So, polar opposite to Christmas Necessities..... how about some Christmas 'I buy these every year and I never use them and never learn'

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I'll kick my list off with
Christmas Crackers- yes when the DC were little they were fun, but , IRL they are full of tat, they don't make a good 'bang', I always end up with bits of paper everywhere.

Christmas Pudding/Cake- I make these if I have a housefull, if not then they don't get eaten

Big Tins of Sweets- you just know the manky ones will sit there fossilising till they get thrown out

Cheese- the ones you think are special for Christmas (usually in fancy packaging) they sit in the fridge judgily

Big tins of biscuits - only the nice ones get eaten, the tin hangs about forever with two custard creams in the bottom.

Gift sets- the ones they sneak out for Christmas , lots of style of substance . Would I buy them individually? Probably not .

Christmas cards- I see nice ones , some for the DC to send to friends. I post out to family but the rest sit there , unwritten till they get pushed into the loft (where I forget them next year)

TheWoollybacksWife sadly they always seem to be the fruit ones! We don't mind the choc hip ones and they make a nice bread and butter pudding!

Brussels Bloody Sprouts. WTAF are they for? Even the rabbits won't eat them.

Christmas pudding and cake. I love making them but only DH eats them and even he’s not that bothered.

OTOH may I recommend getting the cheapest crackers you can, untwisting the wire and swapping the gifts for decent ones? DSs get Lego blind bags, adults something appropriate (lip balm, mini bottles of booze etc).

I am at a loss to understand the ‘no cranberry’ claims.

I use cranberry sauce all year round, it’s great in sandwiches.

Feel free to send your mini bounty bars my way, l loves them!

I always bought chocolate Yule logs and year after year found them in my pantry months after their sell buy date. Last year I took a great risk and didn’t buy one. Guess what? We didn’t miss it! I try and stick to a usual shop before Xmas and think of it as a big Sunday dinner and that helps. For sure we have treats which I buy week by week but I don’t get sucked into that a) shops wont be open for a week and b) the world and his wife are going to drop in over Xmas.
Have to have crackers though.

I make my own Yule log -nigella recipe- and it gets eaten in one day.
Christmas cake gets divided up and we each have a chunk to take home.
But I do agree about the chocolate tubs - there is always at least one variety that doesn’t get eaten. And I definitely agree about toiletry sets.

Christmas decorations. I really used to go to town, and of course they are so tempting to buy, and I still like browsing among the wonderful displays in our local garden centre. But do I need more? No. I have got boxes and boxes, but each year I put less up, trying to be more subtle. No one has noticed or commented. I can see soon it will just be a christmas tree and nothing else.

Nope, nothings been mentioned that wouldn’t get eaten here!

Can’t stand body lotion but then we don’t buy that.

Nestle may have been reading this thread as I was in John Lewis today and they had a Quality Street pick-and-mix station with a special uniformed attendant who would fill a tin with just the ones you want. As I passed there was a very pleased looking pensioner supervising her tin being filled with massive scoopfuls of orange creams.

Hi (new here!)
But just had to say @DelurkingAJ that is such a great idea re the crackers!

I'm just idly perusing The Steamer Trading Company website.

I'll add to the list:
That vanilla tree cake ( TSTC sells the tins) that Nigella makes on her TV show , the brunch. You don't need the Nordic Tree tin, I used a bundt ring tin. The cake itself is 'ok' nothing to write home about. I served it with chocolate sauce and ice cream .
The next day it was flabby and rubbery , like an old pancake

Gingerbread Houses is another thing. I think I made one with the DC (from cutting out the template to mixing up the dough, baking, trying to assemble with royal icing and some strategically played mugs to support the walls ...., then you add the sweets .) It doesn't get eaten.
We made some tiny ones for the school fayre one year which were quicker and got sold.
They look nice but not worth the effort.

Stollen, otoh , made at home , most certainly is . I can use a sweet dough, my Kenwood does all the graft. I can put cherries, almonds, walmuts, as much marzipan as I like , minimal icing sugar , no butter on the top and no rum .
Freezes well too.

Fresh cranberries ... ocean spray in a jar from now on for me :)
Jamies Christmas gravy - the stuff of gods but oh my days the faff involved!
Bumper-sized packs of crisps
Bucks Fizz

The bath sets! All that smelly soap and such lol

I used to buy Quality Street, and no-one ever ate the Toffee Pennies. I buy bags of mixed ready-shelled nuts from the health-food shop.