Some more of Colmar

Do you noticed something? I'm not wearing a jacket!

The black dot on my collar that has been appearing on all of my photos for the past month and now mysteriously disappeared.

Bubbles

Jared, presenting me with a delicious pastry.

Oh yum!

Few know this about Jared but he really wants to be a warrior with steal armor riding a horse into battle.

Springtime...in France

Last weekend Jared and I headed just over the border to Mulhouse and Colmar, France. It was spring there. There flowers have bloomed...

...the trees have blossomed...

...my husband was basking in the sun...

...and the insects were mating;)

S'mores

The tools and ingredients. (No graham crackers here or fake Hershey's chocolate. For some reason S'mores just taste better with Hershey's.)

I think these photos speak for themselves.

One happy boy!

Puffy "sleeping bag" jacket

I'm tired of wearing my winter clothes. This is my puffy jacket that Jared calls my "sleeping bag" jacket because it's basically like wearing a sleeping bag. It protects me from all forms of wet/cold weather. It has rained straight since Monday morning. I had to break it out this morning...again...as I braved the weather to go to the dentist today.

Oh why oh why can't the beautiful weekend weather stick through Sept. 25th (the day we return to the states.)

Lee came to visit

My brother-in-law (my sister's husband) Lee had to go to Milan for business and we were lucky to see him on a brief layover in Zürich. We were also fortunate to have such lovely weather. After church and lunch we headed down to walk along the lake.

This man had created these incredibly balance rock sculptures.

50's housewife part 2

I wanted to get creative with my short hair. When I started putting curlers in one night to test them out Jared got really excited. For church today I slept in curlers. (Not as fun as the spongy pink ones from my childhood.)

Before:

After:

I don't like cheesecake...

However, German Cheesecake is so so good! It's like and fluffy and not dense and rich like American cheesecake! Sorry we ate it too fast to get a shot of an individual slice. I'll make it again though.

Käsekuchen - German Cheesecake

(Quark is a dessert cream yumminess that you can find in Switzerland, I don't know if it can be found in the states.)

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla-sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 stick (7 tbsp/3 1/2 oz/100g) butter

For the Filling:
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla-sugar
3/4 stick (7 tbsp/3 1/2 oz/100g) butter, very soft and at room temperature
6 oz. heavy cream
17 oz. (500g) Quark - A light yogurt type cream cheese* (see note below for Quark substitutions, if needed)
1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt
Instructions:
For the Crust:
Sift the flour, stir in the baking powder, salt, vanilla-sugar, lemon peel and sugar, then rub in the butter and knead to a smooth consistency with the egg. Place dough in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 C). You will need a 9 or 9 1/2-inch springform pan.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured work surface, then form it into a ball again and roll it out a second time. (This dough is the worst behaved of any I have ever had to deal with, but the double rolling helps tame it, and the end result IS worth the hassle). Place dough in bottom of a 9 or 9 1/2-inch springform pan, pressing it up the sides almost to the top. Set aside.

For the Filling:
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla-sugar until pale and foamy. Add the softened butter and beat well, then add the heavy cream and beat again. Add the quark and stir until the mixture is smooth and throughly combined.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until very stiff, then very gently fold in the quark mixture, also adding the sifted cornstarch a little at a time. Pour the filling into the crust shell and gently wobble the pan back and forth until the surface is smooth. Trim the dough, leaving about 1 inch (2 1/2 cm). Bake in preheated 300 degrees F (150 C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes (longer if necessary) until well risen and golden - it resembles a souffle at this point (It will sink in the middle quite dramatically - don't worry, it's supposed to do this). Turn the oven off, and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 15 minutes; then remove it from the oven, cool for an hour or so at room temperature, and refrigerate for several hours before releasing sides of pan and serving. (I make mine the day before I need it). This cheesecake is very nice served with sliced strawberries, or a raspberry sauce. Keep cheesecake stored in the refrigerator, covered.

*Note:
There are 3 substitutions that can be used for the Quark in this recipe if Quark is not available. One is to use farmer's cheese, another is to purée cottage cheese in a blender or food processor, and the third is to purée eight parts of ricotta cheese with 1 part of sour cream in a food processor.

Caught in the rain!

I don't like umbrella's. There were a lot out the other day as I was coming home. I fear for my eyeballs when it rains. I also think you're a wuss for using one. They're just awkward anyway.

