WHAT DO YOU MISS FROM CHRISTMAS' PAST?

As I begin my annual pumpkin pie baking I'm thinking ahead to Christmas baking. The Christmas cookies, breads etc. My mother is hosting Christmas dinner this year, we rotate between my mother and my aunt. That means my mother sets the table and I cook since she is no longer able. It's partly pot luck but the host does the majority of the cooking. As I've been trying to put together a menu I was thinking I really miss my grandmother's plum pudding. Yes, good old English plum pudding with hard sauce. She would make it every Christmas and before serving, pour brandy over it and light it. As kids we thought that was so spectacular and I just loved the pudding. I was probably the only one of the kids who did. After she passed away we searched all her cook books for that recipe and couldn't find it. I'm sure it was all in her head. Memorized after all the years of making it. I've tried making plum pudding several times, but it just is not the same as I remember it to be, so I quit.
I'll have to explain later how a Japanese grandma came to make plum pudding.