As if this year wasn’t running away with us fast enough already, ASDA has just revealed its Christmas food range for 2020.
It’s not even August and we’re already talking about the festive season, but if the treats and tipples making up ASDA’s Christmas range this year is anything to go by, then we’re definitely not complaining.
Finally, there’s something to look forward to.
If you’re the type of person who likes to plan well in advance, then you’re in luck because the UK supermarket chain has given shoppers a sneak peak into what they can expect to see on shelves later this year. From party and buffet foods, to a selection of main courses, desserts and even a cheese roulette, there’s certainly some real stand-outs to tuck into.
Fancy an early preview? Here’s just a few of ASDA’s festive feast treats coming in December.
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Main Courses & Sides
You’re not going to be stuck for choice this year.
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ASDA is spoiling us with a great selection of mains including an Easy Carve Boneless Turkey Centrepiece, a Vegan Turkey Joint, and Slow Cooked Beef Shin. Fans of last year’s best-selling 12-piece Pigs in Blanket Centrepiece will be pleased to hear that the retailer is bringing it back once again this year, along with a new Giant Pig in Blanket Sausage Roll too.
Other mains and sides in the range this year include a Cauliflower Cheese, Sweet Potato & Cranberry Wellington – which is described as “creamy, rich and hard to resist” – and a Christmas Dinner Parcel, which comes filled with turkey breast, wrapped around a classic pork, sage and onion stuffing, with chopped sprouts, lashings of smoked bacon and finished with a port glaze.
Can you just imagine how ace a ‘leftovers butty’ would taste with that?
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Desserts & Sweets
We’ve all got a ‘dessert hole’ in our stomachs, haven’t we?
Nothing tastes better than a dessert to finish off your Christmas dinner and this year, ASDA will be launching a Gingerbread Cheesecake, a Chocolate Orange Opera cake and some delicious Chocolate & Cherry Houses to name just a few.
The stand-outs here include a ‘Bruce the Brussel Sprout’ Cake, and Reindeer Ice Cream Lollies.
When it comes to sweets and confectionary, ASDA isn’t leaving anything out here as some some brand-new Spiced Clementine Fudge, Sour Cherry Nougat, and Spiced Orange & Triple Sec Chocolate Cookies are all to be expected.
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A new and improved recipe for their much-loved Salted Caramel Mince Pies are also rumoured too.
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Party & Buffet Food
A lot of food does get consumed during the festive season, but there’s always room for more and ASDA has outdone itself this year when it comes to party and buffet food.
The retailer will be launching Salmon Mac & Cheese Bites, Chicken & Stuffing Layered Pork Pies, a vegan Bao Bun Selection, and, what is by far the stand-out, Pigs on Fire – a new pigs in blanket-inspired dish with cuts of British prime pork blended with Carolina Reaper hot chilli, perched in a jalapeño, and then wrapped in streaky bacon.
Only for the spice lovers amongst us by the sounds of things.
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Cheese
What’s Christmas without a cheese board?
ASDA has really thought of it all this year and is set to offer everything from a simple but sublime British Farmhouse Cheese Stack, to a Cheese Roulette, yes a Cheese Roulette – which mixes both food and fun, with individually wrapped pieces of tangy cheese – to complete your feast.
Yum.
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Drinks
Back by popular demand, ASDA has confirmed the last year’s standout hit Mince Pie Gin Liqueur will be returning for 2020 and there’s bound to be plenty of people pretty pleased about that.
It’s a tipple definitely worth trying out.
If mince pies aren’t quite your bag though, some other new additions – Gingerbread Gin Liqueur and Cranberry & Clementine Gin – will also be hitting shelves this year too, so there’s plenty to choose from to say cheers to this December.
It hasn’t yet been confirmed when the 2020 festive food range will be arriving in ASDA stores and online, so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled later on this year.
For more information, visit the ASDA website here.
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Noel Gallagher’s rant about Christmas has resurfaced online and it’s still excellent
Danny Jones
An infamous rant by Noel Gallagher about how rubbish Christmas is has resurfaced online and just in time for the holidays.
Right on cue, just like that advert with Santa driving the big lorry full of Coca-Cola.
