Christmas Tips

I have always been driven by the tyranny of the list; but I am sure my life would be total chaos without it. So, a few Christmases ago, when we were doing our main food shopping for the Christmas and New Year period, I realised it was a completely different experience to food shopping during the rest of the year. There are so many special items, so many important things you only consider at Christmas, as well as things you can forget or overlook. So, I thought it would be a good idea to compile a generic Christmas food shopping list that includes most of the possibilities. It's a sort of master check list from which you can create your own individual version.

There are so many jobs to do and things to think about when you're getting the Christmas celebrations together, that forgetting something is almost inevitable. So, our special shopping list should at least improve your chances of getting it right as far as food supplies for Christmas are concerned. After all, you don't want to end up scratching round the corner shops on Christmas Eve, desperate for a jar of cranberry sauce.

I hope you will find it helpful. Al'

Fruit & Vegetables

Apples - eating
Apples - cooking
Beans - French
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage - savoy
Cabbage - red
Carrots
Celery
Cranberries
Herbs - sage, thyme, parsley, mint,
rosemary, basil, garlic, etc
Lemons
Lettuce - Iceberg
Lettuce - mixed bag
Mushrooms
Onions - large
Onions - spring
Onions - shallots
Oranges - clementine
Oranges - large
Oranges - mandarin
Parsnips
Potatoes - baking
Potatoes - boiling
Potatoes - mashing
Potatoes - roasting
Potatoes - sweet
Swede
Turnip

Groceries

Apple juice
Bicarbonate of soda
Bread - brown
Bread - granary
Bread - walnut
Bread - white
Butter
Christmas pudding
Cheese - cheddar, stilton, parmesan,
              camembert, mascarpone, etc
Cornflour
Cream - single. double, whipping
Custard (powder or ready-made)
Cranberry sauce
Eggs
Flour - plain
Flour - self raising
Foil (extra wide)
Golden syrup
Gravy browning
Herbs & spices - bay leaves, peppercorns,
                          allspice, nutmeg, coriander,
                          cloves, etc
Kitchen paper
Lemon juice
Milk - full cream, semi-skimmed or skimmed
Mincemeat
Mint sauce or jelly
Mustard
Nuts - brazil, hazel, chestnuts, walnuts,
          peanuts, pine nuts, etc
Olive oil
Orange juice
Panattone
Pancetta
Peas - petit pois, frozen
Preserved fruit - currants, raisins, sultanas,
                           dates, figs, etc
Redcurrant jelly
Rice
Stollen
Suet - beef or vegetable
Sugar - brown
Sugar - castor
Sugar - granulated
Stock - vegetable, chicken, fish, beef
Worcestershire sauce

Meat

Bacon - Streaky
Bacon - Back
Beef
Chicken
Duck
Ham
Lamb
Liver
Sausage-meat
Turkey

Drinks

Red wine - Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux,
                  Beaujolais, Burgundy, Merlot,
                  Syrah, Shiraz, etc
White wine - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc,
                    Muscadet, Sancerre, Chablis,
                    Riesling, Sauternes (sweet) etc
Champagne
Port
Sherry
Brandy
Whisky
Gin
Cointreau (orange liquor)
Amaretto (almond liquor)
Tonic water
Soda water
Orange juice
Bottled water
Soft drinks