Maifest

The dancing around the May Pole

In the better late than never category of blog posts, last weekend we went to the Maifest at the Turn Verein.  We met up with Tina, Shaya, and Tina's boyfriend, Karsten.  Lulu was really excited to see Shaya and then doubly excited to see that her new friends Joanna and Sarah were also there!  Things were a little crazy with the traditional German dancing, food, drink, and four small children under the age of three running around, but I did manage to snap a few shots.

contemplating the sauerkraut (which was delicious!)

Lulu and Shaya enjoying some warm, spiced almonds

Shaya, Karsten, and Tina

And for those of you who think I'm exaggerating about the size of Lulu's feet, here is Shaya's foot in one of Lulu's shoes for comparison:

crazy, isn't it??

Food Fail.

Gropius and I tried out a new recipe from a favorite blog and it was a failure. Utter and complete failure. I think the problem was that it wasn't fully sweet OR savory, just an odd combination of the two. Gropius pointed out that it was "very French."

I just thought it was very nasty.

Did I mention that the crust was made with olive oil?

On Saturday, I redeemed my menu choices somewhat with a recipe from the latest issue of Southern Living magazine. I described it as a "naughty" recipe to my mother-in-law because when you're cooking southern food, calories are no object!

a little fuzzy but the finished product.

I didn't have a 10" tart pan though, so I had to make do with a springform pan instead. I also cut back on the cheese and substituted sliced cheese for grated--not two things I would recommend when making it a second time. The cheese is necessary to hold it all together and once you pour the egg/half-n-half mixture over the top, they floated around. Still tasty but frustrating because you got the sense that it wasn't nearly as tasty as it could've been!  Should've added more bacon...

Everything's better with bacon...

Spoonbread

Gropius and I experimented with spoonbread last night for dinner.  I remember eating spoonbread in Texas when I was little and I was excited to discover this recipe that lightened it up a little (less fat, calories) AND used sweet potatoes (possibly my favorite food).  We paired it with some spicy chicken cilantro sausages and frozen veggies for a very tasty dinner!  (the picture below doesn't do it justice btw)

I liked it enough, that I could definitely see playing around with it and trying out different ingredients (southwestern spoonbread with corn and green chiles, anyone?).

You scream, I scream, we all scream for....

...ICE CREAM!!!!!!

Specifically, peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from Whole Foods. I figured it was kismet because I was debating getting a coffee at Starbucks before picking up Lulu on Friday afternoon and ultimately decided, nah, I shouldn't. But, when Lulu requested ice cream and was such a good girl in Whole Foods while I picked up a few things for dinner, I decided that a little splurge was worth it. And wouldn't you know, the coffee counter was advertising a special: 12oz coffee for $1.00.

Like I said, kismet.

And Lulu got her ice cream.

German translation attempt to come later--I have a toddler with a Napoleon complex commanding me to "come INSIDE, Mama!".

Weekend Breakfasts

We had a chocolate hazelnut tart on Saturday morning for breakfast.  Whole Foods had a huge block of it and I can't resist chocolate and hazelnut together.  YUM!  I swapped 1/2 C of the flour in the tart shell for some ground hazelnuts I had in the freezer to add to the deliciousness.

Gestern haben wir eine Schokoladehaselnusstorte zum Frühstück.  Whole Foods hat ein grosses Stück Haselnußschokolade gehabt und ich kann Schokolade und Haselnuss zusammen nicht widerstehen.  LECKER!  Ich habe ein halb Becker zerrieb Haselnuss für den Mehl, die ich im gefrierfach gehabt habe, getauscht.  Es war besonders gut!

The chocolate was combined with cream and butter to make a shiny ganache filling that proved irresistible to Lulu's fingers...

Notice that smudge in the front from little fingers??

We enjoyed a slice with some coffee and whipped cream for a delicious breakfast on Saturday!

And then, inspired by the soda bread we enjoyed at a St Patrick's Day dinner with a friend last night, we had soda muffins (soda bread baked into muffin tins). I only had a few cherries, so it was a mix of cherries and cranberries instead. Lulu didn't seem to mind!

Turkeys! Puten!

When we were driving home from Target yesterday afternoon, Lulu and I saw a flock of turkeys in the yard and parking lot of the 7th Day Adventist Church near our house. So, I pulled into the parking lot so that Lulu could get a better view and snapped a few photos.

Wenn wir nach Hause gestern abend gefahren haben, haben Lulu und ich einen Schwarm Puten im Parkplatz von die Siebenten-Tags-Adventist Kirche gesehen.  Die Kirche ist neben unserem Haus.  So ich dem Auto im Parkplatz gefahren habe, dass Lulu einen besseren Ausblick haben könnte und ich etwas Photos nehmen könnte.

As you can see, there were quite a few jennies and a handful of toms.

the boys struttin' their stuff for the ladies...

Pretty impressive, huh?

My goal is to write more blog posts in German AND English in an attempt to more regularly practice my fledgling attempts to become proficient.  :)

Slightly more corrected Version:
Wenn Als wir gestern Abend nach Hause gestern abend  gefahren haben waren, haben Lulu und ich einen Schwarm Puten im Parkplatz von die der Siebenten-Tags-Adventist Kirche gesehen.  Die Kirche ist neben unser Haus.  So Ich habe dem den Auto im (wo? or wohin?) Parkplatz gefahren habe, so dass Lulu einen besseren Ausblick haben könnte und ich etwas einige Photos nehmen könnte. 

Comfort Food, Tex-Mex Style.

Sometimes, there's nothing better than some cheese enchiladas covered with enchilada gravy (and if you call it red chile, then you're not speaking Tex-Mex!).  Here is my fat and cholesterol-laden homage to the food of my childhood, compliments of The Homesick Texan:

Cheese enchiladas with Spanish rice and refried beans

A plate of Texas SoulFood.

And a couple of up-close photos of those cheesy badboys!

sitting in the pan, ready to be eaten!

cheesy goodness!!

It's amazing how some things just transport you back in time.  I was SO glad to find a recipe for enchilada gravy!