Retro Christmas Food

[allyouneedisloveand]

I went to M&S earlier and picked up a pack of mushroom vol au vents . They do reminded me of Christmas parties from my childhood.
I thought it would be fun to do a retro Christmas buffet this year . What things do you remember having for n Christmas buffets as a child ?

That's alright @WesolychSwiat - it can wait until the 20th! Let the suspense build up!

Another vote for Neapolitan chocolates.
Original Terrys Chocolate Orange ( not the dreadful tasting and stupid ready segmented version you get now)
My mum used to get a lazy Susan out and put different chocs in each section on Christmas Eve and I was allowed to help myself - only time of the year!
Happy memories

Snowballs with cocktail cherries (still drink them now at Xmas,)
Cheese footballs (yep, still buy them 😋)
Salmon Sandwiches made with tinned salmon and mashed with vinegar
New Berry Fruits
After Eight Mints
Cheese and biscuits for Xmas day night supper with home made pickled onions
Sherry trifle and the obligatory Sara Lee black forest gateaux

Agree those chocolate oranges tasted great back in the day...it was a real treat to be given one!

Bumping for the picture on the back of the crackers tomorrow

Gosh yes I'm absolutely here for that, @ImDuranDuran !
@WesolychSwiat
The suspense has built nicely - it's been like the opening of an old-time advent calendar from the days when they only had pictures!

He’s put them away! I’ll fish them out tomorrow! Sorry!

How could he, @WesolychSwiat when we're all so heavily invested in this?!!

@catlesslady the chocolate Christmas tree decorations were always a bone of contention in our house as once we were allowed to eat them we'd find out my brother had already eaten most of them, having carefully unwrapped them, stuffed them with tissue and rewrapped them. It became a family joke so he did it when we were all adults on each of our trees. We had to try to catch him in the act. 🎄😂

Sorry, it’s quite disappointing after all that. But they seem to be from Littlewoods Stores. When did they shut down?

Thank you for checking, @WesolychSwiat . A quick search tells me that Littlewoods closed 2002, so the punters who said these were 90s vintage win this one. Yet despite my incipient disappointment in the outcome, the real fun of this - like so much else in life - has been the sense of anticipation that has built tremulously over the past two weeks.

Greene cheesecakes, made up from a packet mix. iirc in the 80s it was the only way to “buy” a cheesecake….ie there were no fully made up ones in the shops.

Oh - I remember these. You mixed packet A (a biscuit base) with melted butter and pressed it into a quiche dish. Next you whisked up packet B (cheesecake filling) with milk and then put it in the fridge

@Gummibärchen they must be from the 90s, as my Dad died in 1999. My Mum moved to a smaller house afterwards and didn’t do any entertaining. I’ll let people know what’s inside. I’m hopeful of getting red plastic lips and a black moustache! We’ve been looking for a massive blue Christmas tree ball, that belonged to my great great great grandmother, and was one of the few things my great grandmother brought with her when she came to live in U.K. from Germany.

”Have you heard of Greene’s cheesecake? The great dessert you don’t have to bake? It’s crunchy! It’s light! What a swell dessert it is!”

Now my ear worm for the day, having replaced the Polish Carol “Dzisiaj w Bethlehem.”

So… the1990s crackers. They didn’t disappoint. First of all, the bang was really loud, much louder than today’s. The paper hats were much better quality too. The gifts were as predicted. A tiny plastic comb and brush and a small game where you have to get the bead in the hole. I’m still hopeful of plastic lips tomorrow!

Bridge Rolls - whatever happened to them? They were the perfect size.

Said Bridge Rolls would be filled with ham or egg mayonnaise or tinned red salmon.