The Spirit Is Willing!

On a rather blustery autumnal day the Yorkshire Times was once again on its way to Booths in Ilkley to sample the Christmas must-haves according to Edwin Booth.

The family owned business has recently been crowned Supermarket of the Year at the Decanter magazine Retail Awards and the mince pies are back - what a relief.

Would you believe that in 2016 Booths sold a staggering 230,000 packs of mince pies, which are all made freshly, just before they are needed, especially for Booths, by Bells of Lazonby.

This year Booths cardholders get a free pack of traditional mince pies throughout the month of October.

Bells are also responsible for the delicious Festive stollen bites, Amaretti brownie bites, Iced Christmas cake bites, Orange brownie bites and new for this year the Caramel & Pretzel shortbread bites and the Salted Caramel brownie bites.

All of which were absolutely delicious and went down well with our glass of prosecco.

Salted caramel seemed to be the order of the day as gin and vodka was in abundance.

New for this year was damson gin and the salted caramel vodka produced by The Lakes Distillery in Cumbria.

If you like your toffee but afraid of losing your fillings then you have to try the Kin Toffee Vodka.

This delicious hand blended, small batch vodka is produced in the heart of the Lakes.

It is a smooth blended delicious drink, which has rich caramel tones and a subtle kick - to be enjoyed however you want.

A definite favourite with the Yorkshire Times.

Masons were there to temp you with their original gin but also two lovely new flavours of Lavender and Tea.

For me the creme de la creme of the evening was the smoked salmon. Two varieties were on offer, Bucks Fizz and Gin & Tonic. Both were absolutely divine and obviously a firm favourite with the other guests as the supplier soon ran out.

Pies were in abundance supplied by The Topping Pie Company, who are an Award Winning producer of Speciality Pork Pies, Hot Eating Pies and Quiches.

I don't think I'll look at an ordinary pork pie ever again after sampling their delightful varieties.

Cheese supplied by Shepherds Purse in Thirsk were there to temp you with their varieties of cheese, which were delicious partnered with the hand-baked award-winning crispbreads from Peter's Yard.

The festive countdown to Christmas 2017 has begun!