Christmas snacks and sweets?

r3nu4l

So what will you lot be munching this Christmas when you're watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

Will it be Roses? Milk Tray? Quality Street? Lemon's Seasons Greetings? Celebrations?

Do tell.

With the decline in the quality of Roses over the past few years (a LOT of the good sweets have gone) I'm at a bit of a loss. I'll be in England so unfortunately won't have access to Seasons Greetings but am at a loss as I always preferred Roses to all other chocolates in the past. Now I'm stuck.

I'l be having salted peanuts, minced pies and other festive treats but really want a nice tin of sweets to dig into too. Help?

Magic Eight Ball

Celebrations FTW!

candy-gal1

Selection boxes!

ammo123

Celebrations, but also chocolate kimberley biscuits! Yum!

Faith

Celebrations would be my preference, yes. But the world and it's wife knows that my mum is OBSESSED with Quality Street, so that's all we ever get .

r3nu4l

Wow, Celebrations getting lots of votes (even thought there's no poll )

Faith wrote: »

But the world and it's wife knows that my mum is OBSESSED with Quality Street,

Yup, I can confirm that even in England we know that Faith's mum loves her Quality Street.

We were always a Roses family but Cadbury's have managed to do a pretty good job of destroying the variety of sweets on offer over the past few years and while I love my caramels I'm very disappointed with the Selection now.

Ideally I suppose a mix of Quality Street, Roses and Lemons seasons Greetings would do it for me. Decisions, decisions.

tinkerbell

Celebrations followed closely by Roses. Although I do like myself a bit of Milk Tray too! As for Heroes, UGH!!! They have ruined Heroes! There's only two things I'd eat out of the Heroes tin now - twirl and caramel. They've got all these horrible sweets in it now!

star-pants

Stuff we get over Christmas usually includes the following:
Quality Street
Roses
Snowballs
Teacakes
Selection boxes
Walnut Whips
Terrys Chocolate Oranges
Maybe Celebrations/Heros
Shortbread biscuits in a tin
Pudding/Christmas cake
Various nuts / jellies / biscuits

Magic Eight Ball

star-pants wrote: »

Stuff we get over Christmas usually includes the following:
Quality Street
Roses
Snowballs
Teacakes
Selection boxes
Walnut Whips
Terrys Chocolate Oranges
Maybe Celebrations/Heros
Shortbread biscuits in a tin
Pudding/Christmas cake
Various nuts / jellies / biscuits

Same in my parents house.
It's not christmas without teacakes and shortbread biscuits. I'd also add king crisps to that list.

Sigma Force

Since I started baking snacks n goodies for myself I've found the taste of shop bought chocs isn't great, all sugar and no flavour. But these would have to be still up there at Xmas time.

Walnut Whips
Terrys choc orange
Salt sticks & pretzels
Pringles
Choc n Marzipan
Pfeffernusse
Gingerbread
& lots of other germany goodies from Aldi&Lidl
If I can get it cherry coke and paprika stick (funny frisch sent from Germany)
Ferrero of course - you are really spolin uzz
Roses are yuk now
Selection box bars Xmas isn't Xmas without a curly wurly

tinkerbell

I am seriously addicted to Curly Wurlys, they are the bomb!

CombatCow

M&S American snack mix, it's mini pretzles, mini tortilla chips and nacho strips and mustard bread little snacks all in one box, so nice with a beer.

emeraldstar

In tins of chocolates terms, Celebrations is yer only man.

I've quite given up on Roses after they took out ALL the good ones and filled it instead with crap toffees and cremes.

Will probably have Heroes also, but I still haven't and will never get over the fact that they removed the Crunchie one. The very nicest.

So by default, Celebrations are the only chocolates that have a consistently decent collection. As long as I don't ever find out that they've removed the Maltesers one it should be okay...

Selection boxes, celebrations, heroes...


a bakery opened up recently across the road too, so... :o:o

xalot

Ferraro Rocher (or however it's spelt) and Cadburys selection box.
yummm

UrbanSea

Mum the idiot bought Roses even when I asked her not to.
I'd like to see Celebrations in the house,along with Ferrero Rocher and possibly Heroes.
The Malteser and Twix kind of selection box and Milky Way ones will get eaten too.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Magic Eight Ball

Malteasers.. but only in this box..


or

Magic Eight Ball

+ it's not christmas without some tubes around the house..

rubadub

Magic Eight Ball wrote: »

Malteasers.. but only in this box..

My real eating begins after christmas when they end up selling off all these boxes with christmasy artwork on them for next to nothing.

Usually have a cadbury fudge bar or curly wurly from a selection box which I would never get otherwise during the year.

