Tag: 2020

Bruce the brussel sprout cake christmas.co.uk

Asda’s Christmas food range for 2020 unveiled

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With the big retailers unveiling their Christmas food range for 2020, we are rather taken with Asda’s offering this year. Their range will include reindeer crumpets and spicy pigs in blankets. Be warned though that these pigs in blankets are flavoured with one of the world’s hottest chillies, the Carolina Reaper. Perhaps that’s why Asda calls them ‘Extra Special Pigs on Fire’! The reindeer-shaped crumpets are inspired creations, and they will make the perfect start to Christmas morning for children and adults! Vegan festive food offerings And for any vegans visiting your home this Christmas, there’s a good range of vegan festive food offerings including creamy dessert in the shape of a Christmas cottage. The dessert is also a bonus for those avoiding dairy and is filled with a dark morello cherry compote with chocolate mousse. The tiffin base is topped with dark chocolate and chopped raisins and dates. Vegans at the Christmas dinner table can also enjoy a ‘turkey stuffed joint’ made from soya, sage and onion stuffing and caramelised onion. Served with potatoes and vegetables, it looks nearly as tempting as a traditional Christmas turkey. People searching for vegan food To underline the shift in tastes, Asda says that the number of people searching for vegan food on its website has soared by 275% in 2020. Other research highlights that those adopting a meat-free diet this year has grown by 2% as more of us become ‘flexi-tarian’. There’s also a vegan yule log available – and for something rather different, a vegan bao bun selection. Bruce the Brussel Sprout cake There’s even a Bruce the Brussel Sprout cake – though it’s not made of brussels sprouts (Thankfully!!) and is instead made with chocolate. Asda is also offering a very tasty chocolate orange gateaux, it is one of several impressive puddings on their shelves this year, with a creamy orange curd, dark chocolate orange ganache and chocolate mascarpone cheesecake. To really set this apart from rival gateaux, there are hand-moulded winter decorations surrounding the base of it. The Asda Christmas food range for 2020 There’s lots of good value in the Asda Christmas food range for 2020 and for those who are entertaining lots of guests, there’s a lot to offer with show-stopping Christmas dinner spreads. Asda believes that convenience in preparing food will be important in 2020, with customers spending as little time as possible in the kitchen. They say this enables customers to spend quality time with loved ones and family friends – especially if they haven’t been able to meet up during the year. There’s even a turkey that you can cook in just one hour from your freezer. Extra Special Easy Carve Turkey Plus, there’s their Extra Special Easy Carve Turkey which will be a great addition to every dinner table. There’s a turkey joint that has been stuffed with pork, cranberries and Bramley apple. It also has layers of bacon. The centrepiece is oven-ready – there’s also a turkey gravy with it packed with flavour. And, if you’re not a huge fan of turkey for your Christmas dinner and want an alternative, Asda is offering an excellent Extra Special Beef Shin. Feeding guests at the Christmas dinner table This mouth-watering offering is ideal for feeding guests at the Christmas dinner table, and is slow cooked at a very low temperature for over nine hours so when it is presented at the Christmas dinner table, the beef will easily fall from the bone. The joint will cook in a delicious redcurrant and red wine sauce, and has rosemary and thyme and garlic seasoning. The beef shin is nothing short of a sumptuous and is a rich dish to savour and enjoy. Delicious and easy-to-prepare festive food There won’t be much of this delicious and easy-to-prepare festive food going to waste over Christmas 2020! A spokeswoman for Asda told us: “Christmas brings loved ones together from around the country, if it is safe to do so, and we want to help create meaningful and lasting memories. “We have seen buying habits change this year and shoppers are mindful of any outgoings.” She added: “This year’s festive season may feel different for many of us – based on the events in 2020 so far.” And, from what we have seen, Asda’s Christmas food range in 2020 is a hard-to-beat offering.   More information If you like the sound of the tasty treats in Asda’s Christmas range for 2020, then they have an easy-to-use store locator to find your nearest Asda …

