On a roll…

Yesterday night we had our Culinary Travel dinner, with this theme being “Taiwan.” Being as it is we’re a bit preoccupied these days, we didn’t get cooking until fairly late in the day and, by the time Christian had rolled his last egg roll and I’d further progressed my carpal tunnel by stirring, stirring, stirring the very glutinous and thick chicken congee, we’d decided our goal of making mochi for dessert was just too much to ask. Oh well, today all we have on our plate is my prenatal appointment this morning and walking the dogs, so it’s mochi and leftover egg rolls and conchee for the foreseeable future (we keep on forgetting that it’s just two of us eating, not the 8 that are typical for the recipes we find).

As always, Christian won this round. His egg rolls simply rocked my world. Crispy and light without being soggy and a grease-fest like most Chinese restaurant egg rolls are. I usually don’t order egg rolls at restaurants (spring rolls? A big YES, but not egg rolls) because they’re just so greasy! My chicken congee (filled with rice, chicken, coconut milk, bok choi, chicken broth, habanero flakes and dried bonito flakes) was a bit on the bland side, but very good for me, considering heartburn has been a constant for the last two weeks.
And for lunch yesterday? My absolute favorite thing in the world, courtesy of Christian… Pfannkuchen! I could…and would… live on the stuff for every meal, every day. Filled with plum jam and a side of fruit salad? God, I can’t get enough!
I’m 37 weeks pregnant now… that is technically full term, and yes, I feel it! There is such a big part of me that wants it DONE, DONE, DONE…but another that will mourn the loss of being pregnant and feeling Hannah growing and moving, safely, inside of me. I’m anxious about this appointment today, I guess because we’ll have a clearer picture about her growth and expected arrival. And we’ll find out if these contractions I’ve been feeling are the real deal or just a “warm up.”
There is still a little voice inside my head that says “Christmas Baby.” But if she is not, and sticks to her due date, I won’t mind. I just hope Christian doesn’t mind another two weeks of moans, groans, sobs, tantrums, weird food combos and sweatpants

A feast for three

Our advent wreath

I’d mentioned in a previous blog that Christian and I, a few weeks ago, got a free turkey for purchasing more than $100 at Albertson’s. It was close to the time that Christian was heading to Germany, and he was going to miss Thanksgiving here altogether, so we decided to wait until he returned Stateside to cook the bird and have ourselves a “Holiday Meal,” (not quite Thanksgiving, not quite Christmas). That meal was last night.
Christian was in charge of the turkey, thank god. I have tried to make a turkey once, and suffice it to say, frozen and fried at the same time is how mine turned out. His first effort? Impeccable. Of course. I’ve never seen the man make a mistake with cooking meat, ever. I knew the turkey was in good hands from the get-go.
I don’t know how Christian does it, oh, wait, yes I do. He FOLLOWS DIRECTIONS. He watched at LEAST two whole videos online about how to prepare a turkey for roasting. He bought all the required AND suggested supplies, and he followed their directions. Uh, something I’m still learning to do at (almost) 40.
At least I didn’t SUCK at the side items, which was my domain. But then again, how hard can it be to dump two cans of green beans, a can of cream of mushroom soup and fried onions together and bake in the oven? Although the creamed onions were a bit more time consuming, nothing I made required the care, constant tending-to, or patience as the turkey which, by the way, WAS the most tender, succulent and perfectly roasted turkey I have ever had. No, it’s not a case of post-party warm and fuzzies. It was just great!
Christian has mastered the American holiday meal. I get to look forward to his German Christmas meal in just about 11 days, and my American Christmas brunch on December 25.
But for now, it’s going to be turkey sandwiches, turkey tettrazini, turkey salad, turkey nachos… I feel like Bubba in “Forrest Gump,” lol… We’ve got LOTS of leftovers, little room, but takeout meals for the foreseeable future!
Here’s some photos from before, during and after last night’s gluttony fest:

Our advent wreath

The turkey “before”

The turkey “during”

The turkey “after”

