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Original poster

How did M&S or other supermarket Christmas food go down?

125 replies

WeAllHaveWings · 25/12/2017 22:11

M&S Christmas for us, some disappointing items this year.

Turkey (full deboned turkey £65) was very nice, but the normal M&S deboned crown I usually get for £32 which was sold out is just as nice.

Chestnut stuffing and pigs n blankets wreath - pigs n blankets nice with maple glaze. Stuffing bland.

Luxury pigs n blankets - ok, nothing special

Standard Sausage meat pack which we rolled into balls - nice and tasty

Profiteroles - soggy and tasteless

Raspberry & processco panacotta- not nice at all. Too boozey and rubbery tasting

Will probably orders early next year to get the cheaper turkey crown and still get the sausage meat, but off M&S trimmings and desserts from now on.

OP posts:
fishchipspeasandgravy · 26/12/2017 08:55

Waitrose turkey crown was gorgeous - and massive - serves 12 but did all 7 of us yesterday and still well over half left.
Waitrose Christmas pudding was delicious too - baileys cream very moreish too

Bubba1234 · 26/12/2017 08:59

M & s desserts were perfect 👌 the little appetizers we had from there on xmas eve really added to the niceness of the day still have a good bit in the freezer. The veg was a mix of local & Tesco all went really well oh the ham was Tesco it was the usual one I would make during the week ( 3 hams for a tenner) I am going to practice doing fancy hams for next year. Have to say the m & s stuff was a real treat

paganmolloy · 26/12/2017 09:05

Apart from the chicken and pigs in blankets which came from local butcher it was Aldi for us - all good and would do again. I cook from scratch all year so I’m damned if I’m doing it at Xmas.

PolkaDottyRose · 26/12/2017 09:06

I made everything myself, so only me to blame if it wasn't any good, but I did think that both our M and S chicken, and Sainsbury's gammon joint were not as tender as usual, though I cooked them exactly the same way I always do.

IHaventStoppedCravingYet · 26/12/2017 09:09

M&S Rodney reindeer dessert was distinctly underwhelming and not worth the money at all. I’ll definitely go elsewhere for pudding next year.

SideOrderofSprouts · 26/12/2017 09:12

We had a waitrose essential large turkey crown.

And it was bloody lovely

Co op basic Christmas pudding was nice as well co spidering how cheap.

Everything I cook myself

YouAndMeAreGoingToFallOut · 26/12/2017 09:31

We had:

  • M&S Garlic and Rosemary lamb (very nice).
  • M&S ricotta and mushroom stacks (DH said they were OK but nothing amazing).
  • M&S creamed carrot and swede (really enjoyed this, and a lot less hassle than faffing about with a swede).
  • M&S gluten free Christmas Pudding (really good, everyone enjoyed this).

Everything else we made.

singersdweller · 26/12/2017 09:50

We cooked starters and mains ourselves, but had the pannacotta and profiteroles from M&S which were not exceptional but fine, I'm over cooking by desert!!

glitterglitters · 26/12/2017 09:51

I made everything from scratch but bought in the gravy (Waitrose) V good and the Christmas pudding was Fortnum's St James and also very good (and also the only one that didn't have either mine or my husband's allergens in, so definitely worth it!)
Still got Sainsbury's Tunis cake, Tesco finest Yule log etc to try.

Also a huge hit was Waitrose chocolate shortbread selection vvvv good.

hollyisalovelyname · 26/12/2017 09:52

M&S turkey crown was lovely but the tinfoil container it came in was very small as on the instructions it said to baste the turkey throughout cooking, but it was almost impossible to fit a spoon in to to get the juices to baste the turkey.
Their ham was lovely too.
I didn't bother ordering from M&S just bought the turkey and ham off the shelf in the shop on the 23rd.
Nobody seemed to like the M&S stuffing balls ( except me).
Our Christmas pudding was from SuperValu ( Irish supermarket) and was very dark, rich and full of alcohol. I wouldn't buy it again and I love pudding. But if you like a dark boozy pudding you'd love it.

watfordmummy · 26/12/2017 09:55

MiL bought it all from M&S Turkey was ok but gravy was thin and stuffing balls had no flavour.

I've used Cook before for bits and their stuff is delicious with lots of flavour. I did miss my own stuffing and roasters, but hey I wasn't hosting so I got a year off.

JemimaMuddledUp · 26/12/2017 09:58

We ordered from Morrisons this year.

The bacon wrapped stuffed turkey breast joint was nice and carved beautifully. The Christmas tree smoked ham was delicious. Butternut squash nut roast looked a bit meh but tasted really nice. Pigs in blankets were OK. Gravy was nice. Ready prepared veg was much better than Tesco last year. Spiced red cabbage was lovely. Sherry trifle was nice.

