M&S Christmas food- is it worth it?

[yorkshireyummymummy]

Just checked my M&S gift card - I stick something on it most months and was pleasantly suprised to discover I currently have £200 on it. There's three of us in our house- me , DH and DDage 10 plus the all important dog. I usually cook everything from scratch every day and so Christmas is no different. But I'm wondering if it's worth buying pre done M&S foods from their Xmas brochure and ordering service? We don't need shit loads since it's just us so I wondered,- is it worth the money to get the time off? Or will I resent spending when I can do it just as well myself? Has anybody ever done the M&S Christmas dinner? Or Xmas eve? Or should I just buy lots of chocolates and champagne?? Or even just use my saving card to buy big comfy pants and truly become middle aged?

It's just DH,adult DD and for Christmas this year. We are looking forward to our M&S Christmas dinner - we are probably going to eat it in our pyjamas! Not going out, not seeing anybody.. not getting dressed up!

We have gone out to hotels, gone to relatives or had hoards over for the past six years.

We want to be antisocial!

Also considering getting a big chicken (or two - love leftovers) instead of a turkey which can be as dry as a nuns chuff

Oooh my mouth is watering at those platters!

Does anyone know when the m&s Christmas food catalogue is out for this year???

Yes. Very much so. We ordered in everything bar meat (from our butcher) and pud (Mum's!) and it was but LUSH and bloody easy. Definitely doing it again this year.

I agree about their potatos, I prefer to do my own and prep and par boil the day before.
Otherwise it's all brilliant and usually all on the shelves so no need to pre order.
I love their Christmas pork pies too!! Yum Yum!!

I'm going to be the voice of dissent and say we had it the year before last and were underwhelmed (didn't have their meat though). I like lots of other stuff M&S do, and think their pud or cake would be fine (I usually keep an eye out for the reduced cake bars after Xmas, for the money they're pretty good). In your situation I would personally probably use the card to take some of the strain on the day and in the days before/after but I wouldn't go for a full M&S dinner again myself. But, judging by most posts it might be just that our tastes are a bit weird, it seems very popular!

Just to add, before I press post, I've just remembered that last year I did buy a turkey crown, must have had a voucher from work. Didn't buy any sides but the turkey was bloody delicious, we got another one after Xmas in the sale, it was that good.

Just gone upstairs, rummaged and found last years M& S Christmas food/ hamper guide!! Ha! So I'm going to snuggle down and have a flick through it to see if I get inspiration. I'm glad I kept it actually, it will be interesting to see how much the prices have gone up! Yes, you most definatly can tell I really am from Yorkshire...........

several years ago I had a toys out of pram moment re: doing everything at Christmas. As a result, DP became "the one responsible for Xmas Lunch". The first year was a disaster with a mixture of burn and raw food and everything ready at different times. Ever since he has bought most of if from M&S, worryingly close to Xmas Eve imo but he pulls it off. As a result, Xmas lunch is on time, tasty, hot and everyone had a far nice Christmas day as a result!

I thoroughly recommend it!

He gets the veg from Tesco in a token attempt to save money but everything else is M&S

For the last five years I've done full M&S dinner. I love cooking but hate being stuck in the kitchen missing out on everything. I used to order the food to collect the 23rd, I don't bother now, the queues are pretty bad. They normally get their turkey crowns in on the last weekend in November so I pop down and buy

Turkey crown
Stuffing balls
Pigs in blankets
Roast potatoes
Bacon
Part baked bread
Prawns
Mash
Yorkshire puddings (don't ask!)
Bread sauce
Gravy
Cranberry
Come home and bung the lot in the freezer till Christmas Eve.

Then on Christmas Eve I pop out (never the 23rd it's always carnage here) to buy
Carrots
Sprouts
Broccoli
Cabbage
Pudding

It's all very relaxed!

Whitney, how do you have any space in your fridge on Xmas eve for a baking tray full of spuds? :D

yes I would say so too, really like their food and esp xmas food, but not the roast pots, I would always do them myself anway.

The honey and mustard roasted parsnips are amazing. I buy and cook 2, only one lot makes it to the table

My local M&S serve sweet mince pies and Buck's Fizz while you queue for your food collection. Last year we also got chocolates.

We like cooking from scratch (and prep a lot of it on Christmas Eve as a family - DD may slope off to watch tv partway through, but it is part of our "start of Christmas at home" routine).

