Camping Part II with a German twist

We went camping again last weekend for one night. Our campground of choice this time was the Milo McIvor State Park by Estacada. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_142.php

The park is less than an hour away from our house. It amazes me how in less than an hour you can go from urban to totally rural. The campsite was very private and we were surrounded by great, big trees. Birds sung and we actually saw hawks close up. We took a little tiny hike to the hatchery and a deer crossed our path. Again, how amazing is that less than an hour outside a large city?! This time I did miss the convenience of a European campground just a little bit. Why? Let me tell you...I forgot the propane cartridge and since there is no store on the campground I had to drive to Estacada to get one. At least we were able to get the propane. The upside was that I got to see a little of Estacada. To me it looks almost exactly like one imagines a town from the wild west :)

So where is the German twist...OK - Ron cooked dinner again (see picture), we toasted marshmallows, made Guacamole, and then we also made Stockbrot. My sister told me about Stockbrot. It is really fun. Basically its bread you cook on your stick over the campfire. The recipe is also easy. It works best if you put the bread dough on bamboo sticks, just make sure that you do not use more water, or make sure that you bring along extra flour. Here is the recipe for 4 people, easy to increase, decrease etc.

400 gr flour

1 Pack yeast

400 ml water

1 pinch of salt

- mix it all together and let rise for a little while

Have a great day everyone...

Kaffeklatsch the Portland way :)

So what on earth is a Kaffeklatsch?! - Here is my definition on the topic, keep in mind I have been in ex-pat for almost 15 years and please correct me if I am not quite accurate...

Where I come from women invite each other over in the afternoon for coffee & cake. Usually a few girlfriends get together, drink coffee, have cake, and may later on have a glass of bubbly :) The setting I know for this is ALWAYS at a table, the table is ALWAYS set with silverware, china, etc. It's by no means formal by German standards. In any case, so today I invited a bunch of my friends from the Spielgruppe (playgroup), as well as other German speaking friends over to our house for a Kaffeklatsch. Of course there was coffee, I also baked a couple of cakes AND chocolate chip cookies (very American :) ), but here is were I changed the rule. All in all we were 11 women, and about 17 kids. So I did not set a table, I did not put out the china, did not set the table (too many people :) )...no, totally un "PC", we had paper cups (hot/cold of course), paper plates, the cakes were set buffet style and we a hung out in the yard as the kids played.
And I think all of us had a great time :)

It is really funny so how traditions I grew up with become again relevant and important as I live so far away from the place were I was raised.

Grieskloesschensuppe for lunch :)

I am so excited that I found Griess to make Grieskloesschen at Edelweiss. I bought it a while ago and am finally making them today. Griess in English is called "Farina Wheat" and let me tell you I searched for it in our regular grocery store for a long, long time. Today is finally the day that I am making them :)

Soup in summer? Well today is quite overcast and a tiny bit chilly so is there anything more perfect than Gieskloeschensuppe? OK - Flaedlesuppe would be fantastic Too :)

There is a new Newsletter available

The latest Newsletter was just published. You can read it online at

http://www.germanamerican.org/newsletters/newsletter.pdf

Summertime = Berrytime

Finally summer in Oregon. The girls and I went berry picking on Sauvie Island yesterday. We have lived in Oregon now for over six years and I admit that I was never that fond of blueberries...I come from Southern Germany were there also lots of fruits are grown. I grew up with berries, but not with blueberries. I think (please correct me if I am wrong) that they may just not grow there. But Oregon Blueberries...there is nothing like it. So the girls and I went to the first U-Pick Farm yesterday and were so disappointed that over the weekend people picked most of the ripest berries. Thankfully there is more than one U-Pick Farm. We went to the next and WOW!!! Our buckets of berries filled up in now time. Alena and I were picking them, while Mia Rose (2) just stood in the bushes and ate the berries by the hand full right of the bush. Amazing. - Then we went to the Raspberries and were just as successful...But what does all of this have to do with Germany and Portland. Let me tell you...when we were done I drove around the island (both girls were napping) and it reminds me so much of Germany. On the Bodensee there is the Reichenau were also produce is grown. It is quite similar to Sauvie Island, but of course, everything is so much more spread out over here. But it is amazing to me that within less than 1/2 hour you are outside of a about 2 Million metro area and right in the farmland. So yes, it is just like home (Germany) but different....

More information under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauvie_Island

Fleamarket - we had so much fun...

