Settling in for a cosy winter: A 2022 special episode

Christmas is coming. Can you feel it in the air? I can, and I love that feeling. And it’s why I am here with you again, for a special edition of the Calm Christmas Podcast.  Rather than a whole series this year, to honour my own need for proper rest this winter I have created you a bumper special episode, to help you settle in to a cosy winter. This one is longer than usual at almost an hour, so get yourself a hot cuppa, or pull on your boots and head out for a lovely long walk as you listen. This episode includes the most important question to ask yourself right now, a host of journaling prompts, our nature corner, recipes, wellbeing ideas and tips for getting ahead for Christmas.

With inspiration from Nigel Slater, John D Burns, Edward Step, Melissa Harrison, Clare Foster, Andrew Montgomery, Lia Leendertz, Jody Vassallo, Mark Diacono, Keratin Niehoff, Laura Fleiter, James Martin, Paul Hollywood and BBC Good Food.

I hope this podcast will help you locate Christmas as an anchor in the stormy seas of winter in this world right now.

GIVEAWAY: To be in with the chance of winning a copy of Spice by Mark Diacono and a personalised, signed copy of Calm Christmas by Beth Kempton, enter on Instagram @bethkempton (deadline midnight UK time on Friday December 2)

 Take good care,
 Beth 

Featured in this episode:

- Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year by Beth Kempton (Piatkus) 

- The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater (4th Estate) 

- Wild Winter by John D Burns (Vertebrate Publishing) 

-  Edward Step in Nature Rambles: An Introduction to Country-lore, 1930, in Winter: An anthology for the changing seasons edited by Melissa Harrison (Elliott & Thompson)

- Winter Gardens by Clare Foster and Andrew Montgomery (Montgomery Press) 

- The Almanac 2022 by Lia Leendertz (Gaia) 

- The Yogic Kitchen by Jody Vassalo (HQ) 

- Spice: A cook’s companion by Mark Diacono (Quadrille) 

-  Advent by Kerstin Niehoff and Laura Fleiter (Murdoch) 

- The Fearless Writer Podcast 

- James Martin’s homemade mincemeat recipe / Paul Hollywood’s mince pie recipe 

Ingredients for recipes shared are available here. Transcript available here.

