The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles readalong 2025 - Part 2

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, and welcome to Part 2. We Continue our CC journey.

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 began on 1st November.

We continue to read along and comment with the book which is set out in diary form. I will make a post each day (or let you know if there is no entry on a particular day)

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.

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!

I went years ago, like 37 years ago. I found the scale hard to enjoy. Massive open spaces and buildings. My main memory is being footsore and not able to afford anything to eat or drink. Ah, the joys of interrailing!

If you like Christmas villages, here is a link to the video Teri Hatcher posted on Instagram back in 2023 of her grand piano village (including construction)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0io3M9LQ3G/?igsh=MThubjhrNXN5Y3VuZQ==

Shorter video here
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDdkEwNP8sR/?igsh=MWUxYjh5YzFlZzFiOA==

Vienna is my dream holiday! I would absolutely love to go.

Just ordered myself some nice wax melts from the Yorkshire Candle Company.
I feel like I've been used as a football this morning- but I'm off to work because I can't let the other staff member down.

Have a lovely day everyone!

Right @PrizedPickledPopcorn here are the preliminary results of my experiment so far. I lit one mini inspiritus candle (see photo) in my 4 metre by 4 metre kitchen and pottered in there for 20 mins whilst it initially burned. I could smell it faintly. I went in and out of the room a couple of times, and could still only smell the fragrance lightly upon re entering. I shut the door for 10 mins (kept an eye on it through half glass door; never leave a burning candle unattended etc) when I went back in and had a good sniff, and could still only smell it faintly.

Conclusion so far: As I suspected, it is not the strongest smelling scent. Very, very subtle, I'd say. This is a shame, as it's a nice scent.

I have to go out soon, but will repeat the experiment later, but with two, maybe three candles lit. I suspect this may make a difference.

I appreciate your diligence! I’ll make sure I keep the door shut next time I burn it. And perhaps light two at a time.

My rosemary frankencandle is doing well. Apart from the fire risk (live and learn) it gives a pleasant savoury scent. The wax was not very clean, having been gathered from old jar candles. That is giving a ‘cooking dinner’ scent rather than a fresh garden rosemary scent. But it’s pleasant.

I’ll move the Inspiritus to my study I think. Small room, more impactful.

Then when the rosemary and Inspiritus are done, I will unleash the aldi candle which I suspect will pack a punch!

This thread really does have ‘all the things’! Crafts, candles, recipes, descriptive writing, photographs and now science!

I was disappointed in the inspiritus little candles, but I still splashed out and bought the gold dusted pillar. Wow the scent from that is amazing, it smells gorgeous the next day. The only peeve is I bought the ceramic candle plate too and although it is lovely, it is ribbed and the candle wobbles and doesn't burn straight, so I have had to pop a little bit of cardboard under it to balance it. Might burn the little ones on my desk in our study/ soare room when I am well enough to leave my bed 😀

@LillianGish it truly was a VVN meet - for those light on handbag space, I had the book cover of ATF shown on my spotify app! Yes, also re the swimmers, although I must admit I glazed over briefly at the thought of that lovely French Olympian. I bet Olympian swimmers don't stop regularly at the end of lengths to have a heavy snog with their swim partner though. Urgh! Really NVN and takes me back to the posters we see in municipal pools. I will be establishing whether this particular couple stick to a routine, in which case I'll be able to go when they're not there!

@PrizedPickledPopcorn I think we both have the same candle burning gamer child. I miss the great scents now he has moved out, as he did get some terrific candles.

I absolutely loved our trip to Vienna. So much art, music, coffee and cakey! We used the tram system to get around. It was very easy.

@LillianGish we should have temporarily borrowed a Trudon candle to give the photo the ultimate Nigel look! I’ll have to come back and we’ll do it again!

For anyone feeling flush, Perfumer H has 20% off with code FESTIVE20 though unfortunately they no longer do Nigel's 'Feast' candle.

I spent 5 months in Vienna but was pregnant at the time and nausea prevented me wallowing in cream and coffee. I did eat bags and bags of fresh cherries sold around the train station by vendors who had come in from the countryside. (Surely I'm not hallucinating this? It was nearly 19 years ago).

Was relieved that dd didn't emerge looking like a cherry.

@martha79 , we went last April and I was surprised how much I loved it. I’d really like to go in the winter. We did Berlin this year which was very interesting but I didn’t fall in love with it like I did Vienna (to be fair it was mostly the old coffee shops I loved!)

Really interesting to hear your different experiences of Vienna, thank you!

I've almost got the house sorted for visitors, now sitting making a grocery shopping list - going to try the salmon and potatoes recipe from CC, and I think also the black pudding and celeriac one. Aside from that there'll be a big pot of mild-ish vegetable/ chickpea/ sweet potato curry on offer (I've been making something like this a lot lately https://www.unicornsinthekitchen.com/persian-split-chickpea-stew-khoreshte-gheimeh-vegetarian-version/) and I'm going to make a sort of bread pudding using panettone.

