Pass the mince pies- Christmas Chat Thread Part Deux

Graces7 · 23-01-2020 4:01pm

Oh thank you; i will date check mine!

During and after the War ( I was a World War 2 baby!) when we were so severely rationed, some friends who had hidden my wounded father in their cherry orchard, used to send us food parcels. Luxuries! Tinned conserves ( far too good to be called jam!) pineapple. coloured sugar and Christmas puddings. The latter got left in the pantry for years then one Christmas when we were in very hard times we tried one and it was glorious

Sweet relief as I am just not in the mood for Christmas pudding! And the freezer has no room

DvB wrote: »

We have a pudding as well. In date until 2021 too so we're in no rush to eat it either

Graces7 · 23-01-2020 4:02pm

GEE!

And not one item did I buy there as I was not in reach of LIDL all last year!

odyssey06 wrote: »

On LIDL Ireland's Twitter they have a post saying that

In the month of December, our customers bought...
46,500 bottles of prosecco
1,200,000 tubs of chocolate sweets
60,000 Christmas puddings
1,000,000 mince pies

and then 1,600,000 bags of Tayto... in ONE DAY.

Graces7 · 23-01-2020 4:05pm

I was a modest buyer this last time. Then a tub of Roses arrived at my gate.. from the community association here.

So some few of those left; I allow myself three a day ! Not keen on biscuits.

Now fruit I bought in excess!

TRS30 wrote: »

DvB wrote: »

That box mince pies was the last 'Christmas food' in the house however lots of chocolate and tins of biscuits still around to tempt me!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 23-01-2020 4:51pm

Still eating Christmas pudding here daily but I fear the last will be with some hot custard tomorrow.

We always hold back a 6lb one for Easter, so there's that to look forward to.

CheerLouth · 23-01-2020 5:11pm

I made two this year as always and I normally give one to my parents but didn't this year because I gave them a cake (and my dad insulted me by buying a shop bought one :P) so I'm keeping the second one for Easter

Kermit.de.frog · 23-01-2020 7:10pm

Are mince pies available all year round?

Would it be morally dubious to eat one in the middle of summer, for instance?

DvB · 23-01-2020 9:48pm

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Are mince pies available all year round?

Would it be morally dubious to eat one in the middle of summer, for instance?

Dont think so. I've looked for them many a year but once the Christmas stock is gone they seem to be gone until around October. You can buy the jars of mincemeat though and make your own if you get the urge!

That's why I stick a couple of boxes in the freezer.

Caranica · 24-01-2020 12:48am

I'm going to admit a guilty secret. I took my tree and decorations down on 11 January but I've neither the tree nor a single decoration put away yet, they're all in a corner in my sitting room. I've been so busy/away the last two weekends and I'm working stupid hours at the moment so I've neither the time nor the energy to do it. Am I a bad person?

Posy · 24-01-2020 1:34am

I took down my kitchen tree on Tuesday, and it's still in a box in the bedroom. I also have two nutcrackers on the landing because I haven't put them away/still enjoying their company.

I'm only going to fully de-Christmas this weekend, when I should finally have a spare 2 minutes to get to the attic!

Loughc · 24-01-2020 8:24am

Posy wrote: »

I took down my kitchen tree on Tuesday, and it's still in a box in the bedroom. I also have two nutcrackers on the landing because I haven't put them away/still enjoying their company.

I'm only going to fully de-Christmas this weekend, when I should finally have a spare 2 minutes to get to the attic!

I’m getting a stira installed Saturday week so I still have all my decorations boxed up in the spare bedroom. I am ridiculously excited about not having to risk life and death To get the decorations in and out of the attic.

Graces7 · 24-01-2020 9:08am

I just could not fancy that! Mince pies are Christmas not summer! I had great difficulty eating that last one...Glad it has gone and I can shelve the pudding as I was dreading it.

Chocolate swiss roll and jam tarts ahoy!
( is that .. heresy!!!!!)

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Are mince pies available all year round?

Would it be morally dubious to eat one in the middle of summer, for instance?

odyssey06 · 24-01-2020 9:13am

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Are mince pies available all year round?
Would it be morally dubious to eat one in the middle of summer, for instance?

Your best bet is Supervalu if there's any still knocking around.
Theirs had a very long shelf life (end March), whereas Tesco, ALDI etc were all up in January.

Yes, I stocked up

Irish_peppa · 24-01-2020 9:19am

How do you guys prefer to store your trees?
My Pet hate is both erecting and taking down the tree
My fake 9 foot Xmas trees are still up not in the mood for shrink wrapping them again its a PAIN. Is it worth buying one of those Tree Storage Bags on Amazon. Are they any use or do they burst or get holes blown in them with the point wire branches?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/slp/bag-for-christmas-tree/2a3j7moenzo393a

Posy · 24-01-2020 9:26am

Loughc wrote: »

I’m getting a stira installed Saturday week so I still have all my decorations boxed up in the spare bedroom. I am ridiculously excited about not having to risk life and death To get the decorations in and out of the attic.

I have a stira- could not live without it!!

