The Before Picture...check out all of that butter!
Kneading the dough...and yes, it's just easier to do on the floor.
The pictures are out of order somehow, but this is my favorite loaf!
Rise yeast, rise! (another picture out of order, not sure why it does this)
The finished product!
First off...I apologize that the pictures come before the explanation...the formatting of this blog confuses me! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are experiencing the joy of the Christmas season. It has been too long since I updated the blog, so I am going to try to add several new posts in the next week. We are in full gear here in Richmond preparing for Christmas and today the baking began! Every year my Grandpa Schlecht and my mom have made a traditional German bread called Stollen. I have observed my mom making Stollen many, many times. Two years ago I had the pleasure of assisting my brother, David, in making it. Last year my sister, Anna, and I had a go at it. I have had such wonderful teachers that I figured this year it was my turn to tackle the task alone. Other than dropping about 1 cup of the golden raisins on the kitchen floor, everything went rather smoothly (by the way, I did not use those raisins). My yeast even rose on the first try. It is also my family's tradition that we not "break the bread" until Christmas Eve...although I think a few of us may have cheated on that rule from time to time. We'll let you know how they taste.