In case you’ve never heard him rip festive fanatics a new one before, the legendary Manc musician pretty much loathes everything about the holiday season – or at least he once did, not that he’s one to dwell on beefs and grievances of any kind…
Speaking in a typically sarcastic Christmas message courtesy of visual arts and electronic outlets 180 Fact, the Oasis songwriter and lead guitarist starts nice and softly by simply stating: “The entire f***ing period is a stain on society – I f***ing hate it with a passion.”
As you can see in the full short but not-so-sweet clip above, in which Noel manages to cram in countless gripes against everything from Christmas jingles, jumpers and songs, to even TV adverts, presenters and even the amount of food (what?…), the 57-year-old really isn’t very keen on it at all.
He even took issue with charity singles like the 1985 ‘We Are the World’ song because god forbid any well-meaning soul embrace the spirit of giving come December.
Every year it rears its end, we particularly enjoy his bizarre tangent about a kid asking for an exotic spider or tree frog. Hyperbole and absurdity, we know, but still cracks us up.
The older Gallagher brother reels off pretty much every negative adjective you can think of for Christmas: “rubbish”, “boring”, “dogsh**” and so on. He even says he has turned his daughter Anais against the holiday and will continue to work on the other family members in the coming years.
Having said that, we’re not too sure how well all that is going or if Noel is still as vehement in his hatred of Christmas as he once was, especially given recent events. This you, mate, yeah?…
Noel Gallagher hosted a star-studded Christmas party in London on Wednesday night.
The 57-year-old got into the festive spirit by inviting a load of his famous pals to celebrity hangout Chiltern Firehouse, which is frequented by the likes of Kate Moss, Rita Ora and even Tom… pic.twitter.com/0E8EnnXgTg
In all seriousness, we sincerely hope that now Oasis are officially back that Noel and all the other Gallagher family relations will be reunited once again this festive period and that everything will be absolutely hunky dory.
That being said, we’ve already had one early Christmas miracle with the two kissing and making up so we’re not going to push our luck too much because, let’s be honest, if it’s anything like anyone else’s Christmas, they’ll be at each other’s throats before you know it.
Please just stay friends until after the tour’s over, lads, we beg you.
What about you lot? Are you Christmas fans or, like Noel Gallagher, do you think it’s overrated tripe?
New ‘B Plates’ introduced so drivers can identify themselves as being bad at parking
Emily Sergeant
New ‘B Plates’ have been introduced so drivers who are bad at parking can identify themselves for all to see.
Consider yourself good at parking? Well, that’s bold of you to claim… because for a lot of us, we wouldn’t be so confident to say that, and it turns out we’re not alone either, as some new research has revealed that 48% of drivers think they could benefit from more training or assistance with their parking manoeuvres.
The new B plates – with the ‘B’ standing for ‘bad parking’ – are designed to be attached to a vehicle so you can apologise to other motorists for your lack of parking prowess.
On top of the 48% of bad parkers, the research by Scrap Car Comparison found that a further one in six (17%) say they have experienced stress or worry about having to park their car, while a third of drivers (30%) say they spend extra time searching for a parking bay with free spaces either side.
74% of new drivers aged between 17 and 24 say they could benefit from more guidance in lessons.
Overall, one in four motorists (23%) claim that they weren’t taught well enough when it came to parking maneuverers, according to the research.
It’s hoped that the new B Plate stickers will encourage drivers to ‘own’ their parking pitfalls, the company says, as well as seek the additional guidance required to gain more confidence behind the wheel.
48% of drivers think they could benefit from more training with their parking manoeuvres / Credit: Supplied
“Just like a P plate enables new drivers to ask for patience from other road users, our B plates will give people the chance to hold their hands up, say sorry and ask for forgiveness, if they know their parking leaves a lot to be desired,” explained David Kottaun, who is the Operations Manager at Scrap Car Comparison.
“We hope the plates also serve as encouragement for drivers to seek additional parking guidance to build up their confidence.”
Scrap Car Comparison are offering a limited number of B plate stickers to interested drivers for free if you fill out the ‘register interest’ on its website here, and then based on interest levels, they will be made more widely available in 2025.