There’s something about the run up to Christmas that makes me want to hole up at home, pull on my cosiest socks, laze by the fire and not leave. For anything. ESPECIALLY when it’s snowing – you’re not getting me out of the house for anything.

A very important part of hibernating successfully is being on top of your food situation. And unless you are a squirrel (they are SO prepared) or my grandma (she actually had a back-up freezer) then you need to have another plan up your sleeve. And my plan (and I feel like I’m passing on the gospel here) comes in the shape of M&S Christmas Food to Order.

M&S themselves got in touch (I feel as though I should have one of those Batphones that The Commissioner had, for these very moments) and asked me if I would be interested (YES!) in hosting a festive meal (YES!!) and if I could bear to select some of their food and home products to make my event as perfectly Christmassy as it could possibly be. I thought about it for a while….

This could well be the most exciting brief that I’ve ever received in my entire career of blogging. And that’s 11 years, folks.

I decided to transform the living room into a cosy Alpine Retreat, complete with a roaring fire, Cherry Glog, apple spiced candles, mince pies and a cosy corner to fold into and enjoy our festive picnic…

When I’m creating a theme I like to choose one key piece to really bring it to life, before adding other finishing touches. I chose this gorgeous faux fur throw to set the stage and it was absolutely perfect. (And huge!) I know I can use this again and again in years to come, and just by changing up my accessories I’ll be able to create brand new looks for different seasons.

I thought it would be easy peasy to choose what we’d eat, but in fact, it was extremely difficult. Everything on the website looked incredible… problematic.

The food arrived via sleigh (van) in the dead of night (about 5pm) and the very friendly M&S elf brought everything into the house for me, so I wouldn’t have to lift any of the heavy bags.

So often food you order online doesn’t actually look like the picture on the website, but if anything, all the food looked even better. It arrived in perfect condition and all I had to do was unwrap it all, pop it onto some plates and platters and serve. So, so easy.

The only dish I chose which required a bit more attention was the amazing Cornish Crunch & Cider Cheese Bake, which required about 30 mins in the oven. That’s as hard as it got.

Everything about this beautiful indoor picnic was super duper easy and it was a sensational feast. Everything looked utterly mouth watering and tasted completely delicious.

We curled up by the fire, pulled crackers, listened to my favourite Christmassy music and devoured nearly every morsel. Perfect.

Long gone are the days of crashing about in a supermarket on Xmas eve, with a wobbly trolley and avoiding fights in the aisles over turkeys… Nope. I shall be ordering online forevermore.

What we ate

Crudité Selection

The Collection Cheese, Chutney & Biscuit Selection 

The Collection 12 Cranberry & Port Pork Pies

The Collection Beetroot & Vodka Speybay Oak-Smoked Salmon

The Collection Cornish Cruncher & Cider Cheese Bake

The Collection 36 Mini Mince Pie Selection

The Collection Nine Chocolate Ganache Bites & Nine Mini Cheesecakes

Cherry glog

Homeware

Faux fur throw

Pantograph wine glasses

Pressed glass two tier cake stand

Platinum decorated side plate

Silver bell star

Gold beaded bauble

Silver beaded bauble

Beaded pearl bauble

Gold leaf Christmas crackers

Frosted apple and spice scented small tree candle

20 warm LED lights

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This post is sponsored by M&S and all thoughts & opinions are my own