Creamed onions

Green bean casserole

Holiday salad with Gorgonzola, walnuts and dried cranberries

American as pumpkin pie

Friday flocked with fun

We did it! Our first tree together is decorated, and it wasn’t tooo much of a logistical nightmare, other than the fact that of course I bought way too many decorations than would fit on the tree. We’ve got our favorites up, and the apartment smells wonderful, and I could just sit on the sofa all night long, mesmerized by the simple lights and holiday smells.
Friday was my all-out fun and too-much-food day… for lunch I made us some Gnocchi, drowning in a sauce made with tomato-basil pasta sauce, sour cream, hot red pepper flakes, diced ham and garlic. Hey, we needed sustenance to decorate the tree, right? And after we decorated, we treated ourselves to dinner at Okazuri, a restaurant that touts itself as “The Floating Bar Sushi Bar” on the sign outside. Never mind the “floating bar” wasn’t functioning last night… it was good food, intimate, and a well-deserved date night for me and Christian. And never mind I can’t have sushi right now. We did start with a Spider Roll, which has cooked soft-shell crab and tempura shrimp; miso soup; and chicken teriyaki for me (I could manage about a THIRD of what was offered) and beef teriyaki for Christian. And never mind that twenty minutes after dinner, we stopped by Starbucks and I COULD manage to find room for a grande Americano and a slice of gingerbread. I’ll repent today. But yesterday? NO regrets.

•••

We were going to hit the Weinnachtsnight over at Fort Bliss this afternoon/evening, but, since I was able to go to the Christkindlmarkt last week before Christian returned home AND tonight is the hugely popular lighting of the Plaza Christmas tree and a parade downtown, we’ll hit that instead. Christian’s got to check out the American tradition (okay, in El Paso, the Mexican-American tradition, complete with a posada, lots of churros and elotes for sale, and most likely a mariachi band mixed in. Oh, and Santa is on parade in a lowrider). But at least that way we get a taste of more than one culture’s holiday celebration.

Oh so thankful!

This is the season to reflect back and take a deep inventory of what we are grateful for, what we can and should make better about ourselves, and sharing our good fortune with others. Even if we’re not basking in material pleasures, even if we have issues in our lives that we are trying to change, even if we think we don’t have time to spread ourselves too thin … we can reach out and help others.
I’m a late bloomer… but I DID bloom, and very recently! Comes to show there’s a time, a place, a reason and a season for everyone. I’m testament to that.
What I’m grateful for this season:

1. The impending arrival of our precious, unexpected, miracle daughter, Hannah.

Ultrasound photo soon to be replaced with her hospital photo!

2. The restoration of my health this past year.
3. My adoring and adorable, pillar-of-strength, gorgeous, practical, insightful, utterly intelligent, witty, gentle and dedicated husband…without whom (1) and (2) would be possible.
4. Family spread all over the globe, literally.
5. Having everything I need and realizing it is everything I want.
6. Getting a new perspective on life and actually being able to see things through a child’s eye once again.
7. Getting to celebrate both German Christmas and American Christmas this year.
8. Maternity leave has been pretty friggin’ great
9. Friends who have been there despite my ups and downs, not judging me or deserting me.
10. New friends who have given me so much wisdom and life skills this past year.
11. Having a husband who can cook, and is coming home from Germany TOMORROW (!!!!), who will get me away from this last two week’s horrible meals of Lean Cuisines, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and nuked potatoes…

The last of the Lean Cuisines... thank god

12. Knowing it isn’t worth it to hold grudges, harbor jealousy, compare myself to others, dwell on the past or fear for the future.

This little piggy went to the Markt

No, my dear friends, that IS how you spell Markt, when you’re talking about the German Christkindlmarkt at Fort Bliss, where I spent the good part of Saturday doing the last of my Christmas shopping for stocking stuffers. The “piggy” part? Oh, let’s just say I did my share of sampling of the plethora of holiday goodies offered by vendors selling items such as Lebkuchen, smoked trout/salmon/herring sandwiches, Stollen, sugared almonds, goulash soup, a room-full of cakes and pastries, bratwurst, jams… if it was German and reflected the holidays, chances are you could find it.

