It’s a “babymoon!”

This trip to Cloudcroft has ended up being our “babymoon,” a parents’ last “hoorah” and alone time for a LONG time. I’m not yet so big that I can’t go on hikes, snuggle up with my honey or sleep comfortably, and this second trimester is the best trimester in terms of energy, lack of morning sickness and stamina.
Christian leaves in late November through the first week of December for Bavaria, so this is our chance. And we’ve certainly made the most of it!
I told everyone before I left on this long weekend vacation that it was going to be our weekend of “grillin’ and chillin’,” and that’s what yesterday was all about.
Although neither Christian nor I had ever used a charcoal grill, the one I bought Christian for our anniversary worked like a charm. Although when we took it out of the box, both of us looked at each other and said, “Oh man. It’s going to be a long day.” Parts and parts and parts and more parts. But Christian got it together very quickly and got the coals to heat up in no time. He IS a pro, it’s just in his German blood I guess, to know how to make, to cook, to succeed.
For lunch, we grilled pecan-smoked kielbasa as well as Japanese eggplant, spring onions, red bell peppers and jalapenos. And we served that with leftover Griess Souppe and baguette. I polished off my plate until it glistened white again. It was superb.
After lunch, we read on the porch a bit, took a long nap, and then went walking around Cloudcroft, just as the sun was beginning to set. I can’t recall a time when I actually have remained IN THE MOMENT ALL DAY LONG. Never. I mean, I can be in the moment for a few minutes at a time, but inevitably I begin to obsess about things I need to be taking care of, regretting something, or focusing on something else. Not yesterday. Yesterday was a day for the memory book.
For dinner, Christian grilled us some steaks, as well as more grilled veggies. He managed to cook the PERFECT medium-rare steaks, having salted the steaks 12 hours beforehand to soften the tough muscles. Again, sublime. And neither of us felt ANY need to use the A-1 sauce on the table.
Now we’re at the coffee house, both of us having gotten up late after a great night of deep sleep and vivid dreams. We’ll do lots of walking, maybe catch the Cloudcroft High School team’s home football game, read, cook, nap, take a bubble bath by candlelight and….. ENJOY OUR BABYMOON.
Tonight it’s bratwurst, kartoffelsalat und Cloudcroftbrot (otherwise known as Mountaintop Mercantile Chile-Cheese bread, toasted panini-style on the grill)

Two-legged construction zone

I am officially more than half way through my pregnancy, in what they say is the “honeymoon” period of one’s pregnancy, when morning sickness wanes and you’re not quite too big to be able to move around with relative ease. Well, I never had morning sickness, and on a very good day or with the exact right outfit, you just may not know I was with child, although those days are becoming increasingly more rare as my wardrobe has diminished to about four outfits I:
1: Feel comfortable in,
2. Can button, or
3. Don’t make me look like one of those people who definitely SHOULDN’T be wearing track suits if they’ve never seen a track.

