthday after lifetime aversion following the first cup of 'builders tea' his parents made him as a child. I think it's perfectly possible to love more 'refined' pickles and also to enjoy a bit of Branston with your cheese sandwich, pork pie or whatever. Reading this I feel certain Nigel would opt for the 635 euro candle warmer (if indeed he entertained such a thing) - though perhaps he has been turned off them by a disappointing experience with the £28 version. It also make me all the more certain that Miles Jupp's priceless Damien Trench is indeed based on Nigel.

@RainbowZebraWarrior i think I was looking for satsumas in this instance. M and S here I come! Thanks

Hello all-very behind with book and thread after a busy weekend and now at work. Will have a nice read when home. Happy Monday to all

@LillianGish I don't think Nigel would countenance a candle warmer at all

I’ve been for physio and parked at the supermarket opposite. I took the opportunity to drop in for a NVN Victoria biscuit selection box (McVities), having been fascinated by a documentary about their biscuit factory on tv the other night 🤣.

Selection boxes and naice boxes of posh sweets seem “very Christmas”. When I was in my early 20s the chap I was dating used to spend Christmas at his Mum’s / sister’s. This was a massive sprawling Georgian house - I had no idea how lucky I was visiting and staying in it at the time. The family were lovely. The sister owned an antiques business where smallholders would sometimes pay their rent in furniture/ curios, so it was a totally fascinating house and packed with interest. The table in the sitting room window space used to be groaning with boxes of chocolates, fruit jellies and many other wonderful treats. The sideboard must have been 14 feet long and covered with fascinating items of interest that I now would love to have in my own home (altho the sideboard would definitely not fit!). The house was packed with family, talking, prepping food together, playing silly card games by the fire - very happy times. I did not marry that one but have happy memories.

What a wonderful description @Bimblesalong. The sideboard you describe sounds exactly like my grandmother which would also have been groaning with fruit jellies, posh chocolates and boxes of biscuits. There was also a drawer in which she would keep sweets and chocolate bars for my brother and I and we would sneak into the dining room to see what was in there. I also took all this for granted as a child, but sometimes today, if I can't get to sleep or if I wake in the night, I lie in the darkness picturing that room at Christmas and walk through her house trying to conjure up every corner in my mind's eye, opening the door on the dining room laid for Christmas tea.

Hello there everyone! I thought I'd share our wonderful polar stratospheric clouds that we have this afternoon. They are sometimes called mother of pearl clouds and shimmer just like the inside of an ormer shell. My photos don't really do them justice.

Our 'big snow' has arrived finally arrived and the snowboard lifts open up on Saturday. We have a ribbe in ready for Sunday dinner which is very exciting and we have it with braised red cabbage.

My son has come home today with a beautiful hand made pottery tea light holder that he made for me at school.

@RainbowZebraWarrior when do you visit Copenhagen? One of my sons friends is Danish and taught us to say it the Danish way, København, which I love saying and hearing!

Those clouds are beautiful.

Oh wow @IngenTing those cloude are absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for sharing. I love anything to do with the sky or weather.

We are off to Copenhagen on Friday. I'm going to spend a couple of hours tonight listening to that pronunciation and practicing a few basics like please, thank you, goodmorning etc.

@RainbowZebraWarrior the clouds are quite rare I think, something to do with the degrees of sun to the horizon and atmospheric temperatures.

When I speak Norwegian in Norway or Swedish in Sweden, I'm often asked 'Er du dansk?' Because my pronunciation is so bad, both the Swedes and the Norwegians apparently feel I sound Danish! 🤣🫣

I hope you have a wonderful time!

I haven't been on these threads this year due to, well, stuff - a whole lot of life came at once in the last few months and I just didn't feel up to it. Plus I've had to share our house with family members who are definitely not on the same page as Nigel and I haven't been able to carve out even a little Nigel-corner to bring the peace of the season.

For me, CC is mainly about the recipes and I haven't cooked any of them this year, I do miss certain dishes which have become winter staples over the years but will return to this next year. What I have realised though is that there's more the CC and being Nigel-esque than the recipes. I'm still getting out and about for winter walks as much as possible and trying to appreciate the sights, sounds and scents of the season.

Recently (until it turned yesterday), the weather has been perfect - bright and crisp; the type of cold air that fills your lungs and makes you feel alive. So many folk at work have been moaning about it and I've been responding in Nigel-fashion with "yes, isn't it beautiful!"

I haven't opened the book yet this year but will aim to do so this week. Yesterday I snipped and gathered some holly branches (fabulous bright red berries) and eucalytus sprigs (woodland walk and garden respectively) and have arranged these in a vase on the dining table. I remember reading about this kind of low-key arrangement in CC (or is it ATF?) and feeling inspired. Ideally, it would look better in a tall, ceramic jug but my glass vase is good enough for now (I'll keep an eye open in charity shops for the perfect jug) and it is giving me a lovely calm and christmassy feeling when I pass by. I'm getting there, slowly this year.

Goodness me @IngenTing they are mesmerising.

I had my own gift from nature today - he’s in the picture below. A long sighting, delighting me as he flew twice across the canal. A real blessing.

@PricklyBob I’m glad you’re having some good moments from nature and nigelness. We’re all held together with string and packing tape sometimes eh?

@RainbowZebraWarrior wonderful trip incoming from you. Good to know of someone else who rehearses the niceties for human contact in a different culture.

… and here is todays nature diary!