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Win a fabulous festive hamper with DFS

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By In The Playroom

Going out for parties over the Christmas period is always one of the highlights of the season – but sometimes nothing can beat an evening at home eating, drinking and being merry.

DFS want to help you make this Christmas your best one ever and have produced this Christmas inspiration guide to help you create a magical time, whether you’re organising a big family gathering or a cosy night in for two.

One thing they can’t help you with though is cooking the food. However, every good host should have at least one tried and tested party recipe they know how to prepare perfectly and is guaranteed to go down a treat.

My personal favourite festive recipe is stained glass biscuits. These are a classic, that are fun to make and look so pretty too! We make them by making a standard biscuit recipe or ginger bread biscuit recipe, and then cutting out a smaller shape to be filled with boiled sweets that melt down resulting in pretty colours in the middle of your biscuit

Fresh homemade decorated stained glass gingerbread, Christmas cookies on plate on old white wooden background, christmas time

But what I want to know is – what’s your own trusted recipe that you go back to again and again? Is it a traditional family favourite? Or new concoction you discovered after throwing together the Boxing Day leftovers?

Let me know your top festive recipe below and one lucky reader will win a brilliant Fortnum & Mason hamper.

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I’ve chosen to offer this festive tea hamper, worth £165.00, including a tin of Fortnum’s zesty Christmas Tea Caddy, made with clementines and bold Christmas spices; an Earl Grey Classic tin, Afternoon Blend Tea and a hearty Cognac & Cranberry Fruit Cake. In addition, it also has two marvellous preserves; a Christmas Spiced Preserve, Christmas Spiced Marmalade; and a tin of Traditional Shortbread Fingers and a silver-plated tea strainer. To add to the merriment, it also has added a St Clements Musical Biscuit tin, which is filled with sumptuous biscuits and plays a festive tune, Christmas Marzipan Fruits, and the Tea at Fortnum & Mason book and a Stripe Waffle Tea Towel.

For best results, enjoy in a comfortable armchair in front of a flickering log fire!

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Giveaway

To enter, comment with your favourite recipe and fill in any bonus entries on the Gleam widget below

Hamper (Fortnum & Mason)

This post is brought to you by DFS. Visit their website to find out more about their great range of DFS Sofas

In The Playroom
Website | + posts

Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.

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314 thoughts on “Win a fabulous festive hamper with DFS”

  1. Every Boxing Day my mam uses up the turkey leftovers to make a turkey pie and I love it! She uses a few tins of condensed mushroom soup for the sauce and adds chopped turkey and slice peppers – all encased in her homemade pastry!

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  2. Rather than a traditional stolen, my mum used to make a “marzipan roll” which was covered in puff pastry and glazed with apricot jam. This was a family favourite and I know make it for my family every Christmas …

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  4. I’ve been testing gluten free mince pie recipes for hubby. The batter is incredibly difficult to work with but taste nice

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  5. That sounds delightful! I can picture myself by the Christmas tree, sipping some tea and dipping some biscuits in for good measure. Sounds so relaxing! I make a yule log every year, but Christmas cookies are my favorite.

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  14. Mine is a rich welsh fruit cake,from a recipe handed down by my great grandmother, which is baked all through the year and then also as our Christmas Cake. It’s a real.cut and come again cake. I even still have my great grandmothers original Welsh recipe book ????

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  23. I like making Mince pies but using filo pastry instead of shortcrust which makes them a bit lighter on the stomach leaving more room for other treats ????

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  24. We have a family tradition to make a Trifle for Boxing day it is a little different from the usual ones.Sone base with a little sherry added,jelly lots of fruit, strawberry’s, ,peaches,then Strawberry blancmange and finally wipped cream,we decorate it with sprinkles and Christmas figures

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  29. I always make a homemade trifle as none of us really like Christmas pudding. It’s nothing fancy but everyone likes it and there’s never any left to take home so it must be good 🙂

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  34. Very simple. But my favourite is Boxing Day Bubble & Squeak. Just all the uneaten brussels, potatoes, carrots etc mashed up and fried and eaten for breakfast. much better than it sounds 😉

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  41. My favourite Christmas recipe is a Baileys and chocolate cheesecake, so easy to make yet so delicious and a great alternative to Christmas pudding after lunch.

