What are your favourite Christmas foods?

[Startaler]

This year, I want to make our Christmas Eve box a bit different as we are now officially a family of adults.

I was thinking of putting together a hamper of food that we can graze on throughout the day with lots of special treats. Please share your favourite Christmas treats. I'd love a good mixture of sweet and savoury. Up to now I've come up with...
Croissants and pastries
Cheese and crackers
A nice cheesecake from a local deli
Lidl salted caramel fudge

My homemade mince pies. Bloody lush.

Turkey ham and all the trimmings
Prawn cocktail for starters and melon
Mash and roast potatoes
At least 4 veg gravy or bread sauce
Christmas pudding or trifle for afters

Pork pie. I love the stuff, and Christmas is the only time I can justify eating something so outrageously unhealthy to myself.

Homemade Rocky Road.

Panforte. Mixed salted nuts. Nougat with strawberry or raspberry pieces. Cheese straws. Marrons glaces. Niederegger marzipan. Orangettes from Leonidas. Quince jelly for cheese. Crisps in festive flavours e.g. brie and cranberry. Stollen. Good olives, e.g. M&S. Stuffed dates. Picalilli and pork pie from www.dukeshillham.co.uk - my thanks to the poster who recommended them on this thread last year.

Florentines
Marzipan
Panettone

German Lebkuchen from Aldi or Lidl (soft gingerbread cookies usually dipped in chocolate).

Three things I only ever eat at Christmas but love:
Dry roasted peanuts
Cheese footballs
Those log-shape chocolate truffles which are covered in flaky bits of chocolate

Not the sort of thing you were thinking of but my favourite bits of Christmas dinner are bread sauce, braised red cabbage and forcemeat stuffing.

My favourite Christmas foods -which do not lend themselves to a box - are stuffing, bread sauce and Boxing Day vol au vents. I also expect pickled walnuts on Boxing Day, do a jar of those could be included m

For me the Boxing Day and days after with the leftovers is the best! Last year I opened my fridge to find cold turkey, ham, pork pie, pickles, stuffing balls, mash, cranberry sauce, bread sauce etc it was bloody lush !

Hotel Chocolat large chocolate dipping adventure is a must for us every Christmas eve.

Earlier on in December we have a film night with a chocolate fondue, strawberries, banana, marshmallows, shortbread etc to dip.

Posh popcorn.

Ingredients to make delicious home made hot chocs with the obligatory cream and marshmallows on top.

Yes, we like chocolate in this house

No cheese board will be complete without the Dippng Gorgonzola cheese from Chatsworth Farm Shop, will be getting lots of it this christmas!!!

Pigs in blankets.

My favourites don’t lend themselves to a hamper, easily. But I like your idea for a foodie Christmas.

Years ago, my gran’s house didn’t have central heating, so only rooms with a fire on were warm and in winter, the rest of the house was effectively a fridge. There would be a feast laid out in one room, and over Christmas guests and visitors would help themselves to the buffet.

It wasn’t of much interest to us children but as an adult it’s like my Christmas archetype. It’s not the same rummaging in the fridge for Tupperware but modern houses are too warm to lay it all out.

So, to get back to the hamper, I’d suggest...
A selection of chutneys and jellies for cheese and to liven up cold meats (quince paste and whin jelly would be essential)
A choice of plain and flavoured crackers.
Florentines
Bailey’s (with ice cream, hot chocolate and ice available for its various uses)
A selection of hot chocolate sachets
A tin of biscuits with thick chocolate
Kettle crisps
Foie gras
Olives with almonds, and other pickles - perhaps those tiny gherkins.
Really good chocolate (whatever that means to you)

I look forward to stollen every Christmas! Delicious stuff.

Love this!

My daughter’s homemade mince pies would be top of my list! She’s 10 and has inherited her great aunt’s passion for baking. Plus she always has cold hands which lend themselves to making the best pastry!

Aldi do these mini choc salted caramel tarts and they are divine. I eat them by the tray at Christmas !

Yule log.

Booths honey roasted cashews
Leibekuchan (sp?)
New berry fruits
Big box of maltesers

Sainsbury Bakery Shortcrust Mince Pies

Neideregger Dark Chocolate Marzipan

M&S tins of Shortbread (extra points if it's tartan with a judgey looking antlered deer on the front of the tin)

Baked camembert. Or, last year Aldi did these cheddar bakes in ceramic dishes and they were lovely. The kentish apple cider one was really good.

Nigella's coke ham served cold with chutneys would be lovely too.

I know not quite hamper food, but worth doing and putting out at some point in the day!

Agree to homemade mince pies. I like to make mine with regular shortcrust pastry rather than sweet. If I'm organised I make Delia's, complete with the homemade mincemeat. The smell is amazing!

Leftovers
A sandwich with all (hopefully) of the following
Bread sauce
Gravy
Pigs in blankets
Stuffing (sausagemeat)
Stuffing (bread onion herbs)
Maybe some turkey !

My homemade cranberry & white chocolate cookies.

Vintage port
Quince jelly
Fruit loaf or icing free Christmas cake to eat with cheddar
Peppermint bark
Marshmallows and chocolate for real hot choc!
Chocolate covered cranberries
M&S paprika crisps

I woke up with toothache this morning and only just remembered about this thread 🙈 Thank you everyone for your favourites.

I'll definitely have things in the fridge or cooked beforehand. I just don't want to have to cook on the day.