topic Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats in Off-Topic

Festive snacks, sweets & treats

EmilieT — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:35:28 GMT

Hi everyone,

During this season, with the cold weather creeping in and the days being shorter, I find that festive treats can lift up my mood and make me forget about the freezing wind and grey skies. In fact this weekend, I spent a couple of hours making the gingerbread men you can see in the picture on the right - the smell alone was fantastic, but the snacking that followed was even better

Do you have any favourite treats you like to get over the festive period?

Gingerbread, mince pies, chocolate candied oranges, candy cane, some fudge, anything caramel, a good cup of hot chocolate, ... there are so many options out there, and we all celebrate the holidays in our own way - I'd be curious to know what are the treats you like most over this time of the year!

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Cleoriff — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:42:03 GMT

@EmilieT

I could eat mince pies all day long. I love them and it annoys me that they only become available in the winter. (I don't make my own. as I find shop bought far more tasty)

I do like nuts and raisins as well. Any type of nut will do, except almonds.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

EmilieT — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:20:13 GMT

@Cleoriff I just looked it up and apprently about 370 millions mince pies are bought each year in the UK - I imagine you're playing a good part in this number?

More seriously I do like mince pies as well, they're not really a thing in France so it was a really lovely discovery I made when I moved here. I'm not big on raisins but nuts, yes please - have you tried some of the honey or maple roasted ones? Rich but oh so delicious

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Cleoriff — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:28:25 GMT

@EmilieT

I have no idea why mince pies should be seasonal?! I have decided I will buy some in bulk this year and shove them in the freezer. This should ease my craving during the summer months..

I haven't tried any of the honey or maple nuts, though will give them a try I think.

I also received a selection box of Le Chocolat two days ago. My niece in Scotland sent them. They are delicious

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 09:48:35 GMT

I try not to stuff my face all your round, Christmas is no exception.. if it's on offer I'll snaffle it but I don't like anything particularly festive.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

TallTrees — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 15:28:47 GMT

Hi @EmilieT

My fav. snack is slice of home baked ham, pickles and a fresh bread roll.

or slice of my heavy fruit cake with strong cheddar cheese and a cup of coffee.

A glass of Crabbies Ginger Wine.

Your Ginger Bread Men look fantastic. I love ginger.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

EmilieT — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 15:46:49 GMT

@Cleoriff

Sounds like a good plan, stock up for the rest of the year Let me know how you like those honey/maple roasted nuts, I can't stop eating them once they're in front of me so I have to be very careful buying them!

@Anonymous

It's a very healthy rule to live by, I wish I could follow it as well more regularly ...

@TallTrees

Thanks for the compliment, they were a lot of fun to make! I do like a fresh bread roll with anything on, that's the French in me. Would you eat heavy fruit cake with cheddar then? That's a combinaison I'd not heard of before but why not

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

TallTrees — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 15:59:00 GMT

Hello @EmilieT

Yes, Fruit Cake and a piece of Cheddar Cheese is very nice.

I love fresh bread rolls ~ can't resist them ~ like peanut butter on them.

Tinned tuna fish in the roll with some seafood sauce and tuck in with crisps (of course)

Pot of tea. Tell you what is nice is Chinese Tea (flower tea) very refreshing.

When I was in Singapore they put tea to sip inbetween courses and there are lots of courses

absolutely fantastic. Some of the best food in the world.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

davethorp — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 16:15:55 GMT

Quality street for the sweet tooth

Also love some cheese, wine and biscuits at this time of year

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Glory1 — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 07:15:01 GMT

I also love mince pies, warm from the oven with some double cream, absolutely yummy.

And I love the honey roasted nuts too @EmilieT but like mince pies you only seem to see them in shops during the Christmas period. Daft really as you can enjoy them any time of the year.

Like @Cleoriff I stocked up on the honey roasted cashews and peanuts and will stuff my face over Christmas. Bought enough to share with my friends, otherwise I'd eat them all myself

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

welshsteve76 — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 09:33:42 GMT

I love Wensleydale cheese with cranberry. It's available all year round but we only ever buy it at Christmas.

Pretzels and those little cheesy crackery snack selection box things

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Titanium — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 12:43:48 GMT

I'm another one for Wensleydale with cranberries!

Mr Kiplings festive bakewells make a nice change from regular bakewells too.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

EmilieT — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 14:17:02 GMT

@TallTrees Bread and peanut butter is what I had for breakfast today Tea inbetween courses sounds interesting, I can imagine it feels quite cleansing and forces you to take little breaks while eating, so you'd enjoy it all more!

@davethorp Do you grab anything for the Quality Street box or look for your favourites? Everyone has a different strategy

@Glory1 I found the honey roasted nuts at M&S over summer, but they might be more scarce indeed ... I'm not sure why they're seasonal but with the stocking up strategy you and @Cleoriff adopted you should be all set for 2019

@welshsteve76 Pretzels and salty crackers, yes please! It's my food of choice when a little sick actually, along with some soup, so with the seasonal cold and flu about I'm stocking up on those snacks

@Titanium Seems like this cheese is very popular Do you like any of the other Mr Kipling's seasonal treats or only the festive bakewells? I spotted quite a few different ones in the shops.

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

Titanium — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 18:02:19 GMT

@EmilieT Yep, I also like the frosty fancies & have bought a pack of individual Christmas cakes ready for the main event as well... Seems like I'm keeping Mr Kipling in business at the this time of year! . Though I must admit, I haven't tried any of his mince pies, have been trying own brand ones so far... It's surprising how much difference there can be in a mince pie!

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

mahj — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 19:19:01 GMT

Agree with festive bakewells and frosty fancies - super yummy!

My fave - seasonal flavours at cafes. Honeycomb, gingerbread, chocolate orange.. love them all. I’ve spotted a cherry bakewell flavour at Coffee Boy, wanna try that next 😁

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

TallTrees — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 19:25:29 GMT

Wow 😲 @mahj
There's another world out there 😳

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

mahj — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 21:15:09 GMT

Haha, my head is that world 🙈😄 I could quite easily take this thread to 10 pages without too much thinking 🙊

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

jonsie — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 21:40:48 GMT

Please don't....

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

TallTrees — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 21:42:39 GMT

@jonsie

Re: Festive snacks, sweets & treats

EmilieT — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 15:19:58 GMT

@Titanium I didn't realise there were so many different Mince Pies, any favourites? I'll porbably have some over the weekend so I should do some research first to find the best ones ...

@mahj All this talk of coffee syrup makes me want a nice hot and decadent latte - maybe something to pick up after work Let me know how you like that Cherry Bakewell one, it's a rather unusual coffee flavour!

@TallTrees

@jonsie