Ours, sorry ‘mine’, was a very modest 13.5%, but deliciously honeyed and there’s still half a bottle in the fridge.
Christmas pud sounds good - my parents and siblings never liked it so I used to have a solitary mini-pud with advocaat poured over it - my mother “Well, I’m not making brandy sauce just for you!”
We had fresh double cream, but icecream is also good. Never really been one for brandy butter etc, though I can appreciate the appeal. 
Havn’t had a xmas pudding for well over 20 odd years now. Too expensive to make just like traditional xmas cake these days with the cost of the fruit and cooking time but don’t really miss them as no one here on the french family side likes dried fruit, must be a british thing.
By historic origin, but my friends from Bethune have it as their tradition too…it’s been in France a long time
https://www.tendancesandco.fr/189402/article/2023-10-27/la-petite-histoire-du-plum-pudding
Has to be with custard, all mashed up together! Mmmh!
Fed up of the long preparation time, so this year I made a giant Yorkshire pud for me , loaded it with all the roast spuds, parsnips, sprouts etc and vegetarian gravy and that was it. Easy, quick, no stress and very tasty. Hubbie had the same with a roasted leg of something dead and it was fab. So definitely sticking to this for the future.
Can relate to that. I much prefer veggies to meat any day of the week but have to eat a bit for protein now and again. Was given a tin of foie gras in a hamper last year, been in fridge since and thought I had better give it someone to eat. No one touched it (french) and it went straight in the bin, I won’t touch it for what it is.
There’s lots of protein in vegetarian foods; chick peas , lentils, eggs ( if you eat them) milk, yoghurt. You only need about 0.8 grams of protein per kilo of what you weigh, per day, maybe a little more if you are over 60 , with no kidney issues of course. I weigh 55 kilos and need between 44 and 55 g per day, which I have no problem achieving. Plant protein isn’t as hard on your kidneys as animal protein. Soya has a whopping 50g of protein per 100 grams more than any meat or fish. A field of soya can sustain the life of 10’s of 1000’s of people, a field of cows ( near me that 10 cows) feeds a tiny fraction of that. I’m really not obsessed with this, but meat just doesn’t make economic sense to me.
Didn’t you know they wouldn’t eat it in advance? Much though I hate foie gras, it sems a huge shame to waste food. Stuff we get that we won’t eat we give to people who will.
Had my 3rd lot of leftover Christmas dinner last night. Bones all ready to do a stock, loads of Christmas red cabbage frozen, as well as 4 portions of nut roast.