Christmas food waste - a dinner plated up

How to reduce Christmas food waste 2020

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If you want to reduce Christmas food waste in 2020 to help the environment and your wallet, then this article will help. We are all guilty of over-spending, but the UK wastes a huge amount of food during the festive period. For example, did you know that we waste: 5 million Christmas puddings 74 million mince pies 2 million turkeys. An incredible 270,000 tons of food will be wasted over Christmas, and since most of us are overspending on food and treats for the festivities, that is a huge amount of cash being blown as well. We all know this is the season to be merry, and most of us will be in a food-induced coma in the afternoon of Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean that we should waste food. Love Food Hate Waste says that we will be: Consuming 10 million turkeys on Christmas Day Spend more than £20 on each person at the Christmas dinner table But we will waste an astonishing 1 million tonnes of festive roast dinners EVERY YEAR! That equates to an incredible 4.2 million Christmas dinners getting binned! Not only is that a phenomenal waste of money, it’s also bad for the environment. Eco-friendly food tips To help, these are the Christmas.co.uk eco-friendly food tips to save you cash and prevent so much food being wasted. Planning The first and most important step, is to plan ahead. By doing so, you’ll resist any urge for impulse buying. This means you need to work out how much food you will need for Christmas Day dinner when entertaining friends and family. You then need to make a shopping list – and stick to it. Try to ignore any special Christmas offers, as tempting as they may be. Check use-by dates One of the big issues when food shopping for Christmas, is that we may be buying food that has a use-by date that is before 25 December. So, whenever you buy fresh produce, dairy or meat, check the use-by date. This also means you will not have to throw so much out before you need it. Also, storing vegetables and fruit properly means they will last longer. Use your freezer Rather than throw food leftovers into the bin, consider freezing them. Most Christmas foods can be sealed properly and then placed in the freezer for use another day. They include: Mince pies Potatoes Stilton Turkey Vegetables Bread sauce. You can even freeze wine, and you should label any plastic cartons or bags with the day the food was made. There’s a helpful list of foods that you can freeze and how you can package them on the Love Food Hate Waste site. Give the food away Well, this is the easiest and simplest solution to having too much food, but not everyone will consider doing it. For example, if you have family or friends staying with you over the festivities, consider sending them home with lots of excess food. You can also preserve, ferment and pickle vegetables and fruit, you simply need a mason jar. This is an excellent video from Hubbub about Christmas food waste. The top 10 foods we throw away Christmas The industrial giant Unilever has a project called ‘Clear a Plate’ and they carried out a survey which found the average Christmas meal will cost £112. To put that figure into perspective, researchers say that’s what the average family will spend feeding a family for four days. So, which foods are we throwing away every year? This top 10 from Unilever is frankly astonishing. 10 Christmas puddings Okay, not everyone loves a Christmas pudding, but we throw away 740,000 of them. That’s just wasteful. 9 Pigs in blankets Everyone loves pigs in blankets, but we waste 7.1 million of them. In most homes, there will not be many pigs in blankets going spare but if there are, it is worth considering using them as a crispy addition to a turkey sandwich, for example. 8 Mince pies For many of us, the first appearance of mince pies heralds the coming of Christmas, but we still throw 7.5 million of these delicacies away. Mince pies are also the food item are still thrown out when we are so full, we cannot eat another thing. You can keep them in an airtight container and reheat them to use with a dollop of ice cream, or you can freeze them. 7 Stuffing For many people, stuffing is a must-have on the Christmas dinner plate – but we obviously make too much of it. Instead, keep it and use in bubble and squeak or in a turkey sandwich with those unused pigs in blankets. 6 Turkey Not surprisingly, turkey will appear in the list of top 10 foods we throw away every Christmas. We throw away nearly a million slices of turkey – that’s the equivalent of 263,000 birds. That’s also a lot of turkey sandwiches that have not been made, so wrap up your slices in cling film to use later, or the next day. Properly sealed roast turkey can be kept for two days, so it doesn’t have to be finished on Christmas Day. 5 Gravy Another survey reveals that we waste around £45 million worth of gravy or, as Unilever say, there’s enough gravy wasted in the UK to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. That’s a big shame when gravy can be saved for later use and even frozen. The gravy can be used for a beef stew or casserole. 4 Parsnips Another surprising vegetable that we throw out is the humble parsnip. We chuck 10.9 million parsnips out every year when they can be stored in the fridge and then warmed through or used in a mash. And with herbs and some butter, it creates a nice little side dish. Or you can make a parsnip soup. 3 Potatoes This one is a surprise when uneaten potatoes can be easily used later. Despite this, we bin 11.3 million potatoes after finishing Christmas dinner. You can use them in bubble and squeak, pan fry them to make crispy again, or add them to a turkey sandwich. There are so many options for potatoes, there is no excuse for throwing so many away. 2 Carrots The humble carrot is a mainstay for many Christmas dinners – but that doesn’t stop us throwing 9 million of them away. Apparently, this figure equates to the carrots reaching to Munich from London. Leftover carrots will keep, and you can even make a tasty carrot and ginger soup from them. 1 Sprouts That didn’t come as a surprise to you did it? It should not have done when most sprouts are dished up as a table decoration, and many people are forced to eat ‘at least one’ (that’s ‘eat at least two’ in our house!). If you want to do more … However, there is something that you can do to reduce food waste and the FareShare charity highlights that just 6% of food that would be thrown out actually ends up in the hands of those who are less fortunate. Food banks are always on the lookout for toiletries and non-perishable food, but is also possible to donate puddings, chocolate and sweets as well. Essentially, there is no excuse for so much waste when you plan ahead properly – and if you want to reduce Christmas food waste this year, consider using the food in other dishes or contacting a food bank or a charity for those items you haven’t opened.   MORE INFORMATION If you would like to help people and families this Christmas with food, or with any other donations, The Trussell Trust would love to hear from you. Whether you want to donate food to a food bank near you, or volunteer to work in one, you can do your bit to help alleviate food poverty and hunger …