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  42. Now, I can’t divulge the recipe (more than my life is worth), but I can tell you that my mince pies are amazing! The neighbours and a few people in my street have me baking just for them after they heard about them!

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  54. I don’t like Christmas cake or mince pies, or anything else with candied peel in, so I rather like cherry things at Christmas. Cherry trifle with kirsch, or morello cherry tart. Very easy, drain some bottled morello cherries, pack, in one layer, into a short crust pastry case, bake. When cool, glaze with redcurrant jelly. Really yummy.

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  61. A lovely Boxing Day turkey curry with lots of spices and a little chilli that my husband has grown, all with basmati rice and a nan, just the job after the feast the day before.

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  65. Made in desperation several years ago and went down so well we make them every year! Puff pastry mince pie whirls. I bought puff pastry instead of short crust when we were having a Christmas party. I used it anyway just spread the mince meat over the pastry, rolled it up and cut into even size slices. Lay them to bake on an oven sheet and they looked fab! I sprinkled them with sliced almonds and they went down a storm. Requested every year since 🙂

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  66. I have NO idea the Recipe but my mum makes the Tastiest Stuffing ever!!!!!! She has mushroom onions and garlic and i have no idea what else 🙂
    Ive attempted to Replicate it but i need to get the Full Recipe 🙂
    Merry Xmas

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  67. I make carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing, at Christmas instead of a carrot I make them look like Christmas puddings 🙂

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  75. Herby Cheese Straws – made with leftover pastry after making the Mince Pies – easy and delicious and the perfect nibble with drinks!

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  80. I love mince pies and I bake puff and shortcrust but my favourites are the “bakewell” mince pies topped with an almond sponge. Very moreish 🙂

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  86. My mother in law’s homemade Christmas pud is absolutely divine – I don’t know the recipe yet unfortunately but i’m definitely going to find out before we have to host Christmas for the first time!

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  99. Gosh so many, cauliflower cheese with nutmeg, sprouts with bacon, sesame seeds and maple syrup, my hubby just loves bubble & squeak!

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  100. Love this Ham recipe from good housekeeping mag…….unsmoked gammon..simmered on top of oven with some cloves , onion and peppercorns.Drained when cooked. Skin removed.Brushed with mixture of brown sugar, honey and brandy mix. Baked in oven for 40mins but out every 5 mins for basting in brandy mix. Divine hot or cold.

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  105. My partner does his own mince pies – they are easy, but it’s the only thing he can bake! So I love when he makes them. He does do his own vegan pastry, too!

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  110. I make a Xmas Pavlova with two different recipes. I use 8 eggs on the bottom layer and make a smaller crunchy top with 6 eggs and fill with fruit , so too layers it is yummy:)

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  113. Christmas Pudding Ice cream if I can call it a recipe- crush and mix a pudding into vanilla ice cream and put back in the freezer. It is amazing

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  119. Peppermint bark. It’s a US thing but I found a good recipe and we all love it. Two layers of white chocolate with crushed candy canes mixed in, sandwiched together with a layer of dark minty chocolate cream.

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  123. With the remaining Turkey I make my now infamous Turkey and Ham pie, using my grandma’s secret pastry recipe that was passed down to me. If I say so myself, it is delicious.

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  129. I adore the hummingbird bakery’s recipe for gingerbread. It is perfect for gingerbread shapes as it doesn’t spread when baking.

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  134. Bread sauce
    Simmer an onion stuck with cloves in milk, very slowly , for several hours. Add white bread, crusts off, cubed to 1cm, lots of pepper, salt and let sit till thick. Stir in butter and/or single cream

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  156. My personal favourite is christmas pudding ice cream . This is simply made by soaking dried fruit including pineapple, cherries, sultanas and mixed peel in brandy or alcohol of choice. mix with ice cream . Place in bowl and then put in freezer Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving . Easy dish tastes great!

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  158. Hot chocolate – a few pieces of your favourite chocolate (we use dairy milk), add warm milk and a either a few big marshmallows or half a handful of little ones, Add squirty cream on top then sprinkle with chocolate shavings and a bit of cinnamon, Perfect!

