Happy Heiligabend!

… That’s Christmas Eve and in this household, it’s also Christmas, Day One. In Germany, the big Christmas meal, singing, celebrations and present opening are done on this day, and December 25 is a quiet day of rest, worship and family time.

Our Christmas Eve-eve dinner

So, we’re celebrating BOTH, of course, starting today. We’ll do it German-style today, with a celebratory meal of fondue with four different meats (chicken, chicken livers wrapped in bacon, pork and beef) and six sauces for dipping (chick pea, avocado, chutney, Oriental, tomato-based and mustard sauce) with baguette, followed by a smorgasbord of German pastries and chocolates, and of course Lebkuchen and mock glühwein. We’ll listen to a live stream of radio music from Antenne Bayern throughout the day, and Christian will play traditional Bavarian Christmas songs on his guitar later at night. And we’ll open half of our presents today.
Tomorrow it’s the U.S. version of Christmas, with me playing Santa Claus (I’ve got the tummy for it now!). I’m just trying to figure out how on Earth I’ll get Christian’s LARGEST gift (in case he’s reading this) out of the closet and under the tree. I’m going to stuff his stocking full of knick-knacks I’ve collected in the last month, and serve him bagels and lox, as well as fruit and pastries, for brunch. We’ll watch the good old American Christmas videos that I grew up on, such as “Nestor the Long Eared Donkey,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer” before heading over to my mom’s for coffee cake and coffee in the early afternoon. Then it’s back home for a nap and maybe even a workout on the stationary bike, lol.

Yesterday, Christian made the most amazing Key Lime Creme Brulee from a recipe he found in the newspaper. If you haven’t tried this, think about it for the holidays. Elegant, remarkably simple, and wonderfully crunchy and creamy and tart. Here’s a recipe:
http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/17499/key-lime-creme-brulee.html

I was convinced I was going to be celebrating Christmas in the hospital with red and green Jello and a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But it appears that Hannah prefers the warmth of the tummy for the time being. And since what I eat, she eats, she’d rather skip the jello for a while, lol. She’s up for some heavy duty servings of Lebkuchen, lox and bagels and Dominostein!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Baum, Brotzeit … and a bike

Christian’s homecoming was about the greatest it can get…for some reason even more intense and emotional than the times we were separated many months at a time in years past. It was only two weeks he was gone, but seeing him at the airport made me giddy and unable to refrain from those sappy P.D.A.s, unfortunately, lol. Yesterday, his first day back, he had to work from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but we certainly made up for lost time after work, picking up part of his Christmas present, an exercise bike that had been shipped to dad’s office; getting our Christmas tree from a lot tent on Mesa Street, getting some supplies at Home Depot, getting our obligatory lattes from Starbucks, watching the pilot of “Lost” (no, I’d never seen the show, and now that we FINALLY have Netflix, I promised Christian I’d watch every single one with him), having brotzeit on our new brotzeit plates Christian brought home from Germany; and cozying up and catching up.

Brotzeit: Pancetta, smoked trout, senf, salat, Gruyere, olives, baguette

Smoked trout from the German Christkindlmarkt at Fort Bliss

Christian brought home some of my favorite indulgences: face masques from Müller and Schlecker, the brotzeitteller, a gorgeous table cover with Edelweiss and ducks; magazines such as Lea, Frau im Blick, Frau im Trend, Tina and Bild der Frau…. if it was on the racks, I’ve got it. He also brought home some cookbooks, Penaten and Bebe products for Hannah… and the cutest EVER Steiff Cozy Snail for Hannah. A very early merry Christmas!
Our tree is making our little apartment smell like the Bavarian forest. We’ll be decorating tonight. It is amazing we have managed to find room for not only the new exercise bike, but also for the tree. Although the apartment is looking, well, pretty busy, we love it and can’t wait until it’s bursting at the seams with Hannah’s arrival.

