M&S Christmas - is it worth it?

[CatToy]

For the first time ever, DH, DS(7) and I are going away, to a self contained cottage in a remote part of the country this Christmas. Usually we have several family members around, and I cook everything from scratch and pull out all the stops. Yes it is just a roast dinner, but Christmas is always a tonne more effort because everything is just that little bit more special. Plus I like to cook and go the extra mile at times.

DH wants us to have an easy day and me not cooking all day (so do I) and suggested getting an M&S Christmas food order in that I can bung in the oven. I have been on the website and the dinner alone is coming to nigh on 100 quid for just the three of us, and that is without booze, or Christmas pud. I am coeliac so some options are limited.

Does anyone else do this? Is it worth it? Is it tasty? Is there definite things we should have and definite things we shouldn't bother with?

Thanks!

We get our turkey from M&S and it’s always beautiful.

Worth every penny in my opinion. My DH is coeliac too and M&S is brill for GF options.

We have a turkey crown, a gammon, the luxury veg selection, the garnish selection with the pigs in blankets and stuffing and the turkey gravy. Bloody lovely. I ordered the GF vanilla cheesecake for DH last year and he said it was lovely, tasted as good as normal cheesecake.

Definitely worth it! We m&s every year for 8 adults and 2 kids and its always worth every penny!

Overpriced, overhyped, overwoke.

I'm having a look at Waitrose this year. And finally enough, a couple of Iceland vegan things that are palm oil free.

If you pull out all the stops can you get it cheaper elsewhere? My turkey is usually £65 from the farm shop. That is before anything else! So it adds up wherever you source it.

If your remote cottage is up north have you considered Booths? Food is nicer imo.

Also, how good is the oven at the place you're going to? What size? Is it guaranteed to work?

Are you commited to free range / organic turkey?I

Apols for so many qq^^

That's the other thing, I don't know what the oven is going to be like. Just that there is one.

On the website there are no gluten free puddings showing at the moment 😣

Oh and not committed to fre range or organic turkey.

It's worth sending an email to the owner of the cottage to ask for more details of the oven.

Sorry, posted too soon. I normally just get a bog standard fresh turkey for about 35 pounds and jazz it up myself.

If you can afford it then go for it. It will be delicious and definitely easier than cooking from scratch. There are cheaper options available, of course there are, if it works for you just do it.

Yes, ask ahead about the oven.

I remember the thread about the poster who got to the remote weekend cottage and the oven didn't work and she'd taken a ton of expensive food (including home cooked meals) and she was in a right pickle.

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/turkey-breast-with-a-pork-sage-onion-stuffing-and-muscovado-glaze/718717-701740-701741

This apparently serves 6, is £28, and wouldn't need a particularly brilliant oven. Includes stuffing and glaze.

Or there are whole turkeys for £30, serve 8.

For that price I would probably book into a restaurant for Christmas dinner and have absolutely no cooking or dishes to do at all !

I second going out instead.

Going out is likely to at least cost twice as much and many places will be booked up by now. Don't forget that if they want to share a bottle of fizz with the meal, what costs £5-10 from the supermarket will be a minimum of £20 in a pub, and probably more than that, and meals are usually at least £50-60 pp, even in chain carveries that normally cost under a tenner.

How about getting some stuff ready made, some to cook and DH does half the work, such as veg peeling, table setting, starter prep etc, so you can all do it together in the kitchen?

We get the M&S stuffed turkey crown which is lovely, and I used to get all the buffet bits for Christmas Eve but finding it increasingly overpriced . Places like Aldi and Iceland have upped their game and you can get really nice stuff there now for a fraction of M&S prices.

M ans S turkey crown is great value and delicious.