To just want Christmas food with no alcohol

[Used4tt]

I don't drink alcohol at all anymore because I get drunk too easily but mainly because I think I'm allergic/intollerant.

I don't like the taste of it in my food anyway.

Why is it soooo hard to find a good Christmas pudding without alcohol? I know Christmas pudding is like marmite but I love it! I also can't find nice mince pies without some sort of spirit in them.

Does anyone else find it increasingly harder to find non-alcoholic Christmas treats?

@Rippled

nah I allocate it to stuff like going to the gym rather than cooking from scratch every night or making stuff my own Christmas puddings

, it’s not necessary

the days of women being confined to the kitchen have been and gone

I’ll say.

We all make our own choices, which is fine, of course, but it really doesn't take that long to make Christmas food. I've made my own mincemeat, Christmas pudding and cakes for decades. I'm retired now but I managed it when working full-time and also when my children were babies. It takes a bit of effort on a couple of afternoons in the autumn and then it's done. I use the mincemeat to make mince pies on Christmas Eve, with my daughter's help, during the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge, broadcast on Radio 4 from 3pm. Official start of Christmas here.

The rest of the year I don't do much baking, but for Christmas I make a special effort. I do cook a fairly large proportion of our meals from scratch. It needn't be particularly time-consuming. I batch cook and use the freezer.

How we spend our time is a choice. eg you can allocate more time to messing around on the internet and less to cooking good food for your family

Back in the kitchen with you. Stop messing around on the internet.

Yes! I know a few people who love a Christmas pudding but cannot stand brandy for instance. They always always got the M&S one but even that has brandy in it now I think.
I've a feeling last year they got the Aldi or Lidl one - it was a cheap one and it didn't have alcohol in it but they said it was good

Hmmm maybe my husband and I have not looked hard enough for the last 5 years. As a pp said, something might say "Christmas pudding" but then have brandy in the ingrediants. Out if curiosity, did all of you who said you found lots in Tescos read the ingredients?

I didn't say anything about getting drunk on it. That would be ridiculous.

A stealth criticism of alcohol? Really?

As a child we ALWAYS had alcohol free mince pies and Christmas pudding. Although traditionally made with alcohol, it's also traditionally made with flour but you get gluten free ones.

The above sounds aggressive, it wasn't meant to, sorry.

There's plenty available but the alcohol is a preservative so the alcohol free ranges may not be in shops yet. Why not just make your own? Marinate your dried fruit in orange juice and make a week before Christmas

Alcohol is prevalent in christmas food as it is a traditional preservative.

Last year (not looked yet too early this year for me) lidl definitely had alcohol free Christmas puddings clearly marked. Tesco definitely had them too (it was vegan) not looked at the mince pies myself but if the content is under 0.5% it doesn't come under alcohol rules so they don't have to highlight on the front if it's just flavouring. My homemade mincemeat doesn't contain alcohol, just apple juice.

As for making my own, I'm a dreadful cook. 🤣 I really try but it is not a skill I have. Plus, I'm the only person who eats them in my house (alcohol or no).

I'm so confused about why people think this post is criticising alcohol? I feel like I need to say I've just bought a ticket for our works Christmas party, knowing full well that it is based around people getting v drunk but I still know I'll have fun. No pursing my lips talking about prohibition in the corner.

I gave up alcohol a few years ago but have never liked the taste of alcohol in food when it's too much.

Prosecco crisps?! I used to really like prosecco and I really like crisps but together they sound awful! Why?!

We don't have an aldi or Lidl by us. I really wish they delivered. One of them does an absolutely delicious chocolate bread thing.

I've put YABU just because I did not want to give my kids food with alcohol in when they were little and it was no trouble at all to find options that did not have alcohol in.

Sainsbury have a no alcohol Christmas Pudding.

I voted yabu because I’ve never bought Xmas pudding with alcohol in it as far as I know - with what you said about checking the ingredients though I will be double checking x

Mmmm alcohol 🍺

YANBU although there are plenty of alcohol free options the 'higher quality' e.g. finest always seem to have alcohol in them. Many reasons why someone can't/won't have alcohol so saying there's hardly any alcohol in them completely misses the point. For a recovering alcoholic for example even the tiniest amount could trigger them.

Make your own?

i didnt like tesco finest pudding with cognac

there are plenty without alcohol, i am sure there are, and they at the cheaper end i believe

I drink, but hate brandy and the taste it leaves. Also sherry, it surprised me as an adult that I liked trifle. I didn't like my family made ones because of the sherry. From the age of about eight we were allowed a babycham or snowball, so I liked alcohol.

I've just read through a few, Asda, Tesco and M&S and they are alcohol free. I've taste tested mince pies and Aldi are good enough for us and brandy free. I used to make my own Christmas cake back in the 80's and 90's, when choice was less, but it's expensive to do a luxury one.

Why not make your own Christmas pud, then. Mine recipe - an old GH one - is delish, so much nicer than any shop ones, only brown ale, no brandy or other hard liquor - but you could use something else - cold tea would probably work well with dried fruit - it certainly does with barm brack (tea bread).

Make your own.

Tesco do them!!! They taste really good too! I know what you mean about alcohol in food at Christmas, we're not big fans either.

Just Google ‘alcohol free Christmas pudding/mince pies’. Find some you like the look of and order them. You clearly have access to the internet.