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Christmas

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Christmas food list - what do you buy? Please inspire me!

6 replies

Mamababynumber2 · 24/09/2018 11:15

Hi everyone!

What do you buy for Christmas, food wise please?

I am 28 weeks pregnant and due in December so have started picking bits up.

What do you buy? For dinner, any breakfast and party food etc. Please inspire me!

We will have 5 adults, a child and a newborn. DP is cooking.

Also essentials for the table such as napkins, crackers etc

OP posts:
MrsPworkingmummy · 24/09/2018 15:47

I tend to start buying food items weekly from about October. I then put these away in the 'Christmas cupboard'. Usually, we order a big case of Laithwaites wine to arrive the start of December. If you're just looking for Christmas day food inspiration, we have: Breakfast - smoked salmon, scrambled eggs (made with double cream and a big dollop of Lurpack, salt and pepper) and bagles. Lunch: Duck (we don't like turkey) and a big gammon joint (which we cover in brown sugar and cloves), potatoes roasted in goose fat, carrots in honey and coriander, swede with double cream and lurpack, purple stemmed brocilli, Yorkshire puds (home-made), stuffing and pigs in blankets. Tea- Usually host around 20 family members so we have a big buffet, usually with M&S pickies, left over meat, cakes, seafood platter, good quality cheese board and chutney. Good food is a big part of our day.

Ricekrispie22 · 24/09/2018 18:27

Breakfast always changes. Last year it was orange and almond brioche French toast and this year I want to serve croissants with spiced fruit compote.
For our cheese board:
Bath Oliver biscuits, water biscuits and any other nice crackers I spot.
Brie, Stilton, double Gloucester, goats cheese, Red Leicester
Quince jelly
Pate
Chutney
Branston pickle
Onion marmalade
I also get piccalilli for serving with cold meat.
We have a chocolate fondue on Christmas Eve with Turkish delight, jelly orange and lemon slices, chunks of brioche, marshmallows, balls of marzipan, strawberries etc..
We have Florentines, brandy snaps and a box of marzipan fruits for treats.
We have a ham either on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day depending on family arrangements.
Sometime in the lead up to Christmas, we have stollen.

Alanamackree · 24/09/2018 23:19

At the risk of being very boring.... between October and December I replenish my store cupboard and stock up on basics. I generally start by renewing spices, and topping up flour, sugar, tea, coffee etc. Then things like tinfoil (the extra long one), toilet roll, hand soap, detergent...all those things you don’t want to run short of. I hate shopping in crowds and jostling for parking spaces and basically like to hole up in December. From October onwards we eat our way through the freezer to make space for Christmas cooking. I don’t have a need for party food but do have to prepare for impromptu family gatherings so I cook and freeze boeuf bourguignon in lots of single portions that will defrost quickly or feed me happily through January if we’re sparedSmile I keep macarons and mince pies in the freezer and try not to eat all the florentines in the cupboard so they’re on hand for visitors. I cook and freeze veg for Christmas dinner too. Breakfast varies year on year depending on what people fancy and who is with us- sometimes a full fry, other years Cinnamon spices French toast from brioche, or maybe bacon croissants. Christmas Eve is always sneaky slices of ham on hot crusty bread. I keep a pan of non alcoholic mulled wine simmering (adding a dash of brandy for those partaking) and gingerbread or spiced biscuits to nibble on. The dc always make stained glass cookies as gifts and decorate a gingerbread house (don’t leave it too late to buy these from ikea or tiger). Carrots are essential for feeding Rudolph of course. We have Christmas cake, trifle and a chocolate biscuit pudding for dessert. I love cracking nuts so always get a mixture, and for some reason pomegranates have become a Christmas staple. After Christmas meals consist of cheese, crackers, cold cuts, chutney and par baked bread for a few days. Trying to think what else... crackers, candles and matches. Fuel and fire lighters. Chrissmassy candles. Chocolates and wine if they don’t drift in by themselves. And flowers (DH always gets me a huge bunch on Christmas Eve)

BiddyPop · 25/09/2018 11:43

Like Alanmakaree I try to have some family dinners, and single portions of the same to supplement (in case of either just one person home some nights in the madness of the run up - or to extend the family portion with unexpected visitors) in the freezer - lasagna, spag bol, curries, chilli - boeuf bourguinon sounds like a good addition!

I also try to have a good clear out of cupboards in late summer, and restock with fresh for autumn/winter. There are often offers on storecupboard products, or good BOGOFs, or vouchers for money off if you spend over a threshold, over the autumn - and I use those to restock my general stores, baking goods, etc. And I also try to avoid the supermarket in December if I can - between internet shopping and having stocked up in advance, I may only need a couple of small bits and the basket till rather than trolley loads and fighting my way through the hordes.

Useful things I find are:
Pasta shapes and jars of good tomato sauce (we like Sacla tomato and roasted veg, or Sacla tomato and chilli)
Pesto Rosso
Tins of tomatoes, tomato puree, and passatta
Rice (easi cook, basmati, Arborio for risotto, and pudding)
Jars of good curry sauce (a couple of Pataks mostly) and curry paste to marinade meat
Part baked bread - mostly the packs of 4 rolls (not demi baguettes, half the size again), but some crusty batch round rolls and some ciabatta as well
Sauces and seasonings
Tinned tuna and tinned sweetcorn (can make a store-cupboard dinner with those, an onion, some cooked rice and curry powder)
Tea bags, ground coffee, hot chocolate powder (mini marshmallows)
Flour, sugar, butter, raisins, cherries, mixed peel, baking powder, baking spices, jar of vanilla etc
Packets of biscuits we like (rather than tins) - good for visitors
Crackers - I get a couple of different packets we like for the Christmas season, and we generally use portion packs the rest of the year (to avoid waste) so I'll add a few of those if they are on offer

Tin foil, cling film, baking parchment, bin liners, food storage bags (ziplocs) for both freezing and just marinating things
Cleaning stuff
Paper products - toilet rolls, kitchen towels etc

Non alcoholic drinks - squash, some fizzy things, mixers
Extra wine for entertaining, some extra beer, but I only get spirits if there is something that we use that is running low (like gin)

In terms of things for Christmas itself, rather than winter:
Crackers for cheese
Biscuits (a selection of nice packets rather than tins)
Big sharing bags of crisps and some roasted peanuts
Mince pies (M&S) and stollen (Lidl)
Loads of veg
Sausage meat (for both stuffing, and to make sausage rolls with readymade puff pastry)

I tend to stock the freezer with breadcrumbs make from heels and ends of bread over the autumn - and if I have plenty, I will make up a basic stuffing as well to freeze which I can use for small joints for to stuff tomatoes and mushrooms as a nice dinner etc. Or to have Christmas stuffing already made just to add a few bits to.

I also often make up a large bag of crumble mix for the freezer - then I can make a fast dessert by just throwing some fruit in a dish and crumble over the top and chuck it in the oven.

FusionChefGeoff · 25/09/2018 12:00

Frozen pastries are brilliant - they are just raw dough and defrost / rise overnight then freshly oven baked in the morning.

Garden centres with food bits do then or I think Waitrose

BiddyPop · 25/09/2018 12:15

I forgot those Fusion - M&S also do frozen croissants and pain au chocolat and pain au raisin.

Or Jus Rol's version in tubes for the fridge are also useful and relatively long lasting. (They also do a pizza dough and sauce version!)

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