What are your Christmas food non-negotiables

[CoffeeAndOranges]

Just a bit of fun really as I'm a greedy soul who loves reading about food (and eating it).

I've got a bit less tolerant of all the excessive food-porn tv chef Christmas wankery that seems to get worse every year but there are certain things that I do love at Christmas.

Good cheeses, cured meats, smoked salmon etc to have with oatcakes, onion/chilli jam and lots of red wine or port.

A Christmas sandwich - almost better than the roast itself. Turkey (although we often have chicken instead), stuffing, pigs in blankets, cranberry and bread sauce, all in good granary bread. Yum.

Gingerbread/lebkuchen.

Clementines by the bucketload.

Spiced rum in black coffee.

Christmas pudding- not fussed about cake.

What will you be making sure you get in?

2 joints - usually chicken and pork or gammon, sprouts (which I love anyway), carrots, parsnips, roasties, cabbage, cauli or mac cheese, pigs in blankets, cranberry and apple sauces, mince pies, Christmas pudding, cream and custard, trifle, all the cheeses (especially stilton) plus chutneys and biscuits, port, Christmassy ales, Stones Green Ginger Wine, sloe gin, some kind of fizz, satsumas, After Eights or similar, paté, pretzels, chocolates - these are all non-negotiable. But that's for 7-8 people and a toddler, over a couple of days, mind!

Black Forest gateau
Elizabeth Shaw mint crisp chocolates
Eton mess made by me and DD, cream with smooshed meringues, grapes and smashed up Crunchies.
Birds Eye trifle for DH.

A full Christmas roast made by my mum - at least two types of meat, mash, roasties, countless types of veg, Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, stuffing, cauliflower cheese etc. DH has refused to go to his side of the family for lunch since having one of my mums!

Boxing day lunch is my absolute favourite tradition and has been since I was a child and consists of cold turkey, chips, sliced white bread absolutely plastered in salted butter, served with ketchup and mayo and the only can of full fat coke i drink all year.

The strawberry cremes from roses

Picky bits of party food to pop in the oven of an evening to nibble on while watching Christmassy tv.

Endless mince pies

A selection box. Shit went down the year my mum forgot to get them for my siblings and I from Father Christmas.. bear in mind we were all aged between 18-26 at the time!