Christmas can be a time of joy and pain, depending on whether you’re a fan or not. Here, we share our favourite Christmas foody things. Because food is always a source of joy to us.
Trifle: breakfast of champions!
Amy
Christmas-wise, I could take or leave the tinsel, but I’m definitely on board with the eating. There’s a surprise.
Christmas meals are extremely traditional. Every family has its musts, whether it’s smoked salmon for breakfast, or turkey AND ham. We like an early lunch to ensure the relatives go home ASAP, so there’s no fancy breakfast. And you can keep the ham, because half the family are Jewish.
So my favourite Christmas food thing is dessert. We’ve always had trifle. I enjoy mine alongside hot Christmas pudding and brandy butter. But that’s not the best bit. The real treat is Boxing Day, because that’s when I eat the leftover trifle for breakfast trifle. Win.
Caroline
Swedish Christmas is all about mulled wine, pickled herring and ham. Except in my home, where it focused on cured salmon, smoked shoulder of lamb and thick slices of chocolate-covered marzipan.
Of course, I’m don’t live in Sweden anymore and my British Christmas is vegetarian. We have risotto pie, trifle and a lot of good cheese.
I’ve kept the tradition of creating a creatively shaped marzipan loaf. Hippos were my speciality. A couple of years ago, I made a sandworm (Shai-Hulud from Frank Herbert’s Dune books) with pine nuts for teeth. Last year, I made a horseshoe crab. This year? I’m planning a facehugger.
Look! A horseshoe crab on the moon. (We ate the tail first.)
Kerry
It’s tough singling out my favourite Christmas food thing but I’m loving going through all the discount and supermarket Christmas brochures for inspiration. There was a time I would make everything from scratch including my stuffing, gravy and mince pies but with so many great ready-made provisions on offer why be a martyr to the oven.
My Christmas will be spent having quality time with my elderly parents and enjoying my collection of Glengoyne whiskies that I hope Santa will be delivering, accompanied by an Aldi All Butter Almond Mince Tart or two, which I can highly recommend.
This is what Kerry wants for Christmas. How about you?
Nicki
I love this time of year and for me it’s not just about the meal on Christmas Day, it’s the run up.
Mince pies are just my favourite, especially the ones my Dad used to make as even the mincemeat was homemade and he had perfected this melt in the mouth orange short crust pastry. I’m also a huge fan of mulled wine, the smell simply oozes Christmastime.
On the day itself, I’m all about the trimmings, I can take or leave the turkey, but bring on the pigs in blankets and all the amazing veggies and let’s not leave out the Yorkshire pudding, it’s got to be there!