I got drenched on the way home because the trams were not cooperating with my timing. Jared and I were going to go out to dinner and I texted him saying, "I'm not going back out there I'm making a quiche." I am just frustrated by the weather. Anyhow, he brought spring home to me that night:)

Maybe next time is rains, which will be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, (not Tuesday because it's suppose to snow) I'll try one of these.

Cruise on Zürichsee

Yesterday it wasn't raining for a little bit and I've always wanted to go on one of the lake boats that goes up the river under the low bridges. So we headed out.
Lots of sailboats were out. It was fun being at water level and seeing Zürich from a different perspective.

A moment of clarity

My friend called me the other evening and said look out your window, you can see the alps. We haven't been able to see the alps for a very long time...it has been rain/rain/snow/rain/rain/grey/gray/gray.

My first roast

I made my first roast. With tips from my mother and finding the right meat (thanks Tanya) and chopped up the vegetables and slapped it in the oven for severals hours. I'm reading this book right now which takes place in the 50's and I thought it would be funny to play 50's housewife and dress up for dinner!

(O.K. awkward photo because I don't have my nice tripod with me and a remote to focus. But you get the idea.)

Oh was it ever delicious!

All I was missing was either a Jello salad or yellow cake with chocolate frosting;)

Recipe:
brown beef chuck or brisket (seidfleisch if in Switzerland) with the onions in vegetable oil in a pan. Then transfer to casserole dish. (I didn't have one so used a high sided metal pan and covered tightly with foil, I left all of my kitchenware along with everything else in the states.)
Cut up carrots and garlic and throw in the dish. Throw in some water, a bit of tomato sauce and as much red wine as you want. Salt and pepper it. Cook at 250-300°F (140-150°C) for at least 3 hours.

Side note: If you have a smaller pan so the meat is submerged in the liquid I think that is better. Mine wasn't completely submerged. You can also add other vegetables like potatoes or winter squash could be good! Also, herbs would taste good. I was going to add oregano but forgot.

Stuttgart, Germany....again

Sunday evening Jared and I headed to Stuttgart, Germany...again...to get my visa this time. (I tired the previous Monday but the reliable Swiss trains were not so reliable.) It was freezing but we saw a little bit of sun. We don't ever want to go back there again. Hopefully I'll be legal before we head back to the states.

Storming the Castle

King of Swamp Castle: Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

Our friend Fabian invited us to "storm the castle" with some other friends of ours. He found some castle ruins for us to explore. Of course most of us forgot flashlights. He also brought along a Brit who knew practically all of the Monty Python movies. Unfortunately I didn't bring my nice camera so that photos are a bit hard to make out.

Here is Meike illegally crossing the tracks...we all followed of course.

Jared climbing...what's new?

Jared and Fabian claiming the castle...with a Brit flag.

Fabian was a bit apprehensive about coming back down. It took a bit of coaxing. It was funny when Fabian thought the blood on his hand was oil because it looked black...he was shining a green light on it. It occurred to him that it was probably blood since it hurt.

The storm troopers...ok we'll think up a better name for the next one.

Being sneaky in the dark.

A Rant

I wanted to wait a few months to cool down before posting this, but I haven't cooled down. The day after we moved into our little utopia of a place, construction began. They dug up all four corners of the street about 4 times. They went around in a circle and dug up the ground, repaved and started over again. Then most of December was quiet. We thought we were clear. NO! We received noticed in the mail (which Jared translated via scanner and Google Translation) to find out that they were discontinuing our tram stop for A LONG TIME. Probably until August. Just before we go home. Luckily our bus still stops here for church. But, then the rains came, and of course it starts pouring just as I step out the door, and instead of just hopping on the tram across the street, I have to run all the way down the hill and get soaked. It gets worse. There are groceries I have to lug up the hill and then up 6 flights of stairs and my leg muscles are bulging (I bulk up easily.) That's not the end of it. First they would pave everything ever weekend and then jackhammer it up on Monday's, now it's jackhammer every morning....

.... at 6 A.M. Yup, only to take a 2 hour lunch break in the middle of the day. ARGH! They also sometimes do construction in the middle of the night. Yes we own ear plugs but that doesn't bring entire peace. Oh ya, they have now stuck a metal slab over a hole in the road (which used to be the sidewalk) and all night long we hear, KACHUNK every time a car goes over it. I came to the realization several years ago that when life gets perfect something comes along to screw it up, sometimes for months at a time.

Yes, we will be vacationing a lot this summer. If you want to come visit and sleep past 6 a.m., bring ear plugs.



This is what I wake up to every morning.