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

@Ihavedogs anything sweet that's not mince pies (I make my own) and not rich dark chocolate! Before being vegan I loved stocking in things like a chocolate orange, quality street, a sponge type pud (don't like xmas pud) milk chocolate type stuff! Morrisons used to do these great chocs that were creamy like a hazelnut praline but haven't seen them for ages!

And any savoury snacks too. Scotch 'egg' or quiche replacement for buffet food - any buffet food actually!

Past years I usually end up doing lots of baking but just took on a new job and would love a break this year! Tia 👍

Just wanted to say that the Quality Street orange crisp bars are absolutely gorgeous, crunchy yet creamy.
Will be buying more for me

Going vegan led to me liking dark chocolate as that was more easily available. I make myself an ‘equality street’ jar or tin of chocolates but most of them are dark chocolate. Buttermilk brand do a more milk type chocolate. Last year I got their caramel cups and this year I have bought some chocolate orange slices (not seen caramel cups yet). M&S have a box of vegan chocolates, although I can’t vouch for them and they seem to get mixed reviews.

I am not a big pudding person and unless I make something, I often just end up with a mince pie or an accidentally vegan stollen if I want anything sweet (other than chocolates). Neither of which are show stoppers!

Most years the buffet type things available to buy seem to have been Chinese or Indian based. Clive’s Pies are probably the nearest I have seen to a quiche, but they are not quiche, on the small side and not that cheap. I tend to stick to vegan cheeses (kinda co, Tyne chease and I’m nut ok), bread, biscuits, fruit, salad and humous. I live in hope each year that I can find something different.

Thanks @Ihavedogs you're right about the buffet selection not being great! Although I've not tried all those cheeses so I'll check them out. I'm not after anything too fancy, just a change would be nice! I think last year we had crackers and epic mature cheese with rubies in the rubble pickle. I love a grape or olive with cheese too.

I always forget about buttermilk! Must look out for those. And I'll pop in m&s and check out their box. I have made my own chocolate covered brazils before but they take ages if you want them nice and thick 😂

Not sure if this is general consensus, and I guess it depends on your cooking skills and available time, but:

For two Christmases, we have used M&S sides, the completely prepped, shove in the oven jobs. One because I was heavily pregnant and wanted the easiest option possible, the second because we had last minute change of plans. The convenience of it was good, but that's about it.

The first year, we commented that it wasn't as nice as home cooked stuff, but on balance, nice enough to do the job. Hence we used it again for a second year, and boy, had the quality taken a nose dive. Christmas Dinner wasn't ruined, but it wasn't particularly enjoyable.

You have this kind of expectation because it's Mark's that it will be pretty tasty, and it was all just so meh. A real disappointment in our opinion.

Yes, we noticed the same thing with our M&S turkey last year. It was really disappointing. We've been buying it for years and never had a problem before.

Although we did order it from Ocado last year... I am convinced that M&S products sold via Ocado are not the same as the products sold in their stores. The difference in quality is really noticeable.

Brilliant idea for a thread, I can see it being resurrected every year like the Bargain thread - so I hope you are up for that OP! I normally buy the Christmas magazines specifically for the food recommendations so I will be following avidly but, as I am on my pre-Christmas diet to enable me to fully enjoy all your suggestions over the holiday period might not be able to contribute much. Last year I loved the Tesco Irish Cream florentines, this year they seem to have been replaced by white chocolate and cranberry. I have made the purchase and now I feel I would only be doing my duty by taste testing them for you!

Haha I did mean Costa. It's like a large, flat mince pie with a very crisp pastry.

Funnily enough though I did go to Costco the other day and they had taste testers of their mince pies so I tried one. Very tasty but with a sponge topping so it depends if that's something you'd like. I prefer the crisper Costa mince pies but the Costco ones also tasted lovely!

We have the Gluten free turkey breast joints from M&S and have not had an issue with them in the past .

This thread is BRILLIANT. What a great idea and I'm adding stuff to my shopping list to try.

I've got a couple of things to add. The Marks and Spencer pork, parmesan and truffle sausage rolls. I know it sounds like too much in a sausage roll. Massive overkill. But it is delicious. Buttery pastry with a little tang from the cheese, a moreishness from the truffle (and I don't actually like truffle) and dense, unfatty meat.

I'm a bit in love and sad because suddenly sausage rolls got expensive.

Also, Lidl's florentine and ginger mince pies are insanely good. And their own brand Baileys is passable in coffee and with ice (certainly real Baileys isn't four times as nice so I'm not inclined to spend four times as much on a bottle).

I've just had one with my mid morning cuppa. I think I've had 3 boxes since they came out last month, I felt it was important to be sure the standard was consistent and so far I can confirm that all is well with Sainsbury's mince pies.

Digressing slightly into recipes for a moment...

Yesterday I cooked a smoked gammon joint in Morrisons orange, apple, guava and passion fruit juice. About half a pint of it, the rest water to cover the joint. Mainly because it just happened to be in the fridge and the carton already opened, and there wasn't any pineapple juice which is what I normally put in. Added a few peppercorns, a clove of garlic and a couple of juniper berries from the garden (does harvesting juniper berries from your own garden make you middle class, I wonder?).

OMG. Absolutely delicious and thoroughly recommended.

Re Christmas magazines, I can confirm that this year's GH is excellent and Country Living probably the worst I've seen.

No-one's mentioned it yet, so I will-Aldi have their florentines in stock! I bought 4 boxes, but there might be a few left on the shelf!

Tesco finest Belgian dark chocolate & cherry cookies have a lovely flavour & softer texture than normal cookies but are a bit dry so I've been forced to have some wind to wash them down.

Will be trying the finest gingerbread & butterscotch bomb later so will report back.

Just about to try these in the interest of research

Please report how's the log? 😅

😂😂😂

The Yule log is nice but sickly but that might be due to the size of the slice I cut 😁 I declare it perfectly nice for £3.

The iced mince pies are ok but I wouldn't buy them again. The pastry crumbled and the icing brings nothing to the pie except to make it too sweet. The fruit was also a little hard. Waitrose essentials are so far the best.

I've bought these for the first time ever and will give my opinion in the next t couple of days. They are veggie which is nice as mini cheddars aren't

We’ve tried Waitrose Christmas festive baklava over weekend (on offer currently £3.50.) It tasted delicious and looked very festive. I would say it’s perfect for two as it’s got pairs of different flavours. DD and I both liked it very much, I didn’t think she would. DH was not a big fan , his complaint - the prices were too small. I managed to spread the pack between 3 evenings: a small piece each evening. There was some tension in the air but no one risked a vote of no confidence.

I also repeated testing of Baileys Original ( purely in the interest of research). My conclusion was that nothing changed and it brought the same joy as always.
.

I took one for the team and tried the Costa mince pies when I was in one of their cafés today. I can confirm that they are absolutely delicious, as always. I shall try one again soon just to ensure that the quality remains consistent......😉

Sorry I obviously meant DH was complaining that pieces were too small

Same. Christmas pudding is absolutely lush!