that aside from due notification of certain major events in their lives ( two marriages, two births, one divorce ), Christmas and Easter cards of the traditional sort had been the only thin link she had with them through the widowed years.

Cider is the most popular beverage of the middle and lower economic classes at Christmas and New Year ( the upper classes proverbially preferring to celebrate with locally produced champagne, although real old-line " creole " aristocrats will still drink cider, which is much more traditional ).

Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and chocolate hearts or chocolate in heart-shaped boxes on Valentine's Day.

A traditional Christmas meal in Poland includes fried carp and borscht ( beetroot soup ) with uszka ( ravioli ).

This imagery is also found in the traditional Catholic Christmas hymn " Gaudete.

In the Western world, Christmas carols and other traditional songs preserve religious lore in song form.

Thirteen desserts in Provence are the traditional Christmas dessert, e. g. quince cheese, biscuits, almonds, nougat, apple, and fougasse.

A traditional figure in English folklore, Father Christmas is identified with the old belief in the Old English god Woden.

Tolkien, have insisted on the traditional form of Father Christmas in preference to Santa Claus.

Lewis, a children's author and Christian, preferred the traditional Father Christmas because of his clear connection with the Christian holiday of Christmas.

* Tsoureki, a traditional Christmas and Easter sweet bread also known as ' Lambropsomo ' ( Easter bread ), flavored with " mahlepi ", the intensely aromatic extract of the stone of the St. Lucie Cherry.

After Braddock's defeat in 1755, royal approval for a new regiment, as well as funds, were granted by Parliament just before Christmas 1755 – hence the regiment's traditional birthday of Christmas Day.

Kutia is often the first dish in the traditional twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper ( also known as Svyatah Vecherya ).

Nutcrackers have long been a traditional symbol of Christmas.

In English and American culture during the Christmas season, it is traditional to have a Christmas caroling party.

Puritans did not celebrate traditional holidays e. g. Christmas which they believed to be in violation of the regulative principles.

A traditional Julskinka | Christmas ham in modern Sweden

For some Italians, especially from the region of Calabria ( Reggio Calabria ), fried smelts are a traditional part of Christmas Eve dinner consisting of multiple courses of fish.

Additionally, Yule is the traditional name used for Christmas in Scotland in the Scots Language.

A Yule log is a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures.

In the most traditional of the Catalan homes, the old custom of " fer cagar el tió " is still followed for Christmas.

The badnjak is a central feature in the traditional Serbian Christmas celebration.

The traditions of the Yule log died out in Britain in the latter 19th and early 20th century because of, according to historian Ronald Hutton, " the reduction in farm labour and the disappearance of the old-fashioned open hearths ", however the Bûche de Noël dessert has become a Christmas tradition in the UK, as in many French speaking places.

It was Christmas and the court cook had no dessert to offer.

* Palette AOC ; the little village of Palete, four kilometres east of Aix-en-Provence, has long been famous for the production of a vin cuit, or fortified wine, used in the traditional Provence Christmas dessert, the Thirteen desserts, and the Christmas cake called pompo à l ' oli, or the olive-oil pump.

Prunes are used frequently in Tzimmes, a traditional Jewish dish in which the principal ingredient is diced or sliced carrots ; in the Nordic prune kisel, eaten with rice pudding in the Christmas dinner ; and in the traditional Norwegian dessert fruit soup.

A traditional Swedish dessert is lingonpäron ( literally lingonberry pears ) which is fresh pears which are peeled and boiled in lingondricka ( lingonberry squash ) and then preserved in the pear-infused lingonberry squash and not uncommonly eaten during Christmas.

On Christmas Day, goose was initially served at dinner, however since appearing in Christmas tables in England in the late 16th century, the turkey has become more popular, with Christmas pudding served for dessert.

A popular traditional Danish dessert, especially around Christmas, consists of æbleskiver, rather like small pancake doughnuts which are fried in butter in a special pan and are served hot with jam and sugar.

It is frequently consumed as a traditional Christmas dessert in Spain and Italy.

It is also the basis of the Danish Christmas dessert Risalamande.

Baked Alaska ( also known as glace au four, omelette à la norvégienne, Norwegian omelette and omelette surprise ) is a dessert made of ice cream placed in a pie dish lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding and topped with meringue.

The Christmas meal is sweetened with the traditional cozonac, a sweet bread with nuts and rahat for dessert.

Rumtopf (), which literally means rum pot, is a German and Danish dessert, traditionally eaten around Christmas.

It is a steamed dessert which consists of flour, baking powder, sugar, whole eggs, vanilla aroma, and cocoa powder or chocolate mixed together to make a batter and steamed or baked similar to Christmas pudding.

Kutia, poppy milk ( aguonų pienas ) together with kūčiukai are served as a dessert and forms a significant part of the Lithuanian Christmas Eve menu.

The fund's statewide quota this year is $8,250 to provide Christmas gifts for needy youngsters.

The territory is administered from Canberra by the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport, which is also responsible for the administration of the territories of Christmas Island, Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Jervis Bay and Norfolk Island.

* Santa Claus also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and simply " Santa ", is a figure with legendary, mythical, historical and folkloric origins who, in many western cultures, is said to bring gifts to the homes of the good children during the late evening and overnight hours of Christmas Eve, December 24.

From then on retail trade is only restricted on public holidays ( New Years Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Day of Prayer, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day ) and on Constitution Day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve ( on New Year's Eve from 3 pm only ).

Bock is historically associated with special occasions, often religious festivals such as Christmas, Easter or Lent.

In Austria, bockbier is traditionally brewed only around Christmas and Easter, when nearly every brewery brews its own bock.

Bock beer is produced in Mexico around Christmas season, under the Noche Buena label with 5. 9 % abv

Bethlehem's chief economic sector is tourism which peaks during the Christmas season when Christian pilgrims throng to the Church of the Nativity.

In a twist on Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Blackadder is the " kindest and loveliest " man in England.

Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts from their superiors or employers.

Today, Boxing Day is better known as a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws.

In the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Catalonia, 26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day.

This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families.

Boxing Day is a secular holiday that is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day, which is also St. Stephen's Day, a religious holiday.

In the UK, where Boxing Day is a bank holiday, if Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, a substitute bank holiday is given on the following Monday, but if 26 December falls on a Sunday – which means that Christmas Day, another holiday, fell on a Saturday – then the Statutory Holiday for Christmas is moved to Monday 27 December and the Statutory Holiday for Boxing Day is moved to Tuesday 28 December.