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!

So I had a fun afternoon/ evening… went to a local distillery’s gin tasting and then a couple of pubs afterwards. Now safely tucked up in bed. Ready to cosy up and embrace the hangover tomorrow

Beautiful photo @Bimblesalong. This thread has actually made me love dahlias, I was never particularly a fan, but seeing all your photos and reading all the various discussions about lifting tubers etc and then seeing your beautiful blooms has really won me round. Just saw Nigel’s post this evening on Insta - so cosy and perfectly curated, quite a few on here could give him a run for his money in that department. Thanks to all who share glimpses of your cosy homes ❤️

Decisions, decisions! I've just bought these at auction to go in the shop. I know they will fly off the shelf. But .... they'll be perfect at Christmas, won't they? I'm really tempted to keep them, even though I'm not supposed to keep the stock and it will make a mess of the accounts!

They are a very Christmas's colour, but I'd ask myself; Are there six of you at Christmas? Would they get used more than once? Do you have space to store or display them? I suppose you could use them this Christmas then put them in the shop in Janauary.

I'm trying to be very sensible these days as I have too much stuff and often keep a lot of things I make to sell which really needs to stop.

Can you buy them at retail price as a proper customer (so the accounts are fine), and then sell them back to the shop in January/at Easter/whenever they will make the most money?!

I like your thinking @noodlezoodle ! My problem is now academic however. I was in the shop earlier today, unpacking the new stock. I set them aside on the counter whilst I put the other purchases away. When I came back, they were gone! Some bounder had been in and bought them!

Checking in - sorry for absence it’s a bit bonkers as we finalise kitchen plans and ds2 prepares to go to live with mum for a while, as he hopes to get a job near her place.

Glad to spread the dahlia love @LillianGish I reckon I’ve a very few weeks left of them and a couple of the buggers are only just flowering.

klaxon! There’s obviously an advent calendar with cire trudon ernesto candle in, as there are a few on resale sites. Quick!! This is well timed as our village shop has just started doing evri, which will save me a fair few pence in deliveries!

Sharing a photo of my mum’s garden since I don’t have one of my own - she is 88 and was complaining it looked a bit unkempt, it’s all her own work! Making the most of her with a week of gentle pottering - she will be 89 in December so time feels very precious.

That’s beautiful love the pinks and that splash of colour especially at this time of year

Your mother's garden is stunning @LillianGish and kudos to her for her attention to it. I see she has what looks like a wonderful salvia still in full bloom at the front of the photo. Similar to my blackcurrant sage, it will likely flower into December.

Sadly, my own mother hasn't left the house for over five years now. She will be 81 in December and I have a feeling she will regret this when it comes to the end. Friends and neighbours love to point out that she really needs to get out and about, but it's gone on too long now. I was chatting with my best friend earlier and she didn't realise that I actually meant my Mum hadn't actually set foot outside, as in not even in the garden. Such a shame. I love the outdoors and can't imagine life without it.

Stove has been on here as it's cold and damp. Couple of candles also on the go as, well, the more the merrier at this time of year.

It is indeed a salvia @RainbowZebraWarrior - well spotted. My mum doesn’t go far these days as she walks with a stick, but she does love her garden and she can always manage a stroll round a garden centre (preferably with a pause for tea and cake!)

Cat, stove. Soup for dinner. Definitely autumn!

It really feels like autumn has hit here today. The heating came on automatically in the middle of the day as things didn’t warm up. It’s been very grey and damp as well.

Love this pic. I'll see if I can get Mr D in front of our stove tonight. I can't tear him away from his pumpkin igloo at the moment. Maybe if I put the pumpkin next to the stove..

We've had Autumn here for a while now, but the past couple of days feels borderline winter. It will feel more so next Saturday when the clocks go back! I've restocked and rejigged the logs. I usually rotate, but I know that the ones in the garage and the woodshed are 4 years seasoned now as I remember chopping them in 2021 so all are good to go.

Got this lovely book in Sainsbury's half price. It would make a lovely gift for someone who lies to write out their own recipes as its cloth bound. I just bought it for myself as the one I've got is now 25 years old and tatty. It's also difficult to read as the recipes are all written in gold pen as I thought it looked good back then!

Soup you say? Sounds like a good idea. I'll get the slow cooker out I think.

Tonight we have veg casserole with chili cheese scones - making the most of having the oven for the next week and a half! Will be without one for about 3 weeks (we’ll have the microwave and the air fryer tho- also, the pub!).

