What do you buy, What do you make and What do you just not bother with? (Christmas Topic)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I'm furtively planning


I can make pastry, but for some obscure reason, when I make mincepies at Christmas (I mean, how dare I ? ) they just don't work.
So I buy a couple of boxes of Sainsburys Taste The Difference Mini Mice Pies. Has to be the mini ones.

Cake, I'll bake because there's lots in shop cakes I don't like. And I like to make my own marzipan and royal icing.

Fruit pie (apple usually) I make because I don't want it sweet.

I buy custard (either Sainsburys TTD or Waitrose ) to make a trifle. (No jelly thank you)

Christmas Pudding- unless we have visitors, I don't make or buy. My DC don't eat it. I have bought the tiny ones but found some sitting in the pantry months later.

Steak Pie- I make but not the pastry (flakey)

Coleslaw and potato salad I make

Bread sauce - I make it

Yorkshire puddings- I can make (but I haven't got the hang on gluten free dairy free) for everyone else but I can do without the stress on the day. Last year I bought some Aunt Bessie ready done (4 minutes).
I will have a try at making some -precooking and heat from the freezer to see if it can work

All the vegetables I do myself apart from red cabbage but I'm going to find a recipe for that (it can't be difficult I hope)

I don't bother with small cakes or stollen. ( Years ago I made stollen, nice but a faff)

Ice-cubes. I buy them

So..............................what's on your list and where do you buy .
Any good vegetarian ideas appreciated too

[TheFallenMadonna]

I make mincemeat (use bought pastry), cake (bought marzipan), puddings, chocolates, chutney, bread sauce. I buy ready trimmed leeks, but otherwise prepare everything else.

DH makes rum butter.

Buy pickled shallots.

My mum has a Local Lidl and keeps DH supplied with stollen and me with lebkuchen. I did make stollen a couple of times, but DH prefers Lidl. As I don't actually like marzipan, it's no hardship!

[TheFallenMadonna]

DS makes cranberry sauce. And for veggies I make filo parcels with butternut squash, crushed spiced cashews and feta.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Oooh , I could use some gluten free pastry (I have some in the fridge) and some feta (I am very low dairy, I can eat sheep/goat but not halloumi. Feta is fine)

Olives? Sundried tomatoes?

Might try this out and tweak it .
What else could I put in or would this be enough?

(I've been vegetarian for 35 years but I'm new to wheat/dairy less)


I made mincemeat once and found it to be a complete waste of time and effort not to mention ingredients.
I do enhance jar mincemeat with apples and lemon rind though.

[sliceofsoup]

I can make most things but choose not to.

I make Christmas cake for other people as gifts some years. None of us are that fond of it though.

I usually buy one small xmas pud in case the notion takes me, but again, not keen. Too heavy/rich.

Buy custard, mince pies, cranberry sauce and stuffing.

Prepare veg myself and do homemade mash and roasties. Our xmas dinner usually consists of chicken (love turkey but can't cook it), ham, cocktail sausages, stuffing, roasties, mash, carrots, peas, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and gravy. No bread sauce or yorkshires.

I made a lovely stollen before, but its hard to beat Lidl's.

I usually do homemade desserts. I did a raspberry ruffle cheesecake one year which was a hit. Profiteroles, banoffee, brownie trifle and pavlova are some other common ones. Might try a traditional trifle this year for a change.

[TheFallenMadonna]

I make my own mincemeat because I'm not fond of proper mincemeat. I use this recipe by Gordon Ramsey. In The Times, so you can only just about see the ingredients. The last ingredient is booze. I use Grand Marnier.

www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/food/recipes/article1781852.ece

[elQuintoConyo]

I make a lovely Christmas cake, following Delia's recipe; but I'm the only one who eats it, so after 3 years I just stopped making it!

I do have a nice easy recipe for mincepie pastry using ground almonds - nice light taste and crumbly, but not so crumbly it falls apart! PM me if you'd like the recipe My best friend always gives me a jar of homemade mincemeat - she gets fresh 'suet' from her butcher and grates it vom face!

