This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
few years since I've had my various back surgeries
and haven't felt up to it.

I've decided that I'm going to make some this year.
I'll make 4 of them one for my aunt, one each for
a couple of friends, and one for myself, natch.

GRITTIBANZ

1 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
1 t. grated orange peel
1 envelope dry yeast
1/2 t. sugar
1/4 c. warm water
2 eggs, room temp., beaten
1/2 t. cardamom
5 1/2-7 c. flour
milk
whole almonds
raisins
hazelnuts
candied cherries
1 egg, beaten with 1 T. milk and pinch salt

Heat 1 1/4 c. milk with butter in heavy saucepan over low heat until
butter melts. Stir in 1/2 c. sugar, vanilla, salt, and orange peel.
Cool to lukewarm. Stir yeast and 1/2 t. sugar into 1/4 c. warm water in
large bowl. Cover with towel and let stand until foamy, about 5
minutes. Add milk mixture, eggs, and cardamom to yeast. Blend in
flour, 1 c. at a time, until soft, slightly sticky dough forms. Turn
dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and
elastic, about 6 minutes, kneading in additional flour as necessary.
Butter large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. Cover
bowl with plastic wrap and towel. Let dough rise in warm, draft-free
area until doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough can also rise
in refrigerator overnight. Punch down after 6 hours.)

Punch dough down. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until
smooth, 2-3 minutes. Cover dough and let rest for 10 minutes. To
assemble: Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Form 1/3 of
dough into a 6"x18" oval (for body of figure) and place on prepared
sheet. Pull 1 end of oval to form neck. Roll 1/3 of remaining dough into
ball and flatten to form head. Moisten 1 end with milk and attach to
neck. Roll 1/2 of remaining dough into 14" long rope for arms. Place
under body near neck, moistening portion under body with milk. Arrange
arms 3" from body at ends to allow for rising. Divide remaining dough
in half and roll into 2 12" long ropes. Tie one loosely around neck as
scarf and second around waist as belt. For boy figure, cut bottom of
body 1/3 of the way up and shape legs. Arrange legs 5" apart at ends.
Make indentations with blunt end of knife for cuffs on legs and arms.
Using scissors dipped in flour make 1/3" deep snips to create hair.
Decorate hems, cuffs, sleeve borders, and hair with almonds, brushing
with milk before attaching. Cover loosely with towel; let rise 15
minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F. Just before baking decorate face with
raisin eyes, hazelnut nose, and cherry mouth, brushing with milk to
secure. Place raisin buttons down front of figure. Brush entire figure
and decorations with egg glaze. Bake until figure is golden brown and
sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 40 minutes. cool 5 minutes
on baking sheet. transfer to rack and cool. Tie satin ribbon around
neck before serving. (Can be wrapped and stored at room temperature 3
days or frozen up to 1 month. Reheat thawed unwrapped bread in 350F
oven for 5 minutes. (For girl, do not cut dough to shape legs. Uncut
dough will bake to resemble skirt.). (These Swiss bread figures are
decorated with everything from raisins, currants, almonds, and walnuts
to juniper berries and candied citron strips. More elaborate versions
include vests, aprons, and hats fashioned from the dough.)

Note: This recipe makes a huge bread figure so I divide it in half and
make 2 figures for each batch of dough. You could even divide it in 3
parts to make 3 figures. I don’t follow the directions for forming the
figures exactly. I go by the picture which accompanied the recipe in
the magazine. (See accompanying photo.) This is much more attractive
than what the recipe describes.

Link to photo:
http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd

P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
it into your web browser.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
> This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
> I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
> for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
> few years since I've had my various back surgeries
> and haven't felt up to it.
>snip
> Link to photo:
> http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
> px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd
>
> P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
> and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
> on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
> will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
> it into your web browser.
>
> Kate
I tried. It said "Page you are looking for doesn't exist."
Janet

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:37:10 -0500, Kate Connally >
wrote:

>Link to photo:
>http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
>px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd

or http://tinyurl.com/y9ez7ej
>
>P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
>and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
>on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
>will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
>it into your web browser.

