Christmas Food

What the words in this puzzle mean

APPLE CIDER

Pressed apple juice, served hot with spices as a winter drink.

CANDY CANES

Hooked peppermint sticks hung on the tree as decoration and eaten afterwards.

COOKIES

Baked in batches through December, and left out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

DUCK

A richer alternative to turkey, roasted for its fatty skin and dark meat.

EGGNOG

A thick drink of milk, eggs, sugar and nutmeg, often spiked with rum or brandy.

FISH

The centrepiece of Christmas Eve in many Catholic traditions, when meat was avoided.

FRUITCAKE

A dense cake of dried fruit and nuts, often soaked in spirits and kept for weeks.

GINGERBREAD

Spiced dough baked into biscuits, figures and the houses children decorate.

HAM

A cured leg of pork, glazed and baked, and the common alternative to turkey.

PIES

Sweet pies close the meal — pumpkin, pecan and mince are the usual three.

PUDDING

Christmas pudding, a steamed suet-and-fruit dessert flamed with brandy at the table.

ROAST

The cooking method the whole meal turns on, whatever bird or joint is at the centre.

STUFFING

Seasoned bread cooked inside the bird or alongside it, soaking up the juices.

TOM AND JERRY

A hot batter-and-spirit drink served in a mug, a nineteenth-century American Christmas punch.

TURKEY

The bird at the centre of most Christmas tables in Britain and America.