Gather Around the Christmas Tree Quiz

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

"Romeo and Juliet" is a play by William Shakespeare, and its fundamentally tragic nature would make it an unsuitable subject for a traditional comic pantomime.

The pantomime is one of those curious British Christmas traditions that other countries regard as curious (if not downright bizarre). The stories are usually based on traditional fairy-tales and folk legends: other popular ones are "Mother Goose", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Babes in the Wood". While the stories usually follow the broad outline of the traditional tales, they almost always include songs, dancing and a great deal of slapstick comedy. Pantomimes with animal characters (performed by actors in costume) are always popular, such as Dick Whittington's cat and the cow in "Jack and the Beanstalk". However, the key character is always the "Dame", a comic role traditionally played by a man in female costume.

The picture shows two famous Victorian pantomime actors, Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell, in a 1897 production of "The Babes in the Wood" at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, a venue which was famous for its spectacular pantomime productions.

Question provided by stedman

Answer: Cambridge

King's College, Cambridge, was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, although it was Henry VII who pushed the project forward. The chapel, which you can see in the photo, dates from the reign of Henry VIII, being finished in 1544, nearly one hundred years after it was started. "Carols from King's" has a long tradition, beginning in 1918 and being broadcast by the BBC since 1928, even during the Second World War, on the radio and television. The service begins with a boy soprano singing the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City" as the choristers walk in procession to the choir stalls. When I was younger, I remember listening to the service while driving to visit family on Christmas Eve. Now I'm older, I'm usually able to watch it in the comfort of my own home, but the feeling that Christmas has now arrived is still the same.

Question provided by rossian

Answer: "Don we now our gay apparel"

Each of these lines has at least one word which is little used in contemporary conversations, but it was the line from "Deck the Halls" that led me astray (and led to some serious laughter from the adults!) as I was unfamiliar with the word "don" as meaning to put something on, and quite prepared to hear "apparel" as being "o' peril", since in an earlier line 'Tis was explained as another way of saying It is. Hence, I thought that somebody named Don was being reassured that we were all happy, and in no danger, as we decorated the house in preparation for the festivities. What peril, you ask? Well, there is a monster in the next line, "Troll the ancient Yuletide carol".

Question provided by looney_tunes

Answer: The Alicante variety uses whole almonds, and no oil

Turrón is a nougat-like confection popular all over Spain, especially at Christmas-time, and almost always includes honey, sugar and egg whites. Nuts are usually added, most frequently almonds. The big difference between the two types mentioned is that the Alicante type uses whole almonds and the confection becomes a hard block of yummy sweetness. The Jijona recipe calls for the almonds to be ground into a paste, with this plus a bit of oil combined with the other ingredients. This results in a soft, gooey sweet treat.

Question provided by spanishliz

Answer: A bonbon

A man called Tom Smith used to sell bonbons in 19th century London but his business wasn't doing too well so he added value by including a 'love message' inside the wrapper. That didn't work too well either so he added a bang - a strip of card impregnated with a chemical that makes a cracking noise as a result of friction (the same principle as the cap in cap-guns). Tom Smith's cracker made a noise if two strips of bound card were pulled apart in opposite directions so it made sense to have long strips which could be grasped with ease. As a result the paper used to wrap the bonbons became longer to allow for the "cracker" strip and later on the bonbon itself disappeared, to be replaced by a small toy or a piece of jewellery: the more expensive the cracker the better the trinket. Tom Smith's love messages were replaced by jokes or riddles, and paper hats in the shape of crowns were included. Christmas crackers are a tradition in many Commonwealth countries and it's quite common for them to be hung from the Christmas tree in the days before the main lunch. Wearing silly hats during festivals is a tradition that goes back to the Romans. So, if you've ever wondered what the Romans did for us, it was making flopsy look silly in front of all her relations.

Silver sixpences (or sometimes a silver threepenny piece) are part of another Christmas tradition in the UK - the Christmas pudding. At some point in the cooking process, usually just before serving, some small silver coins may be inserted into the pudding and the lucky finder gets to keep the money... for about five minutes. Usually people are just grateful not to break a tooth. Another family tradition in the flopsy household is that some older person will point at the expensive things kids get these days and exclaim "when we were young we were lucky to get an orange and a lump of coal!" - ah the good old days. Flopsy hopes that everyone enjoys the holidays and if you're feeling really festive, hop over to the Chatboards and say hello to everyone!

