The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2025

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, it's that time of year again!

For anyone who has not already had the pleasure, the annual Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles read along is a real time annual MN tradition.

The Christmas Chronicles (Notes, stories and 100 essential recipes for midwinter) book begins on 1st November, however there are 25 pages of Introduction. That's why I start the thread one now; to allow time to prepare and fully appreciate Nigel in All His Splendour come 1st November.

Some regulars to the thread already have the book. For anyone new, it's a challenge to see of you can pick up a bargain. Vinted has come up trumps in the past, as has ebay. A rare and precious charity shop find is always a bonus. Don't forget, you can also listen along to Nigel's dulcet tones via Audible.

I shall post daily and we can share our thoughts and feelings on the days recipes, sentiments and indeed Dear Nigel himself. Observations of nature and the seasons are also very welcome.

So welcome to old friends and new, and don't forget that reading by candle light is particularly enjoyable. Cire Trudon may be one of Nige's candles of choice, but it's somewhat pricey. We don't discriminate against other less expensive brands - even if they are NVN (Not Very Nigel)

Pull up a chair, light a candle, grab a cosy blanket and join in!

@AGreenWitch The soup sounds delicious. I always forget what a great combo mushrooms and garlic make. I've added chestnut mushrooms to my online shop!

Yes to the first frosts and sprouts @LatteLady and also for swedes and parsnips. The frost is what gives them their sweetness. I was born in 71 so remember a bad winter in around 78/79 when the snowdrifts were taller than me and there were magnificent icicles like the ones Nigels speaks of. I've seen stuff on the TV about the early 60s snow though and my Mum often talks about it. I had single glazing when I bought my first flat in 1993 and it would ice up inside. As would the windscreen of my 1971 beetle.

I've just remembered that I did my first craft fair 20 years ago. A very well attended Victorian Christmas affair. I'd made beeswax candles in small galvanised buckets. Everyone who bought one on the Saturday brought them back on the Sunday for a refund as it just tunnelled a little tealight sized hole in the top due to me using too small wicks 🙈 I wonder how many thousands of candles I've made since then.

Right. Hair appointment then off to JL to order a badly needed new dishwasher. DD informs me that we will be going to Søstrene Grene for some loose Vanilla Tea as she likes the smell and wants to experiment with it in candles and wax melts (Definitely NVN)

That reminds me, I have some roasted mushroom soup in the freezer. I will have that for lunch. Roasting them really does improve the soup. It was a Gary Rhodes recipe that put me on to the idea.

Just had one of those update heavy work meetings so I just needed to listen. I turned my camera off and tidied my office and hung up some twinkly fairy light while listening in. A good bit of multitasking.

Also switched out one of my arty spaces for an Autumnal embroidery I did a few weeks ago.

I also love migrating geese @RainbowZebraWarrior. I remember the first year we lived in Berlin, being out in the garden, hearing the honking and craning my neck to see the distinctive wide V formations in the distance making their way south. I think I read somewhere that the birds can cover 70 percent more distance flying in this formation than if they fly alone. I always think there's something rather melancholy about that sound, signifying the change in season as some ancient instinct calls them to make their epic journey. We had proper winters in Berlin - short days and snow on the ground for weeks on end. The pond in the garden froze solid, though deep enough that somehow the goldfish always survived. They were the kind of winters Nigel describes in his introduction which no longer really exist in the UK and certainly not here in Paris. My children's memories are of being constantly muffled up in layers of coats, scarves and mittens before they could set foot outside. My son, who went back two years ago for his university year abroad, said friends from home, who were also studying in the city, were always too cold to go out because they didn't understand how they needed to dress! Nigel's "snap of frail bones" always calls to mind our poor neighbour who slipped on the ice getting out of her car and broke her leg outside her house, then almost got hypothermia waiting for help to arrive in the sub-zero temperatures (pre mobile phones).

@RainbowZebraWarrior On the slightly mundane topic of dishwashers, we're looking to buy our first ever when we have the kitchen redone. So I asked the FB group for thoughts on what to look for and the consensus was definitely cutlery tray not basket and one that opens the door to finish drying the pots. :)

It was the most wonderful candle, @RainbowZebraWarrior I cannot wait for the house to be sorted out post-kitchen and to sit in a relatively dust-free zone with my candles lit again!

So sorry to hear of another poster who has lost their faithful canine companion. I am definitely not at the happy memory stage, although there are a gazillion of them.

It is one of those gloomy, damp days which calls for an open fire and candlelight. I have the VN delights of church choir later, preparing for the festive season.

My dishwasher makes me so happy 😀. As long as you have plenty of plates, you won’t regret getting one.

Oh it's lovely. I'm gritting my teeth and repeating "I do not need another coat, I do not need another coat"

@RainbowZebraWarrior I hope you enjoy your Søstrene Grene visit - always makes me calm wandering around there.

I've been having urges to make a Christmas pudding, and possibly also cake - I'm very out of the habit of baking, so I entirely blame this thread 😃

@LatteLady that's such an evocative description of your experience ❄️

"I've been having urges to make a Christmas pudding, and possibly also cake - I'm very out of the habit of baking, so I entirely blame this thread 😃"

Surely it's VN to wait until "Stir-up Sunday (in 2025) November 23rd, which is the last Sunday before Advent. It is the traditional day for families to gather and make their Christmas puddings, allowing the puddings time to mature before Christmas Day." 😃

Very true! Cake first then maybe...