[Imnotweirdimlimitededition1]

To Answer your question
I buy lidl stollen, their ham & mustard crisps,caramelised almonds & chocolate covered strawberries
I make chilli jam- a must for cheese board. Turkey dinner all made including roast potatoes in goose fat bread sauce & cranberry sauce. Nigella's ham in coke
I don't bother with Christmas cake but do like a small Christmas pudding. Crackers only bought in sale if I even bother- waste of money imo

[Snausage]

I like this thread! We have chicken for Christmas dinner. Huge ones from the butcher, covered in bacon, with all the usual trimmings! I make the cranberry sauce and the Christmas cake. Pud is shop bought, and I make some mince pies and buy some. My favourites are the Asda Extra Special ones.

I make all the chutneys, jams and pickles and we have homemade brandied plums and cherries (lovely with ice cream or cheese and cold meats, and the brandy is delicious!) and homemade sloe gin and bramble vodka. I tend to give a lot of homemade booze as gifts, I don't drink it all!

[Barbeasty]

After I made and decorated a Christmas cake one year and used it as a decoration the next, I don't bother with Christmas cake. And we don't do Christmas pudding either.

We have a different pudding to eat on the day, and to replace the display element I have a sleigh and reindeer mould from Lakeland which I make with chocolate (only takes just under 1kg....) and fill with things like Lindor to look pretty. From Christmas day onwards people can just snap a bit off as they feel like it.

I've made my mincemeat, which I've adapted to take out all the bits I don't like. And I make the pastry too.

I make all the bits for Christmas dinner. And I fill my own crackers too. That way they aren't just filled with plastic tat that gets thrown away. This year 3 of them will have tickets to Matilda in them, for DD's first ever trip to the theatre and first ever trip to London.

I made the advent calendar too. It's a felt Christmas tree with felt decorations to go on it. The star is always number 24.

[80sMum]

I buy in the whole lot, with 2 exceptions: I make my own cranberry sauce and my own brandy butter. I even buy ready made gravy these days!
Back in the days when I was a SAHM I used to make everything from scratch, including the mincemeat for the mince pies, but I just don't have the time or energy to do any of that any more.

[123Jump]

I make my own gravy,stuffing,sausage rolls and brownies for christmas. I used to make a cake and mini puddings as gifts for the neighbours but don't bother any more,get them other things.
This year I am going to try a few more 'nibble' things from Delia's Christmas book.
I don't actually buy that much stuff at all now I think of it!

[olbas]

I make....
Stuffing
mince pies/sausage rolls/cheesy bite things
cake/Christmas log
Cranberry sauce/bread sauce
Brandy butter/brandy sauce
I buy...
Birds custard powder, almond cake thing and jelly to assemble the trifle.
Bisto for the gravy...although Dh is very good at making gravy.
The usual crisps/nuts etc

[Thumbcat]

I buy...

mince pies
stollen
cranberry sauce
yorkshire puddings
stuffing
frozen parsnips (Aldi do nice ones)
frozen sprouts (got them for the first time last year fully expecting them to be vile, but no-one noticed any difference so they're back on the list)
red cabbage
gravy

I could make all of this but don't because I can't be arsed

I don't bother with...

bread sauce (none of us like it)
Christmas pudding
Christmas cake

I make...
roast potatoes - because I've never found a ready made one that tastes proper enough for Christmas
some sort of Christmassy dessert

[BiddyPop]

I buy in a lot.

I have made my own mince meat but forget to make pies with it. I buy the M&S luxury box - the gold ones - and usually quite a few boxes disappear in my office with sneaky cups of tea before any make it home....Maybe one year I will get sorted to make them up in advance and freeze.

We always make cookies. Always.

DD loves Yorkshires but I have no idea how to make them. Bought.

In my 15 years of marriage, I have never yet made a Christmas cake or pudding. DMIL used to make us a cake but it was different to DMs and DH never eats fruit cake regardless - I think he said to not bother to her but I don't get that anymore. DM still makes us a pudding.

