Happy 4th of July...

Happy Independence Day everybody...the quint-essential all American experience. I hope everybody is having a fun day with lots of BBQ, games, etc. We are certainly looking forward to a fun day with our German friends. I am making a Flag Cake as has become a tradition. So fun, and so good. The recipe is on my other blog, here is the link http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2008/07/4th-of-july-flag-cake.html

Have a great day, everybody!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We had our usual New Year's Eve non-party. Just the family hanging out. Our traditional dinner is fresh Dungeness Crab and we were lucky to get a couple this year. They are just SO GOOD...we all love them. Ron and I had a bottle of delicious German Gutedel from Grunern, Germany. This is the last of the bottles we brought back with us in 2006, time to go to the Baerenbad again :). Check it out it is such a fabulous place...http://www.baeren-bad.de/.

The rest of the night we watched Sesame Street New Years Eve selection followed by Dick Clark's New Years Eve show on ABC. Alena made to the New Year, well if we'd live in the Midwest. Mia Rosie beat her by making it through the Mountain Time Zone New Year...Once the girls were sleeping it was time for the toast. This year we had fantastic bubbly...just great and you know what, I will make you guess what kind of bubbly we drank :). Yup, please vote on the new poll. This is fun :)

Happy New Year to all of you.

The "Gingerbread House" and the Christmas Goose

A picture of the "Gingerbread House" the girls and I made, a picture of the Christmas goose, and Ron carving the goose.

Christmas Day...

The kids spent much of Christmas Day playing with their new toys. I spent almost 1-1/2 hours putting together the Playmobil Horse Farm Santa Claus brought Alena. That was quite tedious work...I have never put together any model so this was my first. Let me tell you it looks great!!! But it really did take me over 1-1/2 hours. Totally worth it so, because Alena LOVES it.

The rest of the day was spent, well you guessed it, cooking. The stuffing, and cabbage was made but we still needed to roast the goose, make the gravy, and the Kartoffelkloesse (potato dumplings). I stuffed the goose while Ron seared it, and roasted it for over 3 hours in the oven. It turned out FANTASTIC! The dumplings turned out the best ever. They did not fall apart, were not mushy, just turned out great. What a great day we all had...I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christkind, or Santa Claus

I think that is the questions many of living here in the States face. Who will bring the children presents? I grew up with the Christkind and, as is German tradition, always got presents on Christmas Eve. Ron on the other hand grew up in the States and Santa Claus would always bring him presents on Christmas Day. So what to do? We obviously are raising our children in the States so Santa Claus is a must. I think that my German roots however also warrant to keep the German tradition. So this is what happens in our house.

The Christkind comes on Christmas Eve and leaves some presents under the tree. Before the kids go to bed they leave a cookie out for Santa Claus with hopes that he will come overnight. I think our kids are super lucky to have both bring presents...

Christmas Eve after dinner, we watched a Christmas movie and came back downstairs to find that the Christkind had visited us. Alena was SO excited. Then yesterday morning Alena was the first person up. She immediately ran over to the tree, and stockings. "Mama der Weihnachtsmann war da. Komm schnell..." she yelled to me and to Ron "Papa, Santa Claus was here. You have to come right away..." What excitement. That's what its all about, the excitement of the kids, right?!

Christmas Eve...we are finally thawing out

Back to normal PDX weather. Well, not quite it snowed again this morning and it now has been raining most of the afternoon. Snow is obviously melting but we had over a foot of snow so I am sure that it will stick for today. Truth be said, I was hoping that it would snow throughout the day today. Just until tomorrow, and then I can be done with snow. I should not complain as we are certainly having a white Christmas.

We have decided to stay in tonight as the roads are so slush, and Ron thinks that they may be freezing. So no mass tonight. I read the Christmas story to the girls earlier today and also made some more cookies. For tomorrow I made the stuffing, and yesterday I already made the red cabbage. I do not feel as prepared as other years so...wonder what I may be forgetting. Oh well, it will be a great evening. The Fleischkaese will be done in a little while, the Kartolffelsalat (potato salad) is done, Gluehwein is on the stove, and presents are prepared...Merry Christmas to all.

P.S.: I will be posting the pictures of the snow yet...

Christmas dinner...

Christmas dinner is saved...It has stopped snowing and Ron was able to pick up our Goose, and the Fleischkaese aka Leberkaese. Are you wondering what we are having for Christmas? Wonder no longer, here are the answers

On Christmas Eve we are having traditional Fleischkaese und Kartoffelsalat. We will go to mass, come home, the Christkind will have visited, and will eat.

For Christmas Day we are having our traditional Goose. I serve it with Kartoffelknoedel (potato dumplings), Rotkraut (braised red cabbage), and stuffed with a chestnut fruit stuffing. Of course I will also make gravy. As for the recipe I am not using any "secret" recipe from my German family. In Germany we actually never had Goose, and there really was never any traditional food for the holidays. I follow the recipes from the Joy of Cooking. This year is my 4th (or is it my 5th?) year of making the Goose. We all love it.

I love having family traditions. That is why we started making the Goose. It is something special, something which needs a lot of time and preparation. Now, please let me know what you are having for Christmas. Will it be something you make every year, or is it different every year. Please let me know. Just post a comment. I LOVE to hear from you :)

We are totally SNOWED IN...yes, you are reading correctly this is Portland, Oregon...