Question provided by flopsymopsy

Answer: Hanukkah

Hanukkah, which is a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees over Greek forces and the re-dedication of the Second Temple in 160 BCE, has a number of traditions, one of which is the giving of gelt. Originally, this was money, probably coins specially minted to commemorate the victory. Later, it became more generally any coins, and in the 20th century chocolate manufacturers came up with a sure-fire winner, chocolate coins, wrapped in foil so that they superficially resembled real coins. Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. Since this date is sometime between late November and late December, the celebration of Hanukkah is at roughly the same time as the celebration of Christmas, and chocolate gelt makes an excellent addition to a Christmas stocking.

Question provided by looney_tunes

Answer: King George V

It was King George V, Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather, who began the tradition of the monarch broadcasting a message to his or her subjects on Christmas Day. His first "King's Speech" (as it was then known for obvious reasons) was made from Sandringham in 1932 and went out over the airwaves of the recently created BBC Empire Service to listeners in the UK and around the world, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya and South Africa. The Queen's (or King's) Speech tends to reflect on events of the year - both bad and good - for the country as a whole, as well as more specific events in the lives of the royal family. Queen Elizabeth's 1992 message famously reflected on her "annus horribilis" after a major fire at Windsor Castle, while in 2012 she was able to talk about the happier events of her Diamond Jubilee year.

While my childhood Christmases in the 1980s seemed to revolve around both this tradition and Christmas dinner, I have to admit that I haven't bothered sticking to watching it live on the day in recent years. Catch-up television services certainly allow for a more flexible Christmas schedule!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Question provided by Fifiona81

Answer: KFC

With only about 1% of the population estimated to be Christian, Christmas in Japan is largely a commercial, secular event, which apparently allows for some rather strange traditions. For most of the country, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas in Japan without a trip to KFC, which everyone knows stands for "Kentucky for Christmas" (Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii). The marketing genius responsible is Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the first KFC store in the country, who overheard some expatriates bemoaning how they couldn't get a Christmas turkey dinner in Japan, and conceived of marketing a KFC party barrel over Christmas as the next best thing. A nationwide ad campaign was launched in 1974 and quickly established KFC as a new Christmas tradition across the country. It also wasn't much of a stretch to repurpose KFC's mascot, Colonel Sanders, for the occasion - just dress him in a fur-lined red satin suit for an instant Santa Claus.

Each Christmas an estimated 3.6 million Japanese families partake of KFC's Christmas packages, which come with chicken, cake, and wine or champagne, and account for about a third of the company's annual sales in Japan. The fast food chain accepts orders for their Christmas dinners months in advance, and those who didn't have the foresight to pre-order have to contend with waiting in line for what can amount to hours.

Question provided by jmorrow

Answer: Magi

Although they are often shown as being present in Nativity scenes, the narration in Matthew 2 makes it clear that the (unknown number of) magi did not arrive until significantly later - possibly nearly two years after the birth of Jesus. Luke 2, which relates the Nativity, provides evidence for the presence of Joseph, Mary, Jesus and some nearby shepherds. (There is no mention of angels being there, but they did inform the shepherds of the birth, so it is not unreasonable that they be included.)

In our house, the stable was put on the mantelpiece and the figures set in their starting positions on the first Sunday in Advent. The shepherds were close by, watching their sheep, and didn't move until Christmas morning, at which time the figure of baby Jesus 'magically' appeared in the manger. Joseph and Mary, with their donkey, travelled around the window ledges until they reached the stable on Christmas Eve. The magi, however, started upstairs, and moved very slowly down, reaching the ground floor on Christmas morning, then continuing their journey in stages until they arrived on the Feast of Epiphany, January 6, which is the traditional date for celebrating their arrival.

