The Nigel Slater Christmas Chronicles Readalong 2025 - Part 3

[RainbowZebraWarrior]

Hello all, and welcome to Part 3. 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)

For anyone new, it's a challenge to see of you can pick up the book as 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!

That's so strange, as it was indeed this very day last year that you bought that (and possibly the year before) I actually searched online to see if I could order it here in the UK this morning and would you believe, the top result was a lady who sells Durance products only 4 miles away from me.

I’m exhausted on the sofa now, and it’s cake for breakfast for a good long while!

I would have loved you to all turn up on the doorstep! Anyone East Midlands ish, stick it in your diary for next year! The last hoorah of Christmas. Back to work tomorrow.

Ooh, I'm Staffs / Derbyshire border so I'm nearly East Mids!

Morning all. There's no chapter today.

Hope everyone who is back to work and school travels safely. I'm not looking forward to it. I have to go in with DD (as in park up and physically take her into reception and wait for the bell as that is her strict and necessary routine) The streets are lethally icy with compacted snow and ice, and it's snowing again now. I hope the roads aren't too snarled up as I need to be back for 9am for dishwasher delivery round 2.

Happy birthday @martha79

happy birthday @martha79!
safe travels everyone else…we have had some snow at last. Not enough for fun, but enough to make my commute treacherous. And it is very cold indeed.
your advent calendar looks beautiful @LillianGishwill definitely check that out later.
im also East Midlands ish so already looking forward to the epiphany feast at PPP’s next year :)
and a happy Monday to all!

Happiest of birthdays @martha79 🥳.

Hope those with first days back have pleasant days!

We had a disappointing sprinkle of snow at some point last night. Certainly not enough for a snow day <BOOOO!>

Happy birthday @martha79 !

I’m not at all ready for today. I’m tired and sore and I don’t want to 😂. Hey ho.

I hope you have those rubbery spike grippers for your shoes! DH doesn’t go out without them when it’s icy! He’s not got great balance and lives in fear of a fall- which he’s never had!

Right, onwards and upwards! I have nice candles for my desk, so there’s something to look forward to! And I think we’ll keep the heating on all day, as otherwise it will keep plummeting.

@martha79 happy birthday!

Very very cold and frozen solid here in Yorkshire. Getting up at 6 was not much fun! The dog was furious.

I meant to share this with you @LillianGish it's a slightly different version of the Durance advent calendar as in it has soaps and hand creams as well as tealights. I'm very tempted to order it from this lady who stocks it at her beauty salon not far from me.

Safe travels. Glad today I only have to make it to my “shed” for work. London tomorrow though.

Work has given us an extra day's holiday and the schools are shut, though that was only announced this morning. Going out again for supplies. There was a magical blizzard last night - never seen snow like it.

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. It's a beautiful morning here (South Yorks, so I'm not too far from a few of you either), just a tiny sprinkling of snow overnight and -5 when I got up. Hope you are all keeping cosy indoors and/ or upright outdoors!

Had some lovely presents - I won't need to buy soap or wax melts for a while 🙂 Also this VN-I-think fancy hot chocolate.

I've been for a walk and am now in for the day I think. Got a few deliveries arriving including new lamps and lightbulbs for the bedroom which will hopefully sort it out as it's always either too bright or too dark in there. Plus some new gel pens in nice colours and a wall planner.

Having a lengthy catch-up this morning. Was finally beaten by the lurgy at the tail end of last week and have been in bed for the last few days. Today was the return to work day and I've got myself upright enough to check in on one really urgent thing before returning to the sanctuary of my blanket.

Yesterday I made it up and out for a short walk and felt much better for getting crisp, cold winter air in my lungs - at least for an hour or two, before succumbing again. I need bread so will at least get out for that in a little while - it's only a 10 minute walk to the shop.

Speaking of bread, I've been looking at Nigel's 1 Jan rye, treacle and linseed loaf. I've never made this type of bread but I do have 3/4 of a tin of treacle to be used. The thing is, I don't like sweet and fruity breads - can anyone tell me if it's still worth making without the sultanas? I do love a dark rye bread - is treacle a usual ingredient? Or has it been added here to compliment the fruit?

Again, in my Nigel-alignment, I had sent DH out yesterday to get me some pears but he came back empty handed (fruitless 😂). I hadn't read the entry yesterday but was thinking about the hunk of leftover blue cheese and serrano ham, and thinking this would be a most excellent pairing (tripling?) for lunch. Alas, there were no ripe pears to be found.

I'm loving the wintry pictures. We've only had a slight dusting of snow so far.

That calendar does look rather nice @RainbowZebraWarrior. How much is it out of interest? I paid €22 for mine in the Monoprix sale which works out at less than a euro per tealight. I like the fact that I know I’ll use them all up - a tealight a day is perfectly doable. Not sure about the other products- they look like handy travel sizes so that might be useful. I like the little hand creams. No snow here - it’s much too cold.

