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!

@HannahDefoesSpringFling Escape sounds sensible.

@RainbowZebraWarrior Sadly we're not a breakfasting family, but lovely to hear your dad's virtually self sufficient.
No aga more's the pity, but I did look at a dehydrator. It would have to be a small one, and it looks like they're prohibitively expensive to run, in terms of their output.
Would love to have a pear supply, but suspect I'd end up awfully fat fast.

I came across an NS recipe for baking them, somewhere on the internet, that I adapted down. Stripped of descriptive writing, it came down to pre heat the oven, put cloves and cinnamon in amongst halved pears in a baking dish. Then mix 6oz maple syrup with a bit under half as much sherry, and half a lemon's juice together, and pour it over the pears, and cook for 20 mins at gas mark 6, Then add quartered apples and whatever berries you have, and cook for another half hour.
There was a vanilla custard but I cheated and whipped some cream into some vanilla and strawberry syrup from a jar of strawberry's preserved in it.
It was absolutely delicious.

@SheherazadesSpringNonsense It does seem to be a bumper year. We've previously ended up making so much cider, we've had to take gap years...

I make apple butter and have it with porridge, yogurt, overnight oats etc. It can be made in a slowcooker (or Aga) and 6 Bramleys makes one jamjar full, it keeps a few weeks in the fridge.

https://www.sarahsslice.co.uk/post/apple-butter

@EphemeraleEudemoniai did ask mum how she brought a meat product back from France as I thought you couldn’t. She said they weren’t really checking at customs but she was prepared to had over if asked.

Six was an excellent production. Go if you get the chance

MIL has given me lots of cooking apples which I’m going to make into pie/ crumble filling when I get the opportunity

We had the best pear crop this year, although pears are not our favourite fruit. Have just to say catching them as they were already ripening on the tree, I now have bags of them in the freezer and really need to find something to do with them.

The last of the tomato plants will come out at the weekend. I am now keeping my eyes on carrots and kale. The former is growing, but the latter doesn’t appear to be doing anything as yet. I’ve never grown either before.

It’s looking quite autumnal here, but the temperature is holding up enough for the heating not to have kicked in yet.

Morning all. Beautiful day here. The calm before the storm I guess. I have some felting projects lined up for the weekend as we will be hibernating after school on Friday until Sunday morning.

I've had to put a new Compost scoop on my Christmas list as I dug up some potatoes (I plant a few in old Compost bags) and happened across a hard metal object at the bottom of one of the bags. It was this lovely scoop and the handle has completely rotted away. The potatoes also weren't that great.

Garden soup calls to be made today; Potatoes, Chillies, carrots, Broccoli and onions with a handful of Lentils. #operationusestuffup

Hmm. Just pondering if I could fashion a new wooden handle myself.

How annoying, @RainbowZebraWarrior to have lost a perfectly good scoop - bet you’ve been looking for it for weeks! Just planted hyacinth bulbs for Christmas; has anyone else had to really look around for prepared bulbs? I went to three garden centres before finding some, they’re usually available everywhere at this time of year. Anyway, they’re now in the dark at the bottom of the pantry for a few weeks.
Am very admiring of such a flurry of cooking and preserving of garden produce, lovely photos.

They look lovely. I saw some lovely bulbs and bowls in M&S a couple of weeks ago then completely forgot to pick some up as I spotted reduced Chilli plants and ended up with an armfull!

I've got my Mum some lovely little white houses with grape hyacinths in for her birthday (also M&S) and dandy some myself now except I'm rapidly running out of space

Garden soup and roast potatoes are made. For some reason I decided to par boil the potatoes in with the soup to save using another pan. I'm also interested to see if it imparts a nice, savoury flavour. Walnut bread and a banana loaf in the oven now. Think I've ran out of steam for doing the ginger and pear cake so that will have to wait.

@Allthings I've had the stove on this morning! To be fair, it's not that cold, I just wanted to give it a blast and a clean. It also came in handy for proving my bread.

Sorry to hear about your compost scoop (words I thought I’d never type!) @RainbowZebraWarrior - I do love a new garden accessory though and picked up this rather grand looking golden trowel in a sale. I don’t actually have a garden of course, but always need a trowel for planting up window boxes which is as close as I get these days.

I had excellent kale this time last week - both cavolo Nero and a red frilly one. I now have six magnificent stalks and thousands of caterpillars 😭 I like the butterflies and happy to share but they haven’t left me any at all

My husband turned a new handle for ours.

That is an excellent trowel, @LillianGish The window boxes of Paris are so smart, they deserve one like that.

@SheherazadesSpringNonsense Gah re the apple allergy. We are going through the gluten free apple pies like nobody's business here, love em! I'm wondering what I can put in the veg patch when I clear it soon- although there are some lovely sunflowers still going.

So grey here. I am browsing flights for a bit of winter sun in grim Feb - will be good to have something to look forward to.

Looks like the sort of thing they give Royalty when they're planting a tree.

😂

I'd forgotten about hyacinths! Thanks for reminding me.

@Bimblesalong ill be putting garlic in soon. You are not too late for leeks if you buy small
plants from the garden centre. And broad beans!

Reminds me of when used I worked in Comms for the government and every time we had a VIP visitor to our site (usually an MP) I'd have to buy a new shiny spade for them to plant a tree.

Tis a lovely trowel @LillianGish I saw a similar one recently and had to hold back as I have so many trowels. I've just found another compost scoop that I bought in the Spring. It's one made from bamboo and not nearly as bonny, but it will do the job.