Transcript

0:05

Have you started to sense it yet? I wonder what makes you pause a moment and realise that Christmas is on its way. A robin appearing in the hedgerow perhaps, woodsmoke in the air, a blurred reflection of small town Christmas lights in puddles on the road, the scent of cinnamon and cloves, or good mood, riding on the shoulders of passers by. We all have our markers of the holidays, when we catch a glimpse of one, inhale the aroma of another and sense the arrival of yet another, our brain stitches all the pieces together, and whispers,"Christmas is coming." I can feel it and I love that feeling. And it's why I'm here with you again for a special edition of The Calm Christmas Podcast with me, Beth Kempton. It's 5am on a cold, wet morning in late autumn, the house is quiet and it's just me sitting here with my steaming cup of tea, writing by candlelight, thinking of the year gone by, of the approaching winter, and a view. For the past few days, I've been pondering the question I asked myself this time every year, given everything that has been going on, what kind of Christmas do you want and need this year? It's not the only question. And I'm not the only person to consider, but it's a good place to begin. So let's dive right in with a question for you to ponder the first of many, in this episode. What kind of a year have you had? Feel free to pause the audio and journal some notes if you like. If I think of everything my little family has undertaken, enjoyed and had thrown at us this year, the list is long. It includes all the huge things that have happened in the world, and how they've affected us in big and small ways. All the creations that we've made and launched in our business, a new book, a new podcast, more on that in a minute, new courses, tonnes of free resources, a mountain of social media output, and all the behind the scenes work and out in the world work that goes with that. I think of all the work that we've done on our home with all the accompanying disruption, I think of all the ways the children have grown and the ways that we've spent time supporting them. I think of all the things we've dedicated time to learning. All that has gone on with family and friends, all the emotions, the highs and lows, the joy and the sadness, and the everyday everything. When I think about all that, to be honest, I feel in need of a good rest. And also, I feel more committed than ever to seeking out beauty and joy in the small moments of every day. And so to another question, based on the year that you've had, what you answered in the first question,"What kind of a Christmas do you want and need this year?" I don't know about you, but for me, I miss the many things I've been grateful for, the year has felt quite relentless and I want a proper pause to rest. And I also adore Christmas. I feel drawn to spending extra time with family this year. And I want to make it special without it being overwhelming. Not least because our children are of an age where everything is magical and that is a treasure indeed. When I thought about this earlier, I surprised myself with a long list of words which aren't necessarily obvious companions, 'restful', 'magical''fun-filled', 'easeful','relaxed', 'memorable'. If I had to sum it up, I think I'd say I'm dreaming of a nourishing winter, and a delight-filled Christmas. Not so much'delightful' as that feels like too much expectation, but rather delight-filled because that points to both me coming up with lovely ways to delight the people I care most about. And also to seek out my own delight in the details and moments of winter and Christmas. So given all that, I'm going to use nourishing, restful and delight-filled as my guideposts this year. My filter as I plan and dream and scheme and decide what to take on, what to prioritise and what to ditch. Does this contribute towards a nourishing, restful winter or a delight-filled holiday season? If yes, I'm in. If not, I'll think again, and probably say thank you, but no thank you. So what about you? If you ask yourself that question and allow an honest answer? "So, what kind of Christmas do you want to need this year?" You can pick any word you want, as long as you don't say 'perfect'. If you've been listening to this podcast for some time now, you'll know that I strongly discourage aiming for a perfect Christmas, not least because so much is out of our control, but choosing just about any other adjective can help us set an intention for the approaching festivities. Which leads me to an announcement about this podcast. In order to honour my own need for rest this winter and my commitment to slowing down the pace of doing, I've decided to make this a one off special episode for 2022. I hope to return with another full series of The Calm Christmas Podcast at the end of 2023. And for that reason, today's episode is longer than usual, and has a lot packed into it. And along the way, I'll point you in the direction of other places you can go for some Christmas inspiration. And I hope that that will carry you through the winter, into the holiday season and beyond. Of course, once you've finish this episode, you can always listen to the audiobook version of my book, Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year as an alternative to the podcast this year if you like. The first third of the book is all about the time before Christmas, so now's a great time to listen to it. The middle third is all about Christmas itself and the days around it, the celebrations, dealing with sadness, loneliness, and grief, and giving yourself permission to do things differently if you want to this year. And then the final third is all about that special time after Christmas and before New Year, which I call The Hush and think it's a wonderful time for reflection and planning. imagining all the goodness you might like to invite into the year ahead. So you could plan to listen to a chapter or two a week and that will take you right through into the new year. And of course you can go back through the two series of the podcasts that I have offered you last year and the year before, which have done the run up to Christmas. Of course, some of the dates will be slightly off, posting dates for Christmas and those kinds of things if you're listening to the older series, but there's a lot there if you want to get some inspiration on a week by week basis. And I did mention creating a new podcast this year. I have created a brand new twelve-episode podcast to accompany my new book, The Way of the Fearless Writer. That podcast is called The Fearless Writer Podcast with Beth Kempton, and it has been running weekly since October. If you haven't caught it yet, you can find it on iTunes or Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon music, on my website at Bethkempton.com/podcast. And I'm going to bring a wintry festive flavour to the second half of that series. So if you start listening now, you'll get weekly episodes through until the end of the year with weekly writing exercises to help you tune into the season, and free your words onto the page. So the second half of that series is kind of like an amalgamation of The Calm Christmas Podcast and an inspiring writer podcast. I hope you enjoy it. Anyway, back to today, what a year. There have been so many things in the world that have affected us all in those big and small ways. There was a surge in collective grief for those caught in a war that is still going on, a very real cost of living crisis which we'll feel most acutely in the coming weeks and months as winter descends and all sorts of social and political challenges that make it seem like we've been lurching from one crisis to another. Of course, part of that is the urgency of the media's language. And to be honest, this year I dialled down my media consumption, and it made a huge difference. But still, we are all connected and everything that goes on in the world affects us all in one way or another. So I at least wanted to offer you an invitation to pause, reflect and decide your own approach to the holidays and the winter season this year, so that you can emerge into the New Year feeling refreshed, revitalised, and with a pocket full of new memories to treasure. Today's focus is about connecting with the approaching season, finding ways to ease the commercial pressures of Christmas and making plans for the kinds of experiences you want to focus on in the coming weeks. I hope this is just enough to settle you into a quiet moment in amongst all the chaos and noise of the world and start looking ahead to winter and to Christmas with hope and joy and a commitment to taking good care of yourself. I'm sending this out to you from the kitchen of my home, an old stone cottage here in rural Devon and South West of England. We've just finished preparing the house for winter. Getting a thatched roof tended to, rebuilding the chimney, adding a thicker stable door to the back room so I can write in there even on the coldest days. I've just come in to pop the kettle on for another cup of tea and invite you to draw up a chair and join me for a chat about this special time of year. Let's begin with a few words from Nigel Slater whose talk of Christmas food always gets me feeling festive. This is from his gorgeous book, The Christmas Chronicles which I highly recommend you treat yourself with this year if you don't already have a copy.“I love the crackle of winter. The snap of dry twigs underfoot, boots crunching on frozen grass, a fire spitting in the hearth, ice thawing on a pond, the sound of unwrapping a Christmas present from its paper. The innate crispness of the season appeals to me, like newly fallen snow, frosted hedges, the first fresh page of a new diary. Yes, there is softness in the cold months, too, the voluminous jumpers and woolly hats, the steam rising from soup served in a deep bowl, the light from a single candle and the much-loved scarf that would feel like a burden at any other time of year…” And then he talks a little bit about winter walks which we'll