Nosing-in

To borrow a phrase from my friend Kay who, with her husband, will have days when the two of them don’t even leave the house but rather putter around, read, eat, nap and just get away from it all. Today’s that day for me. No, I did NOT join in on the madness of Black Friday, which is a lesson in masochism.
Instead, I got out our Christmas decorations and went to work. A bit of German and a bit of American and a whole lot of whimsy and childlike fun. I put up two advent calendars on our bulletin board, one for me and one for Christian, as well as a Playmobil “Forest” advent calendar for both of us to play with. I also created an advent wreath, with pinecones and nuts I’d found on walks in Bavaria. And of course I put out the nutcracker, the Russian doll and the little smoker, a wooden man carrying a basket of apples with a pipe in his mouth. You put incense in the cavity of the body and the smoke comes out his pipe. Love it!
Today will be the start of my holiday baking. This year, on top of gifts, I’m making a bunch of seasonal goodies to give out to friends and family. Not unusual at all, right? Well, for NORMAL people, no. I’m not normal nor have I ever had any drive to do this in the past. But I’m on a holiday rampage, I tell ya. It’s absurd, almost, but I’m milking it for all it’s worth.
Christian has made it home to Germany safely, and I’m so looking forward to our first Skype conversation later today. He’s already indulged in his absolute favorite, Leberkäse, for lunch, and he napped in his old bed, with the snow falling outside his window. He’s now having Kaffee und Kuchen with his family…I’m so, so sad not to be there, but Hannah’s keeping me company. Man, is she ever! She’s getting too big to really punch me hard, but she’s swaying and prodding, keeping me entertained.
It’s FINALLY cold here in El Paso. That means no early walks. It’s 31 right now and the high will be 54. But so deceptive, with the sun shining so brightly and not a cloud in the sky. I’ll Skype with Christian, then attempt a brisk walk over to the Rio Grande, come home for a PB&J lunch, most likely nap, and finish watching “The Devil Wears Prada,” which I inexplicably have never seen before…
Anyone else nosing in today?

Home sweet home

Before recently, I never really felt I had a real home. I’d been a nomad for so many years, living here a few years, there a few months, hop-scotching my way coast to coast. I’ll always consider El Paso my ‘hometown,’ of course, because I was born and raised here, but I never really felt “at home” here and, frankly, never really knew what it was to feel “at home.” I was too antsy, too restless and not comfortable just BEING STILL.
The first time I really got a sense of being “at home” was in Germany, staying for months at a time with my husband’s family. There is a drastic difference between American home life and German home life. In short, the home IS life. All celebrations, meals, gatherings and milestones take place in the home. Germans are house-proud but private, maintain their homes immaculately but not extravagantly or in a way to try to one-up the neighbors or show who’s got the bigger, better, newer whatever…. The homes are lived-in yet clean and ALWAYS orderly, smells of hearty meals and crackling fires greet residents and guests alike, and it’s rare to want to leave home constantly to see what one might be missing. In fact, people look forward to going back home!
My nesting phase of pregnancy (I’m 33 weeks tomorrow!!!!) is making me really feel “at home” and trying to create an environment similar to the one I experienced in Germany. I’ll not have the crackling fireplace (are you kidding? It’s El Paso!) but I can simulate it with pine candles and incense. I won’t have a gorgeous view of the rolling hills of hops fields and fiery yellow rapeseed, the sounds of goats and cows or the greetings of “Grüss Gott!” on the cobblestone streets, but I can, and will, improvise! I’m making this apartment, er, home, a warm and inviting refuge from the dust, loud lowriders, smog and roaring trains that typify El Paso living, and I LOVE coming home.
Yesterday I spent a good 5 hours organizing, tidying, simplifying and beautifying our little home, getting it ready for Hannah’s arrival. Having a place that’s 480 square feet does give one a challenge and it really makes one sort out the needed from the unneeded. Prioritizing comes much easier when that is the only option one has.
So, with the space we have, here’s what I could do. Now if I can just figure out a place to put the Christmas tree!

•••

Last night, Christian made mini burgers for dinner, with baguette and salad. I haven’t heard differently from my doctor, but I am convinced my iron levels are low, because I’ve been craving meat like mad. Meat, gingerbread, baguette, cabbage in any way/shape/form, water!, non-fat lattes from Starbucks, oatmeal, milk, Sharon fruit and peppermint bark… yep, those are my current preggers cravings. Heck, I wouldn’t say no to sauerkraut and a latte for breakfast! God, how many more weeks??????

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

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?

Comforts of home

It seems all Bavarian households have an orchid at their window...we do too, now.

