More from Team Stokes – Andy in his starched Chef’s Whites and the rest of the gang in assorted Christmas Jumpers – imagine the sight! Between us though we collected so many fun favourites – Yuletide Yummies we call them, and share them with you here today.
TIPS, TASTES & TANTRUMS:
Make it a pleasure, not a chore.
Let’s begin by saying – if you want to avoid the tantrums, follow some of Team Stokes’ combined tips and natural tastes:
SIMPLICITY:
Christmas is not the time to try out elaborate recipes you’ve been eying up. Stick to recipes you know how to make and make them as delicious as you can, using some of these tips and tasty condiments.
This is not the time to serve a 12 course tasting menu.
TIMING:
If you are worried about everything coming together (I know it always worries me), work the meal times to your favour.
Get a family member to deliver the starters in the form of festive platters.
You will find ideas and recipes in previous issues of your Food Lovers Newsletter and our recipe pages HERE.
CHEATING:
Don’t feel that everything has to be homemade. Buy in anything you’re not confident of making yourself, or anything that’s going to lighten the load.
There are canapé bases of every size, shape and purpose, and finger foods galore.
Buy them and serve them as your own with chutneys, sauces and dips from your Stokes store cupboard.
FREEZING:
Did you know you can freeze gravy in advance and jazz it op on the day?
BEST GRAVY EVER:
You will have your best ever gravy with NO FUSS on the day.
TRAY BAKING:
Don’t over-serve. It’s tempting to push the boat out with side dish after side dish, and each one enormous. It’s just too much.
This is a delicious Festive Traybake. It’s colourful, lush, and relatively simple, looking after itself in the oven as the Turkey rests on the side.
And … the recipe is HERE.
Think colour, think texture, think taste and you have the perfect sharing platter of biscuits and crudités, or a plate of succulent prawns and smoked salmon. 
Now all you need are the dips:
So many of our sauces are dips in our own right. Twist the top off our Sweet Chilli Sauce and treat your seafood platter to its zingy Oriental pleasure.
SHAKE, POUR, DIP, ENJOY.
Mango Chutney & Sour Cream
You can buy sour cream with all sorts of herbs already chopped into it. But, if you crush a few cumin seeds and fennel seeds, stir the powder into the cream with 3 or 4 spoonfuls of our Spiced Mango Chutney – wow – it’s so good, particularly served with mini poppadoms!
Beetroot Relish with Tarragon & Horseradish
This tickles all the taste buds. Just play with the combinations until you strike the right chord. Our Beetroot Relish has earthy shards of beetroot, steeped in a syrupy red wine sauce. Add a little Creamed Horseradish Sauce for gentle heat. And balance the two with freshly chopped tarragon leaves.
Bloody Mary Ketchup & Real Mayonnaise
This is the simplest combo but possibly the tastiest. Use our Real Mayonnaise as the base, adding the extraordinary flavours of our Bloody Mary Ketchup until your frown becomes a beaming smile.
Enjoy!
Brussels , Bread Sauce, Brandy Butter, Auntie Bessie, Bing Crosby, Babe.
These and other ‘things that only come out for Christmas‘.
The rather ‘odorous by-product’ and bitter taste of Brussels Sprouts do not affect everyone, hence the love / hate relationship with these little emerald lovelies.
Endless research has been carried out on the sprout (which we’ll leave to the boffins).
The seasonal ‘sensations’ are caused because sprouts contain a mixture of nitrogen, sulphur and carbon. These become hydrogen sulphide, creating a smell like rotten eggs … know what I mean!!!
LOVE / HATE RELATIONSHIP:
Research shows that only 30% of people cannot taste the sprouts’ bitter flavour, that in turn reacts disproportionately ‘down-under’. Lucky them!
Air -Fry Sprouts & Bacon
There are many variations on the theme of this recipe. This pre-cooks the bacon with the date-rich Persian spices of our very grownup Brown Sauce adding a very tasty fresh dimension to the crunchy sprouts.
BREAD SAUCE – why ?
This strange festive side dish, usually made with bread, milk, onion and nutmeg, shouts loud of Medieval spirits and was probably pasted onto the skin, worn to ward off evil. Well it’s a thought, but not true.
It is simply a humble addition to an otherwise luxuriant feast. And, like the equally humble Brussels sprout, is loved and detested in equal proportion.
BING CROSBY:
MERRY CHRISTMAS, TO YOU, AND TO YOUR FAMILY
Have a cracking time:
Q: How did the ornament get addicted to Christmas? A: He was hooked on trees his whole life
Q: What would you call an elf who just has won the lottery? A: Welfy!
Q: What beats his chest and swings from Christmas cake to Christmas cake? A: Tarzipan!
Q: What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa? A: A rebel without a Claus
Q: What do you call an old snowman? A: Water
Q: What do you call a penguin in the Sahara Desert? A: Lost
Q: Why has Santa been banned from sooty chimneys? A: Because of his big Carbon footprints
I’m off now. See you soon. In the meantime, our little song:
“Don’t go melting my heart…”
1. Login to your Stokes Sauces account. If you’re not yet registered, set up an account here.
2. Copy your unique referral link which can be found under the ‘Referral Coupons’ tab on your account dashboard and share with your friends.
3. When your friends visit the website and sign up for an account via your link, they will get 10% off at checkout.
4. Once your friend’s order has been processed, you’ll also receive a 10% off voucher code. This can be found under the ‘Referral Coupons’ tab on your account dashboard and valid for 3 months.
1. Copy & Share Your Link
2. Your friends can register via your link
3. You will get 10% coupon on the referral order purchase.
4. Your friend will also get a 10% discount coupon in return on Signup