Mincemeat too? We make our own candied peel, so that first before the puddings and stuff. :)

I'm going to try a mincemeat recipe from Eliza Acton this year- "Superlative Mincemeat." There's a lot of lemon in it.
Would Nigel approve of Eliza Acton?

I’ve started saving the peel ready for the candied peel. Food of the gods, and fr removed from the weirdness that is mixed peel.

I’m ready for candling tomorrow.

Delightfully, the figs are still ripening on the tree. I’ve had more in the last two weeks than in the summer before it. I’m not sure why. It’s felt like a real unexpected extra gift from the garden, after the plums and berries are long gone.

Glad to see Mr D still featuring on the thread. I would like to try some candle making. I got given a fancy last year. I suspect it’s still in one of the unpacked moving boxes.
What a Beautiful day it was on the farm today. Busy with Halloween visitors and I had my most very favourite co farmer to work with today so we spent most of the day harvesting Medlars pictured below. Funny little things they are-I’d never come across them before. They were popular in Tudor times apparently. They must sit in the dark now for a month in egg trays and they they will be soft enough to squeeze and out comes a Marzipan flavoured puree. It’s good for pie filling and making syrup to go over ice cream I believe. I might message Nigel and see if he can think of any other uses-they seem right up his street.
we grew huge polar bear squashes for Halloween, as well as zombie pumpkins and normal ones. The big ones weigh a tonne!

Ooh medlars! I made medlar cheese and jelly last year.

Enjoy choir practice @Bimblesalong - that sounds like the loveliest activity in the run up to Christmas. I thought of you today while killing time in BHV with a bit of candle sniffing. Gabriel was as glorious as I remembered.

Such lovely pics and talk of medlars and figs!

Long and busy day here. Change of plan at the last minute as I didn't realise that our metro's were off, so our city visit has been rearranged for Sunday afternoon. A trip to the beach was in order and there was much excitement at our nature reserve. Buzzards, snipe, curlews, pheasants and all manner of other water birds. We had to jostle for space with the other birders and their kit. They are a friendly bunch though, and it's a lovely community.

Mr D decided that he would also like an adventure today, so we went back down there later on with him. Here's himself in the car enjoying the sea view with me, and now in front of the fire, shattered after his escapades.

The Christmas cakes are finally in the oven. It's far too late, really but at least the fruit had had a jolly good soaking. I feel like it's time for bed soon, yet the cakes won't be ready for another hour. I've always done my cakes in September / October time as I like them to have a couple of months feeding / maturing time. Plus, time seems to run away with me come November. Tbh, sometimes they get kept till the following year. I always did my puddings on stir up Sunday though (when I used to make them)

Must catch up with Celebrity Traitors. Do we think Nigel watches? I'd love to know. Also, yes, you must ask Nigel @piscofrisco

ooh! Have you recipes you could share?

Mr D looks right at home behind the wheel!

Certainly! It's very simple. When the medlars are bletted and squishy, you cook them with water to cover till they're pulpy- then drip the liquid out through muslin. Save the liquid.

Work the fruit that's left in the muslin through a sieve, weigh it, and to every pound of pulp add a pound of sugar.
In a heavy saucepan put pulp and sugar and stir it over medium heat till the sugar dissolves - then cook, stirring every few minutes, until it's thickened and the spoon leaves a clear trail on the bottom of the pan. About half an hour but watch it doesn't burn or catch.
Pot into jars or moulds. It's very good with cheeses.

With the juice, make the jelly-
A pound of sugar per pint of juice, in a saucepan the same as for the cheese. Stir till dissolved then boil it until a little dropped onto a saucer and left a moment in the fridge wrinkles when you push it with your finger. About twenty minutes.
Pot into jars.

Happy All Hallows Eve, all.

It is also the 50th anniversary of the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. If you haven't already heard it, Sam Ryder did the most excellent cover of it yesterday in the Piano Room on Radio 2 with the brilliant BBC orchestra. Nigel would approve, I'm sure (who doesn't love Bohemian Rhapsody?!)

Pumpkin carving (quick and simple design) cheese scone making, and stocking up on logs is on the agenda for today. Sweets and gifts are already by the door and grocery order expected before the witches and werewolves arrive. Hibernation will commence at precisely 7.30pm when the pumpkin light will go out and we shall watch A Haunting in Venice with snacks and the stove on.

You can watch Sam here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nJGUZTjUmAg

Happy Halloween/ Samhain. Now that's a good film choice @RainbowZebraWarrior - I do like a good horror but am in the mood for something gentler at the moment.

It's quite grey and damp here but I'm off out soon for my first decent walk since I got wiped out with COVID at the start of the month. Then home to finish Nigel's intro ready for tomorrow, and spend a bit of time with the ancestors as is traditional for this time of year (but in the modern version as I got a bargain Ancestry subscription for a few months).

There's a Christmas Chronicles just been listed on vinted for a fiver if anyone still needs one (I have it in my saved searches)

Happy Halloween all! It's a very wet one here. We've taken the dogs for their walk and we're back inside with coffee and the fire.
We're going back home on Sunday- it's been a nice rest but I'm ready for my own space and my own kitchen now.
We're doing a pumpkin this afternoon.