Although I never ever lost my appetite, even at the beginning, I find that now it’s just growing like wildfire! I’m easily putting away twice as many calories as my 175-pound husband, and, let me tell you, enjoying every single creamy, crumbly, flaky, salty and fatty minute of it, lol. I am, after all, a walking construction zone, so put your hard hat on if you want to dine with me.
Today’s our anniversary, and I’m going to be sure to have a healthy (i.e. hearty) sized lunch so I don’t polish off the bread basket and my three course meal at the restaurant tonight, before my husband can begin to nibble on his food.
Yesterday, for breakfast, I had Alpen muesli with sliced banana, raw oats and peach yogurt for breakfast, after a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. My beloved walks are beginning to strain my back a bit, but it will take a rip or a tear … or a doctor’s note … to get me to stop those.
Christian had to be at work at 7:30, so he took off on his mountain bike at 6:40, leaving me to fend for myself until his return at 1:30. Now I used to be the most self-sufficient loner EVER, until I met my husband. I ALWAYS wanted to be alone. Heck, I lived in a cabin in the woods in New Mexico for two years and perhaps in that time frame two people other than family came to visit. I just wanted SOLITUDE! Now I can’t stand it. My walks are my solitude time, and then it’s definitely time to share my day with someone. But now that I’m unemployed, I’m having to deal with the alone time, and man, I don’t like it one bit. But I’m creating schedules each day, writing them down and crossing them off as I do them, as trite as they may seem: “Vacuum,” check; “Send out three resumes,” check; “Clean fridge,” check; “Write birth plan,” check; etc.
I got squeezed in at the dentist yesterday for a broken crown, so I had to eat lunch earlier, alone, so I could make the appointment. Solo lunches are the worst. I also used to be a solo eater, preferring it that way, but now I crave conversation and companionship when I eat. At least Hannah nudged me a few times to either approve or disapprove of my beans/rye bread/salad lunch. Looks like something served to a prisoner, right? It sort of feels that way, lol.
At least at the dentist, I enjoyed some great banter, tips and laughs with her and her assistant. She too (my dentist) had a daughter later in life, and had lots of anecdotes and warnings, tips and even… a free playpen! My teeth came second as she excitedly told me about pregnancy milestones, birth and being an older parent. Lol, first time I was excited to be at the dentist’s office. She had an extra playpen in a back office and insisted I carry it home. I happily obliged.
My bland prisoner-lunch was replaced by a much more elaborate and MUCH tastier pasta (rigatoni) dinner I made for us last night, served with a Caprese salad and baguette. I simply added sliced garlic (LOTS, 4 cloves..not heads, but cloves) to some pepper/eggplant vegetable dip in a jar I bought at the Middle Eastern grocery store, with some olive oil to thin it out, to my rigatoni. But the Caprese salad (sliced tomatoes, Mozarella cheese and fresh basil with olive oil, salt and pepper, won the award for its freshness and simplicity. The leftover tomatoes, basil and cheese will become a pizza Margherita later on today.
I may need to ramp up the walks after today’s meals, but who knew construction could be so FUN?! I’m an eating engineer!

My favorite season

Fall is officially here, and fall is my favorite season of all, which makes for a very happy Amanda. Despite the fact I had a few setbacks yesterday (like breaking off a cap on a tooth. Found it, thank god), the day in total was one of the most enjoyable, relaxing and bonding days with my husband in a very long time.
I had started off the day with an invigorating walk, then came home to wake Christian, have breakfast, do some house chores and then chat with Christian’s mom back in Germany on Skype.

Then we headed on over to the…
Ardovino’s Desert Crossing Farmer’s Market, possibly for the last time this season, to enjoy the balmy, crisp fall air, a cup of coffee by the zen pond, dog-and-people-watching, shopping and lolling around.

After the market, we came home to make lunch, which we decided would be an easy store-bought rotisserie chicken (amazing how we can make one of those little birds last three meals!), kartoffelsalat made by Christian and, for dessert, a cranberry-oatmeal cookie. If our apartment had a decent, shady balcony, we’d have eaten outside. But, alas, we had to enjoy our “picnic” indoors.
After errands, a long afternoon nap and a trip over to Starbucks for our fix and to read the newspapers, we headed on over to Madeline Park in Kern Place to enjoy a pre-UTEP football game picnic. It was PERFECT. We found a shady spot, the park wasn’t crowded, and we were within walking distance of the game. This is the very park my dad used to take me and my brother in the summer evenings (and then a trip to Baskin Robbins afterward!) when we were little, and I’m so glad to see it hasn’t changed much at all. We’ll definitely be taking Hannah here to play when she’s old enough, no matter what side of town we live in. That is, IF we live in El Paso…or in the states for that matter…when she’s of age.
And then it was time for the game which, to be honest, I wasn’t TOOOO excited about. However, I WAS excited to enjoy Christian’s excitement to see, for the second time, an American football game. This one was UTEP against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. I’d never heard of them, but perhaps they’d never heard of us, either, lol. It ended up being a great game, with UTEP winning, and the crowd was fun, not toooo obnoxious, and we had good front-row seats. I’m convinced. I’ll go again. And again. And again.