Usually some box/tin of M&S belgian chocolate biscuits is knocking around. And Leonidas.

terlywerly

After Eights and Terry's Chocolate Orange omnomnomnom
I do a lot of baking as well so I'm sure there'll be cakes and biscuits too, and homemade ice cream. However, tradition is to watch it drinking a huuuuuuge mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows, cream and chocolate shavings (and a shot of Baileys ) so that's the main plan.
However, a friend is also sending me over a big box of American drinks and candy so I'm all excited about that too!!

Gunmonkey

Got a box of Mingles recently, so good. And they come in the same weight - cost ratio Celebrations and Roses come in.

now if only Dunnes were still selling the 30 Ferrero Rocher for €6 I would be set (went through 3 boxes in the month they were on sale).

Asphyxia

For me it will be heros, celebrations or Ferraro Rocher Nom nom nom!

My boyfriend love his mince pies! I like them but not as much as him haha!

Selection boxes galore

enda1

A rather recent tradition in my household has been a giant box of Scots Clan.



Like this ^ but the box which is something like 2kg!

xzanti

I'm more a savoury gal myself.. lots of pringles and dry roasted peanuts.. NOM..

Lornen

I absolutely love getting a big Heroes tin, but I haven't seen ONE in Tesco or Dunnes this year! Only the crappy boxes of them
I'll be getting some chilli peanuts and honey roasted ones. They are bang on the money.

rubadub

Lornen wrote: »

I'll be getting some chilli peanuts and honey roasted ones. They are bang on the money.

Speaking of money be careful not to be ripped off with bulk christmas packs, lots of tubs of nuts I saw were very expensive -I think many people just presume it is cheapest.

e.g. in tesco a
Jacobs Mikado 750G * Rest of Christmas Biscuits shelf
€10.99 (€14.66/kg)

Jacobs Mikado 125G * Rest of Plain shelf
€1.39 (€1.12/100g)


So the 750g box costs 30% more per kilo than the smallest pack you can get.

Brenireland

A Scone & a Mug of Tae Cheers

dirtyghettokid

anybody know where to buy gingerbread house kits?

we'll be having in king crisps and plenty of roses no doubt!
if i were still able to eat dark chocolate then we'd be having black magic and after 8s! mmmmmmm (oh ibs how i hate you!)

_Whimsical_

For me its Marks and Spencer belgian biscuits that are sold in a gold and green tin every year. I dream about them all year round and it's always a sad moment in my house when they're gone.

rylie

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

anybody know where to buy gingerbread house kits?

Saw a kit in Harvey Nichols in Dundrum the other week. I'd say it's expensive though. Rachel Allen has a recipe for one in her "Bake" book as far as I know?

confusticated

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

anybody know where to buy gingerbread house kits?

I saw loads in tkmaxx last year, they were pretty cheap in a couple of different sizes...dunno bout this year though. Making your own could be more fun but I think I'd trust the shop walls better than mine to stay up!

I'm actually dying for a slice of Christmas pudding since I saw this thread:o also not enough people buy chocolate kimberley as presents! I always hope for them and am usually disappointed, and Mam won't buy biscuits for the house since we get given so many.:(

Magic Eight Ball

Can't be forgetting the old reliable.

Daisy Steiner

I made the mistake of opening a bag of these on my own.

Big mistake!

Om nom nom nom.

Definitely getting more for Christmas day, it will be hard not to devour them before then!

elekid

This thread is making me drool! So many things I have to try now. Never had Lemon's Seasons Greetings before (though I don't like Iced Caramels). What shop did you get the Honey Roast Peanuts and Cashew in? ^^

Things that usually feature in my house at Christmas are Roses, After Eights, Ferrero Rocher, Lindt Chocolates, Vienetta/Romantica, Chocolate Kimberleys, Mallows, Mince Pies and Pringles. Can't wait

Daisy Steiner

I got them in Tesco in Limerick. I assume they're available nationwide!

Dangerous!

Magic Eight Ball

I've never ever had a Mince Pie, gonna try em this year for the first time. The one's in Starbucks look pretty savage.

star-pants

You've never had a mince pie?!!

M&S lattice mince pies are the business. Their normal mince pies are nice too.

Magic Eight Ball

star-pants wrote: »

You've never had a mince pie?!!

M&S lattice mince pies are the business. Their normal mince pies are nice too.

Never..

emeraldstar

Magic Eight Ball wrote: »

I've never ever had a Mince Pie, gonna try em this year for the first time. The one's in Starbucks look pretty savage.

You're not missing out to be fair.

rubadub

emeraldstar wrote: »

You're not missing out to be fair.

Indeed, if they (and many other christmas foods) were so good they would be popular all year round.

