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

Waitrose treacle cured gammon-massive hit with everyone. As did the Waitrose No 1 dry aged sirloin joint.
Waitrose fig mince pies with Stilton pastry went down a treat too!
However, their chicken and nacho bites were the most bland, cheap tasting disappointment I've ever tasted!

M&S Yule Log. I didn't like it at all but everyone else did so maybe it's just me being fussy, but I thought it was a bit dry and that it didn't taste particularly chocolatey.

What are these M&S pine cones that some if you speak of?

Seems to be a lot of disappointment with pigs in blankets - I recommend bacon and sausages from a reliable butcher and make your own (realise that this is not easy if supermarket is only option tho)

I gave up on pre made PinBs. Got the 98% chipolatas and wrapped in steaky bacon. Much less fatty.

The M&S ones are dreadful quality now.

Hit: m&s lamb shanks (divine), pine cones, roast potatoes, sprouts, red cabbage and croissants, ricotta (frozen), ricotta stacka. Sainsburys taste the difference Prosecco, cheddar with garlic and herbs and rosmary and sea salt crackers.

Miss: Not alot but M&S churros were dry

I was really ill this year so we bought pretty much everything to just warm. Its been an eye opener: food was delicious, dh and I didn't argue once and we spent so much time together all of us. Makes me wonder why I have been such a martyr all these years. M&S all the way from now on. Was bliss.

Sainsburys festive mini pork pies - sage and onion, pork and apple, and stilton flavours. All lovely and taste strongly of what they should! Hoping we'll be able to get a few more packs for NYE.

I was eyeing it up but it seemed a lot for only 3 of us. Glad I didn't bother :)

We had the M&S stuffed Turkey crown. It was really lovely and we'll
Get it again next year. It's the first time I've bought a Turkey crown.

Aldi Xmas pudding is the best , beats m n s hands down . And Aldi different flavoured soft cheese is just gorgeous .

My Sainsbury’s turkey. It was off! Stank to high heaven when I opened it. Nothing else to offer my visiting family for Boxing Day meal. When I phoned them they offered a refund and £15 ‘goodwill’ voucher.

I move an hours round trip from any shops that would a) be open and b) selling turkeys on Boxing Day. £15 wouldn’t even cover the sodding diesel.

Really really pissed off!

and also really quite pissed after having cheese board for dinner and a lot of wine because that wasn’t off obviously.

We didn't buy much premade food this year but the M&S turkey and stuffing and pigs in blankets combo crisps were good and the kids loved the cheeseburger spring rolls.

Morrisons gammon joint with crackling didn't have crackling, although I followed instructions which went against what I'd usually do so probably my fault.

I know I sound ungrateful but DH bought me a huge box of Heavenly "chocolate"... not impressed!

The dark ones are not too bad as I guess they have more actual chocolate but the "milk" one I just tried (salted caramel) is really bizarre.

I don't know what possessed him... I like proper chocolate I am gluten free (and most chocolate is OK anyway) but don't need to be sugar free or dairy free.

A recent Tesco convert here, from Sainsburys.

Hits: Tesco stuffed turkey crown, middle range 6-8 stuffed and bacon latticed - £32 really good. Equally Tesco finest pigs and stuffing parcels. M&S packet bread sauce to which you add milk (fab). Waitrose. Waitrose: cheese and fig puff pastry Mince pies (Heston?).

Thumbs down: M&S party food - not the usual choice and not as good as usual.

@StressedToTheMaxxx @LaBelleSauvage123

Can tell me why they were why they were so nice, they looked like chocolate gooy mush to me!

@IntheSnowySnowyMountains

I've said no chocolate other than Audrey Brighton now,you can select your own .

Hits for us

Asda Irish cream mince pies
Asda tempura prawns
M&S cranberry and clementine bucks fizz (been a hit for years)

Misses

Harrods Christmas pudding (wayyyy too boozy)
Sainsbury's snowman cheesecake
M&S cheese with truffle and honey in a swanky pot (mega disappointed as we were really looking forward to this)

Asda was the absolute standout, we got a few bits from quite a few places, but Asda really won out for us this year.

I forgot about the cheeseburger spring rolls, they were really good too!

Three tiered chocolate log basically, with a really delicious icing, not dry sponge (usually the problem with shop bought chocolate logs), nice chunks of chocolate as decoration and I always love popping candy - something so satisfying about it.
It was expensive but I brought it as a gift and everyone seemed to like it.

Thought I would be a smart arse and bought a frozen turkey from Tesco at start of dec because of bird flu

felt very guilty that poor bird had a miserable life you could tell and it was for 10 people and it was the skinniest thing…haven’t eaten meat today feel bad

I thought all the m&s party food was pretty horrible. I was really surprised as I normally like their stuff.
The chicken skewers had gristly bits in them, as did the chorizo "pigs in blankets."
The cheese balls and pastry things were also tasteless.

The only special Christmas thing we've had so far this year was a chocolate yule log Viennetta, which was disappointingly like any other boring old Viennetta.

Hits:

Waitrose jewelled nut roast, from their Entertaining range. So good I'm tempted to buy two of them next year and do away with the turkey and stuffing!

Aldi blue Shropshire in a pot - delicious.

Aldi cheese profiteroles 😋

No misses so far - I don't think!

@madamovaries so sorry I meant the pine cones 🤣

Misses :
M&S Very Merry Munch , not nice , sickly

Aunt Bessie Cook at Home Yorkshire Puddings - I normally buy the ready cooked or make my own ( and they are epic ) but trying to get things in/out the oven wouldn't have wotked . I put the yorkshires in the halogen oven so they could cook in peace but they were a bit meh .

Hotel Chocolat Advent Calendars (I think they gave up by the 9th December ) DD didn;t like the HC Elf Stocking, DS ate his on Day 1 .

I gave up chocolate but had a few days off over Christmas , tried a chocolate hazelnut sweet from a posh chocolate shop , tasted stale . Back on the wagon again.

I tried 3 clemetine juices (Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose ) they were ok but none stood out , I'm sure they used to be tangier but maybe my tastebuds are shot ?

Hits:
Waitrose Red Cabbage , delicious, tangy , not too sweet .
And I made lovely roast potatoes with Sainsbury Maris Piper and sunflower oil .
Quorn Roast was lovely , salty enough , don't overcook

Cats liked their share of DS chicken but turned their furry noses up at chicken liver , the swine !

Liked m&s chicken doughnuts, m&s chip shop style mini sausages and curry sauce

Disliked sainsburys haggis bonbons, pigs n blankets crisps by sainsbos