When Christmas starts - with shopping

When does Christmas 2020 officially start?

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It is an increasingly controversial question to ask: ‘When does Christmas 2020 officially start?’ The meaning of Christmas varies for different people, for many it means celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, for others it’s a time to celebrate with friends and family. Most of us enjoy a lovely Christmas Day and there’s a lot to enjoy from December 24 with many countries offering presents on Christmas Eve. This is a special day for many people and as one of the last days of Christmas to buy presents, it’s a crucial one for the unorganised among us! Lots of us also enjoy singing Christmas carols around a Christmas tree, a nativity scene or in churches or in public spaces. When Christmas officially starts There is no set answer to when Christmas officially starts – thankfully – and here’s why. While many people like to knock the first signs of Christmas, which to them means the signs are appearing earlier and earlier each year, this is the season of goodwill and joy to all men and women. Let’s not spoil it for everyone – even if the usual voices beg that the festive run-up should be restricted to start in early December. Early December? Some us are working around the clock all year long to get ready for Christmas! ‘Christmas has begun’ Can you imagine how dull life would be if we had to wait for someone to say, “Ready, steady, wait for it, go! Christmas has begun.” That means everyone, and I mean everyone, heading to the shops at the same time. It doesn’t bear thinking about. Here at the North Pole, I’ve already seen Facebook posts knocking the big retailers getting their festive aisles ready. Lots of people revel in the hype, commerce and imagery that appears during the hundred days leading up to the big day. The sight of the first Christmas shop window, the first seasonal television advert – with many wondering what the people at John Lewis have come up with for 2020. The first festive song on the radio I even enjoy hearing the first festive song on the radio – though they do appear to restrict their enthusiasm to December. Isn’t that enough? Christmas and the run-up should be an enjoyable experience – if you want it to be. So, let’s celebrate ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ and enjoy how the people of Great Britain prepares for, and celebrates, the festive season. And this will include some of the stranger things people do to celebrate Christmas in 2020. Even if the festivities do start earlier every …

Santa in a Christmas jumper

When is Christmas Jumper Day 2020?