What a success :) We had so much fun at the Flohmarkt. Lots of great stuff; unfortunately we missed out on a great Foosball Table. By the time we got there it was already gone :(
The girls however scored a bunch of great stuff. Bargain dress-up clothes, tiara, Barbie car...They were so excited.

On the back of the grounds the food court was set up. Brats, Frikadellen (aka Hamburger), Zwiebelkuchen. Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) were served inside in the great hall. The event was a great success and it was the first time this event was held. In my opinion there are lessons to be learned for future events as all Brats were gone by 2 PM and the Kuchen was also gone by 3 PM.

What a great event...we hung out, listened to the music, Alena loved the bounce house and both girls loved the puppet show.

Congratulations to the planners of this event on a a FANTASTIC job. I cannot imagine how much work it must have been to put this together. We are looking forward to this even next year.

Fleamarket is today, July 19th, 2008 at the German Haus

Remember, the first annual flea market is today from 10 - 6 PM at the German Haus at 7901 SE Division. It should be a ton of fun. Puppet show, Storyteller, Bounce house and more for the kids; Book exchange, arts & crafts, Bratwurst, Beer garden, Coffee & Cake and so much more...

Please let me know what you think about the event :)

Sparkling Water besides Gerolsteiner...

I grew up on drinking Sparkling Water and have a real problem drinking tap, or still water. It just has no fizzle, no fun to it. So for the longest time I have been buying Gerolsteiner at Trader Joe's. To me, Gerolsteiner has to much fizz (I know, I know I am being a bit whiny...but in Germany I like "medium"), I do not like the Poland Spring water and am just not getting enough water. But I went shopping at Whole Foods Market last week and got their Italian Sparkling Mineral Water. It comes in a six pack, and its GREAT. Exactly as I like it. It has fizz, but not too much fizz. Its just right...

Camping in Oregon...

In almost 15 years my very first camping trip in the U.S....Growing up in Germany we went camping all the time. Whenever there we had vacation we packed the trailer and headed south. Later on (in my European life :) ) I went camping quite frequently and really generally enjoyed it. So what happened I ask myself, why have we not been camping in the US?

To me European Campgrounds are never out in the wilderness. There is always a coffee shop, little restaurant, store where you can buy stuff. The bathrooms are generally clean, spacious and heated...so when I heard people going to camp in the NW I only heard "wilderness", and imagined a totally, totally rustic experience. And not to forget the wild life we have in Oregon as in bears, mountain lion, etc....

OK so finally we went on a one night camping trip (Thanks to the Oregonian travel section a couple of weeks ago :)) The park was Silverton Falls State Park (FYI - http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_211.php) and it was GREAT! - The girls loved it, playground was in sight from our campsite, the bathroom/shower facilities well they do not compare to what I have used in Europe but they were fine, but here is the really, really great part. Each campsite has a fire pit and pick nick bench. If that is not fantastic then I don't know what is. Of course we had a fire, grilled "Wuerstle" over the fire which both girls loved, and then (my first) all American the toasted Marshmallow...quite interesting. So I take back everything negative I have said about camping in Oregon. It really was great, and we certainly will camp again soon. Truth be said so, a few days only a whole week would be a little too much for me still...

July 19th - Fleamarket at the German House

Just a little reminder the great Flea market is next week Saturday from 10 Am - 6 PM at the Deutsche Haus on 7901 SE Division Street. It will be great. There will be food, a beer garden, a jump house for the kids, crafts, and so much more. If you have never been to the Deutsche Haus, the grounds are just fantastic. Huge grounds, beautiful...Look forward to seeing many of you there.

Where are all the German women?

I said it before, when I moved to PDX from Chicago I thought well here goes my German connection. No German will be in PDX...as I said before I never knew this many Germans in Chicago. And certainly never had this much fun while speaking my native tongue...

The other day I went into a store with my youngest daughter. She was holding a book. The store owner said to me "Oh, your daughter is holding German book"...and just as I was going on to explain that I only speak German with my children, the woman talks back to me in perfect German...We are really everywhere here in PDX. It is so fantastic.

Last night a bunch of us went out to dinner to Andina downtown PDX. We had so much fun and actually were seated in our own separate room. Wow!!! That was really, really awesome...in any case we had great service and as it turns one of the servers spoke German as well. You see, you never know...we are everywhere ;)

Happy 4th of July to everyone...

The game was fun...

So we watched the game at our friends house and even so Germany lost we had a ton of fun. What about you? Did you have fun? Where did you watch the game? - Comments are always welcome :)