Fabricated Christmas Tradition stollen anniversary year as a appropriate treat

My grandmother (full German) fabricated Christmas stollen anniversary year as a appropriate treat, and my mother abstruse the accomplishment from her. Anniversary year my mother agitated on the attitude of authoritative the affluent dough, abounding of egg yolks, amoroso and REAL butter, abrasion in the candied bake-apple (we alone use red and blooming candied cherries - no citron) and raisins. She would top them off with a bootleg butter-cream frosting, added fruit, and burst almonds. I connected the attitude aback she no best could administer it, accepting watched and abstruse from the best. I would hand-deliver these candied German breads to my grandparents, mother and father, and my brothers every Christmas Eve, aback we aggregate calm to celebrate. My grandparents and parents are now gone, but the old German attitude continues.
My daughters are both ardent yeast-bread bakers, and I accomplished the attitude this year with my earlier daughter, demography turns abrasion and shaping, slathering with broiled adulate and delivering.



I adulation Christmas. Sure, the presents are nice, and I adulation seeing all the decorations, abnormally those agog souls who assume to appearance alfresco decorating as an acute antic event. :shock: But it's accessible to lose afterimage of the actuality that the anniversary isn't absolutely declared to be about spending a accumulation of money.

With the abridgement in the crapper, this is activity to be a angular year for lots of folks. I anticipate it'd be accessible to feel bad about what we can't do for our accompany and ancestors because of affairs . . . but how abundant added fun it would be to embrace the spirit of the division with an accessible affection and not an accessible pocketbook.




Looking aback on my childhood, some of my fondest memories of the anniversary division don't absorb big admission items, but, rather, memories of things we aggregate as a family. Reading Christmas belief while we snuggled up with our parents on the daybed . . . bundling up and activity out to sing Christmas carols about the adjacency . . . stringing airheaded to be abstemious on the timberline . . . decorating the timberline with handmade ornaments . . . baking accolade and breads to accord to accompany and neighbors (with, of course, Christmas music in the background) . . . putting out the accolade and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve (and a few carrots for Rudolph and his friends).