talk about later. And then this: 11:34

“It is just as good to come in. You stamp to shake the snow from your boots. The flakes of snow on your coat melt instantly. Your glasses steam up. You close the door and thank God you remembered to put the hall light on a timer. You hang up your coat, tug off your boots and light the fire. You will probably put the kettle on or pour yourself a drink. Not so much as a way to get warm, more to welcome yourself home. Home means more to us in cold weather. Making ourselves comfortable is a duty. Making friends and family comfortable is an art. “Come in.” Two short words, heavy with meaning. Step out of the big, bad, wet world and into my home. You’ll be safe here, toasty and well fed. ‘Come in’. They are two of the loveliest words to say and to hear.” Nigel Slater is, as usual, so right. 'Come in.' Such lovely words to say and to hear. Who might you like to say come in to this year? And how would you like your home to feel to them as they do indeed come in. What do you need or want to do to make it feel that way? String up some fairy lights. Put spare slippers near the door. Drape a blanket over the arm of the sofa. Plan to bake something which smells divine. Have a bowl of spare Christmas decorations you invite each guest to pick from, so they can hang one on your tree or perhaps simply to make time and space in your schedule to allow for invitations, so people feel welcome to knock on your door or invite you to knock on theirs. And who would you love to hear say come in to you this year? Is there someone who would really appreciate a visit over Christmas I wonder? Why not do some dreaming and scheming in your notebook or make a list of people you'd really like to spend time with over the holidays, whether in their home or somewhere like a favourite cafe, or perhaps sharing a lovely wintry walk together. It's so easy to fall into feelings of obligation. We have to visit X and Y every year. But why not start with who you'd really like to spend some time with. And perhaps there's someone in your community who might appreciate a friendly hello or a group of people who might like to do a craft afternoon or mulled wine evening together? Why not have a think about what would be a real treat for you and for them. I think once we start to see Christmas as a season rather than a single day, we can spread out the meetups and gatherings that we really want to attend or create. So they uplift us instead of exhausting us. And we can carve out space for special moments with those we love and have loved. One of my favourite things to do is to make time for one to one with each person who means the most to me to give them real attention whilst enjoying something festive together. And if the question who would you like to hear say come in, lead you to think of someone who's no longer with us. What could you do to honour their memory in some special way this year? Of course Christmas is a time where all sorts of memories bubble up. Some hard, some beautiful. I love this passage in the book, Wild Winter by John D Burns, showing how scent can be such a catalyst for memory. He says“December in the Highlands is rarely the coldest month of the winter, but it is always the darkest. In the bothy where I am writing these words, it is three thirty in the afternoon and the feeble light of this winter’s day is bleeding away. It is already dark beneath the steep crags, and the streams run black-veined down the hills. I set two hurricane lamps down on the table and begin my nightly ritual of filling their tanks with paraffin. The scent takes me back sixty years to boyhood days spent with my father in a fishing hut on the Wirral. In that rickety wooden shelter, the air was filled with the muddy smell of tench, dank-smelling nets drying on low hooks in the wooden roof and steaming mugs of tea. We cooked on an ancient Primus stove that leaked paraffin. The odours of my childhood have etched themselves deep in my memory and instantly take me back through the decades. The images of my early days have faded from my eyes, but the scent of a wet duffel coat or a mist-filled morning propels me back to something deeper than memory.” So tell me, which scent take you back into your memories of Christmas and winter? Why not write a little about that today? Or be inspired by that scent to create a meaningful gift for someone who's connected to that memory? Here's a memory of my own from my book Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year.“My older brother and I are shovelling ourselves urgently into our heavy navy duffle coats, small hands searching for the mittens dangling by elastic from the sleeves. We tumble into the back of the old brown Volvo estate with our Labrador, Meg, and as soon as Mum has tucked our baby brother into the basket on her knee, we’re off. At first we are loud and fidgety, telling jokes and poking each other in our excitement. ‘Can we get the tallest one?’ we beg in unison, squeezing our faces between the front seats. ‘We’ll see,’ they say, noncommittal but smiling. After a while, the voices fall away as the hum of the engine lulls us into our respective dreams of Christmas. I trace the shapes of pine trees in the condensation on the window, clearing the glass one finger-swipe at a time to see the town rushing past, roadside buildings eventually petering out to make way for villages, then woodland. As we get closer to Ashurst, we’re on the lookout for the hand-painted sign:‘Christmas Trees This Way’ above a giant arrow pointing to the woods. ‘There it is. There it is.’ The trees come in all shapes and sizes. I like the fat ones with lots of room for decorations. Dad suggests getting one a couple of feet taller than our ceiling, so when we cut off the single spindly branch at the top we’ll be left with a fine, plump specimen. Once the tree has been secured on top of the car, we head back. In the past we have stopped off at a forest pub for a bowl of soup and some chips by the fire, but today we are hurrying home, eager to get the tree indoors so Christmas can begin.” I think it's partly to recapture this memory that I love taking my own children to a local farm to get our tree and to feed their reindeer. If you were to think of something that you could do this year to reconnect with a treasured memory of years gone by, what might that be I wonder? I'd love to know. You can come and tell me over on Instagram @BethKempton, if you like. And now it's time for our nature corner. Normally when I do a full series of The Calm Christmas Podcast, I love to track winter as it unfolds around us. But of course this year, we're just having this one episode, although I do dive into some seasonal writing in The Fearless Writer Podcast, so do have a listen to that. Anyway, I thought today we could focus on the season as a whole. And if you're interested in checking in week by week, of course as I've said, you can go back and listen to the weekly Calm Christmas episodes that I've shared for the past two winters. Here are some words written nearly a century ago by Edward

