long time, no see. hope you're doing well and had a nice holiday season.
here are our christmas staples from the bakery department:
- 3 or 4 large stollen - this year i made roast chestnut marzipan for them.
- gingerbread men - every few years i'll put a whole day into a gingerbread
house with windows made from sugar brought to hard crack stage,
sliced almonds (or when i can get them, necco wafers) for the tiled
roof, marzipan figures, etc. my daughter invites friends over when it's
time to bash it up and eat it.
- biscotti - anise and chocolate
- steamed cranberry pudding
- 4 or 5 fruitcakes, essentially dried fruits and pecans only barely held
together by the cake batter. the fruits are soaked in brandy so long
that the colors are nearly undifferentiated.
- usually a few panettone also.
unfortunately, i've given up making my grandmother's christmas pudding. neither my wife nor daughter care for it, so i've always ended up wolfing down a pound or two of suet all by myself. same goes with the mincemeat; i've still got 5 or 6 quarts i put up a few years back. it's very sad