This year there is a heartening number of artisan producers and farmers offering wonderful Christmas produce at markets all around the country, and the good news is that more of them are pooling their resources to help you order online.

So instead of charges racking up as you wait for endless deliveries, you can shop from one "umbrella" farm or company - everything from turkeys to geese, gammon, sausages and stuffing to pudding and cheese - then top up witht he best the supermarkets have to offer.

Canapes and starters

If the definition of a good canape is that it should be tasty, fun, visually enticing and easy to eat in one or two bites, then the definition of a good shop-bought canapé should be all of these, plus the bonus of giving you something you couldn’t, or wouldn’t be bothered to make yourself.

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On that criteria M&S mini bacon, mint and pea frittatas tick all the boxes: seriously moreish, heated in 5-8 minutes (though they can also be served cold) with the flavours of mint, pea, crispy bacon and black pepper really singing out (£4.99 for 12). Likewise you could happily serve trayfuls of Waitrose mini salmon fishcakes (£4.99 for 9) and Thai spiced chicken and cashew nut cakes (£3.99 for 12), each with their own dips.

Canape kits seem to be all the rage this Christmas. From Forman & Field, the on-line farmers’ market featuring Britain’s best known artisan producers, comes the tongue-twisting Buckwheat Blini Smoked Salmon Kit and Kerboodle: pleasingly random-shaped fresh buckwheat blinis (such a change from the bland uniform cushions you see in the supermarkets) and generous, ready folded portions of smoked salmon, produced to the London Cure made famous by their sister company, H. Forman, the UK’s oldest established salmon curers, with crème fraiche, chopped shallots and capers in separate little tubs. £17.95 (makes 18 canapes). Their Tartare Shots, made by ex-Roux brothers chef Lloyd Hardwick in their own kitchens, are another smart and tasty idea: 6 heavy based shot glasses colourfully filled with two each of London Cure salmon and orange, beetroot gravadlax, and smoked tuna with capers. (£19.95) www.formanandfield.com; 020 8525 2352.

M&S mini Yorkshire puddings with roast beef and horseradish involve cooking the beef and puddings separately, then assembling them (£8.99 for 10) – whereas a similar, but smaller version by Waitrose (£5.99 for 12) with thinner slivers of beef arrive all ready to go in the oven (tasty despite the horseradish erring on the sweet rather than feisty side).

M&S also offer mini cheeseburgers (£5.99 for 12) – again you need to cook the burgers, then add the cheese while the buns toast, and assemble.

Of course there’s a lot to be said for simply putting out some gorgeous foods, antipasti style, for serving with good bread, toasted if you like, such as Poilane Country or Rye bread from Waitrose (priced according to weight).

Italian antipasti lends itself perfectly to party food and pre-dinner nibbles, and you can order a selection from Savoria (www.savoria.co.uk; 0207 9934170) such as Sicilian Bottarga di Tonno Rosso from Conservificio Tre Torri. Made with the dry-salted and pressed roe of Bluefin tuna (confusingly known as Tonno Rosso in Italy) which is caught off the island of Favignana to the northwest of Sicily, this is an ancient delicacy with a rich, salty, caviar-ish flavour. Shave it onto bread or toast. A 200g piece is £24.34. Not cheap, but a talking point. Or, for the basis of crostini, there is Black Olive Pate from Pantelleria (£1.95g, £6.95); Vero Pesto Fresco alla Genovese (170g, £6.62) and Red Radicchio (Chicory) Salsa from Treviso (280g, £9.98). Serve alongside sliced Bocconcini di Cinghiale in olio (little wild boar sausages in oil) 180g, £8.82.

If you enjoy the flavour and silky texture of foie gras, but are uneasy about geese and ducks being force fed to expand their livers to 6-10 times their normal size in order to make it, then Faux Gras may be the answer. Developed by Waitrose, who refuse to sell traditional foie gras, it is a blend of goose or duck liver with goose or duck fat. Foie gras connoisseurs addicted to the silky unctuousness of authentic foie gras are unlikely to be swayed since this has a coarser texture and gamier flavour, but the pertinent point is that the birds live normal lives, wandering around in paddocks with flushable ponds. Faux Gras Goose Liver Pate (200g, £6.99) and Duck Liver Pate (175g £4.99) from Waitrose.

Forman & Field’s smoked wild salmon pate (225g, £7.95), hot smoked eel fillets (200g, £12.95) – good with horseradish sauce – or the very distinctive Air Dried Herdwick Mutton (100g. £8.95) from Farmer Sharp and the Cumbrian hill farmers, also make for an excellent array of nibbles.

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