Step in Nature Rambles: 19:41

An Introduction to Country-lore, written in 1930. You can find this in the lovely book, Winter: An anthology for the changing seasons, which was edited by Melissa Harrison and published by Elliot and Thompson.“There is one aspect of the gradual close of autumn and the onset of winter of which the rambler should not lose sight. The feeling that is pretty general among people of the average sort, is that the country at this season is a place to be avoided; empty, dull, without any interest. All the pretty things like flowers and butterflies have disappeared; the birds are silent; the trees are bare poles and the woods are damp and gloomy. This is the accepted

notion: 20:29

but whenever you have the chance for a ramble on a fine day, go forth and prove to yourself how absurd it all is. Some of the details of the wail are true, of course; but the general charge is false. We must not expect to find snowdrops in October or blackberries in spring. Everything has its season for display; and we cannot learn the story of the year if we read only eight or nine of its twelve chapters.” I love that idea of the story of the year, how it has unfolded in nature and in our own lives. If you were to map out your year in terms of the changes that happened around you, and inside of you, what might that story look like? Perhaps that's one to ponder with a hot cuppa while the rain pours down the steamed up window of your favourite cosy cafe, or maybe on a long ramble as Edward Step would no doubt have advised. Talking about being outdoors, how would you feel about spending time outside at this time of year I wonder? Personally, I love gathering greenery to make a wreath for the door, filling a flask and heading out for long wintry walk, things like that. Have you ever tried a really mindful winter walk, with nothing in your ears? No phone, talking to people, they music to listen to you not even listen to a podcast like this? No, with absolutely nothing in your ears except the sound of nature. It's very different from a walker any other time of the year. Next time you head out, why not try it. As you walk, notice the feel of the ground under your feet, the taste of the air, the wind in the trees, the light and the shadows. Look up, look down, look all around, touch things. Notice how different bark branches and leaves feel. Notice where things are in their lifecycle, what's emerging, what's growing, what's fading, breathe deeply, and breathe it all in. I really loved Claire Foster's observation of her dying garden in the stunning book Winter Gardens photographed by Andrew Montgomery. She said, “I carried out an experiment in my garden last autumn, leaving everything in the border to die back at its own pace and fighting the urge to tidy anything up, even on the point of collapse. It was an exercise in close observation and there was one plant in particular that held my attention over many weeks and months. The round seed pods of the honesty Lunaria annua ‘Corfu Blue’ form in early summer, fading to bruised purple and then turning golden in late summer. By late autumn they had bleached to a silvery white, their tactile seeds dropping around the base of the plant as the papery-thin pods gradually began to disintegrate. On wet days, the pods grew darker again, a burnished coppery gold. As the weeks went on, more tracing-paper layers were shed, leaving just the outline of the seed pods, like pairs of tiny spectacles. On misty or frosty days these transparent forms shone and sparkled, transformed into works of art with the tracery of fine spiders’ webs and water droplets like diamonds. The day-to-day viewing of my honesty plants became a ritual, and I took photograph after photograph to enjoy and appreciate their decaying beauty." I love this idea of checking in on a plant daily throughout late autumn and through the winter, to see how it changes and takes on different forms of beauty, even in its decaying. I wonder if you might be tempted to try it too. Having said all that about the outdoors, I'm also not ashamed to admit that on extra wet and cold day, I've been named to opt for thinking about the outdoors while curled up in a cosy armchair with my seed catalogue, deciding what to plant next year. Either way, the feel of the season has such an impact on our impressions and memory of it. For me and my brothers as children, winter was getting dressed between the storage heater and the ring of drying clothes, trying not to burn our behinds as we balanced on one leg to pull on our school socks. It was Advent candles at Sunday school, afternoon baths and indoor picnic teas. It was baking, making, carol singing, hot soup, casseroles and bedtime stories. Pressing noses against the window of the big toy shop in town, dreaming of what Santa might bring. It was gloopy porridge on Monday mornings. Reluctant car engines, warm water poured over the windscreen and the laborious scraping of ice. A garden left to its own devices, the treehouse ivy-covered and lonely. Wellies for splashing through puddles and see-through umbrellas. Hot-water bottles and extra blankets and not being allowed outside with wet hair. Grandma polishing the brasses and baking deep-crust pies. Mum filling the cupboards and knowing that we will be fine if we are snowed in… which sadly never happened. The humdrum of daily life, drumming like the rain on the roof through the winters of my childhood. When we surrender to the flow of winter, a powerful wave carries us far from the rush of everyday life and inwards. This is a time to reconnect with our essence, our humanity, our creativity and our place in nature. Winter calls us back to that still place at the centre of our whirling lives. Much of what has come to represent Christmas in the twenty-first century – bright lights, crowded shopping malls, aggressive online sales, rowdy office parties, long to-do lists and a heavy burden of social obligations – is characterised by frenetic energy and noise levels that run counter to our natural tendency to hibernate, retreat into ourselves and rest at this time of year. Our industrial advances have pushed us far out of alignment with our natural rhythms. We extend the day with electric lighting that is exponentially brighter than the candlelight that eased our forefathers into a midwinter evening, or