Christmas Stollen

Many of these traditional Christmas Stollen were placed on a table
which was over 5 meters long, and sold to the public in aid of under-
privileged children - seen in a shopping mall on Saturday when
we took girl-child on another shopping trip to Germany.

My full intention was to bake a traditional Christmas cake as
soon as the December month started, as yet I have managed to
buy most of the ingredients such as glaced fruit and nuts, and now
the whole gang is sitting there, just waiting for me to get baking.
There is however only one vital ingredient still missing -
THE BRANDY!
For days on end I have searched for brandy in various super-
markets, but to no avail - I doubt if anyone here drinks
brandy, for I would have found it by now!
I have only one option left, and that is to go downtown
tomorrow and try my luck in a liquor store.

Oh, and Christmas is not the same without those delicious
home-made Christmas pies - I remember baking loads of
mince pies a few weeks before Christmas, but before it had time
to reach room temperature - the whole bangshoot was eaten
away.

For the last 12 years I have dearly missed that
spicy fruit filling - obtainable in glass containers, and not
to mention the wonderful aroma of baked mince pies that
filled the kitchen and the entire house *sigh*