to think what is the point of pannetone, and other POINTLESS Christmas foods which we are conned into buying

[GetOrfMoiLand]

What is it for.

You are just conned into buying great big pretty boxes of boring dry fruit bread.

Tell me anyone if you actually eat all your pannetone.

Ditto wierdo cheeses (rhurbarb stilton for example) and 4-packs of dip.

oh GOD.

DP made me watch a chinese film not long back - it started with a load of chinese girls doing dances with great long scarves.

I went out in disgust.

I agree, no contest to our christmas cakes and figgy puddings. I've made my own this yr and stuffed them full of halcohol, can't wait, with a big blob of cream.

Don't mind a bit of stollen though, especially if thats a bit halcoholic too.

Ok - cannot believe I fell for the bad panettone spelling earlier. Worst is that I am actually Italian. Just had a coffee and a gorgeous slice of... You guessed it, panettone.

Anyway, forget mascarpone cream, I love to combine cultures and eat my panettone toasted with custard.

By the way, the dove-shaped one mentioned earlier is called a Colomba, and is served at Easter. It can be found in many guises, such as stuffed with Champagne cream, or coated in chocolate. Yummmmmm!

Churros are Mexican (maybe Spanish also) deep fried choux pastry strips, rolled in cinnamon sugar when fresh out of the hot oil. Muy sabrosa and muy filling.

I think I saw a chinese film once that involved a dance with scarves and swords.

Churros seem more like fingers of doughnut to me (definitely more doughnutty than pastry-ish), freshly fried in hot oil and then you dip them in your ridiculously thick hot chocolate.

You don't put any egg into churros though, and you do in the others, don't you?

My friend is bringing us back a churro-shaper from Spain as a Christmas present, and he just makes them with flour, oil, sugar and water (and cinnamon to dust or chocolate to dip). They are delicious. Depressingly (for me), they were also what he used to eat for breakfast every day as a child. How unfair is that, when we get bloody Shreddies?

Hi LRD.

I am convinced that churros are doughnuts.

I dont get why everyone buys sprouts for their xmas dinners then spends hours unsuccessfully trying to prepare them so they like them??

NB i love sprouts

Had Pannetone for the first time last year, and was very struck by its similarity to that yellow stuff you insulate lofts with

Trill - must be a Mexican vs. Spanish thing, I guess.

Mmm ... I love churros. This thread makes me so hungry.

Shirley - it's so strange, isn't it? My auntie constantly complains about how fiddly they are to peel and how disgusting they smell cooking (er ... only if you boil them too long, I think!), and how foul they taste.

None of her family like them. I have no idea why they buy them.

I love sprouts and am the only one in my family who does, so I grow them and just pick what I need. Oddly, someone always pinches one off my plate 'just to try' and declares that they're great and it must be because they're home grown. They do this even when they're shop-bought . I say nothing, smile, and have more wine .

I've also just been digging a spoon into sampling my mum's homemade brandy butter, bliss. It's casserole for everyone on Boxing Day here, I can't be arsed to bun-fight my way round the supermarket for 'party food' either [grumpy old trout emoticon].

I said it before and I'll say it again. Sprouts are manna from heaven

It's all in the preparation; parboil until just tender, then it's the roasting in the meat juices that makes them really fantastic. It's the richness offset by the slight bitterness that does the trick.

I have never roasted sprouts in meat juices, but they are lovely "al dente" with a bit of nutmeg.

I heart sprouts.

I misread what Peering was talking about and wondered why anyone would roast panettone in meat juices ....

In my defence I've just had something I would only consider having at Christmas ....

.... a snowball .

Eggnog anyone?

D'ja know, I have very fond memories of eggnog. I was about 15 though, so probably not terribly reliable as a gourmet recommendation.

On the other hand, I can (as an old git) recommend cava slush puppie. It was unintentional, but none the worse for that.

ha ha I remembered this thread as DP came back with 24 pounds worth of pannetone today, thats two. two. they better fucking taste good

Ha ha - I just checked with DH to see whether I was being overly judgy about panettone. He said he liked it. I said 'what is it then'. He said 'Is it ham?'. 'No' I said. 'Er, pasta?' he said, hopefully. 'No' I said. 'Oh' he said. He was trying to give the appearance of giving a shit, but I wasn't fooled.

pawsnclaws I definitely wouldn't recommend roasting panettone in meat juices...

A snowball!! I started my alcoholic career at the age of ten being allowed to have a snowball or a babysham on special occasions - ah, the 80s!