the weak sunlight that gently nudged them awake. As we addictively check phones and work on laptops late into the night, we set our brains racing at the very moment when we should be settling down to sleep. If we never switch off our devices, it’s hard to switch off our minds for long enough to inhabit the here and now, or to fall into a deep restful sleep. The choices we make in the first few weeks of December can affect the way we experience the whole season, and how we emerge into the New Year, so let's talk a bit about ways we can take care of ourselves this winter. In a usual season, I would give wellbeing tips every week. But as this is just a one off episode, my overall wellbeing tip for the winter, is simply to include yourself in the list of people who need care and attention. Think back to last winter. In what ways did you take real care of yourself? Can you do those things again? If you didn't consider yourself last year, can you pay your wellbeing more attention this year? Imagine the difference to how it might make you feel come January, if you were to usher yourself through December with care, allowing plenty of time for rest, reflection and delight. I'm saying this as someone who knows that this is absolutely what I need to do this winter. And I hope you will do it for yourself too. There are lots of simple but effective things that we can do, things like keeping up our regular routines, you know going to a weekly yoga class or perhaps starting Couch to 5k before Christmas, rather than when we're feeling sluggish already in the new year. Or simple things like writing a journal in the morning or sipping chamomile tea before bed. Making sure you have a recovery day between social commitments. Turning a normal lunch break into a winter picnic, or breathing in the fresh air in the middle of the day, during a busy day at work. Cooking up nourishing stews and soups, swapping your wardrobe so all your cosy sweaters and scarves are there when you want to go for a wintry walk. All of those things, tiny little things, easy things can make a difference. As can staying in your own festive lane. Try to keep your attention on the good things unfolding in your festive season. Instead of being drawn too much into other people's social media feeds and the Christmas they want you to think that they're having who knows if it's even true. So now's a great time to mark your calendar with self care ideas and explore ways to keep moving to sleep better and to stay calm. There are so many apps out there to help us with this these days. I love Insight Timer, which is a fantastic app for meditation. And Yoga with Adriene on YouTube is a great source of free yoga classes. The Calm app is fantastic. There are so many things, have a search around and see what works for you. I think sometimes it's just about taking a moment to think about it and plan things in. If you want some daily inspiration, come follow me on Instagram@BethKempton. I'm going to be sharing my alternative advent calendar from December the first through until Christmas Eve, posting a simple wellbeing prompt each day. I also think that deciding your present strategy in advance can actually be an act of self care, because it can stop you going overboard with spending. So you avoid all that regret in January, it can help avoid the guilt of too much waste, which can be heavy to carry. And it can bring joy as you think carefully about what you want to offer to the people who matter most to you. When I'm trying to decide about presents, I first make a list of all the people I want to give gifts to, and a list of all the people I feel obliged to give gifts to and those aren't necessarily the same people on those two lists. Then for all those on the obligation list, I asked myself whether this year's gift could actually be to release us both from the social contract of gift giving, because if I give one to them, they'll feel obliged to give on to me, just as if they give on to me, I feel obliged to give on to them. And it takes one of us to break that cycle. And then for everyone left, I asked myself what I could give them that is mindful, meaningful and memorable. By mindful I mean mindful of their situation, their values and beliefs, and the year that they've had. By meaningful I mean, something that has meaning to them because of the things that they love or dream of, or because it's connected to our shared story in some way. And by memorable, I mean something that is special and surprises or delights in some way. And there's that word again, delight. Sometimes I think that delight comes as much from the wrapping as from the gift itself. So I'm booking in a quiet afternoon by myself to make a present plan this year. And then when it comes to wrapping, I'm going to be putting on those Christmas movies and covering the floor with all of my wrapping paraphernalia. How about you? So what are you going to commit to in terms of your own well being this winter to come back to our topic, I'm going to be committing to getting some good sleep. I think I might actually try to turn my phone off for 12 hours out of 24 from 7pm to 7am for the whole of December. And let's see how that goes. And also to eating nourishing food with extra vegetables cooked with love. Speaking of food, just thinking about seasonal food makes me want to make good things. According to Lia Leendertz’s The Almanac 2022, these are some things to be found in a seasonal kitchen at this particular moment in the year here in the UK, at least. She says in the hedgerows, woods and fields we find wild fruits and nuts like crab apples and sweet chestnuts. The roots are alexanders, dandelion, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, lovage, rampion, wild garlic, and then we have wild greens like chickweed, hairy bittercress, dandelion leaves, sow thistle and winter cress. Game includes hare, pheasant, rabbit and venison. From the seashore and rivers, fish and shellfish, we have mussels, oysters, turbot, black bream, herring. And then fruit includes quinces which are particular to this time of year. And then so many vegetables - beetroot brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chard, chicory, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuces, onions, oriental leaves, spring onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, winter