What food did you buy this Christmas that you liked/disliked?

[Madeyoulook]

Liked:
Morrisons turkey joint with stuffing - very nice and the right amount
Tesco veg - all fine

Disliked:
Tesco finest Belgian chocolate log - sweet and dry
Tesco finest small Christmas pudding - too many nuts
Tesco pate with apple chutney - nothing special
Tesco party food eg sausage rolls, spring rolls - very basic, wouldn’t buy again

Miss
M&s thyme and chestnut stuffing - weird and mushy
M&S rodney the reindeer baked Alaska - the frozen custard in the centre was grainy and it was just me
M&S turkey crown with stuffing - turkey was lovely and moist but loads of the stuffing which was just OK
Aunt Bessie's parsnip - just bad and I don't know why
Jolly hog pigs in blankets - sausage was way too fatty

Hit
The bits I actually made, either the flu bug has knocked all the taste buds out of my head, or manufacturers have just cut too far and it just tastes crap

Likes -
Aldi frozen turkey, lovely and tasty, just a bit on the small side. Will probably get a bigger one next time.
Aldi Christmas pudding - fab, and a proper traditional one.
Morrisons mince pies - just right.

Dislikes -
Aldi smoked gammon joint - somewhat tasteless even though I cooked it the same way as I usually do gammon.
Co-op carrots - had gone slimy even though they were in date.
Lidl mini ready to eat sausage rolls - flabby pastry and remarkably little actual sausage in them.

Tesco Finest Beef Gravy (in a pouch) Bloody lovely.

@ZeViteVitchofCwismas small ones. We usually buy ready assembled ones and they are fine if not outstanding but these were yuk

Liked: roasties cooked in iberico pork fat (picked up in sainsburys for 25p last year!!), aldi chocolate log, sainsburys taste the difference frozen sprouts. BBC food mushroom soup recipe, Asda extra special stuffing, M&S potato and spinach gratin.

we had duck breast for our main, bought one offer in September and frozen, was a bit unsure whether it was the best idea but they were great!

also liked using foil trays for everything to reduce washing up!

disliked: aldi crisps (blue Dorito ones smelled like feet) and Aldi hog roast bites.

M&S stuffed crown and box of various veg all prepared. Really made life easy and was amazing. The stuffing and pigs in blankets were okay, will make those myself next year

Morrisons mini pizza bites from the party food range were very popular.

Ooh also a Sainsburys taste the difference vegan turkey crown for fussy DD (no cranberries or other fruit, no veggie gravy, but it must not be dry) was a big success

Hits: Tesco breaded cheese selection and potato-wrapped prawns from their chilled party food. Treeselets - they never miss. Pistachio Lindor.
Miss: Waitrose yule log. Cake was a bit dry, icing was too hard. I always make my own and regret being too lazy to do so this year.

Sainsburys cherry and white chocolate roulade was a big hit in this house - in fact its all gone, OH ate three quarters of it 🤣🤣

Loved
Figgys Puddings Christmas Pudding - expensive but worth every penny
Aldi Brandy Sauce - better than expected
Lidl - cranberry sauce with orange

Didn't buy this year because we are always disappointed- Christmas cake and mince pies

We loved the pear and fig mince pies in cheese pastry and the labneh dip and radish slaw from Waitrose.

Misses

bread sauce from M&S- this was just so strange.

red onion stuffing and cheese and pickled onion crisps.

M&S Truffle Brie - literally crack in cheese form.

Sainsbury's caramelised biscuit Christmas pudding was excellent, I really hope they do them next year as they're sold out now. Sadly their pigs in blankets were vile.

M&S short rib roast with truffle jus(🙄!) Greasy, tasted like warmed up school stew the ‘jus’ went in the bin not on the meat. Horrid artificial & cloying taste. It also had tons of sugar and syrup in it. DH bought it to save time and effort after a very full on few months. We had a veggie Christmas lunch but not by choice. Thank goodness gor the home made pibs. The DCs would have been rioting otherwise 😂.

next year we’ll be back to cooking everything from scratch.

ASDA extra special meat collection - 2.6kg. For £35 got a Turkey breast joint with stuffing and bacon, joint of beef (did rare, so tender) and some gammon

Fed 9 of us with loads of leftovers
Only got it as I could not get a Tesco slot!

Extra special thick blonde chocolate and golden rum cream was good too

Liked: Morrisons gammon joint, Aldi aged Red Leicester in red wax coating, Lidl cinnamon coated almonds, Mackies Boxing Day curry crisps.
So-so: Sainsburys fresh turkey, Taste of Game crisps.
Disliked: Victoria chocolate biscuits ( but won them in a raffle rather than buying).

Waitrose baking camembert with red onion topping... Bloody lovely.
Waitrose baking camembert with truffle topping... Inedible.

Aldi Specially Selected Truffle & Porcini Gammon Joint - yum
Aldi Specially Selected Potato Dauphinoise - yum
Fresh mangout, sugar snap peas, green beans and carrots all yum too.

No desert as 3 sick children so was a very basic quick meal. We are going to do a redo in a few days when the DCs are better.

Waitrose entertaining duck pate with truffle-horrid. Also their pork, ham and turkey pie, dry, chewy and tasteless. This will be my last ever entertaining order.

Totally agree!

We had a kellybronze turkey for the first time this year. Was fabulous and really easy to cook.

Also loving Joe and steph's festive popcorn which was a lovely gift.

Miss- Lidl salted caramel bomb dessert, was a bit dry and sickly

Aldi Prosecco was lovely.
Aldi No Pigs vegan pigs in blankets were really tasty.
I didn’t much like the Tesco Finest Christmas pudding either.

Cooking for 2 so bought a 'festive dinner' bundle from 44 Foods (online farm shop) and it was superb. Have made a note to remember for next year.

M&S gluten free mince pies were fab this year.

It's my second gluten free Christmas so I missed many things, and didn't bother with a Christmas cake as they weren't great last year.

The meat eaters in our house had Waitrose duck, which was both described as delicious, and amazingly easy to cook.

Waitrose venison on boxing Day was both small, and nondescript.

I had the M&S butternut and ricotta stack, which was delicious.

I also picked good cheese 🤗