Year round Nigel Slater discussion thread Part 2

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello, all and welcome to this lovely space for our continued chats.

A bit of background for anyone not familiar with this topic:

The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles readalong usually takes place here between November and February each year (the Christmas Chronicles being a book written by Nigel Slater full of winter recipes and anecdotes) It's been running for a few years, and the contributors have collectively decided it would be nice to have it running all year round.

So here it is. It is a place to appreciate all things Nigel-esque. Think seasonal food and recipes, enjoyment of nature, gardening, appreciation of the weather, and sharing of news and small moments of joy. It's a calm, cosy space for gentle chat and merriment so pull up a deckchair, grab a drink and relax.

A very hearty welcome to friends new and old!

quick Google and there’s lot of quick/ simple recipes for the carrots. So will try when I get home and report back

I'm also very interested in the carrots so off to investigate now as I think DD might like and we are holed up today anyway.

Really starting to wish I'd picked some of my apples too as I watch theb tree in the front garden bending back and forth in the wind. I have visions of apples being catapulted in all directions as the wind strengthens.

P.S. @CrushingOnRubies I've got that candle in the lounge today and it's gorgeous. Couldn't smell it much in my bedroom yesterday. I'll be buying another and probably picking up the handcream too!

@RainbowZebraWarriorif you google Algarvian Carrots lots of of websites come up

thank you! I have the lemon and herb? Soap and handcream in the kitchen and that’s a lovely smell.

I've found a great looking recipe for the Algarvian ones, thanks Crushing.

I've also found this one for Pickled carrots and since I have loads (and also all the other ingredients including 2 chilli plants full of jalapeños) I'm going to do that, too!

villacocina.com/quick-pickled-carrots/

Hello all. Hope everyone is well. I lost my entire pear crop due to storm Floris. All the conkers are off the trees too, but a month too early! The poor collared doves eggs were blown out of their nest. I definitely do not like summer storms. I'm far more prepared in the winter.

Trying to have a bit of a clear out. Mostly because it's badly needed and we have the time since it's still summer hols. Also a little bit to do with the shift towards autumn. My Dad found our 25kg bags of grit at the back of the garage, so we are filling the grit bins. Sounds bonkers, but I'd rather be sorted now than cursing in a couple of months time at the empty bins.

I finally bought this photograph of my beloved Sycamore gap from a local photographer after admiring it for a long time so I'm looking for a place for it to live now.

Poor doves- poor trees too. We still have the later ripening apples on our trees but didn’t have the storm as strongly as you.

That is a beautiful picture.

Being further south although we had some high winds it was nothing like the north. I do like the look of the plum and raspberry pie in KD2 today, hopefully we will have plums in the local shops when we get back from our Scotland trip - we leave tomorrow.

I've had a lot of unripe conkers fall in my garden, from my neighbour's tree. I put it down to the dry summer.

Yes I think the dry summer has likely caused a lot to drop @sueelleker it's just so weird seeing hundreds of them on thr ground.

I'm itching to get in the kitchen. I've gathered up my apple and pear windfalls and am going to make Dutch apple pear pie. I also walked into my folks house last night and was handed a carrier bag of plums, so I'm going to try Nigels plum and Raspberry pie (very well timed and thanks for the heads up @MadMadMad and safe travels home)

I'm also planning on doing the hairy bikers cheese and marmite Scones after spotting the recipe in their veggie book at the library yesterday. Fingers crossed I don't run out of steam!

First I have to go and get my hair washed at the salon. It used to be a treat, but it's now turning into a very expensive chore as I keep being told the prices have gone up so I'll be knocking it on the head soon.

No sign of autumn or summer storms in deepest Burgundy where we alternated floating on lilos in the pool while the swallows swooped around us and swimming in the lake. Trees full of apples, pears and plums though none quite ready to pick and a Merlin bonanza of bird calls. I can never get over how vast and depopulated it is in that part of the Nievre. We drove for miles in the soft evening light through golden countryside and shuttered stone villages last night to get to the motorway - stopping in Pouilly to pick up a couple of cases of my favourite wine - and scarcely saw another vehicle. It is like going back in time.

