The Year Round Nigel Slater discussion thread part 6

[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 on Mumsnet between November and February each year - the Christmas Chronicles being a book written by Nigel Slater full of winter recipes and anecdotes - It has been running for a few years, and the contributors 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 chair, grab a drink and relax.

A very hearty welcome to friends new and old

N.B. The Christmas Chronicles thread proper will start in late October, ready for the book beginning on 1st November (seems a long way off, but will be here before we know it!)

👋

Pott Candle update - yes it really does smell like tomato leaves, and the throw is good for a small candle, and the pot is nice but I haven’t been able to overcome the tunnelling with a foil cap because the wick is too short now so once the top layer melts too much the wick submerges. I will probably have to scrape some wax off. It is very soft.

I already knew the answer to this without looking, but I checked anyway. They use a coconut wax and rapeseed oil blend. It's a nightmare in my opinion. A lovely lady in Whitley Bay uses this blend and I ended up chucking everything that I bought from her. It's too soft!

Mind the pots look lovely.

Meant to reply to this last night. I absolutely love the house creation ❤️ The colours are amazing and right up my street!

Urgh! We have hit that time of year. I know I appear to love and embrace Autumn, but I think that's just me making the best of things and the cards I am dealt weather-wise here. The garden is now full of webs, and I walked into three last night. I had been sitting out until around 8 / 8.30pm each evening until it got dark, but it's now no longer a pleasure to do so.

The main road to the beach is closed from today for five days for repairs. Can't decide wether to navigate the diversion this morning or just go and have a pot of tea and a butty at Marksies instead.

Anyway, happy friday everyone.

Thank you, it was fun to do - I'd bought a pack of random fabric bits so it was interesting to have to choose from just what was there, but I really liked those colours. I think I'll do the occasional workshop with them, it's a bit expensive to go every week. I've also been looking at Japanese style embroidery kits, might give that a try. Got sore fingers this morning though, I think I need a thimble (isn't thimble a good word?).

I know what you mean about autumn, I'm enjoying it being cooler (and it's a beautiful morning here today after some spectacular storms overnight) but there's also that knowledge that we're heading for much shorter days and gloom.

Today is a bit of a houseworky day, and going for a massage later. Also payday, and sorting out presents for my dad who is 75 in a couple of weeks!

Thimble is indeed a great word!

I've got a few projects lined up. Small things that I know will be more manageable and that I'm more likely to see through. Small felt decorations and such like.

I went out to buy the Country Living special Autumn edition, had a flick through and asked myself why did I feel the need to 'own' things like that. Beautiful photos, lovely recipes, yes. Easily read / looked up online though, so I put it back. I also didn't get a pot of tea and butty, but treated myself to a pack of cheese and bacon sausages and had breakfast at home instead. Also picked up a bargainous festival trolley for £3.50. DD is over the moon with it, and it will be a big help when we do pir scarecrow festival.

Humid and grey here as no real storms as of yet, although it had been forecast for the last couple of days and thunderstorms are now forecast for the next 3 to 4 days. Would be good to clear the air!

Honey demand seems to have gone a bit crazy this week, so I am just pondering logistics and delivery (and stock levels, bearing in mind we need a lot for our Scarecrow Festival) I don't want to spend the last few days of school hols delivering honey so think I shall tell folk it will be late next week.

Hello all

Teenagers are starting to get back into school/college mode (one goes back next Thursday)
And I booked Panto tickets yesterday (stall seats the week before Christmas sell out about now)
So even though it’s technically still summer it’s almost time to think about slow Nigel cooking and getting sorted.

We have x1 GCSE year and x1 A’level year here so Christmas will be a side note buried under revision guides!

But everyone needs good food don’t they?

And the hunt for the perfect Christmas jigsaw will commence shortly!

How’s everyone?

I’ve got Nigel out and am making some of my mini Christmas cakes to freeze and take to my Dad in his nursing home periodically. Weather-wise it has veered from sunny and warm to torrential rain and back again a couple of times, I managed to get two loads of laundry dry in about 2 hours in one of the gaps.

