We all have our favorite Christmas goody that we love to eat.

Fruitcake, a heavy cake made from dried or candied fruits and nuts that are marinated in rum or brandy, has origins in ancient Rome.

It is often used in both wedding and Christmas celebrations. The earliest Roman recipe lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into a barley mash.

In the middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added and the name fruitcake was first used. When it was later discovered that fruits could be preserved using a high amount of sugar, they naturally found their way into fruitcakes.

In the 18th century, Europeans were baking fruitcakes using nuts from the harvest for good luck in the following year. The tradition was to save the cake then eat it later before the next harvest.

They were in abundant supply across Europe until a law was actually passed banning them at any time other than weddings, Christmas and a couple of other holidays. However, it was still popular during tea time in Victorian England in the 19th century.

St. Nicholas, otherwise known as SinterKlaas, arrives in November in Holland bearing gifts.

He is dressed in Bishop’s robes and travels by boat with his helper who is called Black Peter, who wears Spanish clothing.

Many people go to Amsterdam docks to greet him. He mounts a grand snow horse and rides during a festive parade and celebration.

December 5th is Sinterklaas Eve and is when presents are exchanged. Children put their wooden shoes out and fill them with hay and carrots, and also leave water out for SinterKlaas’ horse. In return, SinterKlaas fills the children’s shoes with candy and gifts to find the following morning.

Children believe that SinterKlaas lives in Spain the rest of the year where he carefully keeps track of which children have been naughty and which have been nice, while his helper Black Peter busily gathers presents for the following Sinterklaas Eve.

Though it is not clearly understood why the children believe Sinterklaas to be from Spain, it could be because Holland was famous for its navigation and possibly came into contact with many Spanish sailors who told of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, and his feats of saving boats and sailors from the angry Spanish seas.

Centuries ago, long before the birth of Christ, the Christmas wreath was always a part of festive processions.

The evergreen Christmas wreath has always been a Christian emblem of eternal life and God’s faithfulness to all humanity because of its hardiness and ability to withstand the cold winter temperatures.

An advent Christmas wreath is a ring or set of four candles, usually made with evergreen cuttings and used for household devotion by some Christians during the season of Advent, or the holy season for the Christian church. Many churches illuminate these candles in succession through the four weeks leading up to Christmas as part of their Sunday services.

Typically, three of the candles are violet-colored, and one is rose-colored, but some choose to use all purple or all blue candles. When used in household devotion, one candle is lit on the first evening of Advent, which falls on a Saturday. Each Saturday thereafter during Advent another candle is lit. Some Christmas wreaths have a large white candle in the center which is lit on Christmas Day to signify Christ’s birth.

A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children in the United States and some other cultures hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins, or other small gifts when he arrives.

These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers.

Tradition in western culture dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece of coal.

But how did the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace begin? One legend says that has it that St. Nicholas of Myra heard of a farmer who had three lovely daughters who feared they would never marry well because he didn’t have enough money to pay their dowries.

Knowing the farmer would never accept the money outright, St. Nicholas dropped three bags of coins into their chimney on Christmas Eve. The young girls had each happened to have washed their stockings out and hung them by the fire to dry, so when the coins were dropped a bag landed inside each stocking.

In a country where the population is well over 1 billion people, India is widely known to be a Hindu and Moslem country. However, there are still over 26 million Christians residing there.

So during the Christmas holiday season, you’ll still find carolers singing and Father Christmas in many storefront window displays.

Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta hold Christmas bazaars and markets where you can find Christmas ornaments, decorations, and Christmas-themed gifts.

You might find outdoor Christmas decorating in some areas. In Southern India, small clay oil-burning lamps are used as Christmas decorations; they are placed on the edges of flat roofs and on the tops of walls.

Tribal Christians of the Bhil people go out every night in Northern India during the Christmas season singing Christmas carols and retelling the story of the birth of baby Jesus to residents throughout the night.

One of the largest Christian contingents can be found in Bombay, the majority of which are Roman Catholic. Many homes in Bombay take great pride in creating a beautiful crèche, or Nativity scene, to be displayed in their front window.

It’s been a holiday tradition to burn a Yule log even before there was a Christmas. It signifies that it is time for friends and family to gather near for songs, stories and fun, and until the Yule log burns out, there’s no more working.