Wow Bimbles, that looks awesome. Make the most of it indeed. I'd love the recipe for the chilli cheese scones. I'm hoping to have time to make cheddar shortbread tomorrow so could be good to do a bit of batch cooking as I have a lot of cheese to use up.

There you go! I just used gf flour instead for dh

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-cheese-scones

That looks delicious @Bimblesalong

Life has been pretty hectic here, lots of elderly parent stuff going on, DF needs to move to a nursing home (he is currently bedblocking in hospital and has been there for 3 months now), DM struggling a bit without him. That sounds hard with your mum and the never leaving the house thing @RainbowZebraWarrior , I’d be concerned too. @LillianGish your mum is an inspiration! I hope I’m still tending my garden when I’m that age.

Also a few bereavements amongst extended family and friends recently plus supporting young adult DS (ASD) who is home again after graduating. Oh and work. But I finally got my autumn decorations out of the loft this week (Hallowe’en ones too in readiness).

Made some green tomato chutney earlier in the week which is a suitably Nigel-esque activity although it was a Jamie Oliver recipe. Looking forward to trying it out in a few weeks. And my Bonne Maman Advent Calendar arrived yesterday, looking forward to all the dinky little jars

Yum @EndlesslyDecluttering that looks good!

@LillianGish we have similarly doughty mothers! What a lovely garden yours has - I buy mine dahlia tubers each year and we compare growth.

It’s a strange wake up as ds2 has gone to stay with my mum for an open ended time. He’s trying to resettle in that area but so far job hunting has been a challenge - his industry is very hard to get into. He has a lot of friends down there so it makes sense. He gets on very well with mum and it’s good for her to have the company now dad is gone - although she has a fantastic social life. It’s very strange with just dh in the house now - thank goodness ds1 only moved down the road.

Flu jab for me today. Yay. Indulgent coffee and cake planned at one of the nice city coffee shops first though.

Lots of lovely autumn food on here. I've peeked at the CC ahead of starting the intro next week and am getting familiar with Nigel's recipes and his authorial voice again. I have a printed and audio version of the CC so I suppose I could do a 'read along with Nigel' session 😁

Gosh that sounds like you've had a lot going on @EndlesslyDecluttering

Just seen Diptique's holiday candle offerings have been officially released. Meh. A gold version of Sapin is not my idea of festive. That's no bad thing as I don't really need any extra candles this year.

Satsumas back on Ocado! Expensive, presumably because still a bit early I suppose, but really delicious

Ooh. I got over excited and decided to update my waitrose order. I was greeted by this lovely message followed by 3 different options of 'easy peelers' or some tangerines 🙄

Good gracious where has the year gone?!

The last fortnight has been fairly insane in between work, storms, health and others needing support, and I just haven't been able to keep up with the thread, but have caught it up now.
I thought it wouldn't really hit us, but we suffered quite a bit of storm damage to poly tunnel and greenhouses, (the replacements for what was destroyed in the previous storms and 'landslip'), but very little damage to the contents thankfully.
Everything is now held together temporally with additional polythene sheeting, sellotape, string and tent pegs (the neighbors are not impressed). NVN but the contents are what truly matters... the storm also brought down London's remaining 'wild' avocados, which I realized in the middle of the night and headed out for, (as did others) so lots of guacamole base made and frozen,
Among other things, despite thinking we where at the end of them, I still have lots of small ripening tomatoes, as well as some green cherry ones that are absolutely refusing to. Currently trying banana skins around both to try to encourage ripening.
Quinces are finally ripened (late) and ready to be bottled and we finally have proper autumnal leaves and colors.but everything including me seems to be running behind.

Large amounts of sweet chestnuts have appeared, which is a relief in terms of a fall back staple, (finances are delicate) but also a pain to peel that many, and my fingers are sore from doing them. However I've been offered a swap of peeled chestnuts for oranges and lemons, which is too tempting to ignore, especially as I haven't had time to get a cake (or a fair few other things) underway yet.
I really want to try and make marron glacé, but it is one of those many things you need to be able to set aside time for, so it may be another one for another year.

At this rate it's going to be a very boozy Christmas, as also very time poor this year, our (little) freezer is already packed, and the easiest quickest way of mass preserving here, is either in alcohol, or turning things into alcohol! 😋
Every cloud and silver linings...