Pleased your on the mend @PricklyBob WRT your bread question, I'd say it will be fine without the dried fruit. Treacle is used in a lot of dark breads and usually give a little bit of a bitter flavour. My amazing old bakery in the village I was born in used to make a bread / stottie with wholemeal flour, treacle a d Newcastle Brown Ale. Twas delightful. Now sadly closed down, but I may now attempt to recreate since the topic has come up. I also now feel I'm missing out on pears so might nip in the shop on the way back to school later.

I am finally with dishwasher. Hurrah! They did ring me an hour before my slot time to say they would be with me in 10 mins, and I had to say nope, sorry. I've just pulled up outside school. Anyway all good in the end.

Ooh @martha79 Lovely pressies. That Choc looks very interesting and gel pens. I love stationery and bought myself a lovely pack of gel pens last week in beautiful colours.

Feels weird here. DD literally never goes anywhere without me other than school, so this is literally the first time I've had any time to myself since 19th December. Takes a little while to get used to.

We have had another 2 to 3 inches of snow this mornjng on top of the 4 inches we already had, so the roads were havoc this morning. We are also forecast more. I think I tried on some of those spiky things @PrizedPickledPopcorn and I couldn't tolerate them from a sensory point of view. Thankfully it was all soft snow on the pavements this morning. I can't do ice, so I'll find some way around it if it all goes back to ice.

Right. Got a few bits to do, but also going to try and rest a bit. I was up at 3am this morning which is ridiculous really. 4 or 5 is my usual, but I've told my brain it can pack it right in if it thinks 3am is going to be my new norm.

No snow here again but I can offer the view from Dd2's plane as it approached Berlin this morning 🥶

Love the advent calendar. I am now going to confess that I held back my favourite advent calendar to be a January cheerer upper 🤭. DD1 will start opening after epiphany.

It's £40 so I'm not sure. I love the soaps, but as you say they are travel size really. I also like the glass tealight holder, but perhaps not enough to spend £40! I've seen a few Durance candle and hand cream bargains on ebay (just been sent an offer for a 200ml Durance shower gel for £1.75 so I could probably curate my own advent calendar for this December. Hmm.. By the way, you're due snow in Paris at about 5pm. It was -4 at 5am here when we got out last lot.

Spiced banana muffins made and house smelling delicious. Now, to drizzle with icing or leave? Half and half? Might let DD decide upon her return from school. Curry #2 today. Yesterday's was mild and fragrant, but today I feel like I need Spice!

I also have a Jadvent! December was a tad manic with building work and I felt I didn't have somewhere nice to put it for weeks on end as the house was a tip. I am also starting tomorrow as it's on the hallway table with a tree on top of it (Glossybox; shaped like a chest of drawers) so when the tree goes, I will finally be able to access the goodies 😀

Ha, Jadvent high five, @RainbowZebraWarrior ! Mine is from a very cool witchy shop and is a limited-edition so I was lucky to get my hands on one. I'll take a pic of it once it's out of its box.

Banana muffins sound (and look!) delicious @RainbowZebraWarrior - can you share the recipe. Is your DD living in Berlin @leporello? DS did his year abroad there and was having a huge reminisce last night. He loved it - though said he’d slightly erased how the short days and freezing temperatures did seem to last forever! It’s proper Nigel winter over there - frozen lakes, frosty forest floors and candlelit everything!

Ooh that sounds awesome. Also potentially the sort of thing I'd like to get for DD for next / this Christmas. Looking forward to seeing the pic

Here's the recipe for the banana bread which makes one loaf or about 12 muffins as I've just found out. It came about after I bought the most delicious slice of banana bread I've ever tasted from someone at our village Scarecrow Festival last Autumn. They told me it was because it had whisky in it, so I googled and found this recipe. I use a shot of amaretto instead and it gives a really nice nice flavour. DD asks for it most weeks.

thewhiskyclub.com.au/journal/whisky-banana-bread?srsltid=AfmBOor08MRdicfQ81Aus6WuLp0ARMcg_Krtm4cjWUGNN_oeCU6bMStl

I also have Jadvent! In my case it's a basic chocolate calendar - malteasers this year, but for over 10 years I've been buying one very cheap calendar in the first week of december and then putting it away until January so I've at least got a little sweet treat every day to get me through the long, bleak month.

On the subject of Berlin; I picked up this book in a charity shop over the festive period - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/02/turning-swimming-memoir-jessica-j-lee-review I'm an outdoor/cold-water swimmer so this really appealed to me and I'm sure I'll be pestering DH to book a trip to Berlin so I can have a go in the lakes mentioned in the book. I've been to Berlin once before, for the christmas markets, and it was brilliant - such a vibrant and interesting city.

Thanks for the bread tip. Definitely a good way to use up some treacle. I had (wrongly, it seems) assumed treacle would be used in Guinness cake and had planned to use it that way, but not according to any recipes I've seen. Does anyone know if I'm likely to bugger up the cake if I add some there (have never made guinness cake before but love eating it, and recently promised a friend I would make some).