In its beginnings, the Yule log was burned as a celebration of the winter solstice. Yule ran from several weeks before the winter solstice to a couple weeks after in Scandinavia, as this was the coldest and darkest time of the year. And though the Yule log is named from this Scandinavian tradition, the practice of burning a special log during the winter months was a tradition in many countries across the world.

When Pope Julius I decided to celebrate Christmas around the time of the Winter Solstice during the fourth century, the Yule log tradition continued, but the light from the burning log represented the light of the Savior instead of the light of the sun.

Traditionally on or about Christmas Eve, a big log was brought into the home or a larger gathering place. People would sing and tell stories while children danced and played. The Yule log was even decorated, and food and wine were placed upon it as offerings.

The poinsettia, also known as the Mexican flame leaf or Christmas star, is a sub-tropical plant known for its striking red displays at Christmas time. It’s often used as a floral Christmas decoration because of its festive colors, and what many think of as the plants petals are actually large leaves.

Poinsettias are native to southern Mexico and Central America. They are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant in the U.S. in 1825.

Poinsett was so impressed with the brilliant red color of the plant that he sent some home from Mexico to South Carolina, where they thrived in his greenhouse. Their leaves are thought to look much like the flaming Star of Bethlehem. In the United States they can be found out in the wild in both Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Mexican legend tells how the poinsettia came to be a Christmas symbol. The story states that a child who could not afford a gift to offer to Christ on Christmas Eve picked some weeds from the side of a road.

The tradition of the mistletoe dates back to ancient history and across many cultures. Ancient druids viewed it as a symbol of peace, goodwill and love.

Warring tribes chancing across it stopped their battles observed a temporary truce, and people began displaying it the doorways of their homes as a sign of peace. The Druids also believed it to have the power to provide fertility.

There are some cultures who think it guarded them against witches and witchcraft, and other cultures believed it to have medicinal and healing properties and used it to treat a variety of illnesses.

But mistletoe’s roots run deep in the area of love. In some cultures, most notably in Europe, if you kiss a woman under the mistletoe sprig, it is considered a marriage proposal. But its lore has evolved into something a bit more lighthearted.

According to most current day traditions, a young woman simply stands under the mistletoe and awaits her sweetheart’s kiss. Traditional legend dictates however that for each kiss that’s stolen from underneath a berry must be removed from the sprig, and if the berries are gone then so are the kisses.

Though you are probably very familiar with the more traditional Christmas customs, you may not know how other cultures celebrate the holiday season.

Many African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa from December 26 to January 1. A harvest time ritual, Kwanzaa is a holiday that originated at the time of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s and commemorates their African heritage. It generally lasts a week.

Black, red and green candles which symbolize the seven basic family values of unity, self-determination, cooperative economics, working together, purpose, faith and creativity are lit each night when family and friends have gathered together to celebrate.

Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art, colorful African cloth and apparel, and fresh fruits that represent African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors.

Some families have a Kwanzaa bush from which they hang handmade ornaments. Older family members spend time teaching the children about their heritage. A ceremonial table is set up, which has been set up with an ear of corn symbolizing each of the children, and a carved and decorated unity cup used for the evening toasts.

Eggnog is a type of milk-based beverage popular in North America during the winter. Historically, it comes from posse, a hot curdled milk drink popular in the Middle Ages purported to have medicinal purposes. The name is a combination of egg and nog, where nog derives either from noggin, which is ale or a small wooden cup.

It could also stem from grog, an alcoholic beverage made from rum. It’s even been said that George Washington was himself an eggnog enthusiast and developed his own recipe that included rye whiskey, rum and sherry. Legend has it that it was a very strong drink and either only the most courageous or those with little sense were willing to try it.

It’s highly likely that eggnog originated in Europe, although some believe it originated in the original American colonies who added rum. Therefore it’s not strictly just a holiday drink, but more of winter time drink. However, it is mostly served during both Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Modern eggnog typically consists of milk, eggs, and sugar mixed together and may be served with or without added spirits. Other ingredients include spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice, and frequently the substitution of cream for some portion of the milk, making a much richer drink. Whiskey, rum, brandy, or cognac can be added to eggnog.