squashes, spinach, swedes and turnips. How about pairing them with some of the herbs - chervil, parsley, coriander sage, rosemary, bay? And from the farms we have things like stilton, goose and turkey, which feel like indulgent things at this time of year. So why not give yourself the challenge of making something new with some of those lovely seasonal ingredients or things in season wherever in the world you are? As you will know from previous episodes, we have a recipe corner. And today I'd like to share four recipes because this is you know, a bonanza episode and to offer some nourishing goodness and some festive joy. And also to introduce you to some wonderful cookbooks. Christmas is a great time to ask for books, and any of the books that I have been reading from in this episode make wonderful gifts for yourself or for other people. Well, I said four recipes, actually, strictly speaking it's three recipes and an assembly suggestion. But anyway, here we go. First up is a nourishing pumpkin soup recipe pay for one of my all time favourite cookbooks, The Yogic Kitchen by Jody Vassalo and the ingredients- I'm going to read them through quite quickly but you can find them in the show notes at bethkempton.com/podcast and you'll find a link to get you to the show notes. So the ingredients are:• 1 kent or butternut pumpkin• 2 tablespoons olive oil• 1 leek, white part only, thinly sliced• 1 onion, chopped,• 1 cinnamon stick• 1 bay leaf• ¼ cup (60g) split mung dhal• 4 cups (1 litre) vegetable or chicken stock• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast• ½ teaspoon freshly grate nutmeg• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds, toasted• 1 tablespoon of furikake (or you can use dried seaweed) And if you don't know what the furikake is, the spelling is f-u-r-i-k-a-k-e and it's like sprinkles - savoury sprinkles that you might put on top of rice or soup. Yum. First preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and then place your pumpkin on a baking tray and roast it for an hour. Then remove it from the oven let it cool for ten minutes or so. Cut it in half. scoop out the seeds and remove the skin from the flesh. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the leek and onion and cook, stirring occasionally over a medium heat for ten minutes until the onion and leek are soft. And then add the cinnamon bayleaf pumpkin, mung dahl, stock, nutritional yeast and nutmeg and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes and blend and top with your sesame seeds and your furikake or your seaweed and dive in. Yum. That's bound to warm you up on a cold day. And now I give you my homemade granola which I whip up by the big batch-full making this makes me feel like I'm doing something nourishing for my family and besides having it for breakfast each day. My husband Mr K can often be found in the pantry scoffing it by the handful as a tasty snack. So these are the ingredients and this makes a small batch but I usually make triple this and keep it in an airtight container. Mr. K eats a lot and he eats this very fast.- 50g each of any nuts you like, ideally at least 4 different types. I like using hazelnuts, blanched almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macademia nuts, cashews, pecans and pistachios. The proportions don’t matter too much so if you have all of them, or some of them, put them all in.- 50g each of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, and then any others you like. Sometimes I add sesame seeds or flax seeds too.- 50g each of dried fruit like sultanas or raisins. Sometimes I add goji berries, and cranberries are nice for a bit of festive flavour. Dried apricots work brilliantly too.- 200g giant oats. Now if you've got loads and loads of nuts and loads of seeds and loads of dried fruit, then you might want to increase the amount of oats that you add. So you've got probably well I'm not going to do the maths, put a load of oats in!- A teaspoon of ground ginger- A teaspoon of ground cinnamon- A tablespoon of desiccated coconut, if you like. If you don't like desiccated coconut, you don't really taste it but it's also fine to leave that out.- 5 tablespoons of maple syrup – the more ingredients I have put in, the more maple syrup I put in Okay, so I make this in our very old slow Rayburn. It takes about thirty-five minutes at mark nine stirred every ten minutes or so so that it bakes evenly. But if you're using a normal, more modern or conventional oven, preheat it to 160 degrees C or gas mark three and then weigh out all the dry ingredients chopping any really big ones like walnuts or Brazil nuts or dried apricot some small, put them in a big bowl. I often do it in like a big soup saucepan. Add the spices and mix it all together and then add the maple syrup, stir it again, lay it out in the baking trays and in a normal oven that would take twenty to twenty-five minutes. Be sure to stir it halfway through. And then when it's done, just leave it on the baking tray to cool before putting it into airtight containers. Yum. It's great for breakfast, as granola is great for snack and it's really good with vanilla ice cream. So that would make a lovely gift for someone as well. If you popped it in a sterile sterilised jar, and maybe put a pretty festive ribbon around it. Lovely. And so thirdly, I'd like to talk about mince pies. And this isn't really a recipe, it's more of a construction technique. And mince pies aren't exactly healthy. But as far as I'm concerned, they are nourishing because they bring me so much joy that I think they must be good for us. Every Christmas, my grandma would make mince pies and to me they're one of the central symbols of this time of year. If you don't know what a mince pie is, it's a sweet fruit pie, which has traditionally been eaten at Christmas here in England and in other places, too, for hundreds of years, but it hasn't always been a sweet fruit pie. They originally had real minced meat in them, as in mince, you know, meat, but over the years, they've come to be a sweet pie that has what's called minced meat in it, which is like a jam made with candied fruit, and all sorts of goodness like that. And the actual mince pies themselves are eaten sometimes brandy butter, sometimes with cream, sometimes a hot pie with cold vanilla ice cream, that's one