I have a Christmas tree bag, but couldn't fit the bottom (thickest) part of the tree in it- and my tree is pretty slim!
I just have the end of the tree in the corner, and the rest of it, garlands and wreaths in the bag.
The less squashed the tree is, the easier it will be to 'fluff it up' at Christmas.

TRS30 · 24-01-2020 9:35am

I have one broken Christmas decoration in the utility room that I am suppose to be gluing and then putting away. It is a Disney Winnie the Pooh one that I love, Elf 3 grabbed it off the shelve and it broke when it fell on the floor. Is only two pieces so should go back together Ok. Just cant bring myself to do it as I like looking it.

miamee · 24-01-2020 10:50am

We still have all the decorations and tree boxed up on the landing waiting to go up into the attic as well

DvB · 24-01-2020 11:51am

We have our attic converted with two storage areas running the full width of the house, one to the front & one to the back, both have handy little access doors into them, all the decorations go in the same spot each year to the front store, though the area we keep them in is expanding as we buy more stuff. Its so much handier than having to deal with traditional attic hatches which was a real 2 person operation. Much much easier to put up & waaay easier to put everything back away too.

We store our main tree in a reinforced storage bag we got in woodies a few years ago (the original cardboard box fell apart a bout 3 years ago), the smaller one still goes back into its original cardboard box which we tie closed with a handy elasticated grip cord or 2. All our other decoration go into the clear plastic storage containers you can get in homestore & more/Woodies etc. and it makes them so much easier to unpack & then repack when going back into storage, think we have 8 of them now (not including the trees)... hopefully that'll be it now!!

freshpopcorn · 24-01-2020 12:02pm

We have some of the boxed s in the attic. The living room stuff and the tree is all boxed up living in my bedroom for some reason.
My little bedroom tree is still up!

Graces7 · 24-01-2020 12:08pm

Ah great; 2021 so that is grand! Thank you as I would not have thought of it...

Graces7 wrote: »

Oh thank you; i will date check mine!

During and after the War ( I was a World War 2 baby!) when we were so severely rationed, some friends who had hidden my wounded father in their cherry orchard, used to send us food parcels. Luxuries! Tinned conserves ( far too good to be called jam!) pineapple. coloured sugar and Christmas puddings. The latter got left in the pantry for years then one Christmas when we were in very hard times we tried one and it was glorious

Sweet relief as I am just not in the mood for Christmas pudding! And the freezer has no room

Loughc · 24-01-2020 1:39pm

Irish_peppa wrote: »

How do you guys prefer to store your trees?
My Pet hate is both erecting and taking down the tree
My fake 9 foot Xmas trees are still up not in the mood for shrink wrapping them again its a PAIN. Is it worth buying one of those Tree Storage Bags on Amazon. Are they any use or do they burst or get holes blown in them with the point wire branches?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/slp/bag-for-christmas-tree/2a3j7moenzo393a

Posy wrote: »

I have a stira- could not live without it!!

I have a Christmas tree bag, but couldn't fit the bottom (thickest) part of the tree in it- and my tree is pretty slim!
I just have the end of the tree in the corner, and the rest of it, garlands and wreaths in the bag.
The less squashed the tree is, the easier it will be to 'fluff it up' at Christmas.

I bought a large Christmas tree back 2 years ago and it was shockingly poor, I have a 7 foot tree and only half of that would fit into the bag. I ended up black bagging the rest of the tree.

This year I bought an Extra Large tree and if anything it's too big. The tree fits into it with room, but because of the shape of the bag it'll be a tight sqeeze into the attic!!

Sierra 117 · 24-01-2020 6:39pm

I still have my small Christmas tree up in my bedroom. Though my two kittens knocked it down a few days sending baubles everywhere.

Postgrad10 · 24-01-2020 10:13pm

Irish_peppa wrote: »

How do you guys prefer to store your trees?
My Pet hate is both erecting and taking down the tree
My fake 9 foot Xmas trees are still up not in the mood for shrink wrapping them again its a PAIN. Is it worth buying one of those Tree Storage Bags on Amazon. Are they any use or do they burst or get holes blown in them with the point wire branches?

I
https://www.amazon.co.uk/slp/bag-for-christmas-tree/2a3j7moenzo393a

I thought it would be brilliant. Yes the spikes inevitably burst the bag and to be honest it was far too heavy to carry up even with a stira stair ( I have one too). I ended up carrying the tree up in branches and put them in the bag up there.

odyssey06 · 24-01-2020 10:20pm

The 'real' mini decorated christmas tree I got in early December in ALDI should see us through January... lights still going too

Littlehorny · 25-01-2020 11:51am

Not sure if all of you follow the Rudolph Day thread so would like to wish you all here a very happy Rudolph Day!
Only a few more to go

SarahLil · 25-01-2020 1:00pm

Happy Rudolph Day everyone an extra bonus that it is on a Saturday

L1011 · 25-01-2020 10:36pm

I promised I'd try keep up the artificially tidy level we got the house to for the big day for at least a month

Its not perfect but I'm willing to claim victory - there is nothing extraneous on the coffee table in the living room; the fusebox/table in the hall only has election related stuff on it that wouldn't be there otherwise - these are the two things that collect crud year-round - and everything else is still at a level I'd be willing to have guests over.

