I had intended reserving mine with gin, and ended up just doing a normal shop instead.
I intend getting a roast of some kind locally over the weekend before Christmas/24th, there are lots of butchers and supermarkets if I am not trying to get everything and getting the rage at massive queues while trying to remember the entire list.
So the basket for 20th Dec includes:
Sack potatoes
Lots of veg (carrots, sprouts, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, salad leaves, spring onions, garlic …)
Oranges (to squeeze), lemons, limes, apples (eating nd cooking types), berries, a pomegranate, clementines
Herbs - parsley, thyme, sage (I have rosemary in the garden)
Steak (for the weekend) and some chicken breasts (easy cooking for a few dinners)
Sausage meat, streaky bacon (stuffing, and cover the bird)
Sausages, regular rashers, pudding - the chance for a rare fried breakfast (or use in other meals)
Ready-rolled puff pastry (to make pork and apple sausage rolls with leftover sausagemeat)
Extra tea and ground coffee
A few packets of our favourite biscuits (we prefer to do that than buy tins)
Some sharing packets of crisps
Cordial (orange, blackcurrant, elderflower), sparkling water (to have as water on the table and to add to cordial as slightly healthier fizzy drinks and having more choices!!), tonic, tray of cans of coke, couple of bottles of nice lemonade for the actual Christmas dinner
Wine and beer (I already have an extra bottle of gin)
Jus-roll croissants
Pizza bases (I have a couple of jars of pizza sauce already, and some jars of curry and pasta sauces)
Shoestring chips for freezer, petits pois peas, sweet potato chips
Milk, proper butter, double cream, cheese, eggs
Bread - both sliced pan and a crusty loaf
naice sliced ham, tins tuna and sweetcorn (ability to make sandwiches and toasties)
Toilet roll, kitchen roll, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, bin liners (including the food bin compostable ones), bleach, matches, firelighters, extra tealight candles etc
(I've got the dishwasher rinse aid, salt, and a dishwasher cleaner all coming this weekend, and the laundry detergents, and actually the paper goods too, so they're not all last minute)
I also have a large lasagna already in the freezer for one evening meal, and garlic bread baguettes
I will have a couple of large Tupperware containers of soup made and frozen also
And I already have plenty of baking ingredients on hand, so I will make my own mince pies
I'll make a separate run to M&S for party nibbles etc, (many are frozen or can be frozen, so useful to have on hand for extra snack opportunities)
And a separate run to a couple of local delis over the weekend before Christmas - may include getting the joint but also things like good pesto, good coleslaw, nice seafood (smoked salmon, prawns, crab claws, and some fish for a dinner one night), and some extra cheese, possibly some baked goods also (meringues, crusty bread, mince pies etc)
I have dinner candles and lots of festive paper napkins already bought
We are not buying crackers this year (or we all will do it when we are out and about Christmas weekend)
I have a lot of things like tin foil and cling film, but that is often necessary this time of year.
And many people swear by the tin foil roasting trays - fo r Christmas dinner but also when entertaining a horde, to reduce the washing up requirements. (I tend to use a lot of pyrex dishes, as oven to table ware, and then throw them in the dishwasher).