Xmas Shopping

Grand cru chablis
A hock of ham

Creme caramel
Blanched almonds

That's excellent RK

Deja vu. I think the "turkey, a ham, lasagne" offering was one of mine from one of the earliest brainstorms !

Sounds right, Mr X. Apologies for the osmosis, or neglecting to give credit where it's due.

This is a tough list to lengthen. Midway through a shave I considered:

ribeye
fan
items for kids

Not sure, guess is:

pudding
potato

tart
pickles

trifle
ground pepper

Am I warm?

Chocolate hoard
Nashi pears

Fruit compote
(No basil)

Coq au vin
Diesel

Sledgehammer?

Coq au vin
Die
Sellotape

Brandy
Eminems

Ok, if that's the way you want to play...

Pavlova
Peach melba

This one's from my partner, IJ:

Chicken
Jam
Escargot

RK: Who?
IJ: He's from Skippy

So there you go.

Who is the third star in DA's original (the part due to Mr X)? I'm still very much in the dark on this puzzle, but if I'm not mistaken then I was disappointed that there wasn't a stronger theme there. For example, can anyone come up with a Christmassy recipe where the (implicit) ingredients combine to give a holiday film? If I'm stepping on anyone's toes here, just chalk it up to me being totally lost...

AC - She's standing on her head.

Aha, tricky. Thanks Mr X. Still, there's nothing that links the three is there?

I still don't get the theme. Some enlightenment, please?

well eric is a bit of a ham?

Along that line, all three do comedic work, and bananas, turkey and ham can have such a connotation... But that's a little thin don't you think? I'm sure DA didn't have that in mind.

I think the linkage is just their celebrity status, AC. It's pretty tricky to hide a first and last name amongst food related words, so having a broad category to choose from is the way to go.

If the theme is true to the title:

Bon-bons
Cottage cheese

And yes, I should have thought of the bon-bons earlier...

Nice Bon, Bon.

Milk (skim)
Carrots

Ohhh, I thought it was recipes! Couldn't explain them all, and thought the stars might have been Michelin:

a pinch of tumeric
a bunch of bananas
chopped pate
hopped ale
diced onions
sliced turkey

And I really thought I got it with RK's:
creme caramel brulee
blanched almonds puree.

Have not cracked this bonbon. Any hints?

DA's original set was a bit like a classic joke set-up - An Australian, an American and a Mexican walk into a word puzzle ...

claret
fart
apple

bonbons relate to electricity options

milk (skim) / carrots suggests the next leader of N Korea (but isnt it Kath's turn??)

@JPR, for me milk and carrots have a real Xmas link as every Xmas Eve we leave carrots for the reindeer and milk for Santa (skim because our daughter was worried about his obesity issue)

A nativity scene:

Shed
Cow
Angel

Very cute, RK - and prescient, as Mr Cowan is primed to appear next week among the year's final News Clues list. Perhaps we can get in early:

Press chief to bully an opener

Or

Coed beside herself, meeting creamy cricket star?

opening the floodgates...
"if only there was .... a scottish herb called CEWIL":

Irn Bru
Cewil
Listerine

Is "piece" an acceptable anagrind (ie piece together)? If so, it's just too tempting...

Cricketer with a new codpiece

Whoops...still in beach mode ;)

Wicked thought, though I reckon it's one degree beyond the standard latitude.

I've been musing another tack:

A new doc to remedy baggy green condition?

Something there...

I'm sure this could be improved upon...

Note, a new Boxing Day opening batter

Valvoline
Degreaser
Ice cream?

Grimaced - now a new cricketing hope?

Confused
Losing hair

Trouble anew surrounding middle order collapse beginning with duck

(Yes, I know the collapse didn't technically begin with a duck. I was just trying to make something work with 'middle order'.)

We can do stuff all about his unfair dismissal