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!

Absolutely adore this collection. The illustrations are magical and the letters from the Polar Bear are my personal favourites. I need to dig out my copy. Thanks for the reminder!

First day back in school, for me and the children. I have really missed being outside, have been corralled inside a lab all day.

We're having our loft re-boarded tomorrow, so have had to get everything out. Currently, only have about half of it covered, so am really looking forward to having more space.

With two young DC, there are a lot of toys and books in the house. And all my books. And wool. And Christmas decorations...

I shall light my candle, and imagine a woodland walk at sunset.

We are decidedly NvN as the house is hung all over with dust sheets. Or perhaps you are more Nigel than you think @Bimblesalong and others having work done. I remember a couple of years ago Nigel not putting up his tree and being decidedly unfestive due to his house undergoing its routine seven-yearly complete decoration - I could not believe he would schedule this over Christmas. It was almost as disappointing to me as discovering Delia Smith in fact spent every Christmas in Barbados at a time when I was carefully following her Christmas countdown.

Only Nigel would have a seven year cycle of redecoration - rather mystical though, a Steiner house. I did manage a Nigel moment of peace by getting past the hanging plastic into the music room and playing some songs from my new Michel Legrand piano collection. Very calming!

Great news about the inside stall @RainbowZebraWarrior . I totally refuse to do any outside antiques fairs!

It's blowing up a gale here. I'm curled.up on the sofa with my blankie and I've lit a mystery scented candle - a mystery because it isn't labelled so I don't know what it is. It has a good throw and I like the scent, but absolutely not a clue!

Thank you! What a fantastic set of books she suggests. Struggling not to buy them all!

Also delighted to find that “the night before Christmas in Wonderland” is a book. My three loved the adaptation and watched it regularly into this Spring so we will definitely be reading that in December.

@TaupeRaven would MR James ghost stories appeal? A different short story read every week in a single sitting. Very wintery and if someone misses a week it wouldn't matter as they are stand alone stories. Or a similar idea with the Hound of the Baskervilles, that's a winter favourite of mine. Both dark & spooky rather than uplifting options though.

4 November

The Joy of Stuffing

"Goose-fat roast potatoes aside, I consider stuffing to be the most delicious of all accompaniments to the Sunday Roast. A sausage meat stuffing made with browned onions, bacon, thyme and dried apricots; a cous cous version with red onion, rosemary and raisins; another with minced turkey, lardo - the cured, herbed strips of pork fat from Italy - fennel seed and cranberries. I like my stuffing rough edged, generously seasoned, and deeply savoury. A little sweetness from dried fruits, perhaps, but onions and herbs, much lemon zest and black pepper are essential"

Photo: Turkey, lardo and fennel seed stuffing, cranberry orange sauce

It never fails to make me snigger like a 13 year old boy, today's title. Please tell me that actually, we are meant to! I know Nigel has a naughty side.

@petitpasta thanks for the heads up about BBC Sounds. I'll look that up right away. Oh and the Aye Valley. Gorgeous! Enjoy the ancient stone bothering 😊

I also love Netflix fireplace. We had it on in our hotel room in Amsterdam earlier this year as it rained so flipping much so the 'fire' cheered me up. Speaking of which, I have to get a new TV today

Edited to note that I see my phone changed Wye to Aye. Proper Geordie, my phone is.

I was delighted to drive past a new Italian deli not too far away and when I googled it it looks like it may sell lardo so that is the weekend plan. Has anyone ever frozen the stuffing and was it okay?

Glad to hear you've got the indoor Stall @RainbowZebraWarrior and yes thanks for the radio 3 festive collection shout @petitpasta sounds fab.

Made my parkin last week so its ready for tomorrow. I'm planning to do the figs in wine and vodka tonight - anyone done them before?

I'm minded to buy Ana Sampsons anthology of half remembered poems having read that bit from the Prelude about skating. I remember a deputy head at school reading the Prelude to us but it was the rowing boat part and I'd forgotten the skating.

She makes some lovely seasonal suggestions as you say.

Aw welcome back.
Some years DH has had to remind me that I don't have Nigel money or Nigel time..

But, but, but I do have a little crystal case that was my grandmother's and I can put a bit of greenery in it or light a fire and read a book or play some lovely music while I wash up instead of listening to more awful news or notice the fungi on a walk or take a pic of the low sun.

I have no kitchen at the moment so can barely cook a thing and nothing is where it should be. I have a tendency to hoarding too and it's really draining.

Enjoyed watching the JL Christmas ad this morning. Feeling rather festive now (sorry)

@KittyRannaldini Love the gloves. I am, as I always say, Rainbow by name and rainbow by nature.

OK, so I've just googled the fragrance that I doused myself in yesterday at the Diptyque counter. Someone could have told me it was a room spray! 🙈 Though I still stand by the fact that I'd wear it as a cologne.

Sending warm wishes to @Fillybuster, I hope everything is less raw a couple of days on.

@HannahDefoesChristmasHamper wise words indeed. I’m a single parent so no one here to tell me to stop but I am trying to keep a firm grip. Despite that I’ve bought wax, fragrance, a lovely wick trimmer, lots of candles, plus I would love most of the poetry pamphlets linked to above.

I’m planning on downsizing/need to declutter and my DC are at uni so I need to read and appreciate more than I cook and buy 🤣.

Good idea re lovely music too.

Aha, you sound like someone who is in a similar boat, house-wise, but unlike me is SANE about it!