We're having M&S for New Year.

floffel · 26/12/2017 10:00

M&S mushroom Wellington in spinach and sherry sauce was lovely.

boxoftoads · 26/12/2017 10:03

Turkey organic, free range from a local farm. Amazing! I was first person to order mine in August Blush

Veg - farm shop, really really tasty.

Gravy, bread sauce, posh stuffing M&S all just ok. Gravy tasteless really.

Prawns, salmon M&S - fab.

M&S sausages wrapped in their Christmas spiced streaky Grin

All the M&S desserts looked shit for the money so we got a giant chocolate cake from ASDA. Went down a storm with the kids. I made pavlova instead.

I really want an alternative to M&S locally but we have no Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Iceland etc here.

I miss living near a Waitrose.

jocktamsonsbairn · 26/12/2017 10:28

Our Tesco turkey crown was in fact a whole turkey as it had legs and wings still attached!! It was lovely tough. Tesco finest pigs in blankets were fab but their safe and onion stuffing balls weren't nice. Sainsbury's TTD chestnut, pork and thyme stuffing was fab though. M&S goose fat roasties were ok, nothing special but ddad loved the Aldi Christmas pud!

excitedforxmas17 · 26/12/2017 10:36

Iceland
Sage and onion stuffed chicken breast (DH requested instead of turkey) - good
Pigs in blanket - yummy
Frozen raspberry Eton mess cheesecake - very good!!
Frozen king prawns - ok
Various nibblies: chicken skewers, sweet and sour wontons etc. All tasty.

Lidl
Unsmoked gammon - good
Cranberry and orange stuffing mix - nice

Other veggies done from scratch.

I was very impressed and there seemed to be heaps of stuff around as I did my shopping last week. I'm more than happy to stick to the cheaper shops for stuff like this. If I was cooking for 10 instead of 3 I may have looked at some different options like the Muscle Foods deal that MN was spruiking.

GinisLife · 26/12/2017 10:50

Tesco free range fresh turkey was as tough as old boots. Is turkey always like this ? I've not cooked Xmas dinner for 10 years. Forgot to cook the pigs in blankets. We were too full to eat pudding my roasties were fab - even if I did forget I'd bought duck fat to cook them in.

RedRobin87 · 26/12/2017 11:09

Agree with the poster who mentioned the reindeer dessert from M&S - no one liked it much so we have over half of it left.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/12/2017 12:31

DH,DD and I are vegetarian- she wanted Quorn roast , I got the Sainsbury 3 Nut&Mushroom roast for us. Very nice lots of big bits of nuts not too strong a flavour, sauce that came with it was nice.

DS had a Sainsbury chicken breast ( Free Range , picked up 4 -reduced- Xmas Grin - other 3 in the freezer). No idea if its better/worse/same as any others but he enjoyed it .

Wiifitmama · 26/12/2017 12:34

Our turkey comes from the local butcher and the stuffing meat and pigs in blankets from the farmers market. I make all the veg dishes and christmas pudding so can't contribute to this thread for the main food.

However - all our treat bits came from Aldi this year and I was sooooo impressed! Nicest chocolates of anywhere, christmas themes crisps, florentines, etc. I will definitely be shopping there again next year for all of the same and it was cheap too!

Dailystuck71 · 26/12/2017 12:35

I bought mostly from our butcher. All good.

Did buy gravy from marks. Brown water really

Sainsbury’s pigs n blankets good

Pork and cranberry stuffing from marks really lovely

GingerIvy · 26/12/2017 13:46

Tesco - frozen turkey roast very good. Mini honey roast ham (already cooked) very good as well. Gluten free Christmas nibbles excellent.

M&S - GF christmas cake bites and mince pies - also good.

Alakazam7 · 26/12/2017 15:41

Most of ours from M and S. Have done this for a few years now. Not sure whether to continue next year. Underwhelmed with stuffing and veg just ok. The best was the pudding that we got from Aldi- golden topped pudding. Absolutely lovely- may look at Aldi next year if I can get everything ready prepped there. No cooking from scratch on Christmas Day for me- would rather spend family time

numbereightyone · 26/12/2017 16:43

We had the golden topped pudding from Aldi too and it was absolutely delicious and looked beautiful. No wonder it beat 30 other puddings in a taste test!

Melfish · 26/12/2017 16:48

Had a Sainsburys large gammon joint which was not good- by far the most salty gammon I've ever had! Will go back to getting a precooked ham from M&S or Dukeshill.