What I miss about Germany…

I was born here in El Paso, spent most of my childhood here, and I’ve lived in the following cities: Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Cloudcroft, N.M.; and Wellfleet, Mass. And although I can’t say I officially lived in Rohr, Niederbayern, Deutschland, I did spend months at a time there, staying with my husband and his family, last year.
Out of all of those places, none has stricken me so much as Rohr, with a population of about 5,000, a small community that has one grocery store, two bakeries, two butchers, one community pool, and miles upon miles of rolling hills of corn and rapeseed fields. It’s about one hour northeast of Munich, and a world away from crime, pollution, gangs or stress. And it IS where I call home.
Although we can’t live there again, yet, I can still look forward to the day when we can, along with our new addition, Hannah, who I want to grow up with both American and German customs, culture and language. And even if we don’t live in Rohr (most likely Abensberg, Regensburg or Munich), it will always be the place I idealize for how it changed me so profoundly and was so instrumental in turning me into who I am today. And I want Hannah to have that, always.

I order a lot of food and German products from Germandeli.com, a business that is actually based here in Texas, but carries all the products I used and adored while staying in Bavaria. Fa bath gels and lotions, Almdudler drinks, Knorr and Maggi fixes and spice mixes, breads made in Germany, REAL cheese (unfortunately all pasteurized, but still more real than what’s available here), semmelknodel mix, German DVDs and books, German tableware, etc. All the things I just adored when living in Rohr, right at my keyboard! And the site has a great link called “What I Miss About Germany,” where all German ex-pats living here in the U.S. can reminisce about their lives in Germany.
But there are some things I miss about Germany (from my perspective, being an American married to a German, and not having a good grasp of the language…yet). And they are:

1. The common sense of courtesy and decency shown to everyone, even strangers on the street.
2. The fact that it is a GIVEN that families will dine together every meal possible, without question.
3. The fog rolling over the hops fields early in the morning, with foxes, hares and deer in abundance.
4. The smell of the bakery from a mile away, each and every morning. AND walking home with a freshly-made loaf of rye bread or broetchen for the day.
5. How HOUSEPROUD all Germans are, with their lace valances on their windows, their orchids proudly blooming for all passers-by to see.
6. Kaffee und Kuchen promtly at 3 p.m.
7. German TV, with almost no commercials in sight.
8. German newspapers. Actually full of information. Actually taking a while to read and to digest the info. Actually not full of ads.
9. Biking to the next town to enjoy a beer or Schwip Schwap in a biergarten by a babbling brook.
10. Going to the thermal spas to soak in the mineral waters, and it being covered by insurance!
11. The Munich Airport. God, I could LIVE there. Neat, tidy, easy to navigate, the best hotel ever (The Kempinski), wonderful shops and cafes…
12. The clean streets, fresh air and courtesy, even in the Marienplatz in central Munich.
13. The on-time trains.
14. The obsession with bio-foods and organics, no matter what income level.
15. Homemade food being preferred to a restaurant, any time, any day.

What are the things YOU miss most about Germany??

A bowl of cherries…

I wish I could have you see, smell, taste, feel and experience this piece of heaven which is Cloudcroft. Christian and I spent another amazing weekend up at the cabin, 9,000 feet above stress level, and it keeps our batteries going for a good few weeks until we need another “hit” of the hills.
Although this weekend was a bit more crowded than two weeks ago, when we were in Cloudcroft, there was still a serene silence, the ability to hear all the birds in the trees and to hear the wind in the pines. This weekend there were two events that drew the crowds: the Bad Ass Music Festival, a sort of Woodstock wanna-be at the Cloudcroft Ski Area; and the High Rolls Cherry Festival. We took the high road, er, I mean, the High Rolls.

I have been going to the High Rolls Cherry Festival since I was a toddler, strapped to my mom’s back as she picked cherries by the bushel to take home to hot El Paso. None ever made it back to El Paso, always being eaten that day, or made into pies that also were eaten within hours. I was so glad to show Christian this little part of my history, which I hope will be a tradition for our child, as well, just as Gilamoos and Mai dult are for Christian.

Of course we ate cherries heartily, and sampled some of the pies offered at the festival, including cherry-walnut and cherry-chipotle pies. Not really a taste of chipotle, but I have a HIGH pain threshold (which will come in handy in about 6 ½ months!)

