Best Christmas food?

[Fluffycloudland77]

I just want to bung it all in the oven & get sloshed on cava & chambord.

[misscph1973]

Me too! I am actually contemplating having Christmas lunch/dinner out this year.

[youngestisapsycho]

I bung it all in the oven and get sloshed on prosecco every year!
People make Xmas dinner much harder than it needs to be!

[Fluffycloudland77]

You might be too late, the good venues are all booked up near me.

The year we went away we booked in April 😮

[MayorOfWhere]

I like it all! But if I had to pick one thing it would be brandy butter

[WalterWhitesNipple]

Buy a chinese takeaway on Christmas Eve and eat on Christmas

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Oh , I wandered on here thinking it would be about "What's the best cake recipe"? (Delia with some amendments)
"Where's the best place to buy meat to make a delicious steak pie for the non-vegetarians? Supermarket or freeze your nuts off queuing outside the butchers for an hour"?

Not going out/having a takeaway for me

My No1 Best Buy Christmas Food is Sainsburys Taste the Difference Mini Mince Pies. Not the big ones. Not any other brand. I can do pastry but for some obscure reason, Mince Pies never work for me

If you want a Bung It In The Oven and Get Sloshed Meal, why not look at "Cook" (there was a post earlier about them, it does look nice .......)

I wouldn't fancy a Christmas Dinner out , though my DDad always says by the time you've bought it all, cooked it all, the time and fuel involved, you might as well go out?
But then he wouldn't get to eat the lovely steak pie I make, and, being a long term vegetarian, 'tis a Labour of Love

[Fluffycloudland77]

I'm hoping the important question will be answered, Waitrose or M&S?

Or online organic butcher of some sort.

[starsinyourpies]

Do you have a Cook near you? They do both great canapés and also a full Christmas dinner. Tempted but I'm also lazy enough to let my mum do it all this year!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Are you in Booths Country at all?

I've never had Ocado but I have noticed our nearest (not local, its a good 7-8 miles) Waitrose has really rubbish Use by Dates, sometimes 1-2 days which is no good when you want a buy ahead relaxed Christmas Dinner.

M&S is online to look , and I think you can pre-book soon.

What is it you're after? Full monty Christmas meal or something different?

[iklboo]

We go out for a curry Christmas Day. Plenty of time for getting sloshed before, during and after

[Fluffycloudland77]

Organic turkey, or wild caught game plus roasties, veg and gravy

I've already looked on marks but the thought of picking it up near to Christmas is faintly horrifying. I've seen the queues for that.

I wish they delivered. I could have waitrose deliver yo mil but they haven't released dates by the looks of it.

[Nanasueathome]

I have my slot booked for Waitrose and looked again the other day
As far as I can see they are all fully booked already

[Fluffycloudland77]

I wondered if it was full or just not open.

Bugger.

I could always do what I did 5 years ago and loiter in the fresh turkey aisle on the 24th until they reduced it all.

[bilbodog]

I always get my turkey from a local farmer who is open every day including christmas eve for pick up. Never more than 3 or 4 people in the queue. Also if you plan on brining your turkey you can pick up 2\3 days earlier and there is no queue. Already booked my waitrose delivery which i will alter and tweak nearer the time. Christmas meal is always 'when it is ready' so no pressure to produce to a timescale which helps. Drinks and smoked salmon nibbles keep us going.

[usernumber007]

I looked at M&S but I'm not won over. Going to have a look at Iceland. Dh is not impressed that I'm intending to "ready-meal" xmas but I don't give a crap. If I'm the one cooking I'm the one choosing what gets eaten

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

Riverford. Free delivery on Christmas Eve that you don't have to stay in for, organic, good quality, wouldn't do it any other way.

[ClashCityRocker]

M&s offering is poor this year in terms of choice, but I really like their turkey breast joints. They've changed the sizes this year though so it's waitrose for me.

Re m&s book the earliest slot and turn up first thing. I've never queued.

I keep hearing good things about Cook though.

[HungryHorace]

I had the earliest M&S spot in 2014. Queued for an hour with loads of people who arrived after me getting served before me. Never again (Southport store).

[idontlikealdi]

My kids have just told me they want special hot dogs for Christmas dinner. I have no idea what they mean by special but I am seriously tempted.

Hot dogs and prosecco, perfect!

[EsmesBees]

We did m&s last year. Picked it up about midday on the 24th and only queued for about 10 mins and got a mince pie and glass of bubbly while I waited. The food was not exceptional, but it was nice and much less effort that cooking everything from scratch.

[VanillaSugarandChristmasSpice]

Waitrose was booked up for 22&23 Dec at least 10 days ago. (In my area, anyway).

Now, back to Cook..... I've walked in, muttered "How much???' and walked out again. Had anyone tried it and is it worth the money?

[HungryHorace]

When I first booked my Waitrose slot 23rd wasn't available. I went back a week later and it was, so I changed my slot.

I'll probably cancel it once I've got my Sainsbury's one booked (I've already got an order which I'm just moving forwards all of the time!).

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

Last year I got a turkey crown from M&S on Boxing Day (reduced to £4 from £45) and it was probably the best tasting turkey I've ever ate. I think it had some sort of orange glaze/sauce already on it. I just put it in the oven and left it until ready. No basting or faffing required.

I cooked it boxing night and we ate it the following day with roasties, veg etc - like another Christmas dinner (we had a friend over to stay) and everyone agreed it was really tasty.

So my vote would be to order and collect even if there is a long queue. I might be hosting this year (not confirmed yet) and I plan to get my turkey from there.

[VanillaSugarandChristmasSpice]

I once poked a slot with Waitrose for 6pm on 23rd Dec. it still hadn't turned up by 11pm. We had to cancel the dinner reservation & pay off the babysitter. I was furious! I sat on the phone to customer services for half the evening until they acknowledged that my order was sitting in a corridor as they'd forgotten to put it on the delivery can.

[IsItGinTimeYet]

Local organic farmer delivered on either the 23rd or 24th. Everything else I prep from scratch and shop on the 23rd.