Have had a less than satisfactory response to my complaint re the candle. Just mulling over my next steps. They have offered a replacement candle but if that’s as bad I’m stuck with an empty expensive refillable pot although I suppose I could buy votives to put in it (it’s small).

weather very mixed here. So went for a mooch around local garden centre. Dp is back to work tomorrow so sort of cramming a weekend / bank holiday into a day. Not back till Tuesday so at a bit of a loose end till then weather dependent

Yay for the mini Christmas cake making, but boo for the candle replacement option.

I can actually see the storm raging in the North sea, but it is just briefly skimming us here on the NE coast. Wish it would just hit us in a way. I have picked most of my apples off the trees before they get blown off.

Cakes are out.

I managed to revive the candle today by digging the wax out around the wick and it has burned much better for a few hours today so I am reconsidering my crossness somewhat. But really these candles are not cheap and I don't expect to have to do so much fiddling around.

Always love seeing your little cakes. It's very much making me want to make christmas cakes now. I've also got my cherry plum brandy steeping which I'm going to feed them with in November.

Just added some dried fruit to my shopping delivery then remembered I bought a reduced cake kit from M&S in Janaury. It has the brandy soaked fruit in it etc. Must go and dig that out now.

Half price classic tins at pintail candles this weekend. The Log Fire and Incense and Embers ones are phenomenal!

https://pintailcandles.co.uk/collections/bank-holiday-bonus?_kx=ryHjR73Rd8ESrlZ3CR940Zz5ZfxF2odNUlQf60NFzRCiltYH_XFHZ2vvwqEdVPjy.SLcvHz

Good morning everyone. I've spent a nice quiet hour catching up. Yes! @RainbowZebraWarrior I have a bag of 'kose' saved for you too, before life went to s**t!
Last weeked one of DD's best friends had a birthday party. It was a hike up to the top of one of the local mountains where the is a self service cabin on top. They grilled pølser (hot dogs) on the fire, had cake and basically ran around. It was a gorgeous day. I've attatched some photographs.
I've done some nice autumnal things this week. Last year I treated myself to 2 autumn orange le cruset mugs, so they have come out of hibernatiin this week. I've got a branch hanging in the walkthrough so I've hung some leaves on it and it looks cosy. Also tidied the porch.
It's Lord of the Rings weather today, which in our house means the type of rain where you stay in all day, under blankets and watch Lord of the Rings eating pizza.
DH found a book for me earlier this week, 'mushrooms you can eat'. It's lovely book and really helpful. I'm only confident with kantarell and piggsopp, so this will be fun!

@frozendaisy, we're a year ahead of you on the academic front as DS is about to start sixth form and DD is off to university. DD and I are going to the big charity shop on Monday in the hope of getting nice old- fashioned plates and other university basics.

Cakes look great @ElegantDress

Enjoy your charity shop trip @UnimaginableWindBird

I like the sound of a Lord of the Rings weather day @IngenTing. The mushroom book looks interesting - I used to reliably know some as a teenager but not sure I'd trust myself now.

I'm very tempted by the log fire candle @RainbowZebraWarrior but I have ordered the advent calendar so I think will hold out for that. I have a stash of autumnal candles and wax melts to dig out and use.

Had a lovely massage yesterday and almost feel like my head is a bit wobbly as it's no longer being held up by the tightest neck muscles ever 🤣

Having a quiet day today, it's very grey and I didn't have the best sleep. I've got a book from the library about someone discovering the joys of canal boat living, which seems appropriately cosy.

I've been stalking vinted for vintage autumn themed crockery and Pyrex. There's tons of stuff out there for just a couple of quid. Have fun!

I grew up in a 1970s house with an orange and brown kitchen (which mum still has), I’m so not going back to it! I’m sure when the times comes I will be putting some of her crockery on ebay though, someone will want it. Our kitchen is blue and white, couldn’t be more different.

We’ve got DD heading off for second year uni, I will be glad to see the back of her clutter (but not her). Fortuitously DS graduated last year and moved back home so she has been able to use a lot of the stuff he had.