But we do buy a lot from M&S on Christmas Eve. Some bits for a smorgasbord-type dinner of cooked and cured meats, prawns and smoked salmon, flatbreads, olives, cherry tomatoes, cheese etc - all nice picky bits that we love.

A birthday cake for DD (26th Dec).

And loads of party food bits for over the period - we do at least 1 if not 2 packs of things on Christmas afternoon (while opening presents and waiting for the turkey to cook), and then we have an "at home" type gathering for neighbours and extended family on 26th so there are people in and out all afternoon and a few different packs to cook quickly at different times is very handy. Mostly savoury, but some sweet/dessert things too. And a few large sharing bags of various crisps.

We also now buy a half bottle of port, as it is nice port and we wouldn't finish a whole one between just 2 of us over the season. But a glass or 2 with cheese a few nights over Christmas week is lovely.

So think about what you as a family would love most.

If you really fancy the idea of a "throw it in the oven" dinner, great.

But there is so much lovely stuff, that you could get a lovely beef wellington or duck or something and sides for another dinner (and do your traditional turkey dinner for Christmas as normal).

You could get all your nice snacky bits for various visitors or gatherings or whatever.

You could get a load of nice wines or port or champagne/prosecco.

You could make up lovely hampers as gifts.

Or any combination of those. So maybe a few sides for Christmas Dinner, a nice main course for another easy cook dinner another day, some nice wine, and plenty of nice nibbles to fill in the edges.

BTW, it is just DH and me with DD aged 11 in our house, when we are at home.

We still do a full turkey (we love leftovers and I always have some space to freeze some - and I don't get a massive one but I do like dark meat as well as breast!).

By prepping on Christmas Eve, I mean peeling potatoes and steeping them in water, peeling and chopping carrots and putting those in water, peeling and chopping parsnips and putting those in a airtight tub, peeling and soaking brussels sprouts, peeling and chopping a few onions for various things and putting those in an airtight tub, DH making the stuffing, and me making turkey neck stock if there was a neck. DH and I work together on that, and DD does help a bit.

And then, on Christmas Day, DH and I work together on getting the bird in the oven, some M&S nibbles in as well, organizing the kitchen while the nibbles cook, and then all sitting down together to do the presents (in the sitting room next door). It's all very relaxed, and no one is stuck in the kitchen - we might spend 5 minutes throwing something else in after an hour or so, and by the time we need to get the final things done, the presents are open and DH and I work together on the rest while DD sets the table with crackers etc (all in the same room as its open plan kitchen/diner).

Definitely do it.

I am a good cook and can do everything myself. But who wants to spend christams day slaving in the kitchen.

I used to get all stressy and fishwifey on christmas eve. Making the gravy and stuffing. Peeling mountains of veg. Stressing over oven times etc etc. Then o e year dp was very poorly so we cancelled all visitors as we werent sure if he would be home from hospital for the day. I had me and dd down to go to my mums if this happened.

Phonecall christmas eve and he could come home so bombed to m and s for a dinner. Was bloody lovely and have done it ever since. I host new years day i stead and do the faffy stuff then.

I love to cook and normally really enjoy making everything myself, but Christmas is different. I'd rather spend less time in the kitchen.

My H always has to work and it's his birthday so I really don't feel that he should have to cook on Christmas Day. So, we buy lots of M&S stuff and it's fab.

I get 20% off in M and S
Consequently most of my food comes from.there.
I refuse to spend hours prepping for a meal which will be consumed in 15 minutes.

Turkey crown is definitely the way to go if you prefer white meat and don't want left overs for six weeks

I've always loved M&S food at Christmas - last year was a bit of a let down though. This is 1 of the items that I'd ordered vs what I received, needless to say I had a refund!

It couldn't even be arranged to look as plentiful as it does in the photo

We had the stuffing and a few bits from there last year. Most was good - the stuffing was foul though - noone at the table liked it.

M&S all the way for me this year.

Christmas Eve will be the big day for us as DH is currently rostered on shift on Christmas Day. We've had odd bits from M&S before but this year I think I'll just buy the lot.

Yorkshire already loaded £20 on a shiny new gift card

We've only done it once and I wouldn't again, it didn't seem to save all that much time (I do all the prep of ours in advance) and it was nowhere near as nice as homemade.

Im sorry fancy but i did laugh at that comparison! Id be properly gutted IRL at spending good money on that!