Stocking up the Christmas cupboard!

[ThisTaupeZebra]

A lot of us add bits and pieces to the 'Christmas cupboard' or in the weeks/months running up to Christmas.

Let's all share what we have stashed so far here, whether it is sweet or savoury, alcoholic or soft, store bought or home made.

Also feel free to share bargains of the Christmas classics (I can't believe how much Terry's chocolate oranges are this year!).

Waitrose No 1 Pannetone (orange box) when it was 20% off last week. Looks great as a gift. Champagne from Tesco at 25% off (6+ bottles). Case of Sol. Freebie No1 coffee beans from Waitrose collected for DH’s stocking. £2 off voucher spent on special offer Biltong (DD’s stocking). Friday lunchtime is Xmas shopping time now! Pretty pleased with myself.

We don't really bother with nibbles or snack things these days. There's only two of us and 3 adult kids for dinner. Last year I bought a few things, yule log, shortbread etc nobody ate it. Dh did make his trifle which went down well. Obviously I had to eat most of the yule log and all the shortbread.
We don't have extended family or friends who live near enough to visit so don't need supplies for visitors.
I do always buy a tub of sweets each, got them in Asda today they were £4.42 so I thought that was good.
I have finished all my gift shopping except ds2 who so far only wants a dog draught excluder 😂 weird gift for a 32 year old.
Forgot I did get a case of diet coke and a case of coke and some alcohol free lager for dh. I only usually get a couple of bottles of beer for me but they didn't have what I wanted.
God we sound dead miserable but we're really not.

Pistachios
We had ordered dry roasted and salted as well but they never arrived on the online shopping.
We still have a Christmas pudding from last year which is well in date.
we have a tin of pineapple, salmon and tuna which we use for the Boxing Day buffet. DFiL passed away in feb and he had them left as he was ill at Christmas, so they were well in date and we kept them.

non food wise
we have a table cover, napkins and paper plates.

Does the Christmas freezer count? I bought a couple of lobsters as they had them in Aldi and they usually seem to sell out pretty quickly. Am spending Xmas with DD and her dad (my ex) and they love their seafood! I'd be happy with a steak or something, but lobster is great of course....

I also added a box of langoustines I found in Lidl - I don't even like these much, but they both do. And ex is a great cook, as is DD , I might like them if they cook them while I recline like a Roman emperor or something....

Nothing yet
But I overbought last year as we weren’t hosting for the first time in years and I forgot and bought snacks as if we were 🤣
Still have a Christmas pudding and some lebkuchen from last year in the cupboard, they’re out of date now but pretty sure they’ll be fine?

I usually buy loads in Aldi but I thought the quality had gone right downhill last year, the chocolates all tasted waxy and all the cake and biscuity things tasted really artificial.

I think this year I’m just going to do a big bowl of Lindor, a bowl of nuts, shortbread, florentines, mince pies and a Yule log (famous last words)

A 1kg bag of Lindt balls, purchased on the last prime day
Waitrose limoncello panettone 20% off
2 boxes x Waitrose crumble mince pies. Have already eat one pack as part of a taste test 20% off
Several packs of the naice part baked rolls, for emergencies
All the ingredients for making the Christmas cake.

Will not purchase the Christmas booze or savoury snacks until December, as I know I will eat/drink them. I’ve already eaten 2 rum and raisin marzipan bars 🙄

I’ve got an M&S Christmas order for the 23rd. Didn’t order much this year. Yet to do the Cook order (gluten free desserts ), the butchers order (beef, pigs in blankets, sausage meat and gammon) and the greengrocers order.
Im not sure how many we are catering for this year, so will wait a couple of weeks before placing the big orders.

Crikey how many do you all host?
I just stock up on non Christmas stuff in December: cleaning stuff and toiletries plus oils, water, etc.

During December we have a stollen and a few mince pies.

For the Christmas break I biy: turkey, veg, stuffing, pigs, a nice pudding, cream, etc.

At some point I check the sherry, gin and whiskey.

I buy one nice box of chocolate truffles and a cheese board.

11 bottles of wine (4 white, the rest red) - I've been adding 2 a week to the Tesco shop, not entirely certain how I've ended up with an odd number...
Red Vermouth
White Vermouth
The ham is in the freezer
I have jars and jars of homemade mincemeat for mince pies - I made them last year and went a bit overboard on quantity!
Paxo stuffing mix x 2 (the sausagemeat is also in the freezer)
Cranberry sauce
We have a box of crackers (the bang sort, not the ones for cheese) left from last year
We actually have an unopened box of crackers (for cheese) that I just remembered - I think it'll be well out of date, so that needs to be replaced
DH and his friend will do a booze run on Christmas Eve, when they pick up beer and spirits from the nearest town.
I've probably forgotten some stuff, I'm not at the 'checking a list' stage yet - but it's coming!

