This year, we are hosting for the second year in a row! We are so excited as we love to have family and friends over. Matt is an excellent cook, and so really enjoys creating something special for us all. We are cooking for 15 (wowzas!) but we cannot wait. We love to cook from scratch, as well as combine with some shop brought treats! AND we are 100% foodies, so it goes without saying that we had to visit the newly opened Marks and Spencer Selly Oak. Situated on a large retail park that looks brand spanking new, Marks and Spencer Selly Oak Food Hall is huge! I have said it before, but there is something special about purchasing food from M&S. They seem to excel in their creativity and taste, and there is always something quirky along side the festive classics that we all love.
On Monday, I enjoyed a tour of the Marks and Spencer Selly Oak branch. I love M&S food, so it was tricky to not grab a trolly and go wild! What is great to know it that they are now offering a ’40p range’ in their fresh fruit and veg selection. There is a lot of competition out there, and Marks and Spencer are recognising this and working with its customers to offer a variety of products at a range of prices.
But on to the Marks and Spencer’s festive treats…
As I said, we are cooking Christmas dinner this year. We are going all out and offering 5 courses, so it it only fitting that I chose a ready to cook orange glazed gammon. Without revealing what this will be used for in our Amuse bouche (as I am sure some family members will be reading!) having a cooked ham ready to ‘grab and go’ in the fridge is a necessity at Christmas time. This is perfect to accompany those turkey sandwiches on boxing night, or simply just graze on over the holidays.
Festive Marks and Spencer treats including orange glazed gammon
As I am sure everyone will agree, it is also lovely to have festive snacks available in your cupboard. These tortilla starts are a really festive treat and will go down a storm with some hummus served as a snack on Christmas Day. I also loved these goats cheese and rosemary bites and prosecco mallows. What a lovely selection to snack on whilst playing Christmas games on Christmas day!
Tortilla Stars festive treats from Marks and Spencer Selly Oak
I couldn’t not get this gorgeous Rodney Reindeer for the kids on Christmas Day (although I am sure us adults can have a go right?!) I love cute festive desserts and Marks and Spencer Selly Oak offer an array of delights to choose from. There was several family sized cakes on offer, but this one caught my eye the most. It almost looks too cute to eat!
This red velvet curd is also something I have not seen before and was curious to try! We love red velvet cake in our house, but a red velvet curd was all new. It’s quite a tangy taste which I am not sure works with me, but I am yet to try it on our Christmas pancakes!
Love Italian Food? Read all about M&S Italian Range here!
Rodney The Rudolf brownie cake from Marks and Spencer Christmas range
Red Velvet Curd from Marks and Spencer
Kids done, now on to the grown ups! This sounds absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to crack this open on Christmas day to have a little tipple (or two!) Marks and Spencer have got a huge range of these cocktails on offer – some as simple as this in which you just pour over ice. Heaven!
Jaffa Cake cocktail Marks and Spencer
What better way to finish off a Christmas meal than with a cheese board. This Cheese lover’s selection is great as it not only offers four cheeses but it also offers crackers and chestnut chutney – so pretty much everything you need! There was several cheese boards on offer within the festive Marks and Spencer range at Selly Oak, but this one will be perfect for us on Christmas day.
Cheese board available at Marks and Spencer Selly Oak
A cupboard wouldn’t be complete without a some mince pies, and the mincers from Marks and Spencer do not disappoint! Sweet and crumbly pastry with a rich fruity filling, these really will not last for very long in our house!
Marks and Spencer’s mince pies
Finally, how could we not resist this pate selection. There is a huge range of pate on offer at Marks and Spencer Selly Oak, but the trio is a great idea as you can try a few and see which one is your favourite. Offering three different flavours of chicken liver parfait, duck and port parfait with cranberry and sloe gin and venison pate with mulled wine – I will be enjoying these over Christmas no doubt!
Pate Trio selection
And there we have it. There really is such a lovely offer of festive treats on offer at Marks and Spencer Selly Oak – if you are local, you must take a trip down to check out the new store.
Thanks for reading xxx
*Disclosure: This is a collaborative post and I was gifted these items in exchange for a post. All words and opinions are my own*
Hi and welcome to The Willow Tree. I’m Michelle, also known as Shel and I am a mama to three beautiful crazy kids – I have two handsome boys and a wild and wonderful girl.
I really wanted a concrete place to share my love for travel, in particular Disney and offer my readers a chance to gain some knowledge around what we love to do as a family of 5.
I share our family adventures which include days out, travel advice and tips, holiday reviews, restaurant visits and of course, our love for Disney, including Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World.
Life is about creating memories, and here we are sharing them with you
xoxo
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