😮 ghastly 🎄 supermarket party food.

Anyone tried the Yuka app? Hold it on the barcade and it tells you fibre, sal, sugar, carbohydrate, additive content with a traffic light system, means you can easily compare various, say, biscuits and chose the least worst ones! Maybe leave it until after Christmas but I find it useful in the supermarket if I'm trying to decide between products

Quite agree- I completely ignore all the dreadful "picky bits" and over the top desserts etc which rarely live up to the hype in terms of flavour. We tend to stick to good quality ingredients with a few special Christmassy treats. Classic dishes live on for a reason- they taste nice! Each to their own but these ultra processed offerings don't appeal to me at all.

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Im with you GrammaH. Christmas shouldn’t be a competition to see who stuffs the most mushrooms or grinds their own flour. It’s about spending time with people we care about - and if that’s over an M and S sickly, ultra processed pud, Paxo stuffing and Bisto, then so be it!

Jam roly poly and Birds custard. My kinda pud.

NotSpaghetti

MissAdventure I have read the kindness thread but didn't want to contribute (for my own reasons).
The number of contributors doesn't necessarily mean nobody is reading, or thinking deeply about the item.

It's easier to comment on "bland" things I think.

It's not a criticism.
Just an observation. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Well it's called choice we either want to buy it or not.

boiled jam roll and sticky toffee pudding, with real custard.

This sounds heavier than a Christmas pudding to be honest.

Can't wait to try Brussels sprouts pate...yeuk

MissAdventure I have read the kindness thread but didn't want to contribute (for my own reasons).
The number of contributors doesn't necessarily mean nobody is reading, or thinking deeply about the item.

It's easier to comment on "bland" things I think.

Goodness me! I would definitely be buying some of these and without food snobbery! Yes UP food is bad for you as is alcohol! But once in a while will not hurt!

Cateq

We’re having AS1 along with DD and her partner on Christmas Day, so it will be home made soup, some ramen dish for DD as she doesn’t like soup. Turkey without the Brussels sprouts as again no one except me eats them and can’t be bothered for one portion and dessert will be panna cotta and chocolate Yule log from M&S with the option of home made clottie dumpling. On Boxing Day it’s AS3 and family coming for roast beef Yorkshire pudding and a home made trifle DGD’s favourite. And on 29/12 having all 4 ACs their partners and DGDs for a buffet lunch which DH is making his fish pie specially for DGD’s a lasagne and I’m on charcuterie board duty. Not yet decided on dessert, but it will be something from M&S.

Not too fussed about the UPF as like most posters it’s not something we eat very often.

That all sounds delicious, I'm the only one who eats sprouts here too, though I do cook a small pack of the tiny ones.
We particularly like a characuterie board - my grandchildren call it a "picky lunch" and it makes a great starter too. I've got ready to bake ciabatta waiting in the freezer!

Another place I ordered a beetroot and butternut squash en croute vegetarian dish.

It amazes me that a restaurant we used to go to were offering beet en croute one Christmas and charging the same as they did for beef en croute.

An overabundance of often sickly desserts and foods with 50+ ingredients doesn't excite me but each to his own. I've just been watching a vlog where potatoes are tossed in olive oil (in which fresh rosemary, thyme, chopped garlic plus lemon and orange zest are infused) after parboiling and shaking to rough them up. They looked pretty good and, according to the cook, tasted Christmassy.

petal53

Nobody in their right mind makes puff/flaky pastry these days. The bought version is so good, just why would you?

That's so true, I made a huge chicken pie the other evening for my daughter's birthday dinner and the bought puff pastry was absolutely delicious and looked perfect.

Witzend

From experience, the good old retro classics always go down very well - cheese and (fresh) pineapple hedgehogs, and sausages on sticks. Because there happened to be some that needed using up (I’d used frozen packs as ice packs en route) - I once served a load of sausages on sticks as canapés at an al fresco lunch at a chateau in France - guests of BiL who owned the place were mostly French neighbours.

The Ss on sticks all vanished within a couple of minutes!

Yes, if you go to a buffet it's always the sausages and little sausage rolls that vanish first. Personally I love the little M&S pork pies, halved so they're easier to eat.