At the fair, we bought the said slices of pie, some Tigua Indian bread, a pound of cherries (we were so moderate, lol), cherry cider and for Christian, a U.T. Austin Longhorn kitchen magnet.

This weekend was all about walks, hikes, window shopping in Cloudcroft, reading Country Living and Taste of Home magazines while sitting on the porch of the cabin, and EATING. Again we bought bread from Mountain Top Grocery (cheese garlic and potato bread) and made toasted cheese and chorizo sandwiches, and chicken sandwiches. And we had extra to freeze and take home to El Paso.

My sister and her husband have dibbs on the cabin next weekend, and my brother the weekend after that. Then it’s crazy up here in Cloudcroft, with the 4th of July and other events. That’s when we stay away. So it looks like we’ll have to energize our batteries somewhere else until around mid-August when kids start going back to school. But at least we got another peek at heaven!

Breaking the rules

I am all about breaking rules when it comes to cooking. In fact, I am all about breaking rules. That’s why recipes are just suggestions to me, and I’ve never, ever made the same dish twice, even if I call it the same dish.
Tonight was our New York’s Eve dinner party for two, mainly a meal we didn’t put toooo much thought toward. We’re already thinking of the first meal in NYC tomorrow, and we’re wondering what and when it will be. We don’t arrive at La Guardia until 8 p.m., and we’re newbies to the transit system, so by the time we get to where we’re staying, it may be 11 or so. We’re guessing our first official NYC meal won’t be at the Four Seasons, but more like the 24 Hours, meaning whatever we find that is open all night long. I just really hope it’s not a taco stand.
We already had chicken thighs (four, two each), a can of pickled jalapenos in escabeche, canned mushrooms, milk, potatoes and garlic. When we went to go read the Sunday paper at the Albertson’s Starbucks cafe today, I saw a shopping cart filled with discounted items. They were all Passover foodstuffs, and although I’m not Jewish, I love the dishes I’ve had at different Jewish events I’ve attended. For $2, I picked up a large canister of Matzo Farfel from Manischewitz (broke my own rule of not buying any new food until we literally ran out of everything we now have).
I’ve never used matzo for cooking, but being the pushover that I am when it comes to heavily-discounted items flowing from a shopping cart, I decided today would be the first time.
I did not take the easy road and look online for recipes nor did I read the side of the container. I just knew what ingredients I had, that matzo meal would thicken whatever I made, and that it was bland. So here’s what I did:
•••
I diced one large potato, skin on, and put it in a saucepan on the stove with about 1/4 cup olive oil. I cooked that until it was easily cut-able, but still firm. Then I added the canned mushrooms with their liquid, and a chopped clove of garlic. When the liquid simmered away, I added one cup of whole milk and a cup of the Matzo, and stirred then covered. I waited until the mixture had the consistency of turkey stuffing.
While that was cooking, I seared the chicken thighs in a pan on the stove, skin side down, until the skin side was dark and the skin beginning to get crackly and removed from the flesh. I then added the canned pickled jalapenos in escabeche (onions and carrots), and seasoned the chicken with salt, a dash of teriyaki sauce, and some garam masala. I turned the chicken around and covered the pan to let the chicken finish cooking and for the jalapenos and carrots and onions caramelize.
This I served with leftover salad from lunch, and I thought it was fantastic. Well, the chicken anyway. I burned the bottom of the Matzo mix, although the top was still creamy and thick. But the burned smell of course wafted up through the saucepan and affected the overall aroma of the dish. Not horribly, but I could have spent a little less time checking emails and more time watching the stove.
For dessert, I had the last of the chai cake I made last week, and Christian had two almonds. Yep, two almonds. He’s on a health kick and so that was his dessert. Two honey smoked almonds. That isn’t possible for me. Either a can of almonds at one sitting or none at all.
Christian is amazed by the variety of almonds at the grocery store: honey roasted, raw, chile-lime, jalapeno smokehouse, wasabi, etc. I know in Germany at Oktoberfest and Gillamoos, warm candied almonds were his favorites. He is quite happy he’s found something that satisfies that craving, although I must admit, I loved the paper cones the almonds came in at the fairs in Germany, and the fact that they were nice and warm.
We are very fortunate to have been invited to dinner by a few friends, and the places they’re taking us are said to be just incredible. Granted, being from El Paso, where a very nice dinner can be had for $30 for two (sans alcohol), an appetizer of asparagus for $30 makes one want to wonder if NYC is the perfect place to start that long-promised diet.
Does anyone know how much a Papaya King dog is, just with sauerkraut? Or a street-vendor large pretzel? I’m so curious!