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  170. It’s a boxing day favourite,leftover turkey on toast with fried stuffing,so basic,so simple and yet oh so yummy.It’s also so quick,after a massive cook on Christmas Day where we cater for twelve this is about all we feel like doing x

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  177. On Boxing Day we all sit down for a huge fried Full English & Irish Breakfast / Brunch. The Full English part is pretty normal: fried eggs, fried bread or toast, mushrooms, fried tomatoes and baked beans, plus bacon & sausage for my husband who is the only non-veggie. The Irish part is colcannon made with well-seasoned mashed potatoes and left-over Brussels sprouts cut in half or quarters. Somehow having the sprouts combined into mashed potato cakes and fried in butter until they are browned makes them much more yummy.

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  192. My mum’s pork, apricot and sage stuffing!

    My gleam is logged in as my husband on instagram for some reason (tomkirby83) however my entries are on my account (sayhelloflo)

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  199. My dad invented a recipee for the naughtiest yet yummiest festive dessert, he shared the secret with me and I’ve made it every year since!

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  202. Let’s be honest, you can’t beat a cracking chocolate yule log to totally annihilate you after a big Christmas lunch.

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  207. I use my great great grandma’s cake recipe for Christmas. It’s delicious! Add a dram of brandy for that little kick 🙂

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  213. We have cold leftover turkey on boxing day with pickles. As there is only 2 of us I then cook up lots of veggies divide into 2 pots and make one into a stew and the other I curry. I then freeze it in 2 person portions keeping us going for months

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  215. My favourite christmas recipe is for mince pies made with an orange pastry mincemeat (of course!) and a sweet cream cheese filling (it’s nicer than it sounds!) 🙂

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  219. I love making all types of mince pies, shortcrust, open, puff, and turnovers but my favourites have to be those topped with an almond sponge, I have to be careful not to eat too many.

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  226. I love making my little ones egg nog on xmas eve. The recipe is simple but my children love it, even the older ones

    childrens Eggnog Recipe

    3 cups whole milk
    1 cup double cream
    1/2 cup sugar
    4 large eggs
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    nutmeg

    1.Whisk together the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs
    2.Cook over low heat, whisking constantly. Do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
    3.Serve immediately, topped with nutmeg to taste.

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  230. Stilton and broccoli soup – 500g of broccoli, 125g of Stilton, 750ml stock, one medium onion. small pat butter, braise onions in the butter, add the stock and broccoli, simmer until soft, blend, then add Stilton after to melt in the hot mixture.

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  232. Traditional Italian chocolate salami..
    It’s dark chocolate with crushed biscuits and assorted crushed nuts.. a little dark rum… place ball of ingredients onto clingfilm. . Roll out into salami shape.. dust wirh icing sugar… slice & serve with cream … yummy!

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  234. I don’t cook so best to ask my wife for the recipe but I love her Christmas pud. I have noticed the brandy bottle seems to take a hammering for a couple of weeks prior to Christmas though!

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  257. My favourite Christmas recipe is pork and chestnut stuffing. Combine sausage meat, tin of pureed chestnuts (or rough chopped if you prefer) packet of stuffing mix (like paxo) and egg to bind and use to stuff the turkey – it is delicious! Can also make it into little balls if you prefer.

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  259. My favourite Christmas recipe is my Austrian Great Grandmother’s Vanilla Kipferl recipe, yummy Christmas cookies that taste like Christmas to me 🙂

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  265. Every Christmas I make a sherry trifle for my family, I don’t use and fruit just Swiss roll. And plenty of sherry. You can’t forget a broken up flake for in too of the cream layer

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  270. In our house we make a kind of stuffing cake, completely wrapped in bacon. We made it by accident a few years back and we’ve been making it ever since!!

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  279. My husband makes the Christmas Pudding every year (it’s literally the only thing he’s ever cooked :), it’s Delia Smiths recipe and it’s gret

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  293. My favourite recipe is my raw carrot cake which I like to make for visitors because one of then is likey to be guten free as she is coeliac and another is lactose intolerant. It is basically a nutty bese with dates and raw carrot and a cream made of cashews, vanilla, agave syrup and coconut oil which sets it as it turs to solid when cold. I can eat anything but I really like this cake as it makes me feel light.

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  301. My favourite is a mince pies and mincemeat & Vanilla ice cream all home made including the mincemeat. It is so Christmassy.

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  302. Microwave chocolate brownies has to be my favourite recipe, so easy and tasty, Christmas them up with some marshmallows and Christmas sprinkles 🙂

    Reply

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