Sounds idilic

I have just ordered a range of preserving and storing jars from Dunelm! I’m thinking Apple chutney, Nigel’s apricot and tomato chutney, mincemeat (in October) and a final batch of infused alcohol if I find a good fruit

Gosh, that all sounds gorgeous @LillianGish Pouilly-Fumé by any chance? That was the first wine I truly fell in love with when I first started going to wine tasting evenings in the 90's, closely followed by Sancerre. The first wine tasting I ever went to was hosted by Jilly Goolden who was doing the TV show Food and Drink at the time. The people on my table were leaving a lot of the wine, so my friend at the time hoovered it all up and started shrieking "Ooh. Walloping great whiffs of boil in the bag kippers" in a comedic attempt to emulate Jilly's style. Thankfully Jilly saw the funny side, but my friend was utterly trolleyed by the end and left clutching a few half-full bottles a lá Absolutely Fabulous style.

@RainbowZebraWarrior may I please have the cheese & marmite recipe too??

Hairy Bikers cheese and marmite scone recipe @AgathaMystery

https://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/view/cheese-and-marmite-scones

I was about to order more kilner jars, but checked my cupboards and now have a stash that have been sterilised. May need more, but I'm trying to sit on my hands as I'm a bit of a hoarder. The Apricot Brandy that is in Nigel's CC is gorgeous. The general consensus over the years has been 'don't put the star anise in'

My Dad knows all the best places locally for foraging, and has spent decades learning the art of mushroom identification and where the best hazelnut trees are, etc. Today, however, he has found a wild cherry tree. He said that most of the lower branches had been picked, so he climbed up and got some of the higher ones. He said a few people stopped him to ask what he was collecting (he's almost 78). Apparently, he's going back tomorrow with a 'hook on a stick' that he's fashioned to reach the highest branches.

My mother is rolling her eyes at this point. They have three freezers and they are all full of berries. I've inherited his passion, but my Mum just thinks we are bonkers.

Mmm cheese and marmite scones sound delicious, I might have to give them a go. It won't be for a while though, life seems to be really busy at the moment!

I have to admit that I haven't made the cheese and marmite scones yet, but they are definitely next on my list. I got waylaid by DD wanting lentil soup and us really needing some time outdoors.

My best friend's husband had a stroke a month ago. Seemed quite mild at the time, but now appears he will never fully recover. He's left with severe issues and my friend has to choose between having him home and giving up her job to look after him 24/7 for the foreseeable, or him going into a care home. Not what anyone wants in their early 50's.

I take solace during difficult times in the land and the seasons. It grounds me and reminds me of my childhood and how I spent the whole holidays playing on the local farmland, and since I moved back 'home' when I had DD almost 14 years ago, I know I made the right decision. Having that farmland on our doorstep is so life affirming.

Some pics from our day. These fields haven't changed since I was a child.

Sorry to here about your friend @RainbowZebraWarrior

wishing my Dalias looked like Nigel’s in his Instagram post earlier

potted in the garden today including planting a bush/ tree than the in laws gave us. Always ominous when they suggest a home improvement which isn’t needed then give it to us. All they said was they had a tree for us. Well are talking a leylandii which will grow 20ft and take over the garden or something else. Turns out it’s a bush called a Acanthus Mollis

Very sorry to hear about your friend @RainbowZebraWarrior Nature is a great solace.

I thought of our little band of Nigel friends yesterday when I saw two Kingfishers in flight on the canal. Never seen before, a wonderful gift.

I have that same one as Nigel @CrushingOnRubies (Cafe au Lait) and also a Copper Boy one that is performing very well. Thats 2 out of about 8 varieties i have. The rest aren't flowering yet and I keep having to pick up the pots daily as the wind has been constant here on the NE coast of England this week. I suppose if I just posted the 'good bits' as everyone does on social media, then all would look very rosy indeed, however, my cosmos has died as has one of my Magnolias and my roses are doing abysmally as I don't have the energy to dead head them. I've also done my back in loading the dishwasher.

Here are the good bits.. the dead bits aren't insta worthy.

I am a bit obsessed with café au lait dahlias, and will plant lots once I am in a position to actually grow things in my garden.

I have that lovely stripey dinner plate one too, @RainbowZebraWarrior we are Nigel adjacent. None of last year’s survived over winter (we were a bit busy with hospitals to dry them properly!), so this year’s are all new corms. I’ve a few that aren’t flowering yet. One lost a long stalk in the storms but some others are doing well.

Pictures are a few plants from a couple of days ago.

Lovely dahlia pics though I feel ashamed to admit on here they have never been my favourite flowers (NVN of me!) I suppose if I just posted the 'good bits' as everyone does on social media, then all would look very rosy indeed this made me laugh as it is the perfect description of a friend of mine who inspires garden envy with photos of individual blooms when in reality her garden is an unenviable mess. Thank you for your honesty @RainbowZebraWarrior - it is most refreshing.