Ho Ho Ho – sólo un poco tarde! | NOT IN A STRAIGHT LINE by Photolera Claudinha

It arrived today! long awaited and almost given up for lost.

In early December I bemoaned and lamented the lack of Dominosteine, Zimtsterne and Contessa Lebkuchen, not to mention my great favorite, Marzipan, to my friend, contemporary and fellow sufferer of a convent education, Patrizia, Italian Mistress of Filologia Tedesca e delle Arti.

I just love all those baked goods associate with German and Italian (oh, the buttery fluffiness of Panetone!!) Christmas and Easter traditions. And since I’m a truly abysmal baker, I have to rely on commercial products, of which this lovely, tropical country does not abound. You know, how the flavor has to be just so, exactly how you remembered it from your childhood? No one will ever match my mother’s Spitzbuben! But unlike her cookies, now only a distant memory, the good people shaping my beloved Niederegger Marzipanbrot, have thankfully adhered to the same receipt for centuries, still producing Marzipan of consistent flavor and quality.

But one can’t taste it in a far-off country, can one? Unless a big hearted friend undertakes the not inconsiderable trouble of assembling a care package for a marzipan starved stomach. Today I received just such a package.

It was a rather large package. A cheerful, cool and icy-blue package, ablaze with snowmen and snowflakes, a true package of the season! Inside we found not just those tasty treats, but also fresh – well, formerly fresh – wintery greens, Christmas ornaments, Santa Clauses, both in ceramic and chocolate, pretty wrapping paper and layers after layers of delectable delights. Among them small versions of ‘Florentiner’ cookies, which I absolutely adore. Let’s just say, my dear husband will not share that particular treat. There was one oddity, though. Dominosteine with milk chocolate??