of my favourites or on their own with a glass of mulled wine. My grandma always made the pastry for her mince pies by hand. But these days I have no shame in buying ready made shortcrust pastry if it gives me more time to enjoy with the family. And the same goes for the mincemeat to be honest. When I lived alone in my twenties, I had a thing about making homemade mincemeat and offering it in pretty jars as gifts. But I haven't done that for a long time. At this point in my life, I give myself permission to use a delicious locally made one instead. And if you want to make your own mincemeat this year, it's a lovely thing to do. I've shared a link in the show notes for a good recipe from Chef James Martin, and a mince pie recipe as well from Paul Hollywood. Both of those are from BBC Good Food. But what I love about mince pies is how lovely it can be to make everything from scratch if you have the time. And also how simple it can be if you just buy in the pastry, buy the mincemeat, get out your cookie cutters, warm the kitchen with the oven, put some festive music on and then roll, cut, spoon, add lids, drink tea as they are cooking and then sprinkle with icing sugar once they're done. Kipling's - you know the ones in the red box if you're familiar with them. They are the standard of many a mince pie and mulled wine evening here where I live if you're not doing homemade ones, a lot of people around here make homemade ones too. But anyway, who says you can't put those in the oven, sprinkle on a bit of icing sugar and serve them up with a relaxed smile. Do what makes you happy I say! And lastly I'd like to share a lovely mulled cider recipe from my friend Mark Diacono's wonderful cookbook Spice. I tried this using apple juice instead of cider and I didn't have a couple of spices, but it still works a treat so you can go non alcoholic, if you prefer. So to make 1.2 litres or two and a half pints you will need:- 1.5 litres (3 pints) dry cider(or apple juice for the non-alcoholic version)- 2 cloves- 3 whole star anise- 6 allspice berries- 6 Ethiopian passion berries- 6 cinnamon berries- 6 verbena berries- 5 green cardamom pods- 1-2 tbsp honey And to make it you just add the cider or the apple juice to a pan along with all the ingredients apart from the honey. Bring up the heat slowly and simmer for about five minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to infuse for five minutes with the lid on. Taste and stirring a little honey if you think it needs it, and then serve immediately and have a lovely evening. Easy peasy. I'm actually giving away a copy of Spice - it's a stunner - along with a personalised signed copy of my book Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year on my instagram@Beth Kempton right now. The deadline for entries is Friday December 2nd so come on over and join in the fun. Okay, good luck. And of course while you're cooking, you might like to listen to some wintry music will make a festive playlist. My favourites this time of the year are actually quite different from my musical taste the rest of the year, but I think it's probably because each song on my list has a particular personal significance to me. The songs I love include Wintersong and The River by Sarah McLachlan, Christmas Lights by Coldplay, Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Michael Buble and Carols from King's College Cambridge, particularly Once In Royal David's City, the solo at the beginning gets me every single time. I'd love to know your favourites come and tell me over on Instagram @BethKempton. And so I know lots of you have loved the get ahead tips and simple crafty ideas from previous episodes. So here's a bunch for you, probably not all for this week but maybe make some notes and have a go with any that feel like they would be good for you this year. So first up, if you want to make your own Christmas crackers this year, now is a good time to order your cracker snaps, because they often sell out. Here in the UK in particular, it's probably also a good idea to get your Christmas cards written earlier than ever to make sure that they make the last post in amongst any postal strikes. And why not choose one crafty thing to do to contribute your decorations this year, and then put aside some time to do it. I always find this as a joy. If I've set aside time early enough in the season, as soon as it gets closer and closer to Christmas, it becomes a pressure and also it seems a waste when you make it and then you hang it up for two days and have to take it down. So this year, I've gathered some giant paper mache stars, and some deco patch paper and glue and I'm planning an after school decorating session with my children. The stars are really beautiful. And I've picked some subtle paper colours. I also have some quite loud ones. I wonder which ones will end up getting used. If you're listening to this in late November, there is still time to make your own advent calendar which can be super fun. Some years I wrap tiny gifts up in little bags and number each one. Sometimes my children might numbers on gold coins with a Sharpie, and we string them up on branches. Why not have a think and see what you could come up with this year. Another idea that I'm going to try this year which I found in the gorgeous book Advent by Kirsten Niehoff And Laura Flieter, is to make a set of Advent candles. You simply find yourself a set of tall candles and pop them in used glass bottles to make Advent candles for your sideboard or dining table to mindfully count down the weeks and you can decorate them however you want. You could pop some greenery inside the bottles or tie a ribbon around them or maybe add a label with a countdown number on to make them look lovely. And then now's a good time to have a think about how you might wrap up gifts this year. Is there a way that you could make it special or personal? Could you use a map with some personal significance perhaps, or stamped craft paper or family photos as gift tags. Or maybe try wrapping in fabric or in recyclable festive paper with sprigs of greenery tucked beneath the ribbon. This can take quite a while so why not put aside a Sunday afternoon to gather all your wrapping materials and make whatever you need so that you're ready when it's time to wrap. One thing I know I'm going to be doing this week