Dad takes on a bratwurst sandwich

Bootie included: two knitted purses (one a green Edelweiss, the other black and red with ladybug buttons…both filled with German Christmas cookies; an imported table runner with Bavarian blue and white bordering and smiling ducks; two Stollen, some Dominostein chocolates, Lebkuchen, and a whole smoked trout (which I’ve promised to save for Christian to share with me when he returns from Germany). Granted, some of the vendors weren’t selling German items (for those who miss going to the “mercado” in Juarez but value their lives a bit too much, there were vendors selling Mexican handcrafts, as well), but for the most part it was a very decent replica of the sights and smells of the real deal. It certainly was a treat to be immersed in the culture, language and cuisine, even if I DID get a little sunburn on my face and had to call 911 for an elderly woman who fell and hit her head right next to me (she is okay, thank god).
I couldn’t go to the Christkindlmarkt at Rohr, or at Abensberg, or Regensburg or Frankfurt as I did last year (I hit all four of those, some more than once)… but at least a little of them came to ME.

Culinary Travel Part III … and travel “on a dime.”

Last night was the third installment of Christian’s and my “Culinary Travel Adventures” that we have every Sunday evening. It was Christian’s turn to choose the “destination,” and he chose Lithuania. We had a heck of a time finding ANY books on Lithuanian literature at the library, so we resorted to a child’s book on Lithuania to read during dinner. And Lithuania’s culinary repertoire is not so vast. Basically it’s all about meat (pork), potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions, so we had to dig deep to make sure we didn’t overlap on our respective dishes, lol. Christian picked out the music (very good, folksy music, by the way), and we just bombed on finding a Lithuanian movie to watch after dinner. SO, instead, we watched Lithuanian short documentaries on YouTube
As an appetizer, I made Lithuanian Cabbage:

LITHUANIAN CABBAGE
Printed from COOKS.COM
1 med. head cabbage
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 med. head purple cabbage
1 med. can sauerkraut (strain a little)
1 lb. bacon, chopped and cooked (pour some fat off)
1 med. onion, chopped and sauteed in bacon fat
Cook cabbage in small amount of water for 10 minutes or until crisp and tender. Cook onion and bacon until bacon is crisp. Combine cabbage, brown sugar, bacon, and onion. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Christian said it was very similar (sans beef broth and cooked less) to a kraut dish served by his mother, so the taste was familiar and good for him. Talk about a hearty, healthy winter dish that costs so little! I only used half a head of cabbage of red and white, and we will be eating this for days.
Christian made the entree… basically “Lithuanian Latkes,” for lack of a better description. Again, SO good, hearty and penny-pincher friendly:

LITHUANIAN POTATO PANCAKES (BULVINIAL BLYNAI)
Printed from COOKS.COM
7-8 potatoes or 3 c. cubed potatoes
2 eggs
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
Peel and grate potatoes. Mix in other ingredients. Melt fat or heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in frying pan. Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto hot skillet. Brown each side to a golden brown. Serve with sour cream or applesauce.

It was tough finding a dessert for our Lithuanian meal. I guess folks in that country are too full to think about a post meal dessert. I know I was almost ready to pop (no, not pregnancy related!) after three pancakes. But here’s what I found and made:

SALTANOSIAI (COLD NOSES)
1-package won-ton wrappers
Berries (blueberries, raspberries or blackberries)
Sugar
Sweetened sour cream (Stir in approximately 1 teaspoon honey or Sugar per 1/4 cup sour cream.)

1. Use an inverted glass like a cookie cutter to cut the won-ton wrappers into rounds. Or, if you prefer, wrappers can be left square.
2. Place lightly salted water on the stove to boil while preparing the dumplings. Use enough water so the dumplings can move freely about without crowding, otherwise they will stick together.

3. Place about one teaspoon of Berries in the center of the won-ton wrapper. Be careful not to use so many Berries that they are likely to leak out during cooking. Place about one teaspoon of Sugar on the Berries.

4. Moisten the edges of the won-ton wrapper. Fold over the edges sealing well. If you used round wrappers, your dumplings will now be in half circles. If you used square wrappers, you will have triangular shaped dumplings. Repeat until won-ton wrappers or Berries are used up.

5. Reduce the heat on the boiling water to a gentle simmer. Drop the dumplings in the hot water one at a time. To prevent the dumplings from sticking together, stir once around the pot with a wooden spoon. Do this only when necessary, as you do not want to break open the won-ton wrapper and have the filling leak out. Simmer gently about 5 minutes.