"They're all yuk" - is that right Sago? How many have you tried? As the saying goes, don't knock it til you've tried it! I'm not impressed with many of the superior attitudes expressed on this thread. 😤

It’s one thing to need rest or change from cooking; another to buy vast amounts of unhealthy foodstuffs (as supermarkets apparently anticipate).
Halloumi and apple - just the ticket for cuisine fatigue.

What I have most problem with is Christmas food with a short sell-by date, and I've found postponing buying it until nearer xmas results in finding a lot of stuff sold out. I grew up eating chemical food - in my younger day you didn't have to keep chutney or ketchup in the fridge, it lasted forever, opened, in the cupboard. So anyway I'm not gonna cry over long-life food now.

We’re having AS1 along with DD and her partner on Christmas Day, so it will be home made soup, some ramen dish for DD as she doesn’t like soup. Turkey without the Brussels sprouts as again no one except me eats them and can’t be bothered for one portion and dessert will be panna cotta and chocolate Yule log from M&S with the option of home made clottie dumpling. On Boxing Day it’s AS3 and family coming for roast beef Yorkshire pudding and a home made trifle DGD’s favourite. And on 29/12 having all 4 ACs their partners and DGDs for a buffet lunch which DH is making his fish pie specially for DGD’s a lasagne and I’m on charcuterie board duty. Not yet decided on dessert, but it will be something from M&S.

Not too fussed about the UPF as like most posters it’s not something we eat very often.

It's become increasingly difficult to buy a really nice Christmas dessert.
There are loads of cheese cake type things but we find that they're a bit too rich after a heavy lunch. Most of my family don't enjoy the traditional Christmas Pudding so I often make trifle.
Last year I bought what was described as a "Snowy Winter Yule Log" from M&S last Christmas for a change and was really disappointed. The ganache was really sickly and rather like eating margerine, very little of the promised passion fruit sauce, solid sponge and so sugary that nobody managed to finish their portion.
This year my family have requested boiled jam roll and sticky toffee pudding, with real custard.

Grunty

I wait all year for the frozen prawn party ring with the lurid pink dipping sauce!

My favourite too, or the large Prawns which you peel yourself. Just delicious. I find all the rich food OTT, we have been out for Christmas lunch 3 times so far this season in different restaurants. They all cook their veg in butter so it is swimming in it when served, likewise their poached fish. I ordered a Celeriac pasta and is was so salty it was inedible, they had only cooked the pasta in the celeriac water. Another place I ordered a beetroot and butternut squash en croute vegetarian dish. The en croute was like a dough ball on top and the base so hard I could neither cut it nor bite it. The filling was delicious though. All these places are top restaurants which charge hugely inflated prices this time of year. I find most of the buffet type food unappetising, they look good but do not taste of proper food. Give me a freshly home-baked cheese straw any time., a mince pie and perhaps a Lindt chocolate or two, then I am happy.

Most supermarkets are not selling their party food till the 19th December.They are there for convenience, it’s time saving and some pre prepared things are a life saver when unexpected guests arrive.

That all sounds really tasty.
Enjoy!

Sadly I cannot eat cheese, as it makes me ill, but my husband used to love all kinds. This time of year I used to look for treats in the cheese line, sage derby, pink windsor, brie and stilton. So some lovely Carrs water biscuits, some crisp celery and a glass of merlot , was a favourite lunch for him. I used to have the water biscuits but added duck pate or smoked trout, or some good fish with a little tartare sauce , for a treat, and ditto the merlot!! So much washing up too - two plates and two glasses!! I always remember one year seeing a very much reduced french brie in its cardboard tub and looked to see why. The assistant said " Oh it has gone very soft so will need using soon!" My husband had a great time with that. Ah those were the days. My biggest treat for myself yesterday has been a small half leg of lamb reduced to half price, which I am going to make a lovely roast to enjoy , which will leave me with a fair amount to eat cold and might even freeze a bit if there is any left and will be able to have a good jacket potato with some salad and slices of lamb with pickle. It has been so expensive that havent had any for ages. Feeling very hungry now so ready for my bread and hummus and tomatoes and celery. Dont think the supermarkets are going to make much of a profit out of me.