There are, however, still fir needles everywhere. My car smells great, if a bit spikey, from the trip to the council depot.

miamee · 27-01-2020 11:55am

miamee wrote: »

We still have all the decorations and tree boxed up on the landing waiting to go up into the attic as well

Finally put these away on Saturday - the landing looks so big now :pac:

CheerLouth · 27-01-2020 3:01pm

I'm having a turkey & stuffing sandwich with cranberry sauce for lunch - it's divine!

TRS30 · 27-01-2020 5:08pm

CheerLouth wrote: »

I'm having a turkey & stuffing sandwich with cranberry sauce for lunch - it's divine!

Shirley has to be one life's most underrated experiences!

Loughc · 27-01-2020 6:34pm

TRS30 wrote: »

Shirley has to be one life's most underrated experiences!

It really is.... and don't call me Shirley!

freshpopcorn · 28-01-2020 1:04am

It's snowing!

DvB · 28-01-2020 9:48am

Yep, we had some snowfall at the train station this morning. Didn't stick though unfortunately. My god was it cold though.

Loughc · 28-01-2020 10:46am

Cold start to the morning here too... doesn't seem like we'll get a proper snow day this Winter tho.

CheerLouth · 28-01-2020 10:49am

No, it was raining here a minute ago and I thought it was cold enough for it to turn sleety but it's cleared up now. No harm, I really don't want to see any snow!

Loughc · 28-01-2020 11:41am

CheerLouth wrote: »

No, it was raining here a minute ago and I thought it was cold enough for it to turn sleety but it's cleared up now. No harm, I really don't want to see any snow!

I love snow... and I really love snow that results in days off work and ChristmasFM returning for one day :P

I should clarify I only like snow for 2 days... then I want normal life to resume :P

CheerLouth · 28-01-2020 11:45am

I don't mind snow as in real snow which makes it impossible to travel anywhere. I hate the horrid skifty snow that is just a shower but makes the roads really dangerous & people still expect me to travel.

miamee · 28-01-2020 11:49am

I'd love to be snowed in for a week :P

DvB · 28-01-2020 12:22pm

CheerLouth wrote: »

I don't mind snow as in real snow which makes it impossible to travel anywhere. I hate the horrid skifty snow that is just a shower but makes the roads really dangerous & people still expect me to travel.

Agree, all or nothing, the in between stuff just makes life miserable.

TRS30 · 28-01-2020 12:48pm

CheerLouth wrote: »

I don't mind snow as in real snow which makes it impossible to travel anywhere. I hate the horrid skifty snow that is just a shower but makes the roads really dangerous & people still expect me to travel.

100%. The last proper snow, I was able to work from home so wasn't too bad. My car did slip out of the driveway though :eek:

SarahLil · 28-01-2020 6:33pm

Bitterly cold here in North Dublin my heating is on the blink too we had an issue with the heating last week we thought it was fixed the gas guy is here now so fingers crossed

All the talk of the good on here has me hungry I hope the gas guy finishes soon so I can get my dinner on

TRS30 · 29-01-2020 9:42am

SarahLil wrote: »

Bitterly cold here in North Dublin my heating is on the blink too we had an issue with the heating last week we thought it was fixed the gas guy is here now so fingers crossed

All the talk of the good on here has me hungry I hope the gas guy finishes soon so I can get my dinner on

Hope you got sorted.

Reminds me the big snow before last one (2011??) we came back from Oslo on a Sunday night and was snowing when we got home. Into freezing house as no heating on when we were away, boiler packed it in

. Had no heating for about 5 days. This was pre kids so we both stayed in the office till late every night, just for some warmth.

freshpopcorn · 31-01-2020 2:07am

We're into the 320's!

Loughc · 31-01-2020 9:05am

freshpopcorn wrote: »

We're into the 320's!

Oh wow so that means before February is even over we will be into the 200’s!!

TRS30 · 31-01-2020 9:17am

Loughc wrote: »

Oh wow so that means before February is even over we will be into the 200’s!!

Great minds, was just thinking the same when I was in the countdown thread

kitten_k · 31-01-2020 2:59pm

I haven't been logging into my normal boards accounts as was playing WW over in the Forum games forum so delighted to log in today and see so many posts to catch up on!

DvB · 31-01-2020 3:38pm

Loughc wrote: »

Oh wow so that means before February is even over we will be into the 200’s!!

Is March 1st not day 299? Asking for a friend:pac:

TRS30 · 31-01-2020 4:03pm

DvB wrote: »

Is March 1st not day 299? Asking for a friend:pac:

Tell your friend, I believe 1st Mar is 298 (my math could be off though!).

Posy · 31-01-2020 9:24pm

DvB wrote: »

Is March 1st not day 299? Asking for a friend:pac:

I think you're right, DvB.

Loughc · 31-01-2020 10:48pm

Posy wrote: »

I think you're right, DvB.

Yep he is. I did my maths wrong. Which is a tad bit embarrassing :P

Posy · 01-02-2020 1:00am

It's February!!

Pass the mince pies- Christmas Chat Thread Part Deux

Comments

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year" - Charles Dickens