6. When done, remove dumplings from water using a slotted spoon. Drain well.

7. Using small serving bowls; place 2-3 dumplings in each bowl. Top the dumplings with a dollop of the sweetened cream.

It will be an adventure thinking up the next “culinary travel” destination next week. But after last night’s hearty meal and today’s scale reading, it just might be somewhere tropical, fruit-based, and where staples grow high up in trees, not under the ground, lol.

•••

And another couple’s adventure that we’ve decided to start up this week? Starting today, we’re going to be doing our version of the “staycation,” or “Travel on a Dime,” since this is how it works: We lay out a map of El Paso and toss a dime in the air. Whatever grid that dime lands on is the area we explore next. Today it’s going to be somewhere in the Eastside, near Railroad Drive. Never heard of the area, mostly residential it seems, but it has a park. We have no plans other than to just check it out, take some photos and see how others live. Who knows…if we keep this up, we’ll become our own Google Maps and not ever get lost in the city again. At least the dime didn’t land in South, South El Paso right on the border (yes, we have set limits!)

•••

Yesterday was a major milestone day for us… we installed the car seat and put together the travel system for Hannah!!!! Hey, I get my thrills in small ways, my friends.It was so amazingly cool to have her system set up and good to go for whatever could happen early (god forbid, but we wanted to play it safe), and to watch Christian set it up in no time and for us to actually have that little car seat base permanently installed in the Jeep really makes me feel like a mom, lol

Mamma’s in the kitchen

I spent most of my waking hours in the kitchen yesterday, fine-tuning my baking skills and trying out new recipes. Again, I never ever go by a recipe and always just wing it, but yesterday the culinary gods were on my side, because Christian loved everything I made! No one ever said I was Betty Crocker, but I must say, my dishes did turn out (luckily? A one-time fluke?) amazing.

I started off making lunch, which consisted of rigatoni pasta made with a sauce that included:
• 2 oz. Muenster cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• chile powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup olive oil (yes, I know, milk and olive oil do not mix. No worries. It all got mixed up in the rigatoni in the end, and you can’t tell the difference!)
• Dash dried thyme
• Dash onion powder
• One big “blob” of hickory bbq sauce (like a big squeeze from a bottle)
• 1/2 sm. can of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1 package deli honey ham, sliced

I mixed all that stuff up together and cooked it while the pasta cooked. Drained the pasta, added the sauce, tossed it around, and voila! Christian’s FAVORITE sauce I’ve ever made for him. He said it might even be better than his, and folks, he follows recipes. GOOD, established, haute cuisine recipes. Score!

When Christian went to work, I went to work on using up the eggs we’ve been neglecting, as well as the rye flour, semolina flour and white flour that we’ve avoided. I decided to make a sweetish bread. Sweetish as in not TOO sweet but not bland and “brick of lead” bread either.

And the finished product!

I mixed two cups regular flour, some baking powder/baking soda, 1 cup rye flour, one cup semolina flour, two eggs, 1/2 stick butter, 1 1/2 cups or more (?) water, allspice, sugar, salt, cinnamon and a tiny bit of milk, and made a boule from that. Then I shaped it into a loaf and put it in a pyrex dish. On top of the loaf, I glazed with some leftover cherry jam, and on top of that placed slivers of Granny Smith apple, sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. Baked at 375 for about an hour. Heavenly, aroma-packed bread, perfect with a cup of herbal tea and some jam.

Dinner was a mix of elbow grease and convenience. I bought a DiGiorno’s self-rising four cheese pizza, and added bacon, slices of yellow onion, tiny pieces of one of our habanero peppers from our indoor “garden,” canned pineapple and dried thyme.

Before the bake

After an hour

Dinner is served

Baked it for about 25 minutes at 400, and it turned out way better than any Domino’s Hawaiian pizza I’ve ever had. The habanero, alas, was a bit TOO hot and sort of overwhelmed the pizza, but all in all, the entire pizza with the side ingredients cost about $10, which is a few bucks less than the equivalent from any delivery service. Plus, it looks “sexier.”

What’s up, doc?