is a really lovely thing to do and that is going to the beach or to a nearby wood and go foraging or beachcombing to stock up on some natural treasures for making decorations and adding to those wrapped presents. And things like feathers, seed heads, seaglass, leaf skeletons, dried seaweed, perhaps, or even driftwood. And you can turn those into gift tags or into present ideas. If you do something creative with them, I'm sure you'll have all sorts of ideas of your own inspired by what's around you where you live. And then another thing that you might want to do at this point, if you're a visual person is to start a Pinterest board or a folder of inspiration for decorations, wrapping recipes and so on. It can be really lovely to see all your ideas in one place. And maybe you want to add in some less tangible things, you know, images that represent the atmosphere you want to create or the values you want to keep close or maybe some quotes to inspire you through this particular winter. And of course, it's always a good time to cook up some batches of stew, chilli or soup that you can freeze ahead so you always have something tasty and nutritious waiting for you on a cold day. And now it's time for some reflection on the year gone past before we start thinking about what might lie beyond Christmas. Now I usually do this at the end of the series but as this is a one off episode, I'm going to share some journaling questions now. Of course you can do this today if you like or you could make a note of them to ponder later in the month. I particularly like doing this in the time between Christmas and New Year's, time that I call The Hush. It's a precious time to breathe deeply, savour moments with loved ones or alone, and feel the world slowing just for a moment. It is a time for reflection and releasing, meandering and dreaming. So here are the questions. There are six of them. If you like, perhaps listen to a question then pause the podcast and write whatever you want to write. Or make a list of these questions and make a note in your diary to come back and answer them in a quiet moment. 1) How would you sum up this past year in three words? 2) How did you grow during the last 12 months? If you want to go deeper with this reflection, be sure to help 3) What particular synchronicities did you notice yourself to my free annual reflection and planning tool, My this year and what do you think they're telling you? 4) Where did you bring light to the darkness for someone this Perfectly Imperfect 2023 planner, which you can download year? 5) And what unexpected blessings did the year bring to you? at dowhatyouloveforlife.com and fill in with a cosy cuppa, in that quiet moment. And if you want guidance for in depth 6) What would you like to release or leave behind as you move towards the new year? planning for the year ahead and for bringing a particular dream to life, it's all there in that final third of my book Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you've got yourself a copy already, go to the last three chapters of the book and find a whole section on manifestation. So as we come to the end of this special episode, I'd like to share a few ways that you can dive deeper into the season over the coming weeks. Firstly, I'd like to invite you to join me for the free ten day writing course that I'm running between Christmas and New Year. It's called the Winter Writing Sanctuary and it's a really beautiful place to come and spend half an hour to an hour each day from December 28th until January 6th snuggled up in a cosy world of words. It's for all levels. Everyone is welcome. And because of the ongoing cost of living crisis, I've decided to make it free again this year. You can sign up at dowhatyouloveforlife.com. I hope to see you there. And then as I've said, listen to the audiobook of Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year, that will take you through the whole season. Tune into The Fearless Writer Podcast with weekly episodes through to the end of the year, offering seasonal writing inspiration and a writing exercise to do each week. Remember, you can find that on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music or on my website at BethKempton.com/podcast. And if you want to dive deeper into writing, be sure to get yourself a copy of my new book The Way of the Fearless Writer which is out now. And if you want to join me to explore how to do what you love, get organised, write a book proposal, create an online course or excavate your life through words, don't miss our annual gratitude sale which is on now at dowhatyouloveforlife.com We're offering up to 50% off all of my courses. We only do this once a year. So take yourself over to dowhatyouloveforlife.com and see what you might like to invest in, in terms of doing more of what you love in the year to come. And so to wrap up this special episode, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for joining me here today. I invite you to enjoy one of my favourite poems, Desiderata written 95 years ago by Max Ehrmann. It has become something of a tradition that I share this on my Instagram on New Year's Day. But I actually think it could have been written as advice for approaching Christmas, both the gatherings and the whole season itself. Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. Thank you for joining me for this special edition of The Calm Christmas Podcast. May you go gently into the approaching winter, taking good care of yourself and the ones you love, creating a cosy nest and finding your own ways to celebrate this special time of year. I hope you have exactly the kind of holiday season you want and need. I'll be thinking of you. Take care, my friend. You've been listening to The Calm Christmas podcast with me, Beth Kempton. If you've enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe so you hear when a new series pops up again next year. For more inspiration and access to a very special Christmas Care Package, cosy up with a copy of my book, Calm Christmas and a

Happy New Year: 56:38

A little book of festive joy. And for a peek into my own perfectly imperfect Christmas preparations, come and find me on Instagram @BethKempton. I'd love to hear from you there. Wishing you a gentle countdown towards a Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year.