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!

Slides quietly into thread to wish Mr Darcy many returns of the day.🎉
Been catching up thread. Sorry to have disappeared, an awful lot happened. (All too much for this thread.) But hopefully getting somewhere towards back on track

(If the picture posts, definition of dinner is when it's plate sized!)

We spent the day shopping for sofas and beds. We recently moved to a new house and we need new everything. I’m finding choosing paint colours the most stressful experience. We tested a few things today and everything came out wrong. The good news is we at least settled on a sofa, a new mattress for us and beds for the kids. I swear finding the right house was easier than making all these decisions about furnishing and decorating. I find the whole process really stressful.

On a positive note, my hardback copy of CC is in the mail. I scored a second hand bargain for £4 from eBay and it was listed as very good condition. Can’t wait for it to arrive. I also managed to fit in a nice long walk this morning while listening to a Nigel Slater podcast. It was a conversation with someone (can’t remember the name) where he was discussing his latest book. All in all a productive day. Now I’m ready to chill on the sofa and not look at paint colours anymore.

Happy birthday Mr Darcy!! 🎂

Gosh @EphemeraleEudemonia that’s quite a dinner. Glad to hear things are moving towards a better situation. Lovely to “see” you.

We are back from our south east visit. DH’s best mate and his wife moved so we had a few days away seeing them. I know the area better than them so we had a couple of lovely trips out. We are looking forward to them showing us new favourite places next time.

Photo is of Charleston Farmhouse - I managed my annual trip to this wonderful place.

Great to have you back @EphemeraleEudemonia although I'm sorry to hear of such tough times and sending love.

Gorgeous pic @Bimblesalong I honestly thought it was a photo of a beautiful dolls house at first.

@Piletka my home flooded 8 years ago and I lost everything. Having to pick new sofas, beds, paint colours and light fittings all at the same time was the most stressful thing ever. It should be a joyful time when you're buying new things, but sometimes it can feel quite the burden.

This thread always brings me such joy and I feel that we are assembling our 'crew' in readiness for the shift towards Autumn and, ultimately, Nigel Time.

A small rant incoming. No need for any reply, just want to offload. I went to my Mum's at 2.30pm and she was upset at not feeling able to prepare my Dad's dinner (he was out 'beeing' as he calls it) so I made a pheasant curry for him and did the dishes. Got home and DD said she really fancied a veggie curry, so I prepped that and popped it in the slow cooker. I'd had my heart set on a chicken dinner so I set to getting that prepped. DD got out of the shower an hour ago and had an Autistic meltdown about not being able to eat the curry and needing her safe food (Home made spaghetti napolitana) so I've just made that. Over four hours cooking and the kitchen is a bomb site. I'll likely eat at about 9pm as when I'm engulfed in so much food prep it knocks me sick. To be fair, a year ago when I was four stone heavier, I wasn't even capable of doing this (had to resort to Mounjaro for that due to ADHD obsessive eating and multiple health conditions)

Ahhhh. All will be good. And I have a lovely new conservatory roof coming soon (well, just before Christmas)

Mr Darcy says thank you very much for the birthday wishes. He's still high as a kite on new catnip toys 😁

@RainbowZebraWarrior so sorry to hear about the flooding. It must have been heartbreaking to lose all your belongings. It sounds like you’ve had a tough day too. My son is autistic (my husband and I are also likely autistic, we both have traits but not diagnosed) so I completely understand the challenges, particularly around food. I usually cook 2 to 3 different things every day to manage everyone’s food needs. It’s exhausting. My kids are spending some time at my parents’ house right now but they are coming home next week. I’m using this time to mentally relax before having them back. I adore my kids but being in a neurodivergent family has its challenges. My son is starting secondary school in September so I can’t wait for all that fun 😅

My husband and I are both taking the day off tomorrow and going to the Cotswolds for a day trip. We are both looking forward to it. He’s been working really hard the last few weeks with lots of late evenings so I think we both want a day to ourselves.

Wishing everyone a great start to the week!

I made risotto this evening. Roasted garlic and thyme. Experimented with smoked and black garlic. Of course, I made far too much. Still not used to there being only two of us. Risotto again tomorrow 🤣. Good job it was tasty.

Went to church for a choir recital. Didn’t realise it was a full blown church service. Not been to church for ages

then over to my parents for a roast and being spoilt.

Turn the rest of it into cakes and fry them?

That’s a good idea to make rice cakes. Next time.

I've never made leftover risotto into fried cakes / fritters before. I suppose I'd imagine that it would just go stodgy and overcooked, but could be worth a try.

I once thought that corn fritters sounded like the most amazing thing in the world, bit tried them many times and was disappointed.

I also used to make a 'spaghetti pie' about 25 years ago which I loved at the time. I went through some old cuttings from early 2000's food magazines a couple of days ago and found the recipe. Contemplating trying it again. It's basically an omelette bolstered with cooked spaghetti. I have to say that my Mum was unimpressed when I made it for her back in the day.

