[Growster...]

Not food, but a real Christmas past memory...

My Dad used to get a few 'presents' from suppliers as a 'favoured client', and there was always a huge box of Terry's All Gold for Mum, and 200 John Player cigarettes for him - plus a bottle or two!

He didn't smoke anything except a pipe - furiously - so Mum and I took the fags - she had to use a cigarette holder as they were untipped!

My Uncles used to buy a couple of tins of 25 Castella cigars, and these made the rounds, continually, but I never cared for them really!

Today, that lot would cost most of an arm and a leg I guess...

[Goosegirl]

MB, it IS Newberry fruits - yuk!

[jaydig]

MB, it IS Newberry fruits - yuk!

My mum used to love those.  Made by a company called 'Meltis" as I remember.

[GraciesGran]

Bubble and squeak on boxing Day.  Mine is ok but mums was fabulous, two cakes with fried egg and some bacon followed by a long walk on the seafront when we lived at Leigh on sea.

[Yorkie]

We have roast beef on Christmas Day, followed by using up the leftovers in Delia's special cottage pie. Hugely decadent but soooooo tasty!

[Growster...]

I once worked very happily for a few years, for a large builder, and every Christmas, they'd give us a few quid and a turkey, a bottle of scotch and a joint of pork, which was a great bonus!

After one particularly good year, I asked if they'd mind making the turkey a piece of beef, as for whatever reason best kept to ourselves, we actually didn't rate turkey that much back then (my mum would always get a capon, but they don't do that here nowadays, which is gratifying), and they agreed with no problem!

The roll or sirloin was about 18" long! That fills a lot of menus in anyone's book! The pork was nearly as big too!

And, because I was in charge of buying the scotch, somehow it changed to single malt for some odd reason...

[mrs bouquet]

Black Magic -  Especially the coffee creams -  Day Dreaming now !   Mrs Bouquet

[New shoot]

We were chatting about this at work and one guy piped up and said his mum always made tomato soup and croutons as a starter and everyone in his street had the same.  It was just the done thing.

Never heard of that one being a tradition 

[Growster...]

One year, long before we were married and I was living at home, we all caught horrible flu around Christmas Eve, and because we were so ill, we all had boiled eggs on Boxing Day and went back to bed again!

It's become a bit of a mantra to remember that after well over fifty years...

[wighty]

I sit there  pouring over numerous cookery books to come up with a 'special' menu and then we end up having virtually  the same as we had last year, the year before and probably the year before that.  I don't know why I bother with all that planning every year.

[RubyRed]

We always used to have slices of cucumber and onion in vinegar with a tin of salmon. Dad would make mulled wine in a big saucepan. And dozens of homemade mince pies.

[mrs bouquet]

Many years ago, probably in the 60's, my Aunt who was entaining us all for Christmas asked me to make her a Christmas Log for a table centre.    My little tots and I dragged the pushchair through the woods and found logs etc.   We bought them home and selected a nice one and a stand to put it on.    We drilled 3 holes in the top ready for tapers.   Then we painted some of it white and sprinkled with "Snow"  decorated the stand with ivy and holly, put 2 robins around.  Finished the job and it looked lovely, and the children were delighted at what they had done.    Christmas, carefully packed, off we went and presented it to Aunty.   She burst out laughing and said what she wanted was a Chocolate Log to eat.    She laughed - we cried -  I'd done it wrong again, but not really my fault.   The children and I really enjoyed making it anyway.      So everytime I hear Chocolate Log I have to smile.    Mrs Bouquet