Der Stollen ist da! / We've got Stollen!

Here's the finished product with a fresh pot of coffee all ready to go.

The Grand Duchess, despite a small cold, whipped up a stollen for us late this afternoon, and the Young Master helped her for the first time. So, I think this year's stollen will taste extra specially good this year.

Longtime visitors to the Grand Duchy of Stollen blog might recall that the name for this ongoing project came to me in mid-December 2005 one afternoon in our old apartment a few blocks away from the current Stollen Central. The semester was over, final grades had been submitted, and there was finally time for daydreaming and note-making for a then as yet unamed fictitious mid-18th century campaign in the tradition of The War Game and Charge!

I mulled over everything at my desk as the Grand Duchess baked our very first stollen right across the hall in the kitchen, wondering what I might call the project. Suddenly, it hit me. The Grand Duchy of Stollen. . . Yes, that's it! And here we are. Eight years and close to 1000 25-30mm painted figures later. Christmas can come along now. We've got stollen in the kitchen, and I feel ready for anything.

A few minutes before, the Young Master and Grand Duchess applied melted butter before dusting heavily with Vanilla Sugar.

And finally, the Young Master and Grand Duchess applied the heavy dusting of the Vanilla Sugar.

Comments

marinergrim said…

A very warm and Merry Christmas to you sir. My wife makes fruit loaf and walnut bread just before the big day. It's never Christmas until then.

8:33 AM

Fitz-Badger said…

Always sounds yummy.

7:04 PM

Mad Padre said…

Mmmm, stollen. Madame Padre and I cheated and purchased a stollen from a Euro deli store here in town. I'm sure the Duchess' will be much finer.
A very happy Christmas to all in the Duchy from Canada.
Michael

11:17 AM

Here's an RSM Painting Update

Here's a picture illustrating my (S-L-O-W) progress with the second company of Stollen's Leib (Grand Duchess Sonja's Own) Grenadiers. You can see I'm doing things a bit differently this time, altering the painting process to keep it interesting basically. This evening, I'll do the white gaiters and, if that goes reasonably quickly, and time allows, the red breeches. Still lots to do, but I like the way these fine fellows are shaping up along side the completed 1st company that's standing in formation just off camera, to the left here. Until tonight then!

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

Having a "No Day". . .

F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day." A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day. I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers. These have stood waiting untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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