Question provided by looney_tunes

Answer: A cold seafood and/or barbecue lunch followed by a game of backyard cricket

There is no set routine but emphasis is on extended family getting together on Christmas day and sharing food. The traditional "English" roast dinner is still popular in this part of the world but it does make a hot day even hotter. Emphasis is on staying cool so cooking is often relegated to the (outside) BBQ and seafood (prawns, Moreton Bay bugs, crab) is usually served cold. Backyard cricket is popular, as are poolside lunches.

At our place because we live next to a park (bigger cricket game than in the backyard) and a pool and my wife and I are both the organising siblings in our respective families, a typical day for 20-25 people is a hot breakfast, pool volleyball, BBQ and seafood lunch on the veranda, then an all-in game of backyard cricket in the park. There is no set evening meal but anyone hungry 'grazes' on the too-much food that was left over from lunch.

Question provided by 1nn1

Answer: Germany

Christingle was the brainchild of John de Wattville, a minister of a Moravian church in Germany. He gave the children in his congregation a lighted candle and a red ribbon as a symbol of the love of Jesus. From these beginnings, Christingle evolved into the version we see in the photo - the round orange represents the world and the red ribbon surrounding it is the blood shed by Jesus. The four sticks can be seen as the seasons and as north, south, east and west, while the sweets, which were originally fruits and nuts, are the God given fruits of the Earth. The candle remains the central part, being symbolic of Jesus as the light of the world.

Although the tradition dates from 1747, it only became a regular part of the UK Christmas traditions in the 1960s. Services are common now, often held the Sunday before Christmas or on Christmas Eve.

Question provided by rossian

Answer: Birch wood

I'm a big fan of spending hours and hours on Christmas morning, long before the sun rises, watching TV that requires no effort to digest, so after an unhealthy dose of "Forensic Files" and "Come Dine With Me", I tend to lean into too many hours of the televised Yule log which, in Canada, airs on at least four or five different networks all throughout the morning, usually with a cheerful Christmas melody in the background. The real joy is those moments where someone comes in with a fire poker and really botches the job. You never know what you'll get.

Many international NETFLIX variants feature a handful of Yule logs. Apparently, if you watch "Lord of the Rings", you're prone to receiving a recommendation for a Yule log featuring birch wood. The algorithm requests it. I've also had cable service in the past that's given me a rotisserie chicken channel. You know... to watch spinning, cooking chickens. It's soothing.

Question provided by kyleisalive

Answer: Fondue Bourguignonne

Using the term "fondue" for this particular dish is technically incorrect because, unlike in a true fondue, the primary food to be eaten is not the molten content of the communal pot. However, as the equipment and way of eating resemble those of a true (cheese or chocolate) fondue, the name is almost exclusively used. Fondue Savoyarde and Fondue Appenzell are both cheese fondue variants and Fondue Chinois is a lower calorie alternative to Fondue Bourguignonne where, instead of using oil to cook the meat, the pieces, often also including vegetables, are cooked in broth.

WesleyCrusher wishes everyone a most enjoyable holiday dining experience with family and friends and may you finally defeat that one challenge you've been working on forever!

Question provided by WesleyCrusher

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

We had such fun the year we watched "Shaun of the Dead" that it became an instant tradition.

In "Shaun of the Dead" (2004), Shaun, an aimless, not-very-happy salesman, actually gets his life in order by going through a zombie apocalypse.

In "Tucker and Dale vs Evil" (2010), our heroes are a couple of amiable good ol' boys who are mistaken for killers by the college students weekending in a cabin in the woods.

"What We Do in the Shadows" (2014) is a mockumentary from New Zealand, following a group of vampire roommates just trying to get by.

In "It's a A Wonderful Life" (1946) we learn that every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. The photo is of an angel and its wings.

Question provided by agony

Answer: The Australian Open tennis tournament

The tennis does not start until later in January. Those of us who want to huddle indoors out of the summer heat may enjoy watching the start of the yacht race (which includes spectacular views of Sydney Harbour) or the cricket, in which that year's touring national team competes against the Australian team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on television. More energetic souls may attend either of these in person, or participate in the mad rush for special sale deals that sees crowds line up outside the large department stores of major cities to race in and grab the item of their dreams.

Question provided by looney_tunes