I had never felt so AT HOME than I did when I went to go stay with Christian at his home in Rohr, Niederbayern. I was fortunate to have stayed with him and his family about 4 times, each time no less than two weeks, and twice for a month at a time. Despite the language barrier, I felt utterly at ease and at peace just sitting in the living room with his mom, having Kaffee und Kuchen in the back yard under the huge apple tree, and sleeping in Christian’s bed, his room having a view of the vast, rolling hops and rapeseed fields.
Christian’s and my niece Nina (the daughter of Frank, Christian’s brother) and her brother Dominik would come over almost daily for K and K and to play, and I guess that’s when (hindsight is 50/50) I knew I had it in me to actually have maternal and nesting instincts, as I loved so much to watch over them when their parents were occupied, and I was mesmerized by their rapid learning and growth. Their Oma’s home, Christian’s home, was a fortress of serenity, comfort, good food, good company, and a wonderful routine that never became mundane.

I grew up in quite the opposite atmosphere, never routine. I loved my childhood and my home, but I do admit I always wished I had more structure and routine growing up, and I got it rather late in life via my husband. I could show him spontaneity, and he could show me structure, discipline and a sense of routine that I find so comforting…to be safe in knowing that things will pretty much be in their place and as they always have been. I need a little (or a lot) of that.
We live in a 580 square foot apartment, and with the addition of one in January, space will be even more of a commodity. However, we’ve managed to begin to create a wonderful little home, filled with traditions from both sides of the Atlantic. Whereas Christian collects American sports team baseball caps, Homie figurines and books… I collect reminders of “home” in Rohr, with Lebkuchen tin boxes, incense smoker figurines, orchids for the window, family photos, garden gnomes and German language-learning books and tools. It’s a complete hodge-podge of American and German influences, and I just adore my home. I adore coming home and seeing what we’ve created with what we’ve got.
Sometime within the next few years we will make the permanent move to Bavaria but in the meantime, this is home sweet home.

Curry… and hurry!

We wrapped up the holiday weekend last night with a curry chicken dinner I prepared, served alongside yet MORE of Christian’s kartoffelsalat, baguette, and salad. And I finally polished off the remaining two pieces of German chocolate cake (store bought) I’d been having at practically every meal since I bought the whole sheet of cake a week ago. I normally (i.e. pre-pregnancy) am not enamored of chocolate and especially not enamored of coconut, but the two items have been calling to me regularly since the two blue lines showed up on the stick!
Since we’re about one day away from grocery day, we were down to just four chicken thighs, half a head of cabbage, some very floppy veggies and lots of potatoes, I made the best use of spices and condiments I could, and came up with this recipe that turned out to be fantastic. Now the cubbard is bare, but we definitely made the most of what we had.
The meal was done in less than an hour, and gave us plenty of time to grab a post-dinner latte at Starbucks and settle down to an evening of watching “Babies” (HIGHLY recommended!) together.

Chicken curry in a hurry:
I’d have served this with rice had I had the instant kind. But it works just as well with crusty baguette.
Serves two generously.

Four chicken thighs placed in a well-oiled baking pan
One zucchini, sliced
curry powder to cover thighs
dash of salt on each thigh
generous dashes of cracked pepper
two fresh basil leaves placed on each thigh
Crushed dried habanero pepper to taste
More olive oil to drizzle on chicken

Bake at 450 for about 40 minutes.

Great things come in small packages

Last night Christian pulled off a culinary coup with a mix of foil-wrapped and grilled veggies and cheese that just blew me away. Continuing our outdoor cooking for every meal while we stay at dad’s house to housesit, we decided to go light on the meat and just play around with the best-looking veggies Albertson’s had on hand. That included zucchini, cremini mushrooms, garlic, onions, roma tomatoes, asparagus, and grape leaves. Oh, and more garlic. And with that, fresh buffalo mozarella cheese, jalapeno jack cheese and feta cheese.
In one packet, he made little “shish kebabs” of zucchini, bell peppers and cheese, and wrapped them each up, tamale style, in foil. In another packet, he wrapped garlic and feta in grape leaves, and then wrapped THOSE up in little foil “presents.” And in the last, tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic and mozarella. WIth that we had a large toasted baguette and that’s it. No side salad, no distracting appetizer or dessert. Just garlicky veggie goodness.
Not only was it fun to “unwrap” each parcel, but it was great to top toasted baguette with different elements, as well as to pop the tiny stuffed grape leaves into our mouths. A DEFINITE winner, especially great for vegetarians who feel left out at BBQs.
Today we leave dad’s and head on back home. Even though dad lives about 10 miles from us, it does feel like a little vacation to stay at his old house in his old neighborhood. But I must say, there’s no place like home, and I’m ready to tend to my four-pot garden, start putting Hannah’s clothes away in our new dresser we bought for her, and continue my nesting. Just under three months to go, and I KNOW it’s going to fly….