I tried you don't have to.

[GettingStuffed]

I suspect I'm not the only one who does taste tests in the run up to Christmas.I

So far I've tried

Lidl mince pies, pastry is fantastic crisp with a good flavour , let down by the filling just tastes like a mixed fruit pie
Tesco bog standard, pastry is far too crumbly it disintegrated as I took it out of its cup. The filling was much better than Lidl's with a good boozy taste.

Lidl salt and pepper mixed nuts with olives. I've never had crispy olives before but the were a revelation.
Tesco salted caramel party mix. Loving this, it has nuts, pretzel bits, chocolate covered nuts, Malteser type things , chocolate buttons. A must have.

If you've tried anything perhaps you could say what they were and what you thought of them

@bashual , the M&S one has thick ganache usually , I want the opposite more sponge and thinner ganache .

@Floralnomad thank you! More sponge, why?!

Tesco finest Yule log was always our go to. I might make my own this year although my rolling skills are not great.

They aren’t traditional but I have to agree with @Floralnomad , Costco mince pies are amazing.

I don’t suppose anyone tried the Sainsbury’s vegan star last year did they? A dairy free Christmas dessert is a real find but it also looks quite sickly.

M & S Collection Mushroom, Camembert & Parsnip Pie suitable for vegetarians ( and it costs £20 ! )
Got ( 2 ) last year as they look lush . They are not worth £20 and are not nice. There is a big solid lump of parsnip sticking out of the middle of the pie . It remains a big solid lump even after cooking . The reviews from last year were not very favourite and most commented not worth the price and parsnip remained inedible.

I regularly convince my DS that the freezer reverses the BBD and the food (whatever it is) cannot read the dates
Obviously I;m careful with things like chicken. (only DS eats it )

My Dad never paid attention to BBD , if it looked ok he'd try it , if it tasted ok , he ate it . He wasn;t killed by food poisonong .

I have some Waitrose baklava on order-I'll let you know how they go. Also some of those German marzipan biscuits I can't spell. All in the name of research of course.

Don’t bother with any of the gin liquors in the pretty light up bottles with the gold bits - they are rank

The nicest mince pies I’ve ever had were from fortnums but they were £13 a box!!!

Thank you @Moomoo2o22 !

I've always been disappointed with store-bought yule logs but last Christmas I followed a recipe from the Crumbs and Doilies youtube page. I'm a confident if novice baker but this thing was exquisite. Honestly the softest most beautiful sponge I think I ever tasted. It was divine so if anyone fancies dabbling in homemade, definitely follow that recipe it won't disappoint!

This is amazing, why did I never think of this. Not even for informing others, just for the fun of it 😂

COOK frozen food company!

@Unforgettablefire I'm with you, I don't actually like about 90% of standard Christmas fayre/fair? However, the Asda Extra Special yule log is rich, dreamy and everything you could want in a dessert. Don't share it ffs.

I don't really like Yule log either in addition to all the dropped fruit rubbish. I really want special Christmassy food though!

NCTDN What’s ‘dropped fruit’? Sounds intriguing.

Every year M&S does something that tastes utterly divine for Christmas - it's usually some chocolatey desert.
It's the extravagant Christmas treat in our house.

Haha. Meant dried

I have to agree, we bought a tray of them last weekend and I've had one every day, they are chunky with sponge in them I absolutely love them!

Problem is that I won't be going back there as I felt so much stuff was more expensive than the supermarkets.

@Queenofheart

you really need (if you didn't!) to compare the per kg/ml etc as the sizes of products are often different than in the shops & usually better value for the quantity.

plus if you buy in bulk for convenience it's handy, much easier than a standard supermarket.

to be honest, I don't buy 'much' there as I don't have a lot of storage space, but there are things I go there for because I like them more (huge tubs of olives for the same price you pay for a tiny pot in the supermarket & they're SO much nicer. I love their homous (though if I remember correctly it's about the same price as a supermarket, but I don't care, it's much nicer! I really like their coastal cheese. My friend uses agarve and it's loads cheaper there.

plus I love a mooch!! & being able to buy a box of good quality notebooks for example

not to mention their double sided Christmas wrapping paper!!...

their stacked Christmas gift boxes have gone down s treat for people you spend £15-20 on. They look great, they can reuse the boxes & apparently the treat good is nice.

😂😂I don't go to save money 😂😂

@Queenofheart

threering said Costa, your comment made me think of Costco. One of us had our wires crossed 😂😂. I frequently say the wrong one 🙄🙄

Haha I was just wondering if it was Costa or Costco!

I succumbed to temptation and started the Lidl mini stollen, nice but a bit cakey and not particularly festive, but although they come in a small box there are loads in there.

I am vegan. Is there anything you are looking for in particular?