Just post a shortened link too
http://tinyurl.com
http://bit.ly/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/11423

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:51:30 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
> wrote:

>
>"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
>> This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
>> I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
>> for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
>> few years since I've had my various back surgeries
>> and haven't felt up to it.
>>snip
>> Link to photo:
>> http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
>> px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd
>>
>> P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
>> and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
>> on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
>> will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
>> it into your web browser.
>>
>> Kate
> I tried. It said "Page you are looking for doesn't exist."
>Janet
>
Did you paste the part that wrapped onto the end?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:51:30 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
>>> This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
>>> I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
>>> for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
>>> few years since I've had my various back surgeries
>>> and haven't felt up to it.
>>>snip
>>> Link to photo:
>>> http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
>>> px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd
>>>
>>> P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
>>> and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
>>> on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
>>> will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
>>> it into your web browser.
>>>
>>> Kate
>> I tried. It said "Page you are looking for doesn't exist."
>>Janet
>>
> Did you paste the part that wrapped onto the end?
No, I overlooked that. Silly
Janet

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:23:13 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
> wrote:

>
>"sf" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:51:30 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
.. .
>>>> This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
>>>> I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
>>>> for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
>>>> few years since I've had my various back surgeries
>>>> and haven't felt up to it.
>>>>snip
>>>> Link to photo:
>>>> http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
>>>> px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd
>>>>
>>>> P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
>>>> and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
>>>> on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
>>>> will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
>>>> it into your web browser.
>>>>
>>>> Kate
>>> I tried. It said "Page you are looking for doesn't exist."
>>>Janet
>>>
>> Did you paste the part that wrapped onto the end?
>No, I overlooked that. Silly

BTDT, last night!

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:44:03 -0800, sf wrote:

> On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:51:30 -0700, "Janet Bostwick"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>"Kate Connally" > wrote in message
...
>>> This is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
>>> I used to make this almost every Xmas as gifts
>>> for friends and family. Haven't made it in a
>>> few years since I've had my various back surgeries
>>> and haven't felt up to it.
>>>snip
>>> Link to photo:
>>> http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0...f9a1d546339f7/
>>> px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd
>>>
>>> P. S. I hope this works. I just started using Photoshop
>>> and am not quite sure of what I'm doing. If someone links
>>> on this photo please let me know if it works. I think you
>>> will have to highlight the whole url and then copy and paste
>>> it into your web browser.
>>>
>>> Kate
>> I tried. It said "Page you are looking for doesn't exist."
>>Janet
>>
> Did you paste the part that wrapped onto the end?

when you post a long u.r.l. that may line-break, enclosing it in angle
brackets

<http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/b0e0a344682a47c6918f9a1d546339f7/px-assets/c767508220fa43f893dd59029ba19fdd>

....usually allows most newsreaders to cope. (naturally it probably won't
work this time just to make me look foolish.)

your pal,
blake

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:20:36 -0500, blake murphy
> wrote:

>...usually allows most newsreaders to cope. (naturally it probably won't
>work this time just to make me look foolish.)

Yours didn't break, but the one and only time I tried... it broke
anyway.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:30:05 -0800, sf wrote:

> On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:20:36 -0500, blake murphy
> > wrote:
>
>>...usually allows most newsreaders to cope. (naturally it probably won't
>>work this time just to make me look foolish.)
>
> Yours didn't break, but the one and only time I tried... it broke
> anyway.

you're right, sometimes it doesn't work, and i've given up trying to figure
out why. but usually it does.

giving the full u.r.l. and a tinyurl or equivalent is probably safest, but
i'm too lazy for that.

your pal,
blake

On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:24:40 -0500, blake murphy
> wrote:

>giving the full u.r.l. and a tinyurl or equivalent is probably safest, but
>i'm too lazy for that.

If you're too lazy to hit the shift button, then you're way too lazy
to tinylink anything. Not criticizing, just sayin'.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:35:17 -0800, sf wrote:

> On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:24:40 -0500, blake murphy
> > wrote:
>
>>giving the full u.r.l. and a tinyurl or equivalent is probably safest, but
>>i'm too lazy for that.
>
> If you're too lazy to hit the shift button, then you're way too lazy
> to tinylink anything. Not criticizing, just sayin'.

good point.

your pal,
blake

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:20:22 -0500, blake murphy
> wrote:

>On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:35:17 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:24:40 -0500, blake murphy
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>giving the full u.r.l. and a tinyurl or equivalent is probably safest, but
>>>i'm too lazy for that.
>>
>> If you're too lazy to hit the shift button, then you're way too lazy
>> to tinylink anything. Not criticizing, just sayin'.
>
>good point.
>
Another point is you *do* have to hit the shift to make those < >
marks. Was that a sudden burst of energy?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:57:10 -0800, sf wrote:

> On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:20:22 -0500, blake murphy
> > wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:35:17 -0800, sf wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:24:40 -0500, blake murphy
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>>giving the full u.r.l. and a tinyurl or equivalent is probably safest, but
>>>>i'm too lazy for that.
>>>
>>> If you're too lazy to hit the shift button, then you're way too lazy
>>> to tinylink anything. Not criticizing, just sayin'.
>>
>>good point.
>>
> Another point is you *do* have to hit the shift to make those < >
> marks. Was that a sudden burst of energy?

every once in a while i make the supreme effort for The
Cause.

your pal,
blake