Now, some of you might think it’s too early to talk about this, but for me, there is no dread in the word, Christmas! I’m sure many of you are with me and are hopefully, already looking forward to the festive season. One person in particular, my lovely friend Emma, will be in total agreement.
Yes, this has been a bit of a crap year because of the other dreaded ‘C’ word, but on the other hand, it has made me feel grateful for lots of things.
Grateful for the people I share my life with, grateful for my home and where we live, grateful to my neighbours for always putting on the best show as they’re utterly clueless to what’s happening in the world, which helps put things into perspective.
Christmas this year is going to be different, fact. We probably won’t be having Christmas parties, we won’t be squeezed into our favourite pub, swaying with strangers whilst we (badly) sing and sway to festive tunes, we won’t be running around the shops, having to squeeze past people to buy those last minute presents that we forgot about, before we go for a last-minute get together at a friend or families house, which is really sad.
These sacrifices that we’re going to make, keep others safe and what better reason is there than that? However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a great Christmas! The handsome one and I have got some very overdue time off next week, so we’re going to head down to the Jurassic Coast with Bella, go on lots of gorgeous beach walks and have some long, lazy (and probably boozy) pub lunches. What is also happening, which the handsome one might not be aware of, is that we’re going to be planning how we spend our time off over Christmas. I think it’s also a good idea that we start planning our Christmas menu, using my favourite notebook, because what’s more important that the Christmas feast?!
I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again, I, Abigail Evans, am a huge massive fan of, Nigel Slater, especially The Kitchen Diaries series. I (repeatedly) read them as you’d read a novel – they’re beautifully written, full of incredible recipes but also incredibly soothing and comforting.
A couple of years back, he released a new book, called The Christmas Chronicles. As you may guess, I had it pre-ordered and couldn’t wait for it to arrive, and it did not disappoint. Something I love about this book, is that it’s not just a recipe book that can just be used in December, it’s an escape to the ‘real winter’, full of stories, snow and musing throughout Nigel’s life during this dark season. Even better, the first story starts on 1st November, so if you need me on Sunday, you’ll find me curled up next to the fire, with my head buried in this book devouring every word.
Christmas really is a special time of year and whilst, undoubtedly, this is going to like no other that many of us have seen, but I think we can still make it great and still bring joy and happiness to the people we love, because really, that’s what it’s all about.
A x
Abi in the Garden 