In kitchen, holidays are about learning and food

On Christmas morning, as I mixed up the dough for the German-style coffee cake called Butterkuchen, I had a sudden and not altogether pleasant realization.

As I vigorously stirred the eggs into the partially mixed dough, it occurred to me that the contents of the bowl did not look at all the same as they did when I made the same recipe the week before. The eggs!

When I made Butterkuchen on the last day of school for Alison to take to an international holiday foods festival at Bennett Middle, I had somehow forgotten to include the eggs. No wonder a dish that went out the door with such wonderful aroma and ...