My German dad refused to eat American bread, so of course my Swiss mother baked German rye bread. And what are holidays without traditional baked goods? So it was German Stollen and all kinds of Swiss cookies for Advent and Christmas, a special Swiss Zopf for Easter. Sundays were always a time for Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) -- and that meant seasonal fruit tarts or various cakes. For birthdays and our name day (feast of the saint we were named after), there was always the cake of our choice. You name it, my mother could bake it -- and thanks to her, I can too! Just this week, my older son called from college -- he'd misplaced the recipe for his favorite cake, which was his grandfather's favorite cake -- so would I please email it, because he was planning to make it for a class potluck. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

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