Great photos @IngenTing and we are now busy putting your box of goodies back together. DD asked me to send her best wishes and says she loves where you live! She is rather obsessed with Norway and it's next on her list of places to visit (after Sicily) This obsession has mostly been fuelled by her admiration of Erling Haaland, which is all good. No doubt the Norwegian tourism board is very grateful for his services.

Pleased to hear the massage went well @martha79 I know and remember that feeling well, from when we used to practice on each other as students.

My Mum and Dad also had an orange and brown kitchen in the late 70s / early 80s @ElegantDress but then Mum went through every trend and fad including black and red plates etc. Mostly from Binns and House of Fraser back in the day, but later Next and Habitat.

The house I mainly grew up in had an orange and yellow kitchen when we moved in (1983). And the living room had a dark brown ceiling and a brown and cream shag pile carpet that collected everything (we only had a real Christmas tree the first year, then I think the carpet - complete with many fir needles - was removed).

Sitting down to tea and carrot cake here, which is a slight disappointment as I asked for coffee and walnut, but still nice.

My parents were (are) very much of the "buy once buy well" school of thought which means they bought good quality and only replaced when something was absolutely unusable. We had to nag them into replacing their telly about 10 years ago because the screen was so dim you could hardly see it ("but it still works"). Their house is therefore a bit of a 70s time capsule, with brown and orange kitchen, 60s and 70s crockery plus things like tupperware, 70s cooker, an avocado bathroom, the (thankfully plain and well looked after) 70s carpets.

I have orange as an accent colour in my duck egg blue and teal kitchen. It works well and was inspired by my rip off Le Cruset shallow lidded pan which lives on my hob all the time. I think orange may be making a comeback as DD has chosen it as an accent colour in the lounge and bedroom of the flat she is moving into and it seems to be everywhere in interiors shops. She's too young for the colour to have the connotations it does for us children of the 1970s!

Nice day today. I volunteered at a heritage centre open day and met lots of lovely people although our first visitor was a snail who was promptly (and carefully) evicted. Then I wandered around Lichfield food festival. I picked up some lovely ground coffee and hot chocolate from a roastery in Nottingham (who gave me the idea of using the milk frother on my espresso machine to make hot chocolate- game changer!), some saucisson from a producer in Hereford, macarons from another Nottingham producer and some Christmas cards from a local artist. It was rather damp but the city was still lively. Shockingly THERE WERE NO CANDLE STALLS. I will have to raid the candle drawer at home (hardly a deprivation as it's packed with goodies...).

I also picked up my new library book (Less by Patrick Grant, felt wrong to buy a book about consuming less stuff when it's in my library for a little bit of effort!).

It's been a damp and dark day so I have decided on mushroom risotto for dinner. Feels suitably autumnal!

Tea and cake looks lush @martha79 despite being the wrong one.

The open day sounds amazing @petitpasta and I ove orange. It's one of my favourite colours. I think @piscofrisco has bright pink and orange accents in her lounge. Its good to see a pop of colour among all the grey. Why is grey still a trend? It's been over 10 years now.

I guess you have to admire that sort of attitude to a degree@ElegantDress but it must be hugely frustrating at the same time. My mother used to be a total spendthrift and always wanted new duvets and curtains each season.

Speaking of seasons (and orange) I am about to order myself an autumn duvet cover. It's going to be all change here on the 1st Sept. It's so dark and cold here this morning. I was up with the larks. Dishwasher on, etc, but my was I tempted to light the stove! It really does feel like that autumn switch has been flicked now. In fact I need to go and seek out a cardigan.

I spent yesterday doing a candle and beauty product stocktake and rearranging my wardrobe. That was enlightening!

Today will be market mooching and dinner making with roast potatoes a plenty. This is my second weekend now of getting back to good old fashioned Sunday roasts.

Happy Sunday, all.

Oh and @IngenTing your parcel is almost ready to go. We will be posting it tomorrow but there's a little bit of room left so would you let me know if there are any snacks / sweets / typically British things you can't easily get over there that I can pop in for you before it gets taped up tomorrow. Ta 😊