Steckerlfisch, I WISH

One afternoon last fall, Christian and I sat in his garden in Rohr, enjoying the horseback riders in the arena next door, as well as the balmy air and the shade of the apple and plum trees that provided enough fruit to have Apfelstrudel and Pflaumenkuchen for months.
His mother brought out a bowl of Kartoffelsalat, rich and creamy with some zing and bite from chopped onions, and a perfect amount of vinegar. Then, his stepdad entered the garden through the back gate, having stopped by the nearby Fussball field, where team members were selling Steckerlfisch. Each of us got one of the succulent smoked mackerels, wrapped in butcher’s paper, as well as a warm and cruncy Brezel sprinkled with coarse sea salt. The Steckerlfisch, for those of you who have not had it or heard of it, is a mainstay at fests (such as Oktoberfest and Gillamoos) in Germany, up there with the Lieberkase sandwiches, warm candy almonds and Weisswurst. I first had a Steckerlfisch at Maidult in Regensburg, in a beer tent, picking at it with a tiny spork at a long table filled with revelers, mugs and mounds of hearty food. I don’t know if it was the ambiance, the fact that I was newly in love, or the strong yet delicious meat and oiliness of the mackerel, but I fell hard for it. And I cannot find it or anything remotely equal to it here in the states.
Does anyone know of a supplier or a friend who makes Steckerlfisch? I think the key is definitely the outdoor smoking, and letting the excess oils drip down the stick that impales the fish, but I’d really be interested to see if someone makes their own version stateside.
In the meantime, I’ll make do with my Cape Cod fish, which is pretty much my only fish recipe I use consistently, besides my Asian “Chin-Chin” salad (a recipe I copied from my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, when I attended USC).
The Cape Cod fish is extremely simple. I just marinate a filet of Tilapia in milk for about 20 minutes, then dredge the filet in one egg mixed with half a cup of flour and a quarter of a cup of Old Bay seasoning. Then I cook it about 8 minutes in a heavy cast-iron pan, and serve it with lime and a dollop of Greek yogurt. That is such an easy, healthy and cheap dish. Land-locked El Paso doesn’t get the best fish supply and options are limited, but Tilapia hasn’t let me down yet.

Early bird special

It’s 6:15 a.m. on Monday, and it’s not yet light. The sky is purple-blue and it smells like rain. I slept like a baby last night, and we’re both getting used to the trains that run constantly by, only a block away. The apartment shakes when they go by and honk their horns at the crossing. At least 4 or 5 go by each night.

I packed our lunches to take to work, as we prefer to eat at my desk at the office to save a few bucks and to catch up on personal e-mails, job listings and news.
For me, an Amish (or Mennonite?) chia seed muffin I bought at the Las Cruces Farmer’s Market on Saturday, and an apple; for Christian, a PB&J and salad left over from last night. He’s really digging the PB&Js. It’s really so hard to find peanut butter, at least in Rohr, Germany. He was so happy when we came across candy-coated almonds at the market on Saturday. “Just like the ones they sell at Gillamoos!” He said. The almonds come in a paper cone just like the warm almonds we enjoyed in Germany, and it brought back a rush of great memories!

We still had leftover Semmelknödel from last night, and I read somewhere that you can fry leftover knödel to make some kind of pancake? Has anyone heard of this? If so, what is it served with?
Our dumplings last night were served with the traditional mushroom gravy, which was great, but I wonder if the leftover, “refried and flattened” dumpling could be served with applesauce, a la potato pancakes? Or is that the ultimate faux pas?