Best wait until the rest of the family is away on a ski weekend before attempting these difficult, extravagant Christmas pastries and confections. Traditional festival recipes tend to retain their mammoth spread of ingredients (English fruit cake weighs in at twenty-three) and complicated assembly methods. However, the author has roamed the world to collect these monuments to the holidays, and the confident, careful and non-panicky cook should enjoy experimenting. Garnished with words about history and tradition.