Looking longingly at the Perfumer H site @RainbowZebraWarrior - you know how they say "if I won the lottery, there would be signs"... mine would include the most amazing perfume collection (I have a decent one now but there's a lot of mini-sizes and dupes).

Berlin is a city that has really suffered and you can feel that - the way it has been bombed and divided and rebuilt and reunited - I actually love it for that and I love the Berliners. It’s certainly not picture postcard pretty in the way that Vienna is, but it has a certain sombre majesty and faded grandeur coupled with a vibrant alternative vibe that makes it a city unlike any other.

28 November

Christstollen, Dresden and the Butter Letter

The flavour is of distilled Christmas. Candied orange, Cinnamon, raisins, rum and cardamom. The texture is poor man's fruit cake. Fruit bread. Many have a sweet ribbon of marzipan running through the middle - a layer of buried almondy treasure, and a deep coating of icing sugar covering their craggy surface.

Ahhh stollen, I need to remind DH to make one soon 🤤

I'm going to admit, I can't see myself making stollen any time soon. But I do enjoy it - any ideas on which are the nicest supermarket ones? I find the mini bites ones from Lidl are bit dry.

Went running in the dark yesterday morning, and had a bat wheeling around me at one point.

Work is seriously hectic, we've got a tight deadline for our mock marking, plus we've also got the standardisation lady coming to check all of our practical work records, so that all needs to be triple checked beforehand. Oh, and all our normal marking workload on top of that! This week has seemed unending!

Sorry, enough of my moaning.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, my eldest is going to make Christmas cards with DH and her aunt, which will take all day. So, littlest DC is going to be allowed to push a little trolley to get all the ingredients to make the Christmas cake and puddings. He's then going to help me make them both, and I've promised he can have the bowl and spoon to pick afterwards! He's very excited about this.

Then, Sunday I have a Christmas "Turkey Trot" charity 10k run in the morning. I'll be covered in tinsel, and it's to raise money in memory of an ex student who sadly passed away from a childhood cancer. His family set up the charity to help children in his situation, and to support their parents. It'll be emotional, but I'm glad to be able to do it.

Have a good day all.

@martha79 we went to Vienna last year for a long weekend just before Christmas. It was lovely. We spent days cruising around the markets and visiting the main landmarks. Even went to a Viennese classics concert. Nigel’s description of the city, the horse carriages etc reads differently this year, memories flashing in front of my eyes. We did the horse carriage as well, admittedly touristy, but it was very enjoyable.

I have been busy christmassing this week. My Christmas wreath kit came, so I made the wreath for the front door. Yesterday the tree was delivered, DD and me spent evening decorating it. This evening we will continue with the rest of the house.

when we were living in a small flat in London, we used to walk around and admire the door fronts of many houses and dream when we would have our own front door to have a wreath. I have been making myself a wreath ever since we moved in our house. Every year I say to myself that this is the best wreath I have ever made before. 🤣

I think I need to clean my door though…

@WeMeetInFairIthilien I can sympathise with the huge workload at the moment. I've just had a week in bed trying desperately to recover enough to function and now have to force myself to catch up on all the marking, lesson prep and end of term reports that need to be finished for Monday.
My GP wants me to go back to working part time (as does DH) but I know that the school will struggle to find someone to take over the other classes so I'd feel really guilty about abandoning the kids 😥 and I know that they wouldn't understand. DH keeps saying that it's not my problem but it really does have an impact on my mental wellbeing if that makes any sense.
Aaaanyway, I too shall stop grumbling. I misread the post about the DC pushing the mini trolley around and getting excited about licking the bowl, as being the DH 😂, I really shouldn't be on MN before I'm fully awake.
I hope to start making Xmas cards for my pupils this weekend (if I manage to finish all my actual work before). I'm going to do a lino print (I have 125 pupils so it needs to be something I can reproduce quickly and easily). I also want to make them all a mini gingerbread biscuit each to give out just before the holidays, with any luck I'll be able to rope DD into helping me as she usually enjoys that sort of thing.

God, I love stollen. Bloody gallstones! Maybe I could have one of those stollen bites now and again...(but they're never the best stollen).

DD2 is obsessed with Berlin after a school trip a few years back and going to visit after Christmas because her dissertation is about the city.

I have a VN evening in store - going to see a theatrical production of Great Expectations in a freezing 18th century church. 'Bring blankets and cushions', the tickets advise...

Good morning, I am very behind with the thread (hope to catch up later today) but not with the book which I am reading daily.

@leporello , we also have tickets to see Great Expectations in an 18th C Church 😳.

Wishing good health to all. The Turkey Trot sounds like a special thing to do, @WeMeetInFairIthilien .

That wreath is beautiful @Strawberryfield12 😍

@AlicePottery I hear you and understand how you feel, but I suspect you need to heed the advice and put you and your health first. Working part time is better than not working at all and if you don’t get enough rest and downtime, you could find that you eventually get to the stage where you may need to consider stopping completely.