The classic UK fruitcake islike this and at least where I come from the traditional accompaniment is a slice of cheese in the Wenslydale, or Cotherstone style and nice whisky or port.
My stepfather was a bartender and had his own recipe for “Tom & Jerry”. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a batter that is much like eggnog, only thicker. It’s made from eggs, powdered sugar and spices. The eggs are separated and beaten, then folded together with the sugar. The batter is cut with either booze or milk before drinking. I loved the stuff when I was a kid.
Yes on the eggnog - sometimes with rum, sometimes with brandy, sometimes straight.
Yes on the hard candy - candy canes to Grandma’s ribbon candy. It’s all good.
Yes on the fruitcake - we send high quality fruitcakes to select friends every year. It’s a great way to say “Thinking of you this Holiday Season. Dickhead.” 
Egg nog is fine; good fruit cake is great. I’m not one for hard candy, though. Are we talking peppermint sticks and things like that? I guess we just don’t really do hard candy for Christmas, as, except for the candy canes, I don’t associate it with the holiday.
And if you’re in Chicago for the season, the classic place to get it is downtown is at Miller’s Pub, which proudly announces Tom & Jerry season on its signage. They serve it through New Years’ Day. I once tried to order one the second or third week of January, thinking that maybe they run it through the winter, and was told to go buy a calendar. 
Looks very similar, but to my mind, Pannettone is closer to bread than to cake. Mom’s version was more sweet and moist.
Screeches the thread to a halt How DARE you. Terry’s chocolate orange is what Christmas was invented for.
Carry on.
BTW, hard candy (boiled sweets to us) isn’t a British Christmas thing, but chocolates of various stripes are - Cadbury’s selection box, After Eights, huge tin of Quality Street, Chocolate Brazil nuts and TERRY’S CHOCOLATE ORANGE.
The only Egg Nog I really liked was Chipwich brand but that no longer exists…
Darigold Old Fashioned Egg Nog is in the fridge, and the Trappist Abbey Monastery Fruitcake(soaked in 120 proof brandy) should be here by Friday. Not a fan of hard candy(outside of Butter Rum Life Savers).
I’m not a fan but my wife is, she once bought a bottle in Bruges that you had to scoop out of the bottle with a spoon and could take your fucking head off. In Austria, when skiing, 'tis the fashion to heat up and froth the nog with a steam wand, squirt some cream on top with a schnapps-soaked pear chunk. A “schneeflocke” they call it.
I have a beer
Nothin’ beats Mom’s.
No, use hard sauce for Christmas pudding.
No, like I said, that’s for the mince pies.
The Christmas pud should already be completely sozzled itself.
The results surprise me, but I guess I don’t know what people mean by “hard candy.” Like regular-ass candy that’s not chewy? That’s a Christmas thing, and also has a hatedom?
I can take or leave fruitcake, but while some people hate raisins, I think it’s the bread’s texture that puts people off, so panettone passes as it’s just like certain breads.
What is hard sauce?
I like eggnog, with or without additives.
I like some fruitcakes, not many but my sister makes one from scratch loaded with rum that is quite tasty.
I like some hard candy, that is a very open category. If you mean those awful ribbon candies of the past, I’ll pass.
Basically butter creamed with powdered sugar, plus some spices and a nice dollop of rum or brandy.
Yes to the eggnog. But a funny thing–I like booze 9 ways to Sunday, but not in eggnog.
Yes to the fruitcake, as long as it is moist, not dry.
No to the hard candy. Oh, I can enjoy an occasional butterscotch, but most Christmas candy seems to revolve around peppermint, and I *detest *peppermint.
Add me to the list of being surprised to see “hard candy”. Is that candy canes? Ribbon candy? Something else?
I think of candy canes as decoration that happens to be edible, not really food. The one food we always got for Christmas was a tangerine or clementine tucked into the toes of the Christmas stocking.
Thanks. I voted no to all three, although I don’t mind hard candy, I just don’t seek it out or associate it with Christmas (beyond candy canes).
Love watching videos of making figurative candy on youtube - Public displays of confection.