I have had plans for the past 5 years, every year, to make a Yule Log. I have yet to put those plans into action.

We do put together a gingerbread house annually though. 1 year it was a big Lakeland set, mostly it's Ikea and a shedload of small jellies and other sweets. The roof caves in with the weight of icing and sweets, but DD and her BFF love to do it together (and eat their bodyweight in sweets, "just testing", as they go!!).

I make the turkey dinner from scratch. I even cook the giblets for stock for gravy on Christmas eve. But I do most of the prep on Christmas Eve so its not a big faff on 25th.

I buy in nibbles for Boxing Day. M&S do it so well.

I make my own mulled wine - I have a lovely recipe from the Irish Times a few years back involving cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and star anise, and I have added orange peel to it (just peeled strips of zest from oranges when I squeeze for breakfast juice and kept in fridge for the day).

Lidl stollen is sinful, and cannot be left behind.

I do make my own custard (from custard powder) most of the time, but I always have a carton of readymade on standby at Christmas. Actually, now I think about it, as we only have a small amount most times, we have taken to buying the yoghurt tubs of Ambrosia custard and sharing 1 between 2 of us during the year - so I have really given up on that too.....

I'll always have Jus-rol pastry in the freezer, and their croissants in the fridge, year round. And good jars of sauce to use up leftovers etc. But we'll make from scratch if we have time and are feeling relaxed. So I'll have those ingredients too.

I always make turkey stock from the carcass afterwards.

[BiddyPop]

(This year, I have been successful again in growing my own sprouts - which are destined for the Christmas dinner table - shush!!!)

[NeverNic]

I make Christmas pudding and a cake. I normally supply friends and family too. The stuff just multiplies as I add bits to it!

I make my own sausage rolls using shop bought pastry.

Mince pies are shop bought. I'm the only one who eats it.

We make ginger loaf, gingerbread and Christmas biscuits. I'll also make christmassy cakes (I have a seasonal bundt ring) and maybe cupcakes or chocolate orange cake. I don't buy anything in especially for Christmas on the dessert front.

Make my own custard except if I'm taking dessert somewhere.

Cook my own ham.

Buy party food and mulled wine.

Some years I make chutneys or cranberry sauce but not every year.

Make soda farls for boxing day breakfast

[Treats]

I make Christmas cake and Christmas pudding - both very popular in this house.

I buy marzipan and Royal Icing sugar (just add water) to top the cake with.

I've always made mince pies with homemade pastry and bought mincemeat - tried making my own mincemeat once but the faff wasn't worth it.

Last year I made a stollen and a Yule Log - I might do one or both again; might not. I could easily imagine buying some Lidl stollen if I didn't get round to making it again.

Previously I've made Christmas dinner almost entirely from scratch, but last year I bought in from M&S. Not sure what I'll do this year, but if I was going to buy some of it, I would buy a ready-prepped turkey, pigs in blankets and carrot batons. I would make stuffing, gravy, cranberry and bread sauces, roast potatoes and parsnip puree and stick it all in the freezer beforehand.

I went a bit too much to town on home made Boxing Day stuff last year, so will be buying in en masse this year. If we need to.

[trian]

the nut roast mixes i use (sorry, don't know the name) are brill.
I get them in independant health food shops but possibly other places have them too.
There's a peanut one and a cashew nut one, and maybe a mixed nut one?
You can bake it as per the instructions or you can just add a bit of water to however much you want and make patties out of it for frying.
tbh tho, as a veggie, i'm always just happy with the veg, and even better if there is veggie gravy (i bring my own tho as i don't expect ppl to go to lots of trouble cos i'm veggie.
And a naked butler to serve it to me. It's a well known fact that this is a must for all vegetarians.

[Pixi2]

I'm weird, I just do a regular weekly shop. It's just a glorified roast dinner. I buy mince pies for DH, Christmas cake for DH but I make most people a small sweets basket to go alongside their gift (rum balls, brandy snaps, gingerbread snaps, & panettone). This year I'm going to try to make chocolate houses and fill them with sweets for the children.