I do already have some of those paper concertina-honeycomb balls on a string (think they came from a pound shop which is about as far from Nigel as it is possible to get) that I left up after a birthday several months ago, and they screen some of the damp stains from the horrible leak between extension and main building... Fairy lights will be better!

And yy, main central light is Work of the Devil. I have as many table/floor lamps as I can find sockets for (4) in living room. Clutter would be vastly helped were it not for the fact that DS2 has a huge and autistic toy collection that we can't shift, and this is where he keeps it ... (DS2 is not huge and autistic himself, he's small and autistic. Toys mostly comprise model buses and other transport, lego, and small realistic kitchen white goods. SO homely and hygge-making! 😂)

It's all about grabbing onto those momentary shards of beauty and contentment, isn't it? I like the sound of your little crystal case - is it like one of those terrariums that you can grow plants in? Or a display case?

I'm sorry about your kitchen and things being in the wrong place - hope it's back to normal soon for you.

In an effort to keep myself feeling happy, and because tiny acts of knitting are easily achieved and make you feel good, I seem to be in the middle of knitting a tiny jumper for a Maileg mouse. (My Maileg mouse...)
Catching up on Nigel thus far and craving yoghurt with boozy fruit for breakfast, but I have none ready and in any case that's a sure ticket to indigestion so it'll have to be cottage cheese and a banana!

Ah I love the little jumper!

Hesitating to smash the beautiful image of a crystal case with greenery tastefully arranged like a Victorian glasshouse on an antique sideboard but case was a typo and it's a much less grand little bud vase.

I do have a nice charity shop rose bowl which often has garden bits in Christmas eve. I do know where that is I think so will share a pic later.

Thank you for the stuff everywhere sympathy. I can't find my raincoat and needed to measure something to cook yesterday which means going into uni DC's bedroom and rummaging through kitchen stuff.
Fortunately this DC loves uni so very much and is not expected home until late December.

@GlomOfNit@AlicePottery do you have a dehumidifier? We’ve had one for years - really helps keep the damp in check (we live in a lower ground floor flat). Plus good for drying washing, making sure mould doesn’t form etc. Bought one for MIL too who lives in a very old building with crap ventilation - she said it was life changing.

Hi everybody! Going to sit down this evening and read properly to catch up this is one of the aforementioned things I say over and over on the threads from year to year but remembered one of my favourite things Nigel talks about in the first chapter: the concept of welcoming oneself home with a warming, soothing drink. It's so important to be compassionate towards oneself, the way one would be to friends and loved ones. Why is it that we tend to be so accommodating to others' flaws and foibles and much more harsh toward ourselves? I'm learning to let go of that.

I don't remember who said it earlier in the thread, but I'm the same as you in that I don't actually like scentless candles all that much - I prefer natural and unscented. Which is great for me because it means I can spend far less keeping a stock of tea lights and plain candles, using essential oils for fragrance instead. Right now I've got a Tisserand seasonal blend which is very nice but I can't remember what specific mix it is. I bought it last year when my bottle of laurel bay ran out.

I do have a Sand and Fog candle - Cinnamon and Vanilla - waiting to light when December rolls around; I'll make it a part of my evening Chronicles reading routine. I mostly like the lovely red glass jar and wooden lid, really - it adds such lovely ambience. I've got some St. Eval tea lights too, but I can't find them and I'm not keen on digging through everything so they can wait 'til next year.

Riverford had a 'Dried Citrus Baubles' kit this week and we have an air fryer now which has a dehydration setting so I am going to do a dehydrating session today and try it out! I've done it in the oven before but they tend to always go just a bit over the ideal time and end up not quite right...hoping it'll work perfectly on the specific setting!

Thank you to everyone who posts the beautiful photos, descriptions and recollections. It makes this thread so very cosy/hyggelig/koselig.

Also, thoughts go out to every one of you dealing with difficult things, health issues and/or heartache. I think of you every time I read but I am so hopeless with keeping track of everyone's names as my brain seems to let some 'stick' and others not. 💐💐💐

Oh my heart! That so sweet. I'll have to get my little maileg mouse out. I bought him in Copenhagen last year along with my nisser. My mum has a maileg rabbit. I really had to reign myself in as I'd love to have bought the whole shop more.

I love that Maileg jumper! My grandmother was a knitter and I loved looking through her lidded knitting basket that she kept right beside her sitting room chair so it was always within reach. I miss her so much and still wish I could have lived closer to her in her latter years. She once made a whole little wardrobe for my daughter's Barbie - not knitted, she was a very good seamstress too - including a beautiful dress in lace, all hand stitched even though she had rheumatoid arthritis and found it difficult. Sometimes I wish I had saved those pieces but my daughters played with them for years and they ended up rather worse for wear.

I'm the same @RainbowZebraWarrior - if I won the lottery I wouldn't tell anyone but there would be signs, and one of them would be an entire room filled with alllll the Maileg one's heart could desire!!

Such lovely posts from everyone! I am in awe of all your skills.

It is grey and a bit dark here. Or maybe my windows need cleaning! I was up early and made some bread. The house smells lovely now. As others have said, it is the little things that count.❤️

Eta: I have discovered a way to eke out my St. Eval tealight stash- instead of lighting them, I put them on the radiators when the heating is on. It really works.

@Comtessewe have a free standing aircon unit which has a dehumidifying setting which I've tried but it blasts out cold air at the same time which isn't great 😅