It’s 2 1/2 months before Hannah is due, but I’m already getting into the harried, hurried multi-tasking mamma mode, but I secretly love it. Yesterday, bright and early, Christian and I went to meet with the doctor who is to be Hannah’s pediatrician. We’d been referred by one of Christian’s co-workers and were, as first-time parents, a bit anxious about the “interview.” We were interviewing HER, yet we felt like we were getting ready to take the SAT. We’d heard she is quite a talker and doesn’t rush you and your baby in and out of the office. As my OB-GYN is quite the opposite (my appointments last about 10 minutes…some women would LOVE that. I just feel like saying, “So when is the real appointment?”), I welcomed this intensive approach and the time she spends answering all (even the stupid) questions. Plus, her office is cool looking (hey, that matters!) and it’s about five blocks from home.
Next, we ran over to Savers because we had about another hour before ANOTHER doctor’s appointment, this one for Christian. Okay, I’ve been to Savers about 3-4 times, and I figured “Ah, a Monday is the time to go. Kids are in school and it’s so early in the day. Should be nice and quiet.” Is there something I don’t know? The place was PACKED. And I mean I haven’t seen such a frenzy of humanity since that ONE time I went to Golden Corral for all-you-can-eat sirloin night.
We’d gone to get Christian some sweaters and pants for his upcoming trip home to Bavaria, but instead he left with ONE pair of cords and I left with: two throw pillows, one pair of red jeans, a basket, sweater AND a bassinet for Hannah! This was the ultimate score. A worker had just brought it out of the back, and I saw her doing so. I didn’t even know if I wanted that bassinet or if it was even cute or in good shape. It was a big-ticket bassinet!! Rather than look desperate or rushed to go grab it, I sauntered over to the worker and asked her if I could take a look at it, quietly, as to not attract the attention of other thrifty parents-to-be who were oogling the baby tubs (no thanks, I’ll buy mine new), high chairs (missing pieces) and umbrella strollers (I wouldn’t even feel safe putting a cantaloupe in one of those). She handed it over to me, I thoroughly inspected it, got stares and jealous, longing glances from other shoppers, and was on my way!

The bassinet and the wood dresser Christian assembled for Hannah

The bassinet needs a little tidying and cleaning, but it’s all there, darling, and now sits in our bedroom, in the “nursery corner,” right at the foot of the bed. It really is such a comfort to see, even this early on!
After the Savers safari, we went over to the dentist for Christian. It was his first visit to an American dentist, and he was pleasantly surprised at the very casual relationship and conversational approach doctors have here in the U.S., as opposed to Germany. I like that too, the putting the patient at ease, but I also like the very formal, very direct and clinical approach in Germany, where you FEEL like you’re dealing with someone who lives, eats and breathes their work. Tough call for me.

•••

Last night I made “(Sorta) Sloppy Joes,” a meat mixture that looked like a sloppy joe but definitely had a foreign twist to it. I mixed about half a pound of ground beef with two eggs, a cup of oatmeal, about 5 ounces of Muenster cheese in cubes, half a diced onion, salt, curry powder, a cup of nonfat yogurt, chile flakes, and about half a tube of tomato paste. Mixed it up all together, fried it in a cast iron pan, and served it on top of toasted chile cheese bread.
Served this alongside a mound of paprika oven fries and a green salad. Awesome dinner, although I think I’m safe with my iron levels for a while and would LOVE to find a good salmon recipe. Any ideas? That’s what is on the dinner agenda tonight.
Christian’s mom made a wonderful salmon recipe with a spinach cream sauce, and I would love to make that for Christian this week. I don’t think it was a strictly Bavarian dish, but I know Maggi made a mix for it. Anyone familiar with what I’m talking about?