It's been a race against the darkness and the elements here tonight. Helped Dad harvest two of my folks apple trees. Five crates later...

The wind is getting up here already, so I've cut a few flowers (mostly dahlias) as they are likely to get snapped anyway.

Lovely flowers @RainbowZebraWarrior and you seem to have had the most interesting array of jobs throughout your life! Some lovely autumn colour appearing in our garden this morning, though the photo doesn’t really do it justice.

I am seriously considering moving my prize dinner plate dahlia indoors for a couple of days! Lovely flowers @RainbowZebraWarrior
Thanks for the growing tips @SheherazadesSpringNonsense I’ll pop down the posh garden centre when I can - might also find some Christmas bulbs.

Its DH’s birthday today. He has a surprise trip to the flamenco lined up for tonight. Artistes from Seville and Granada who are performing in our city. I have return flights to Andalusia for from Feb, so hopefully we will get to some tablaos out there.

First we have the super fun job of finalising our choice of worktop at the stone place. 😵‍💫

@Seasidebubbles I went to a garden centre where my mum lives rather than my usual ones near home for prepared hyacinths and despite a huge array of bulbs I had to look hard for the prepared hyacinths and they weren't available loose (I normally get one each of pink, white and blue) so I had to buy three pink in a pack which was all they had. I have three hyacinth glasses, pink, white and blue so I like to match but they do all grow at different rates, at least I should have three grow together this year.

I'm with you on bringing in the prize dinner plate dahlia @Bimblesalong as if yours are anything like mine, they are still covered in tons of blooms and buds. We managed to find the time before school to strip the apple tree at the front, as I couldn't bear to think of them potentially all on thr ground by this time tomorrow. Hopefully the winds aren't so bad, but I like to prepare for worst case scenario.

Haha. I have indeed @LemonVerbenaGeranium I was a Civil Servant and also a Special Constable at the same time whilst also working 3 nights at my local real ale house at one point. I was with the government for nearly 20 years moving around various specialities then once I took a career break and travelled, I sinply couldn't go back to sitting at a desk, so I think it emboldened me to try new things, hence I opened my café then did Sports Massage then went back to cheffing. Mostly skills all learned via years of college evening classes. It's no wonder I was a bit burned out by 50 though! Life is a lot more balanced and gentle these days.

Stay safe and warm, all. Especially those in weather warning areas. We are all set to hibernate with a home made loaf, soup and banana bread to sustain us. Wood is also stacked by the stove.

😂

@LillianGish I love that you have such a beautiful implement for tending your window boxes. The epitomy of William Morris — 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.'

@EndlesslyDecluttering Thank you for the recipe. May well try some of thatwhen things calm down a bit, but currently looking for longer term preservation of them, as there's rather a lot. We're not at RZW's five crates worth in one hit, but could be in total by the seasons end.
@CrushingOnRubies Thanks for asking PIL. I thing there might be a terrible gorging standoff at customs if I tried to bring smoked goats cheese back and someone tried to take it from me ...😊Glad to hear six was good.
@Allthings We do a fair spiced pear and apple chutney here with the odd few we manage to get as swaps - twice the ratio of pears to apple... I love that you have a handy wood turner available...@RainbowZebraWarrior I believe these may be Monty Don of replacement tool handles https://richardcarterltd.co.uk/product-ranges/tool-handles/ though here it's dig through the boxes of an old East end surviving and wonderfully cluttered chandlers, in the knowledge if you don't find an instant fit, there will be something adaptable that you can make fit.
@SheherazadesSpringNonsense The possible answer is... kale stem pesto! Can use pine nuts, walnuts, or chestnuts in it. (It may have been invented by butterflies as a consolation prize for humans- recipe available if interested) This year butterflies overall has sadly (as recovery numbers are needed) only managed to be an average year, so thank you for your sacrifice...
@Seasidebubbles thank you for reminders of bulbs. I often leave it too late.
That's a lovely and very tidy (😊) looking garden @LemonVerbenaGeranium
Have a lovely evening @Bimblesalong, a belated happy birthday to you as well as to your DH today, and hope the worktop stone decision making, is more pleasure than stress.
@RainbowZebraWarrior Doubt London will get more than some strong winds and gusts, but chucks will be coming out of the greenhouse and indoors. It's 10 months since half our garden was taken out in a storm induced landslip, and I was left trying to frantically search for 'not really my' chickens in the wed mud and broken remains of sheds and coops, only to find they'd managed to squeeze through the cat flap and where shivering under the stairs battered and covered in mud. They've been squatting a greenhouse ever since, but wind still spooks them.

Was looking online to see if I could find an old school affordable huge screw and nut, to make a basic, but step up from using a car jack fruit press, and came across these two beautiful old oak French apple presses, in working order though being sold as decorative.. and thought they might be appreciated on here.
Enlarged, the grain on the L/hand one's capstan is gorgeous.

My, those apple presses are handsome @EphemeraleEudemonia Lovrky grain indeed. My Dad's pal has an apple press and makes cider. He's been talking about retiring to his house in Hungary soon and I'll be throwing my hat in for the apple press if he doesn't take it with him. I'm also rather impressed with the idea of kale stalk pesto. Looking at the vast array of apples and pears I have left, I think I'll be making Spiced chutney this weekend. It also uses up the dregs of bottles of balsamic and soy as well as one of the many jars of cimmanon. I call it Christmas chutney, but it should probably be more aptly store cupboard clear out chutney.

I'm parked up in an exposed spot outside school and my car is being rocked side to side by the wind already. Looking forward to getting home!

N.B it will also make use of the out of date medjool dates