My mother-in-law is from Saxony, and she was born after the war ended.

This is Louisa Weiss. She's talking to me from her home in Berlin, Germany, and she's telling me a story about her mother-in-law, one having to do with self-restraint, with Christmas spirit, an indispensable Christmas indulgence, and the lengths

people would go to to have it. So she grew up behind the iron curtain, so to speak.

Louisa's mother-in-law grew up with her grandparents during this time in what was then

East Germany, and things were different back then. In the 50s and 60s, they had food rations.

Among the foods most commonly rationed were butter and sugar. And rather than back then. In the 50s and 60s, they had food rations.

Among the foods most commonly rationed were butter and sugar.

And rather than consume those rations as part of their routine lifestyle, Louisa's mother-in-law's

family did something special.

They would collect and save the rations so that when the time came, they could go to the

village bakery and give the baker their rations.

They would do this stockpiling in the period leading up to Christmas,

so that despite scarcity and rationing, they'd still be able to enjoy that classic German Christmas cake stolen.

And it wasn't just her family doing it either. Each family did this.

And I thought that was just a really wonderful touching detail about life in that time and the role,

the important role that Stoen played and plays for people from that region. So what's the big deal

about Stolen? Well, the simple answer is that it just tastes really, really good, but there's more to it

than that.

It's a uniquely German creation as rich in its history as it is in its flavor, one that's

intimately tied to German baking culture and German Christmas.

I'm Brian Earle.

This is Christmas past.

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