Good food finds in the run up to Christmas

Shanma a simple "not to my taste" would have got your message across.

Aldi's chocolate stollen bites,while not authentic, are never the less very good.

Our Lidl has just installed self-service tills. That was the final frontier as far as I was concerned, no more long queues, hurrah.

Dh always has a Carluccios panettone and we buy them for presents and, as they 'get' gf, I am surprised they don't do a gf one.

grannypiper, lidl and aldi are hopeless as far as gf goes - much worse than homegrown supermarkets.

I disagree with Jackieb - Italians are quite good at veggie stuff, it's France that it's more difficult ( where vegetarian food is usually a ham omelette) Carluccios panettone is the most delicicious ( and the most expensive) Aldi's one is acceptably yummy, also their Stollen bites.

kittylester if you have a lidl nearby, pick up one of their lidlsuprises christmas magazines and in the back is a voucher for 40% off panettone. There is also vouchers for 40% off a huge bag of spiced biscuits (yummy with coffee), Belgian sea shell chocs and last but not least 40% off mature cheddar. The vouchers are valid until 18th December.

That's oxymoron casseroles AND panettone - wow!

There are some around but they cost about £10 per bite! And that's too much to gamble! Gf pasta is acceptable.

I would have thought gf Pannetone was an oxymoron. The Italians have only just got their heads around vegetarianism.

Last year I bought a panne tone from Aldi. It was in a very useful tin, taller than usual, and had tiny bits of meringue scattered over the top. Only cost £5. Delicious.

I'd be interested in any good gf food anyone comes across. I'm on a mission to find a gf panettone that doesn't cost a fortune. I'm always soon jealous when I smell DH toasting some for breakfast.

I used to love Ecclefechan tarts before I started avoiding gluten.

Oh never had an Ecclefechan tart before , I will look out for one.

A good Ecclefechan tart is hard to beat!

Ecclefechan tarts...YEUK I tried some and had to spit it out.

Not really mince pies, although they are only on sale at Christmas, but our favourites are Sainsbury's Ecclefechan tarts, delicious.

My sister makes her own mincemeat and very kindly makes some
mince pies for us
Roses I cheat where ever possible
So its bought mincemeat with a few drops of brandy and a few dried cranberries for added colour.

Tins of biscuits are no more.
They are all in cardboard boxes
Foxes have produced a very long single tier flat cardboard biscuit box.
I think its to fool us in to thinking we are getting a lot of biscuits.

Nope Candle everbody doesn't make their own mincemeat and horrible is in the mouth of the beholder ( usually my DH's mouth, he will eat any mince pie at all.)

I have got a large kilner jar of last year's mincemeat left. Will use it in mince pies just for DH and me. So as not to poison anyone else.

Asda Baker's Best (or something) were very nice. Close second to the Iceland Luxury ones.

I've made my own mincemeat. Doesn't everybody? Shop bought mincemeat is horrible.

I always make some mince pies and DH hovers about ready to descend on them the minute they come out of the oven.I have a couple of friends who even make their own mincemeat ( a step too far.)

Have bought some Sainsburys stollen also from Waitrose, but think I should also get some from M&S to compare.

The Wonderful Man has just made his first batch of mince pies, but our son, who is an expert (well, he says he is), has decreed that Lidl mince pies beat all others except for home made ones.

Grannyknot - methinks I shall be visiting this thread from time to time over the next few weeks.

In the interests of scientific investigation , we have tried M & S , Aldi and Tesco's mince pies.

M and S were head and shoulders above the rest BUT twice the price of the close second Aldi. Tesco's just didn't make the grade .

Should we be listing calorie content?
that would depend on what they picked up on the floor!

I was going to make mince pies. Should I bother? I may have to as we don't have an Iceland, Asda, Aldi or Co-op