M&S Christmas

Our whole family gets together at Christmas, and it is my job to provide the pudding course. I make the Christmas pudding, but buy stuff from M&S or Waitrose - depending on what I fancy.

I am not adverse from buying from anywhere really. It depends on the ingredients, reviews etc.

The main thing is - I don’t have to prepare them, for upwards of 20 people.

Well I'll brag and tell everyone I'm going over to France in December to buy my fizz, cheeses and chocolates. (Because I'm worth it).

Plenty of people can afford posh stuff, but if they dare to mention sonething they like, it's always seen by some as boasting on here.

MartavTaurus

Well I'll brag and tell everyone I'm going over to France in December to buy my fizz, cheeses and chocolates. (Because I'm worth it).

Plenty of people can afford posh stuff, but if they dare to mention sonething they like, it's always seen by some as boasting on here.

Yay!! Enjoy 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Caviar for 25 anyone, £195?😉

Cossy

MartavTaurus

Well I'll brag and tell everyone I'm going over to France in December to buy my fizz, cheeses and chocolates. (Because I'm worth it).

Plenty of people can afford posh stuff, but if they dare to mention sonething they like, it's always seen by some as boasting on here.

Yay!! Enjoy 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Taking orders, if you like!

Usedtobeblonde

Caviar for 25 anyone, £195?😉

My DF absolutely loved caviar. I find it far too salty, lobster however …..

Whitewavemark2

Our whole family gets together at Christmas, and it is my job to provide the pudding course. I make the Christmas pudding, but buy stuff from M&S or Waitrose - depending on what I fancy.

I am not adverse from buying from anywhere really. It depends on the ingredients, reviews etc.

The main thing is - I don’t have to prepare them, for upwards of 20 people.

I make the pudding but now it's M&S and/or Waitrose at Christmas and thankfully don't have to cater at my house on Christmas Day any more.

Everything used to be made from scratch, Christmas cake and puddings in half-term, but not any more.
When is half-term anyway?

We have Ocado and get some M&S goodies along with our ordinary groceries. I need to book my slot for Christmas, they keep reminding me. Will get some M&S food that we usually wouldn’t buy as a treat for us all. Has been a horrible couple of years and I feel we need to splash out a bit this year. But not outrageously. We still need to pay our heating bills etc.

greyfur16

Is it me....or is this just endless bragging? Many people do not have access to funds to go to farm shops and buy fizz.

Are posters not allowed to talk about anything their funds allow greyfur? What about:

Cruises?
A new electric car?
Theatre tickets?

Why should people who have disposable incomes to indulge in suchlike have to justify or check themselves?

Bragging?
I don’t see it tgat way, sorry.

If I begrudged them such niceties they wouldn’t swing over to me anyway, so why carp?

I don’t get it.

Yes it’d be wonderful if we could all join in with such things but life isn’t like that.

People have been persuaded by the media - that certain stores are upmarket and some are not. That is reflected in prices if not quality.

I eat a plant-based diet so I don’t buy meat or fish and cannot comment on comparative quality for those things.

I do buy most of my food in street and village hall markets, ethnic shops and farm shops (because I have two very close by who grow a lot of their own produce so they cut out the middlemen which keeps prices competitive).

If I do use a supermarket, no particular brand, just wherever I happen to be, I notice little difference in quality. If I were doing a big shop, why would I want to spend £60 more for similar items?

But Christmas is different. People seek a bit of luxury for themselves and their guests. If M&S and Waitrose provide that, why not?

When there was a Waitrose locally I would often buy their uncut bread. At the time, it did seem nicer than other vendors. It was good for gifts of wine too but I think other stores have now caught up in terms of quality. I have seen Aldi wines on recommended lists.

greyfur16

Is it me....or is this just endless bragging? Many people do not have access to funds to go to farm shops and buy fizz.

Why is it bragging? I speak of my life as I live it. I have always given the quality of the food I feed my family and guests highest priority, regardless of my income, because our life and health depends on it. There was a report published only last week that showed that the more UPFs you consume in your diet the higher your risk of having strokes and heart disease.

UPFs in our diet are the result of chasing cheaper and cheaper food regardless of the effect it has on us. If I thought it was only the poorest people who did that it would be understandable, but it isn't, it is the majority of people in the country, most of whom can afford to pay more. It may mean cutting back on other things - clothes, holidays etc. We all make our own decisions and I have made mine.

You can be a canny shopper in any supermarket, especially if you use a club card.
I know some may not want to use them of course.

