When do you start eating the Christmas food?

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Or “open the Christmas cupboard” as we call it in our house?

For us personally I clear space in one of the cupboards in October and I buy a few none perishables to add to it every week in the food shop including both snacks and drinks. This is firmly the Christmas cupboard and out of bounds to everyone. This helps us spread the cost out a little bit as when I pull it out before the big Christmas food shop i’m always shocked at how much I’ve managed to collect without seeing it hit the bank balance massively.

On the 19th next week I will do a “BIG” Christmas food shop, expiry dates permitting. I will probably have to top up the veg a bit closer to the day but Tesco is just down the road. I’ve just announced to the family the Christmas cupboard will be open from Saturday 20th so cheers all around. Silly tradition but something we all look forward to and have lots of snacks with a festive film. My friend is here and stated that she doesn’t allow her family to eat any Christmas food until Xmas eve.

Just wondering when you start eating the Christmas food?

I had my 3 adult DC, foster DC and dgc all over this weekend and we went ice skating Friday night, painting a Xmas bauble on the Saturday then cooked a full Xmas dinner for them all with all trimmings. I do this each year one weekend in early December as we can't all be together if or Xmas day. The rest of the Xmas goodies not until Xmas Eve. I'll get a big shop next weekend then fresh fruit, turkey, sausage meat, pigs in blankets and vegetables closer to big day. I do have 2 packs of pigs in blankets in freezer but know I'll need more as very popular in my house.

Yes, 20th is fine but mince pies are definitely excluded.

Probably Christmas Eve. I like it to last longer after Christmas so I get time off cooking as everyone just picks at snacks and leftovers.

Mince pies are fair game from when they hit the shelves in October.
Christmas bits are officially allowed to be eaten from Christmas eve

We start adding (non perishable) bits to our weekly shop in Nov, with the aim of starting to eat them around 21st/22nd Dec.

We've already eaten 2 tubs of chocolates and 2 (large/ to share) gingerbread biscuits!

According to my teenager, starting on the Christmas treats early is the best bit about Christmas!

Not read the full thread or I wouldn’t find your comment again. I got 2 packs of Cadburys chocolate baubles from Tesco! Hope that helps @RescueMeFromThisSilliness

I have a little Christmas basket that I fill up with chocolate. I filled it up the weekend before last, as we put the tree and decorations up. I told dc when it was gone, it was gone until I filled it up again. I was planning on doing it this weekend, but we were out more or less all weekend. I might put a few bits in there later, but I will fill it up on the weekend. I bought dc1 x6 tubes of smarties. I put x3 out, which he ate over a few days, and left 3 put away, but he asked for one more one day after school so I said ok. When I looked the other day he's eaten the lot (he's been in the special Christmas cupboard)!! I haven't replaced them. I might buy some more today. Dc2 is a chocoholic, but in fairness he listened and hasn't taken anymore than what was put out. I think this weekend we will crack open the cupboard!

I don't know about eating Christmas food but you need to get the sprouts cooking as soon as Easter is over.

Same here! I usually get chocolate santas from Aldi for the tree but this year they have had nothing. I found some hollow chocolate baubles in Sainsburys. Nothing in Tesco. Also found some Cadburys ones for the tree, but they are tiny!

I have also bought a tin of M&S Big Mix chocolates to see how they compare with Quality Street. This will get opened on Christmas Eve and then other nibbly things that I have stashed will be eaten from Christmas Day onwards.

We start our Christmas on 1st December - decorations up, watch Christmas films and start eating and drinking Christmas type stuff - sloe gin, stollen, chocolates, nice red wine, mince pies, christmas cake, cheese etc. Only two of us at home - it spreads light and cheer. I love the cosiness of this time of year and love to spread out the celebration over this dark time of winter.

However this year I'm not going overboard so much on the cheese, chocolate and cake as I managed to lose over half a stone through cutting out these type of things - so don't want to end up putting the weight back on. Still, everything in moderation I tell myself!!! It is Christmas after all!

We don’t really have a Christmas food stash as such. I did buy pigs and blankets favoured coated nuts yesterday and those are gone already. We will probably start getting some favourites in next weekend (some things OH and I love are mince pies, chocolate Brazil nuts, anything pigs in blankets flavoured, crackers, after eights etc….) and I usually do some baking too.

Thanks fot that, yes I saw the Cadburys ones - but they aren't a very Christmassy colour. They wouldn't look right on my tree.

Why there's such a shortage of normal chocolate baubles this year is beyond me. They have been getting harder to find the last few years and Aldi has always come up trumps. Until this year.😐

ChristmasEve when I retrieve it from my friends house otherewse it would be eaten already!

So many birthdays in our family in December we don't need to!

We opened the christmas cake on Saturday just gone

Already eaten 2 boxes of mince pies, a small christmas cake, chocolate coins all gone, and the kids aren't back for Christmas yet! We tend just to buy christmas goodies as and when. The only thing we have stashed is the Christmas puddings and dairy free custard as our youngest is dairy and gluten free. Will do a big shop with lots of extras next week just before they both come home, that's the best part, us all being together as they both live in London and we are up north.

I got some in Poundland today.

Just to add now I’ve read through the entire thread and seen a few of your comments about the chocolate baubles - the ones I mentioned that I got today in Poundland are Santa ones. They have bags of Santa’s and bags of large gold chocolate baubles.

Mum always had the rule no chocolate tree decorations until post lunch on Christmas day. several weeks of shiny wrapped shapes in foil all that build up and the chocolate was rank though not so much in those days. I had the same rule for my kids. The chocolate in them really never was up to much

Thank you and @Mhvybffbdcrvtvd too.

When the kids get back from the last day of school, that seems to be holiday time. Though DH and DS have already eaten a lot, and DH says I'm a Christmas snack tyrant for guarding them

Christmas Eve here.

Then it gets binged on, up until NYE when we move on tasty "new years" treats!

We have picky bits of food out all over Christmas rather than big bang on a chosen day.

We have picky bits of food out all over December rather than big bang on a chosen day.