It snowed most of last night, and it is snowing again this morning. Our street has not been plowed in days, our footprints in the yard are long gone and covered with new snow. Honestly I have not experienced ANYTHING like this since leaving Chicago and there I only experienced one great big snowstorm. I do not recall having EVER experienced anything like this in Germany. WOW...It sure is pretty, but there is no way we can leave the house with the car. Chains are now required in the ENTIRE Portland metro area, Lufthansa has cancelled their flight into PDX, and I am quite sure (but please do not quote me on this one) will also be cancelling the flight to SeaTac. I-84 the major highway connecting us to everyone else in the Eastern States is indefinitely shut between Troutdale and Hood River. I cannot stop saying WOW...Check this news video out, when you click on the link, click on "Video" http://www.katu.com/news/36269429.html.

As for us, we are still good on food but Christmas is this week so I need to get some stuff. I just called New Seasons and they are open. I will put on my snow pants, two pairs of socks, my thick winter coat (thanks to living in the Midwest), and make my trek out to Division Street. I am hoping that the #4 bus will run to take me down to the store. And yes, I have already called the store New Seasons Seven Corners is open. If worst comes to worst, I will just walk to the store. Good thing we live in the city. I will keep you all posted on my adventure...

It only rains in Portland...no, we actually are having a winter freeze

Hi there to everyone from the Artic Portland, Oregon. Yup, that's right it is almost arctic cold here with snow on the ground. It snowed Sunday almost all day long and the roads were in complete chaos. We had to go to the west side and without chains it was really impossible to go. Therefore we went on a little adventure, parked the car by the Max Train and took the Train to the west side. Our friends picked us up, but they did have chains on their tires. I don't think that I have ever seen the roads so deserted. 26 a major highway was not plowed, earlier that they I-5 which is the major artery connecting us to California, and Washington State was CLOSED. Yes, you read it correctly, the Interstate was closed. Chains were mandatory on all highways in the Portland metro area. Wow!!! Turns out, that we really only got a couple of inches of snow, but the the city just is not prepared and there are not enough snow plows.

Truth be said so, it actually is nice to have some snow before Christmas.

All I want is a Weihnachtsmarkt in Portland :)...

We were in Chicago over the weekend and went to the Weihnachtsmarkt. Chicago has had a Weihnachtsmarkt since 1996 (when we still lived there) and I have not been back in years. What a fantastic event! It has grown beautifully, there are suppliers from all over Germany and the mood is just like at any Weihnachtsmarkt. Wouldn't it be great to have a Weihnachtsmarkt similar to that here? Here is the link...http://www.christkindlmarket.com/

Adventszeit - time before Christmas...

I really like fall, and ever since we have kids I love the Adventszeit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent This is the time when we prepare for Christmas. I make an advents wreath (see picture) and light the candles accordingly. Today we lighted the first candle.

This year we started the season the day after Thanksgiving . Alena and I made stars out of craft foil. Gold, purple, pink (of course :) ) green, sliver...just wonderful. Yesterday I made the first batch of cookies so at least we have some for our afternoon tea. OK - afternoon tea we only have during the Adventszeit. On weekdays I take some time, make tea, eat cookies and sing Christmas songs with the girls. Oh, and yes I have also taken out all of our Christmas books and stories. Tomorrow (on December 1st) I will hang up the Adventskalender (advents calendar for the girls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent_calendar They also sell them in stores here in the States but they all seem to be filled with milk chocolate. Our girls cannot have milk I therefore make my own and they will get a little present every day until Christmas.

Oh, there is one thing that is very different to me living here in the States and that is the Christmas tree. When I grew up the Christmas tree went up on Christmas Eve. My parents decorated it and it was this huge secret what it would look like :) I now compromise. We get our tree in mid December and all of us decorate. More about Christmas later...

A perfect Thanksgiving dinner

It is the day after Thanksgiving and I am sure everyone is still feeling full :) The turkey we had yesterday must have been the BEST turkey I have ever had. One confession here, I am not really a turkey lover but this fantastic. Ron put the bird in a brind; it turned out nice and juicy not the least bit dry.

I have to confess to a few mishaps so...for starters I attempted to make rolls. Attempt is the right choice of word. I made the dough and let it rest. A couple of hours later I made the rolls, let them rest, and put them in the oven. Well, I must admit, they did not rise and were the sorriest little rolls I have ever seen :).

Our next mishap was with the turkey. So we all know a turkey has giblets as well as a neck in its cavity. Well, we found the neck and looked all over (as we thought) for the giblets. This bird must have come without them I thought...Well, we took at the bird after three hours and what did we see poking out at the bottom. Yup, you guess right the bag with the giblets :) Thankfully it was all intact. Bird was still delicious. But can you believe this!!!!

We sat down with all of our sides. Bird, gravy, mashed potatoes, yams, brussels sprouts, cranberries...everyone started to eat until our friend asked "So you decided not to make stuffing after all?". Well, the stuffing was all made and waiting to be baked in the fridge. I forgot to bake it!!! Good thing it only takes 3o minutes to bake.

This was the most wonderful Thanksgiving and we have stories to tell about it.

Thanksgiving

This year we will have Thanksgiving for the first time at our house. My family, and German friends of ours. So maybe it will be Thanksgiving with a German twist?! - Well, I think that we actually will keep it pretty traditional.

We already got our Turkey and Ron will put it in the brine tomorrow. And what about sides...oh yes, my favorites. Mashed Potatoes, Yams (not the canned ones), Brussels Sprouts, Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Gravy, and then I will make rolls. Our friends will bring the Cranberries and Brussels Sprouts. One thing I almost forgot, yes there also will be Pumpkin Pie. That we will buy at Sweet Pea...