I don't know where you are located or what you like, but if you're ordering from Australia and Kentucky you might be interested in getting some one-of-a-kind 'Turkey Joints' candy from here in NY for the holidays. :) really... they're cool-looking and very tasty and only made for the holidays. Festive and such a catchy name. lol! Here's a link: Turkey Joints

If you haven't already ordered your plum puddings, order them from Mother Sperry <http://mothersperrysplumpudding.com>; They are fabulous. As for the Gethsemane fruitcakes, well they're okay but nothing like one that is homemade (if one makes great fruitcake!).

Nürnburg gingerbread is traditional and very good. They also have the Lebkuchen, but those aren't colorful.

Everybody sells panetone.

If you want to make a spectactular dessert for a display, you can't beat a trifle, and you can buy the components easily enough.

I order Lebkuchen from here http://www.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/Nuernberger-Lebkuchen/ as it's the best I've tasted and their service is excellent.

i had trouble understanding the website... am i just looking at cookies or gingerbread cake.

I don't read German well, but if you look at the first picture on the linked page, with the tin with all the colored squares, the cookie next to it on the bottom of the picture, broken open, is a Lebkuch (is that the correct singular?). They're very airy, soft cookies, as opposed to the traditional building material of dense gingerbread. They have lots of nuts and spices but a delicate flavor overall. I don't like the ones with a lot of chocolate or other flavored icing because it overwhelms the flavor of the Lebkuchen. They're prettier than the plain white (sugar icing) ones though. :)

AHA! If you look up by the search box, there's an EN to click for English. Click the pictures for a description of what's in the packages.

I just remembered! While you're ordering, don't forget Sacher-Torte! A friend in Vienna sent me one once. It's an amazing cake, which travels amazingly well.

Also, Hammond's Candies in Denver make beautiful candy canes and other Christmas candies.

Can you still get wintergreen flavoured candy canes over there? They used to have them here about 30 years ago but I guess they are like Vegemite, an acquired taste :-) They were my favourite.

I found the English button but I still could not make any sense out of the website so I did not order anything. However, I did order the sacher torte. It looks delicious. The delivery charges were as much as the cost of the cake.

Tomorrow I will place my annual xmas order for a case of sweet navel oranges from a grower in Florida. I have been looking for a good place to buy an assortment of appetizers online but I haven't found anything yet. This weekend we are going to order a complete Thai dinner from a nice local restaurant to bring home. They deep fat fry their soft shell crab so it will be interesting to see if the crab is chewy using this method. For xmas eve we will keep it simple and buy some really good lobster bisque from a small local restaurant who only makes soup and salads. Again to bring home and open a very nice bottle of wine. For xmas day probably be some type of makeshift affair. Still looking for some sticky toffee pudding.

As for trifles... I used to make one that was loaded. But now that I am downsizing I have settled on a really good raspberry trifle from Marcus Samuelson. It uses a number of ingredients that I use when I make a raspberry sauce to put on frozen yogurt. I like the stonyfield brand perhaps even more than ice cream these days. I do put some raspberry liquor in my sauce. So I do cook at times but only simple things.

Sounds good. I like the idea of the local restaurants. Are there any that might have the appetizers you're looking for?

Unfortunately no... I spent one to two hours last night looking at every restaurant in my area... nothing. I might take another look at the grocery stores to see if we can find one or two items of interest. I have little interest in making any of these.

I hope you find something good! I've seen a lot of catalogs with all kinds, but they look kind of plastic, rather than appetizing. I don't think it's the photography because lots of food photos look very appetizing, even amateur, unstyled ones. Have you tried finding a private chef or caterer to make some for you?

Good luck finding what you're looking for.

Well, I don't speak German either but the biscuits speak for themselves. Delish!

I got another catalog. The food looks much more appetizing (not plastic) than in the others. Mackenzie Limited. There are lots of appetizers, and I think they come frozen to just heat up.