I love corn fritters. I use the recipe from the Mary Berry cards mentioned previously.

Lordy, lordy. Well, we have the hearing on! It's our second day of drizzle, and the wind is making the apparent 14 degrees feel rather a bit cooler. Due to said mizzle / drizzle I put off washing yesterday, but I've had to do it this morning and just whack the radiators on. Also got two candles on the go as its so flipping dark. It feels like someone has flipped a switch, the difference from last week is so stark.

We are having a tidy out and came across this lovely brooke bond tea bird book complete with all the cards inside. I think it was my uncles, and he gave it to me (he's only 14 yrs older than me, so I ended up getting a lot of his books, etc)

Well this has brightened my day. I often look out for bargain copies of CC on eBay as I try to spread the Nigel joy by gifting to friends and family. Spotted one on Sunday morning at £3.71 with free postage listed 'like new' It's just arrived and not only is it pristine, its also signed. Huge bargain.

I received mine yesterday - also a bargain at £4 from eBay and it looks like it has never been read. And now I’m jealous of your signed copy @RainbowZebraWarrior 🤩

I’m trying to get my heating to come on 🙄 we had a heat pump fitted this week (which entailed replacing every radiator in the house too) and it’s been utter bedlam but now I am trying to turn it on partly because it is a little bit chilly but mostly to practice and be confident that I can … and I can’t. We’ve had a morning of troubleshooting and ringing people and bleeding rads and repressurising and I am losing interest quite quickly! I bet Nigel never has to do all this

What candles is everybody using? I need to stock up for autumn and winter. I can’t quite afford a Nigel type candle though so please be kind 😀

I stocked up early this year when a lot of sales were on, but can recommend the following:

St Eval; Inspiritus, Buggy Pudding and other seasonal scents (I think there's an orange and cinnamon one and some sort of pine or rosemary scent that a lot of folk like)

Isle of Skye candle company; I love Winter Warmer and Frankincense and Mhyrr. Candle tins are currently 3 for 2 on their website. I also use their reed diffusers and scored recently for a huge bargain from someone selling a pack of five on Vinted.

The country candle company is another one I love. Especially their fireside tales one.

Shetland candle company are also good.

I've got some posher leftovers from Christmas presents. Finally, I'm waiting for the John Lewis candle advent calendar to be released as last year was a bargain and I missed out by dithering. Aldi and Lidl also release seasonal scents (usually dupesbof more well known brands) so worth looking out for those which are likely to start appearing in another month or so.

They've all just been inspected as certain ones will be starting to get burned from 1st September. Reed diffusers already in use (feels like flipping winter here this week!)

That should have been figgy pudding BTW.

Also @SheherazadesSpringNonsense that sounds like a big job you've had done there. Hope you've managed to get the hearing working. I've got a heavyweight hoodie on today and DD is wearing a jacket (my brand new college jacket which I've likely lost forever now)

A trip to York yesterday, and as soon as we were only a few miles from the coast we saw the trees were starting to put on their lovely autumn colours; it’s always a few degrees warmer inland from where we live and it’s noticeable that spring and autumn come that bit earlier than by the seaside. The nights are really drawing in, and there’s a definite autumnal feel in the air - after the heat of the summer it’s quite a relief!

@Piletka St Eval candles are definitely my treat to myself, my absolute favourite is Bay & Rosemary; but for a cheapie, I’ve been burning Purewick Wild Jasmine, 99p from Aldi! I’m a bit wary of Aldi candles because vanilla seems to be in a lot of them and I can’t stand the smell of vanilla, but the Wild Jasmine is very pleasant and not overpowering.
I’m still enjoying everyone’s posts and photos. That’s quite a candle stash you have there @RainbowZebraWarrior!

Hello 👋

Someone posted a thread about it being 4 paydays until Christmas and I thought of these threads. Such a lovely corner of Mumsnet.

Being in Cornwall all the gift shops and places where Nigel would shop all sell St Eval candles. Came across a new scent today called walled garden which smells divine

Hello @PandoraSocks 👋

I noticed the leaves turning here too when we were out walking yesterday @Seasidebubbles so I've started my autumn window decorations. I'll add a few 'leaves' every day until the desired effect is achieved by early Sept which is also when my autumn wreath will go up 🍁🍂 P.S. There's at least one more shelf of candles!

I've just picked up a pack of four St Eval Embers candles for £1.50 which I'm quite happy about as I've been meaning to try that scent for ages. I also found a bargain 9ml Perfumer H Ink fragrance. Time to step away from Vinted for the day though.

Here's the window leaves so far:

I like the St Eval bay & rosemary, too, and I'm thinking of getting some in winter thyme. Ages ago, someone here posted a link to Dojo Candles who do a dupe of the Trudon Spiritus Sancti called Penthouse A/B, but I can't bring myself to fork out for the postage charges. https://dojofragrances.com/

I was pondering what buggy pudding would smell like @RainbowZebraWarrior 🤣🤣🤣