I fancied the black forest gateaux until I saw it was £30 ! Says it serves ten but we all know that means six 😉

I have placed my Ocado order and did just do a double take at some prices but here too it's just us two - nobody coming and we are spending Christmas Day and Boxing Day at our youngest daughter's in her new house. Its her first post divorce Christmas so she intends to push the boat out and we shall help her. I shall mix mine up a bit with Sainsbury as we have one nearby but no Waitrose. I do like to have it delivered so happy (not happy but resigned) to pay the £10 delivery charge.

Casdon

M&S is definitely the best option if you’re gluten free, they do things nobody else does, and are excellent at Christmas if you don’t want to faff about making different food to everybody else’s at home.
Just one example is their fish fingers, which are the only cod version available that I’ve found, and are big, with lots of fish in.

Agree with this.
Our SiL is celiac and we always order stuff for him from Marks, gluten free stuff is pricey everywhere so may as well get it at Marks.

This arrived with my online delivery!

I shop at aldi and treats from m&S especially at Christmas.

Both M&S and Waitrose orders booked.
For me one less thing to do, pre food shopping at Christmas is not one I enjoy doing. I normally have between 7-12 mouths to feed on Christmas day so M&S is a no brainer for me.

As I am having a very industrious day, I priced this Christmas dinner from Waitrose as mentioned in the above publication. For 6 people, a total of £168, so £28 a head.

Yesterday I got a ‘ Heat in the House’ email from our local (excellent) hotel, offering three courses for £25.

Daddima

As I am having a very industrious day, I priced this Christmas dinner from Waitrose as mentioned in the above publication. For 6 people, a total of £168, so £28 a head.

Yesterday I got a ‘ Heat in the House’ email from our local (excellent) hotel, offering three courses for £25.

Is that £25 on Christmas Day, or just the days leading up to Christmas?

You cannot get a three course meal for £25 at any time in any hotels in this area.

GrannyGravy13

Daddima

As I am having a very industrious day, I priced this Christmas dinner from Waitrose as mentioned in the above publication. For 6 people, a total of £168, so £28 a head.

Yesterday I got a ‘ Heat in the House’ email from our local (excellent) hotel, offering three courses for £25.

Is that £25 on Christmas Day, or just the days leading up to Christmas?

You cannot get a three course meal for £25 at any time in any hotels in this area.

It is a pre-prepared takeaway meal for you to heat up at home. Their Christmas Day menu ( albeit a bit more extensive) is £85 in the hotel.

I think it’s a great idea for solo or even couple diners who fancy a Christmas dinner.

M0nica

greyfur16

Is it me....or is this just endless bragging? Many people do not have access to funds to go to farm shops and buy fizz.

Why is it bragging? I speak of my life as I live it. I have always given the quality of the food I feed my family and guests highest priority, regardless of my income, because our life and health depends on it. There was a report published only last week that showed that the more UPFs you consume in your diet the higher your risk of having strokes and heart disease.

UPFs in our diet are the result of chasing cheaper and cheaper food regardless of the effect it has on us. If I thought it was only the poorest people who did that it would be understandable, but it isn't, it is the majority of people in the country, most of whom can afford to pay more. It may mean cutting back on other things - clothes, holidays etc. We all make our own decisions and I have made mine.

Sorry, what is a UPF?

I generally spend Christmas these days with DD and her menfolk. They buy almost everything we eat on the day from M&S and if not there, from Waitrose. I think much of it is overpriced and underwhelming and it has to be ordered so far in advance. But then I’m old school! Having said that, we will be away in rural Northumberland for Christmas this year and the order will be picked up from a large town close to where we are staying so it will take the worry out of having to source food locally so close to the day itself, or take it with us (we hope!).

Am sure most posters will know this, but just in case….doing your Christmas order now will just keep the slot for you, it won’t guarantee that your chosen items will arrive.If they are out of stock on the day when they pack up your order ( this includes Ocado) then they will either substitute a different item or just apologise.
It’s best to not leave the slot until the 24th as if you do it a day earlier it leaves time to go out and try and source those items.

We have a Marks in my local town and I shop in there for one or two items, I usually call in there once a week. I used Marks a lot, during lock down for food, a compensation for months of not being able to go out for a meal. Their largest stand alone food hall has opened about 20 miles from where I live, I'll definitely drive over there to investigate. I think on the whole I prefer Marks' to Waitrose as far as top end food is concerned, although I like the Waitrose experience it feels calmer in there than all the rest. Again I don't buy that much from them either, Aldi has opened right next door to Waitrose and John Lewis in my town and I've come to really like Aldi competition is a good thing for the consumer. I split my shop between, Sainsbury and Aldi. With a few items from Marks and Waitrose. I'll probably use all 4 around Christmas and I generally redeem accrued Nectar point in Saibsburys towards Christmas entertaining.