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.

I buy my little posh cheeses as a treat, DH likes mince pies and christmas pud, i would rather have some pate and different cheeses. with crackers

Pannetone -seriously what is that about?You'd think a bunch of serious foodies like the Italians would have come up with something better. Italian food is the best but what is the story with pannetone?! I don't gt it.

We get given pannetone every year. Every year we might have a slice (or we just leave it), then we throw it out. Stollen I quite like, not as rich as our Christmas cake but it has some kind of consistency. Pannetone is like trying to eat cottonwool with dried fruit in it.

You can get chocolate panettone.Surely that's worth eating?

Orm - oh yes you could keep the packaging, maybe doctor the picture on the front to depict a frothy scene, and voila, a lovely Christmassy bath gift.

A loofah and bath bomb in one.

pickled walnuts?? I have never heard of that. And I love walnuts. hm.

I'm not a fan of pannetone. I do love, as was mentioned upthread, just about anything Germanic. eg stollen, lebkuchen, pfefferneusse. Stollen is the only item containing marzipan that I actually enjoy.

would not eat stollen nor pannetone

but tunis cake on the other hand.....

Dog poo walnuts...

...i raise you cat shit choc truffles you get in packs with cheap champagne.

those biscuits will be Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) - German or at least I think they are originally. I don't like them either, too much with the thickness and too much flavouring IMO

What is nice is Spekulatius - thinner, lighter flavouring, still nice and Christmassy though

eeeuch they are awful belligerent i think they are called something like that.

pickled walnuts: yes, they do taste vinegary, but its the texture that is the nicest part. and you can taste that they are walnuts. mmmmm i might have to get some :o

pickled walnuts is sounding peculiar to me,can't imagine it

ooh but yes we do love mince pies. Neither DH nor I are from the UK originally. You should have seen how many boxes of mince pies we went through our first Christmas here.

Come to think of it, I've only had one this year so far. I think we overdid it those first couple of Christmases, and only have them sparingly now. They are awfully sweet.

mm.

I'm sitting here eating a pack of M&S choc truffles. They are strange looking little things, like nuggets of dried cat poo (since we are on that theme). But they are BLOODY GORGEOUS.

fruit in cheese is fucking WRONG

anyone else have a pile of nuts to crack over Christmas? Dh goes beserk buying all these nutsand then when you crack them open, there are shells all over the place.

(I don't honestly really see the point in it but ditto the goose and all the rest of it he likes to have)

We do love spekulatius here as well. We lived in Holland for a few years, and were pleasantly surprised to find that they have their version available all year round, as opposed to just during Christmas.

Zimtsterne are my husband's Christmas comfort food (he's German). I really should try and make them, as we don't find them often here..

Good panettone is delicious smothered in butter. I'll polish off the lot if I'm lucky enough to be given some. Too 'spensive to buy myself though.

I don't like shop bought mince pies - too sweet and gacky. This year I've made my own mincemeat and got experimental with the spices; cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and star anise as well as the usual all spice (and loads of port and brandy, obviously). Made the pastry too, and they're delicious [smug domestic goddess emoticon]

I LOVE brussel sprouts, we have them most weekends when they're in season. They must be parboiled then roasted in the oven in the meat juices though.

I'm not a fan of marzipan, but DP is, so I can palm all mine off on him.

Germanic every time! Half German, so it's in my genes!! :)

what is French Christmas cake like I wonder?

fruit in cheese is no more wrong than turkey with cranberry or pork with apple

you'd eat a strong cheddar and apple in a ploughmans, or grapes with a cheeseboard

apricot and cranberries go nicely in cheese

now marmite cheese, that is wrong

Oh god, I can eat a panettone all by myself. The fruited one lovely toasted or made into bread and butter pudding.

The Pandoro one I think you are supposed to dust with the icing sugar that comes with it and then dunk in your prosecco at celebrations. Lovely. We have some on NYE with the kids (while watching Hootenanny like sad, nowhere to go and no babysitters old farts)

what is spekulatius ?

sounds like a medical instrument or contagious condition

Ew at Stollen though. Sweet animal fat, solidified. Like diabetic's mucus.

Yuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm >vom>

"pannetone is great for toasting for breakfast, and jamie does a pudding with it that never fails to get me a standing ovation when I make it"

Blimey, Cyb, are you taking posting lessons from LeQueen? .

I'm happy to say I no longer bother with mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding or Panettone.

It's stollen, lebkuchen, pfeffernusse and marzipan kartoffeln all the way.

I wouldn't say no to some buche de Noel, however.

Pickled walnuts - forgot about those, oh YUM!