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The Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day is an annual event to raise money, and this year it’s on Friday 11th December. It is the day when the most garish of jumpers are worn to work or school to help raise funds for a worthy cause. But where do you buy Christmas jumpers to ‘impress’? Here we detail some of the best retailers and how you can even make your own. The Christmas Jumper Day event has become well established and how your event works is up to you! Thousands of schools and workplaces around the UK will be enjoying what has become a fixture on the festive calendar. However, with the pandemic to think of, your office colleagues might be scattered around – or even working from home. Raising lots of cash for the amazing charity Imagination and determination are the key to raising lots of cash for the amazing charity, Save the Children. Life is strange and uncertain for us all right now, but at Christmas, kindness and a generous heart will hopefully make this year’s event a success. So, how does it work? It’s super simple! Sign up here and soon a fundraising pack with loads of fun ideas, advertising posters and paying-in info will land with a joyful ‘thunk’ on your doormat. Tell EVERYONE you know of your plans to make the world a blingier place on the 11th December and ask them to donate at least £2 if they want to get involved. Shops, schools – even friends on a night out (Covid-19 restrictions permitting) – can all get into the spirit of fun and togetherness to give gifts of hope to children all over the world. A Christmas jumper should be colourful Ideally, a Christmas jumper should be colourful, glittery and obnoxious! We think the uglier a jumper is, the better but, of course, there are tasteful options too. As an example, we love these creative ideas for festive jumpers at Etsy. There are some very clever creative people at work here especially the folks at Sydandco who have created this impressive festive jumper for dog lovers everywhere. Other designers on Etsy have created personalised and stylish jumpers with family names and slogans so they are worth checking out. The best Christmas sweaters There’s no need to buy a pricey new jumper either. Some of the best Christmas sweaters we’ve ever seen are homemade and gorgeously hideous. There are plenty of great value high street offerings and swapping existing gaudy garments with family and friends is a great sustainable idea. Does the thought of wearing an itchy, woolly jumper inside makes you cringe? Us too!! Faaaaaar too warm! Never fear, there are oodles of other creative options. Grab a red, green or white T shirt from the back of your wardrobe, or a charity shop sale rail, and get busy with a needle and thread, some tasteless tinsel and a sparkly bauble or two. You’ll look fab and be as cool as a snowman all day. We think love this helpful video from Channel Mum on how you can easily create a Christmas jumper to impress! Design your own Christmas jumper Struggling to find that something with the ‘wow’ factor? Then try designing your own. The friendly team at Bags of Love offer a facility to easily design your own Christmas jumper or T shirt. The items are available in a rage of sizes and you can just about add any image to a jumper or T shirt to impress. The bottom line is that the creations will probably be cute and still impress. What’s not to like. There are other online services offering a design-your-own-Christmas-jumper offering but this site is easy to use. And the items come soon afterwards! Buy a cheap Christmas jumper Don’t forget too that High Street retailers in the UK like to get in on the festive jumper act. This year, Next has an impressive range of Christmas jumpers for men, women and children. Asda has some interesting designs too – as do Matalan, BooHoo and for Christmas jumpers at reasonable prices you can’t beat Primark.   Christmas jumper day Love the idea of Christmas jumper day but can’t make the 11th?! No problem! Pretty much any date in December could be your day of choice. How about the last day of the school term, or the afternoon of your boozy office Christmas ‘do’? See, there’s no excuse not to get involved. Let’s make Christmas even more special this year and embrace silly! Now, where’s my light up and musical Rudolph the reindeer …

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