Culinary Travel Night Part I

In a quest to get out of a rut of coming home and cooking one of about 8 dishes in our repertoire, as well as the desire to get creative, spend some nearing-end-of-pregnancy high quality time together, Christian and I have come up with a little idea called “Culinary Travel Night.” Once a week, taking turns, one of us will pick a country or region and make a three course meal representing that country. We’ll also play music from that country as well as watch a movie from/about that country after dinner. Just a fun little way of connecting, learning, eating great food we might never eat otherwise, and have a romantic evening in.
Last night was Middle Eastern Night… Christian’s turn. As an appetizer, we had yogurt/bulgur spread with warm, soft pita toasts and hot tea. The recipe was simple: a quart of nonfat yogurt, a cup of chopped onion, liberal dashes of pepper and a cup of cooked bulgur wheat. Mix it all up, put it in the fridge to meld flavors for a few hours, and serve! Christian added salt, but the recipe did not include it. It also is good with dashes of paprika or lemon juice.
The main course was out of this world! Christian sliced and peeled two large eggplants, cooked 8 oz. of ground beef mixed with onion, and put that mixture on the eggplant. On top of that, he added canned diced tomatoes, allspice and some hot pepper, and baked it. Just incredible.
For dessert we had milk and rice pudding with orange zest. Simply five quarts of nonfat milk mixed with a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Boiled and then put on low heat until the liquid became very thick. Then it was spooned into glasses and sprinkled with orange zest. It sat in the fridge an hour to set.
Next week is my turn. I’m thinking along the lines of Scandanavia, but wonder if I can find decent fish here in landlocked El Paso to replicate the dishes. One thing we’ll NOT have? Mexican night! And we have German night at least three times a week, so that’s ruled out too.

A Pfann letter…

Here I am yesterday, at 27 weeks, 5 days, wearing the LAST pair of jeans I can actually button!

I’ve posted a recipe for Pfannkuchen before on this blog, but judging from the amount of hits I get for the recipe and all things related to that and Apfelstrudel, I will go ahead and post the recipe again, since that is what Christian made for dinner last night and I finally got some decent pictures of the luscious pancakes!
I request Pfannkuchen probably about once a week but it seems we’re always out of some element, be it flour, eggs, whole milk or the necessary jam to fill the pancakes. But last night I made SURE we had all of the above and besides, Hannah and I were in dire need of something light and sweet after a week of outdoor grilling, meats, cheeses and hot spices. Dear Christian obliged and even made extra pancakes to make pancake soup tonight. Probably the easiest recipe on the planet, once you have the pancakes. Even I can make that. (http://www.letscookgerman.com/starters-and-soups/pancake-soup-fladlesuppe.html)

And here’s the recipe that I trust will be used MUCH more often for us in the coming colder months, when my tummy needs something a bit more bland than habaneros and jalapenos, I get my sweet fix AND it’s not going to cause me to reach for the Tums five times a night…

Pfannkuchen
3 eggs
1 c. flour
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla (optional)
A dash of salt
Pour a small amount onto hot skillet, pick up skillet and turn to spread batter. Cook to barely brown and turn. Serve with jam, rolled up like a burrito, with sprinkled confectioner’s sugar on top if desired. Typically served for dinner in Bavaria, not as a dessert like in the States.

•••

Yesterday I met Christian at his place of work to treat him to an outdoor lunch. The weather was fantastic and I’d yet to see him at work at his library. I myself felt a little like I was playing hooky, even though I’ve not been working for more than a month now. I still feel like I’m “sneaking around” during the day, so I’ve really been focusing on having a full schedule, busy days and no moping around the house. After I brought lunch to Christian (leftover curried chicken, rice and veggies for me, plus a Sharon fruit for dessert (what a good girl am I); and a ham/cheese wrap and leftover potato salad for Christian; I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to pick up a curio (shadow) box for Christian’s ever increasing Homies and SpongeBob figurines. They were beginning to take over the kitchen “bar area” space, and I knew it was time to relegate them to a safe spot on the wall. Homies and SpongeBob figurines were never quite my thing, but once Christian started collecting them and getting so excited about getting a new and unique one when he put his 50 cents in the machines, I did too, and now I must say they’re a fun addition to our apartment decor, lol. And I guess with Hannah, I’d better get used to the notion of SpongeBob and/or (fill in the blank with this week’s flavor of cartoon character) filling up the house.
I found the closest thing possible… a jewelry holder. Does NO ONE carry curio boxes anymore? Not even Hobby Lobby did, and they are SUPPOSED to carry miniature-collectible boxes, no??? Uggh. Well, I made do and nailed the jewelry holder to the wall, and it works just fine. I am just praying Hannah doesn’t go for collecting Homies, lol. I wonder, wonder, wonder what she’ll go for. Me? I loved, and still love, seashells. But I guess Homies are a LOT easier to come by than seashells in El Paso, Texas. If we go back to Bavaria, she’ll be collecting those little toys that come in the chocolate eggs at Easter time (banned here in the states by the FDA, those party poopers)….

What did you collect as a child? Are you still at it?