Christmas will look a bit different in many households this year. With energy, food and fuel price hikes millions of us will be tightening our belts over the festive period.
Shoppers will potentially find themselves doing the big Christmas food shop in budget supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl. But if anything, the food is going to be just as nice, if not better, than the likes of M&S and Sainsbury's.
A writer from our sister title My London went to Aldi's Christmas menu press event and described the range as 'wonderful'. Here's her review of the menu.
October went by in a blink and as unsuccessfully as I've avoided talking about it so far, it actually nearly is Christmas. And with that, it's probably time to get making some space in your freezer or putting those food orders in.
Those big festive party and dinner orders in I mean. The foods to impress the in-laws, the bites to give the extra uninvited guests who seem to always appear and the meals to treat yourself to when Santa's in town. I've done the M&S one and sure, it was amazing.
Now let's be realistic, the supermarket's great for a little treat and a splash out - I love it- but Aldi is just always going to be cheaper.
Unfortunately, many people seem to think that this translates to it not being as tasty. However, I had the festive delight of going along to their showcase too, picking my way again through party bits n' sweet treats and slices of meat. And I promise, plenty of those delicious bites were just as good as Marksies.
This year they've doubled their pigs in blankets range. Yes, doubled it.
Aldi is bringing us their biggest pigs in blankets range to date, even if I do believe that maybe we need to stop messing about with the favourites. The actual Specially Selected Pigs in Blankets (£2.49) themselves were tasty, just nice and simple. Lovely little porky sausages wrapped in strip of smoky bacon. Simple, sure, but good.
My favourite variation though, just a slight diversion, was the Pigs in Robes. Chunky balls of delicious spiced herby meat mix with little chews of cranberries for eyes and a slight sweetness with smoky bacon.
Many of those will be staring up at me from my Christmas plate, I hope. But then there are things like 'Loaded Pigs in Blankets' and the return of the Pigs in Blankets pizza. Sure the little smokily wrapped sausages taste nice, but it's all getting a little unnecessary.
We all know the best Christmas stuff on stuff is the leftovers sandwich the next day. Fact. Oh, and there isn't just porky pigs in blankets - there's halloumi in blankets too.
This I can get on board with; silky sweet chunks of cheese wrapped in crisp salty bacon? Delicious.
Also on the meaty front were buttery slices of tender, pink, earthy venison. Obviously, there was turkey too. Loads of it.
And much to my delight, a slice of sage-butter topped turkey crown was actually succulent. Juicy turkey! The real thing on everyone's list that unfortunately often never seems to make it down the chimney. No dry slices of meat this year though I hope, just succulent delicious bird.
For the veggies, one of the stars of the buffet table this year is a Quality Food Award Winner: Plant Menu Cauliflower Popcorn with Buffalo Sauce (£2.99). These are normally something I love when they pop up on a menu or at a party but Aldi's just didn't do it for me.
They were too soft and verging on mushy within the batter, reminding me of the kind of vegetable that would be plopped on your plate in primary school and convince you not to like vegetables for the rest of your childhood.
However, it's a big yes to the Jackfruit Spring Rolls. Within the crispy golden pastry, the hoi sin sauce was so intensely flavoured with the jackfruit texture, I really thought I was eating duck. A great one for that singular veggie cousin that the other kids can also snack on too.
I mean, for me, party food is always where it's at when it comes to Christmas eating. Specially Selected Hog Roast Bites (£3.99) were rich in slow-cooked pork flavour with hums of sage and onion dunked in a tart apple sauce. There were so many little bits of a delicious bites spread beautifully across the table - even the Specially Selected Prawn Shiumai tasted as good as the ones from my local Chinese takeaway.
But my favourite just had to be the Naan Bites. Stuffed with Jalfrezi and Rogan Josh, they were sensational little doughy balls of spicy joy.
And of course, the totally moreish Nacho Cheese Bites. Little crunchy cases of cheese made with crushed nachos and oozing out this sharp, gooey cheese.
Honestly, there were even better than McDonalds cheese bites. And that's saying something. Aldi really is wow'ing on the cheese front this year.
When I was offered a spread of truffle cheeses to try, I was hesitant. It seems to have become a trend over the past year to completely over use truffle, overwhelming any other flavour.
But, being polite, I picked up a morsel of Truffle Gouda. Oh my god. Aldi, thank you.
Finally, someone has taken it back and are doing it properly, it's like the power of Christmas itself. Aldi's cheese had perfect notes of truffle to balance deliciously with the nutty, caramelly gouda. Gorgeous.
We can't finish a Christmas run-down without something sweet though - even after all that cheese. Let’s Party Chocolate Brownie and Blondie Bites (£3.49) were the ideal sized little rounds of sweetness for anyone to fit in after their third portion of dinner.
The chocolate treats were excellently fudgy and rich. The blondies were a little too sickly sweet for me as I'm not a massive white chocolate fan.
Of all the desserts at Aldi this year, the new Specially Selected Sticky Toffee Crown Sponge Cake (£5.99) caught my eye. And not just because it's a bargain but because it looks exactly like the one that was splashed all over the place from M&S last year.
Except this one seems just slightly smaller and super spongy - which I quite like as it means it's not too sickly with the scrumptious sauce.
Basically, if I'm to put it simply, Aldi's Christmas food is wonderful. It's reasonably priced and there's too much choice to keep track of.
You really don't have to scrimp on flavour to be festive - and yes, festive can mean cheese bites for tea in front of the sofa if you ask me.