Blimey we host for around 24 people and don’t buy the majority of this stuff! Where do you put it all to sit for 2 months?! And when are you eating it?
i tend to bake the good stuff for Christmas and we aren’t sofa snackers, we eat dinner late most evenings so no one is hungry for snacking.
I guess it’s just our family set up and the way we do things!

I also host for around 24. Some for a week, some for a few days. Then the other side of the family will usually stay either before or after Christmas week. I personally don’t snack after dinner but others do and I like to make sure that there’s a variety of things for people to help themselves to in between meals. We have the extra treats like chocolates and nuts through the whole of December and then feast from 24th-1st Jan (not necessarily eating any more than usual, just eating different stuff that feels more special)

I can't risk getting the snacks and booze in yet for temptation.

This evening I'm getting some frozen stuff in.

3 bird roast
Ham joint
Sausage meat stuffing in bacon

Oooh I like this thread

Sweet

• Spekulatius biscuits
• stollen
• brandy snaps
• Cranberry sauce

Savoury

• Cracker selection
• Haggis
• stuffing mix
• sausage meat

Alcohol

• 2 bottles of Cremant (need one more)
• 6 bottles Buck’s Fizz (probably need another 4

We’ve got over 100 bottles of wine so will probably pick a few out for the week from those - although have no intention of making that public, taken time to build and not planning on letting guests decimate it!

Then need rum, port, Bailey’s, Cointreau and brandy.

Misc

• 3 boxes of Christmas crackers, something like 28 individual crackers. We have 10 people on the day this year! The kids love them so got enough for Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and NYE.

Present shopping is complete, just needs wrapping.

Homemade

Christmas pudding
Christmas cake (today)
Raspberry vodka
Mince pie vodka
Green tomato chutney
Mulled wine jam

Drinks

Hotel chocolat espresso martini
Baileys cinnamon swirl
Limoncello

Will start adding properly after bonfire night.

I added some glitterberry J2Os, Lindor balls and a box of Bendicks mints from Sainsbury's today. Worth doing with a Nectar card as I saved nearly £7.

I think I might actually be done with the sweet stuff, bar a couple of bags of chocolate coins to throw around.

I have two cheeseboards to pull together over the Xmas period, so will focus on non-perishables for that.

I got most of the beer yesterday (we have a box already in the garage, and I'm going to get another low alcohol box - Brewdog - from Sainsbury's while it's on offer).

Of the snacks etc I buy, I just need one more box of biscuits, and I think I'm done.

I need a few more bits for the Christmas buffet (which aren't already ordered) but these are in hand.

I'm after maybe one more bottle of Cremant. I also get some ginger beer as it's a nice vodka mixer, which I wouldn't have generally.

I've already made the Christmas pudding, and will start on mince pies soon. I make a few batches of 24 and fill the freezer. My mincemeat is already made.

I've got 3 vodka flavours infusing in the understairs.

It's coming together nicely!

I cracked and bought a box of chocolate biscuits. That's it so far

I found two large foil trays for £1 each. This act christens my Christmas 2025 cupboard/hoard.

{Pops champagne and reads rest of thread 🍾)

I bought a bottle of Baileys.

(I then drank the bottle of Baileys).

4 boxes of rum truffles. The trouble is that I’ve eaten 2 boxes and my Husband has eaten 1 and I haven’t hidden the 4th box so I don’t think we’ll have any left for Christmas!

I feel that what this thread is missing is willpower!

I haven’t stashed anything yet except the small jar of sloe gin that is doing its thing in a dark cupboard. (Partly as I don’t know if DH and DD are coming to me where I am currently posted overseas for work for a couple of years, or if DD and I are travelling “home” from work/uni).

Try this every year and have never managed to summon the willpower to avoid scoffing it all. I've managed to make my way through around 6 boxes of mince pies so far (I convinced myself that I was merely undertaking a comparison experiment to see which retailer produced the best) and an equal number of packets of stollen bites.

I haven't started yet but will once halloween is out of the way!

Dh does the weekly shop and started last week with a tub of Celebrations and some twiglets!

Cheese lasts forever, especially if it's waxed. I buy things reduced after Christmas and we still have a couple of truckles from last year, I'll be surprised if they've gone off.

We have marzipan (for DP) and nougat (for me) from Lidl. Also a few bottles of fizz from some offer. We also have a bottle of mint Baileys hanging around from last year and I've decided that this year's dessert is going to be sundaes with mint choc chip ice cream, After 8 mints, mint Baileys and whipped cream. I've already got some After 8s somewhere and the ice cream so it's just a matter of buying double cream closer to December and making them a few days before Christmas on Christmas Day.