I'm doing a lot of Christmas planning at the moment as Nov and December are pretty hectic for us for a variety of reasons and want the 'thinking' out of the way.
One of the Christmas events I am contributing to falls at a time when i won't be able to spend hours in the kitchen (which I love, when it's possible). i've had this idea of buying lots of 'Christmas around the world' sweet items, instead of making desserts. This is for a largish number of people, so as well as being a bit different to traditional desserts, it will be finger food so no need for spoons / bowls etc. However this will only work if there is enough variety in taste, textures and colours to make it look good. This is where the magic of MN comes in with suggestions. I have access to all major supermarkets and will do a sweep of their aisles on the lead up but maybe there are things I'd have to go looking for, or only from a supermarket I don't normally use. General suggestions appreciated, if you know that you can definitely get them from a specific shop, that would be helpful.
I'm thinking along the lines of:
Lebkuchen; mini stollen; Panetonne cubes; Stroopwalffeln; Turkish Delight; Florentines; Amaretti, mince pies. But that's not a huge variety in colours or countries. Must be able to buy in advance, no time for homemade for this occasion, and likely no freezer space this year.
I was thinking also bowls of satsumas, figs and grapes for colour and pretending to be healthy!
Thank you