Christmas with Co-op

I was invited along to Co-op’s Christmas in July Press event in Marylebone a couple of weeks ago. It was about 30 degrees that day so Christmas was pretty far from my mind, to be honest. However, I love Christmas so it didn’t take too long to get into the festive spirit!

The room was set up in stations, which included snacks, breakfast, starters, mains, dessert, cheeses and drinks. The centrepiece was a gorgeous Christmas tree display of confectionery and gift items.

Co-op’s food developers were on hand at their stations to talk through their Christmas range and answer any questions. I was really impressed with how many vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options there were. I’m not any of these but I can imagine how limiting it can be at Christmas to find festive food that caters for you. And I tasted a few of them and they were absolutely delicious. I particularly liked the vegan Bubble & Squeak sandwich, which looked like a rainbow.

Some of my highlights were the Chorizo & Pancetta Pigs in Blankets. I love pigs in blankets and the chorizo made them quite smoky.

I am a crisps fiend so of course I had to try pretty much all of them. The Brie and Cranberry Christmas Trees were very tasty as were the Irresistible Parmesan & Black Truffle Parsnip crisps.

I’m not normally a pork pie person but how gorgeous does these Irresistible Apricot & Cranberry Topped Pork Pies look? They scream ‘Christmas’ to me!

There were two mains that stood out for me, one of which was the vegan Irresistible Festive Stuffing Wreath with Pomegranate Glaze. Not only does it look beautiful but everyone can tuck in to it and it’s only £4.

The other main that stood out was the Irresistible Winter Berry Stuffed Cured Pork Joint at only £10. It tasted absolutely yummy and it’s definitely going on my Christmas dinner list.

On to desserts and this is the Co-op’s showstopper – the Irresistible White Christmas Snow Globe, priced at £10.

I’m partial to meringue so this Irresistible White Forest Meringue Stack, priced at just £6, makes my Christmas dinner list.

And of course, you can’t forget about mince pies! My husband hates them but I love them (so, more for me). These ones have a brandy butter topping.

As it was such a hot day, Co-op served their Christmas ice-cream range from an ice-cream van! How adorable is it?

I tried the Irresistible Blackberry & Sloe Gin Ice-cream. I’ve not had Sloe gin before but I really like it. Obviously it was really warm so the ice-cream was quite soft.