I commented before -Its all a scam dreamt up by the food suppliers who otherwise could not get rid of this muck at any other time of year. Along with the turkey breeders and marzipan makers, its all a conspiracy, they invented jesus too, John the Baptist was a well known turkey breeder. Judas grew the sprouts!

I remember presuming mince pies would have mince beef in them when I was a child and spat the rotten thing out. I wish they were mince beef pies, I remember I was in New Zealand and they had meat pie shops all over the place.

r3nu4l

emeraldstar wrote: »

You're not missing out to be fair.

:eek: Scandalous talk!

rubadub wrote: »

Indeed, if they (and many other christmas foods) were so good they would be popular all year round.

I commented before -Its all a scam dreamt up by the food suppliers who otherwise could not get rid of this muck at any other time of year. Along with the turkey breeders and marzipan makers, its all a conspiracy, they invented jesus too, John the Baptist was a well known turkey breeder. Judas grew the sprouts!

More heresy!

The mince pie is to Christmas what the Cadbury's Creme egg used to be to Easter (before the marketing goons decided to seel them almost all year around).

Mince pies are delicious, I love them

I remember presuming mince pies would have mince beef in them when I was a child and spat the rotten thing out.

Yeah, me too but within two years I was in love with them, they're amazing, food of the Gods (possibly exaggerating now), the food of life itself (definitely exaggerating!).

They're lovely, if you haven't tried them, do so today!!

elekid

No sign of the Honey Roast Peanuts in my nearest Tesco but I did get a box of 6 mince pies for €1.50! Hopefully they're decent ones..

I also used to think mince pies contained meat and hated them until a couple of years ago when I tried one hot with ice cream and now I love them. Also good with cream or custard.

rubadub

r3nu4l wrote: »

The mince pie is to Christmas what the Cadbury's Creme egg used to be to Easter (before the marketing goons decided to seel them almost all year around).

I think the cadburys marketers would like to keep them to a limit, it is places like €2 shops that get them and sell them off season, one in dun laoghaire had short dated creme eggs 8 for €2, jaysus I was sick that day! -though I think creme eggs might have another "approved season" during the year now.

Hot cross buns can be got all year round now, this is since there is demand as they actually are nice! Though I think you can get mince pies all year round but very small shelf space.

elekid wrote: »

No sign of the Honey Roast Peanuts in my nearest Tesco

They are in my tesco, in a special christmas food section, not with the normal nuts. They are stupidly expensive per kilo, I will wait till jan and pick up a few tubs for next to nothing, got them the last few years for pittance. I spotted maple syrup nuts which sound good. They are all too sweet for me, I have to "dilute" them with regular nuts.

emeraldstar

Oooh, those vanilla and cinnamon ones sound amazing.

Archeron

Check out the Mr Kipling Christmas ones, I spotted them in Lidl. Rum and Raisin, Christmas cake and christmas pudding slices for 1.50 a box.

I just finished way too may rum and raisins, they are bloody lovely

ellieswellies

I love Peppermint Bark, so I thought I'd make my own this year by smashing up candy canes and mixing them with melted white chocolate and leaving it set and smashing it up all over again:)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peppermint-bark-recipe/index.html

Faith

ellieswellies wrote: »

I love Peppermint Bark, so I thought I'd make my own this year by smashing up candy canes and mixing them with melted white chocolate and leaving it set and smashing it up all over again:)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peppermint-bark-recipe/index.html

I've done that before. It's delicious! Super sweet though.

Miss Lockhart

It's mostly Roses in this house, but I will definitely get myself some Milk Tray and Butler's Irish Cream Truffles.

I absolutely love mince pies - favourite would be Superquinn ones - already tucking into them during my snow days this week.

The only other thing we specifically get for Christmas would be tins of Danish Butter Cookies.

cson

I'm fairly certain I didn't dream this but I do remember Cadburys selling boxes of one type of Roses sweet a few years back - i.e. I loaded up on boxes of just Caramels! I think it was real anyway.

Btw; agree with Cadburys making ****e of Roses. Don't ruin a winning formula!

In our house Xmas = Coke, but we also get a 6 pack of nearly every other type of fizzy drink. Which is why I love a can of Club Lemon but I'd never buy it :pac:

zeusnero

cson wrote: »

Btw; agree with Cadburys making ****e of Roses. Don't ruin a winning formula!

Seconded, thirded and fourthed - i used to love Roses, especially the Caramel sweets but now they just don't taste the same. I always wondered if the 'may contain traces of soya' on the wrappers had anything to do with that...

cson wrote: »

we also get a 6 pack of nearly every other type of fizzy drink.

Ditto!

Christmas wouldn't be the same without:

Chocolate Kimberly, Roses (i wish they'd make a 'Classic' version), Scots Clan, Maltesers, Huge box of Milk Tray & Jacobs Teacakes