The Best Baking Day of the Year

We held Lebkuchen Day early this year.  Remember those German spice cookies I was talking about?  In my household growing up, my dad kind of made them a big deal.  There are people who get really psyched when their football team does well; and people who are Disneyland fanatics and go every year; and in this part of the country, there are lots of people who get all goosebumpy for hunting season (the deer opener is like a major holiday).  Well, my dad's annual mark-your-calendars, tell-your-friends, get-ready-to-parTAY event is Lebkuchen Day.  Like the football fans and the Disney geeks and the hunters, Dad has specific tools and paraphernalia for the occasion: a marble rolling pin, a butcher-block table for rolling and cutting, and "sanctified" cookie sheets, which are (seriously) only used once a year: for Lebkuchen.

Officially, Lebkuchen Day is the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  Since he and Mom crank out around 400 cookies, it's pretty much an all-day affair.  It has its own music to go along with it, too: "Mary's Boy Child" by Boney M is always the kick-off theme.

The week before Lebkuchen Day is Batterday Saturday, the day on which the dough is made.  Hours are spent cutting dates (a sticky business) and chopping walnuts.  One batch produces a bowling-ball-sized lump of dense, heavy, dark-colored dough, smelling of molasses and holiday spices.

To be honest, I barely even liked Lebkuchen when I was a kid.  There is a verse in the Bible that says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it."  There should also be one that says "Raise a kid on Lebkuchen, and when he grows up he'll love them."  Because I love them now, so much that I can't imagine a holiday season without them.  They are the flavor of Christmas for me.

So, since Jabberwocky is due the day before Batterday Saturday, Anders and I did our Lebkuchen baking early.  His parents came down, and I put them to work for the final stage of the process: glazing.  I don't know how much fun they had, but let me tell you, they were both fantastic.  I got such a kick out of watching their concentration.

Here are pics.

My mother-in-law treating the Lebkuchen with the care and respect they deserve.

This is one batch, around 100 cookies.  We usually make two batches but cut down this year.  Dad makes four batches.

My parents will also do Lebkuchen early this year to accommodate their trip to Wisconsin to see Jabberwocky.  So it looks like my sister's household will be the only one to stick to the official baking schedule!