In no order whatsoever - although it was hard to choose just five...

LEBKUCHEN

These soft, spicy mouthfuls originate in Germany, and appear on supermarket shelves before Christmas. Polish shops sell something very similar all year round, so I have occasionally indulged 'out of season'. Nothing else I've tasted has that perfect, powdery glaze of icing. I'm also very partial to the heart-shaped version with a plum jam centre. These are for me what mince pies are to most people. (I don't like mince pies, or Christmas pudding.)

ROAST POTATOES

Crispy, crunchy, golden, fluffy. I've heard about cooking them in goose fat (no thanks, I'm vegetarian), dredging them with semolina (too grainy), and cooking them more than once (if you don't have enough to do in the kitchen on Christmas Day!. For me, I use Delia Smith's recipe from my ancient spineless copy of 'Delia's Complete Cookery Course', which involves preheating the oil in the oven, of course, parboiling, then putting a lid on the pan and shaking the drained potatoes vigorously to fluff up the surface, which makes for a crispy exterior. I do add garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. Lots of people are lucky enough to have roast potatoes quite often as part of a Sunday roast, but I usually eat them just a couple of times a year so for me they're one of the special treats of Christmas.

SNOWBALLS

When I was quite a small child, my grandma used to make me a Snowball when I visited at Christmas (quick, call Social Services!) and I adored it. She made it even more special by suspending a maraschino cherry (no glacé pretenders) across the glass on a cocktail stick, and popping in a tiny paper umbrella. I'd never dream of drinking a Snowball at any other time of year, but at Christmas the creamy, softly fizzy concoction slips down very easily.

SLOE GIN

I'm a big fan of cider (and I don't mean the recently introduced bandwagon beverages trying to hitch a ride on the rich heritage of properly made cider). In the past, I've helped make and serve mulled cider at Middle Farm in East Sussex, home of the National Collection of Cider & Perry (hello, Rod and Helen! You can download their recipe for mulled cider here). This week I made my own, adding cloves, cinnamon sticks, allspice, ginger and nutmeg to three litres of perfectly drinkable supermarket cider. Bring almost to the boil, then turn down the heat to let the spices add their flavours, but don't let it boil or the alcohol will disappear. Once cool, pour back into the bottle, then pour a mugful at a time, and sweeten to taste. You could add a shot of Calvados for more of a kick.

PANDORO

This is the 'golden' version of panettone, without the candied peel and raisins. I love panettone too, but fractionally prefer the plainer pandoro. I'll usually have a slice for breakfast on a work day in the run-up to Christmas, from a local Italian café. You can make a phenomenal bread and butter pudding with it, and it makes a great gift, coming in several sizes. See our pandoro recipe.

The five best things I ate last time

I hope you enjoy everything you eat and drink - Merry Christmas!