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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Aldi Christmas food was well rubbish.

128 replies

AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons · 28/12/2014 20:34

The roasted parsnips with honey and mustard dressing (Aldi) were roasted for a good 20 minutes more than the time stated and they were STILL rock hard and revolting (I checked my oven temp using a separate thermometer and the temperature was correct). The Aldi goose fat roast potatoes were not nearly as good as Aunt Bessie's goose fat roasts (I know because I roasted a packed of Aunt B's and a tray of true Aldi g/f roasties and served them in a dish together, the Aldi ones were a horrible grey colour and the aunt bessie's ones were lovely and golden, no surprises for guessing which remained leftover).

I bought a few things at Aldi and many were very disappointing.

Anyone else?

OP posts:
WaggleBee · 16/07/2015 11:31

Maryz is going to go ape when she sees this.

CrystalCove · 16/07/2015 11:33

What would you be searching for to make this thread come up haha!

OhEmGeee · 16/07/2015 11:33

Why drag up a Christmas thread? Confused

I love Aldi, and Lidl.

WorktoLive · 16/07/2015 11:35

Funnily enough, I was just thinking about making Christmas cakes soon.

I tidied up the booze cupboard and found three bottles of Captain Morgan spiced rum type stuff each with only dregs in and I thought 'that will go nicely in Christmas cake'.

In the past it has been my go to rainy August bank holiday activity, so I need to start stocking up on fruit, butter, sugar etc and finding cake tins.

CallMeExhausted · 16/07/2015 12:05

Work I misread that and saw "that will go nicely with Christmas cake.

I had a cake in the freezer - I am now thawing it so I can make it into chocolate dipped rum balls. It is your fault.

WorktoLive · 16/07/2015 12:33

Ever so sorry Exhausted. But what are chocolate dipped rum balls?

Are they a home made version of those cheap 'rum truffles' that you get in the supermarket at Christmas that are made of cake crumbs, artificial flavourings and covered in chocolate or sprinkles?

Now I have to make extra cake so I have enough spare to make chocolate dipped rum balls out of because they sound awesome.

And to extend the discussion further, I will put it out there that I am from Yorkshire and we eat our Christmas cake with Wensleydale cheese bought from Aldi.

AuntyBatshit · 16/07/2015 12:54
Grin
6cats3gingerkittens · 16/07/2015 13:12

My Sainsbury's Brussels with bacon bits were excellent.. I use a lot of ready to cook veg as I used to spend hours slaving over the cooker and missed Christmas day entirely. Also used to smell like a roast turkey, smelly hair and clothes so always had a bath and hair wash in th afternoon. Forget it, that's no fun at all. Last year it was all from Tesco and was fine and didn't break the bank.
My dream is to eat out but no car and taxis charge double fare on Christmas day. So hello freezer and the deli counter!

CallMeExhausted · 16/07/2015 13:36

Oh, I do love Wensleydale. I'll have to try them together. I am Canadian, we eat apple pie with extra old cheddar - the sharper, the better.

For rum balls, you take the cake and whiz it in a food processor until you have coarse crumbs (or do what I do and let the DCs tear it apart, then chop the larger fruit bits up). Then take your spiced rum and mix in a bit of cocoa (as much or as little as you like - DH likes heavy cocoa, I like it a bit more middle of the road, the ILs prefer none).

Then mix the rum with the crumbs until you have a modelling clay-like consistency. Do it slowly because of it ends up too loose, it can be a pain to try and get it back to where you want it. Take teaspoon sized balls and roll them until they are smooth. Pop them in the refrigerator for an hour or so to firm up.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or water bath and dip the rum balls on a fork. Set them on a tray covered in grease proof paper. You can put bits of nut, candied fruit, nonpareils or swirls of white chocolate on them now to tell them apart if you have made them differently. You can let them set on the counter now - if you put them back in the fridge, they may "sweat". They store well not that I know about long term storage, I generally make these and don't tell the family until I have snuck a few for myself in a tightly sealed container like a biscuit tin lined with grease proof paper. If you want to freeze them, do it on a sheet tray, and once they are frozen, you can package them however you like. This will help prevent sweating when they thaw.

The rum is pretty strong in these, if you'd like to make a bit "safer" version for the DCs, you can use orange juice instead of rum as the binder.

If you try them, let me know what you think.

honeysucklejasmine · 16/07/2015 13:56

exhausted... I think I love you.

wankerchief · 16/07/2015 13:59

Only 162 days to go people!

CallMeExhausted · 16/07/2015 14:02

Oh, and of course I am not saying this, not at all, but they are absolutely fabulous when snuck out of the freezer at midnight and consumed still half frozen.

Nope, I would never say that.

WorktoLive · 16/07/2015 14:14

Thanks Exhausted they sound amazing and I will be making them.

I like the supermarket ones but your version will be much nicer, being homemade, not cheap factory rubbish.

Nurserywindow · 16/07/2015 14:26

Anyone put their tree up yet?

WaggleBee · 16/07/2015 14:41

Has anyone not taken it down yet??

SaulGood · 16/07/2015 14:47

Anyone still finding needles?

DownAtFraggleRock · 16/07/2015 14:48

Next door still have their lights up outside Grin

those rum balls sound fecking marvellous

CallMeExhausted · 16/07/2015 15:05

Marvellous and easy as anything. They are enough to leave me looking for discounted Christmas cake in the shops after Boxing Day Grin

My NDN and I were the only ones who took down Christmas lights this year - everyone else on our little street (9 houses on a cul-de-sac) just leaves them up all year.

FruChristerOla · 16/07/2015 15:16

"Maryz is going to go ape when she sees this."

Grin
DoeEyedNear · 16/07/2015 15:19

Wtf?!

Fwiw Aldi goose makes for a brilliant Christmas dinner

notquitehuman · 16/07/2015 15:20

I found some leftover Christmas crackers at the back of the cupboard the other day. Do I take them with us when we move? Throw them out? Try to repurpose them as birthday crackers?

Nurserywindow · 16/07/2015 15:36

It is a chilly wet day here in Dublin and I have gone from looking forward to my Summer break to longing for a hot fire and some nice warm mince pies washed down with a mug of drinking chocolate Sad

AllThatGlistens · 16/07/2015 18:30
Grin
RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 16/07/2015 18:50

Next door still have their lights up outside

D'ya know what Fraggle so do mine. I'm tempted to sneak out under the cover of darkness and rip them down. To be fair to them, though, they haven't been turned on since March (the lights that is, whatever else they do is none of my business) Grin

Pasithea · 16/07/2015 18:53

Noooooooooooo there are laws about this kind of thing.

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