Christmas in a Semi-German Style

This photo is from the Medieval Christmas market (unfortunately we forgot the camera, so this was taken with my just-a-bit broken cell phone), where the mead was flowing, blacksmiths were smelting, spices from the distant near-east were for sale, and a certain 3 year old boy was able to convince his parents to buy him a wooden sword. I had my green pants on, so I played the part of the fire-breathing dragon to perfection. The buffoons seen above were performing the fairy tale about the frog with the golden ball. Let me tell you, that frog knew how to juggle! It was so funny, even with my limited understanding of German. Later on, we even saw a kind of contredanse performed by about 10 actors that looked like so much fun!

On Christmas Eve, we decided to go to the cathedral for midnight mass. Who could resist such a cultural opportunity (especially since, I swear, this is the only time we will stay in Germany for Christmas)? We went all-out traditional, eating Christmas Eve dinner in a Chinese restaurant populated by the most racially diverse clientele I have seen in Cologne. Refreshing! It is unfortunate that I felt compelled to eat most of the spring onions in the dish because when it came time to sing in the Cathedral, I was perhaps a bit too fragrant. But, I am getting ahead of myself. We arrived at the church at about 11:10, and, of course, it was too late to sit in a pew. We stood at the side and soon the horns, organ, and choir began their concert. It was quite beautiful, echoing through the vaulted ceilings. Jeremy and I got to sing Silent Night in German! The incense smoked us out halfway through the ceremony-- it was billowing past us in a frankincensey fog. Now, please take a moment to imagine just how warm a giant cathedral would be at 12:30 in the morning in the northern part of Europe. We weren't quite shivering, but I had a hard time feeling my feet.

On Christmas Day, we went to our friends' house and ate an astonishing amount of lamb, brussel sprouts, and potaoes cooked in goose fat, washing it down with tiramisu and chocolates. Delicious! We played board games and talked about science, and had a very relaxing time.

Lots of our love to our family and friends in America who are constantly in our thoughts!

Babies! Everywhere!

Oy.

Well, as Christmas approaches, I have to admit I feel a bit sad staying in Germany. I will miss

watching old movies with Jeremy's grandma
cooking some crazy complicated dinner at Martha's house with Jeremy
drinking eggnog with Jer's dad
playing cards with Kathy and Thom
doing needlecrafts with my mom on the couch
eating my dad's delicious cooking (and sometimes I get to help!)
playing video games with Chuckie and Elaina
and sometimes even joining in the teasing and napkin throwing with Jer and his brothers

I will also miss bringing everyone some crazy thing that no one wants to eat!! Why, oh, why doesn't everyone love Stollen and Panetone? (which are practically the same thing, I don't care what the Germans and Italians say)

Jeremy and I will be having Christmas dinner with a couple from the lab that hail from the British Isles, so I think Yorkshire pudding is in the works-- also lamb! I'll be making eggnog, tiramisu, and some chocolates. We may even go to Christmas Eve mass at the Dom.

OK, so I know this is a completely commonplace thing, and it hits a lot of people in my age group, but why does it seem like everyone I know is having a baby right now?? My cousin Shanna, my sister-in-law Stephanie (take a look at their blog), my friend in Cologne... It's a good thing that I love to knit baby sweaters. Here is one in progress:



(I'm using the needles that you gave me, Karen!)
I just couldn't resist the rainbow colors of this yarn, but I think it may be a little scratchy for a newborn, so my plan is to line it with cotton.

Did everyone notice the sunshine in the picture? Yippee!

Daria's Poncho

Instead of showing you the socks that I completely forgot to take a picture of before I gave them away, I have this adorable little Finished Object for your delectation. I had made the pink part of this poncho for my little friend Daria 2 years ago. She had picked out the dark pink yarn, naturally an unbelievable soft baby alpaca, and I was quite proud of the design that I came up with. In a few words, I adored it. However, the charming girl declared it too short (in the grand tradition of children), so this week I set about lengthening the thing. If I may say so, now I adore it even more! The woman at my knitting store suggested adding embroidery to tie the new teal border to the rest of the garment, and I think that is really the most fabulous touch.

Schoko-Kirsch-Kuchen

I thought perhaps someone out of my faithful readers would like to make this cake because it was a huge success! and so easy! so moist! etc. So, here it is, faithfully translated from my German cooking book:

German Chocolate Cherry Cake
Umm, Not That Kind

Ingredients
2 2/3 c. flour
2 1/2 T. baking powder
pinch of salt
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
16 ounce jar of cherries, drained well
(hmmm, is it possible in America to get cherries in a jar that are not the pie
filling kind? Frozen would be ok. Regular cherries would work, but I know that is completely impossible this time of year!)
2 eggs
8 ounces plain, full milk yogHurt
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract (if you have vanilla sugar, you can use a packet of that!)
1/3 c. butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 350, and either butter and flour a rectangular bread pan, or cover the inside of the pan with a piece of parchment paper (I recommend this! I just lifted the cake right out of the pan, and I DIDN'T HAVE TO WASH THE PAN!)

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
2. Roughly chop chocolate.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, then mix in joghurt, sugar, and vanilla. Mix in softened butter.
4. Gradually mix the four mixture into the egg mixture.
5. Fold in the cherries and chocolate.
6. Pour (more like glop) the dough into the pan.
7. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees!


The Vietnamese restaurant was absolutely fantastic last night. Jeremy had duck that he rolled in rice paper wrappers with fresh herbs, mung beans, and rice noodles. I was totally jealous because his dinner was yummy AND fun.

Jeremy's Birthday!

Today Jeremy turned an unspecified number of years (some of ya'll seem touchy about it...), and we celebrated in fabulous semi-German style. The other tribolium scientists and Jeremy and I went to lunch at one of the Christmas markets for incredibly huge pieces of deep-fried fish (and I momentarily regretted the huge omelete I made for breakfast because the combination left no room in my stomach for french fries!). Then we hopped over to the lab to eat a cake that I made, a very German concoction of cherries, chocolate, and yoghurt. The scientists had decorated Jeremy's lab bench with an American flag and a banner that read "Herzlichen Glückwunsch". Awesome.

We're going out for Vietnamese tonight. Wish us luck!

Echt Deutsch

Ladies and Gentlemen, I hereby announce that as of January 7th, I will be submitting myself fully to the study of the German language. I found a class at the Volkshochschule (the school for continuing education) that meets 4 days a week for 4 hours per day for 3 months (with time off for Carneval, of course-- and then I will take a week off to visit my family, but other than that, no excuses!! Nothing but German learning!). Yes! Hopefully, I will be able to communicate in a less embarassing way after that kind of rigorous training.

Speaking of things German, after ballet today I popped into the grocery store where I was met by a girl who gave me a certificate for a free drink. Within the store. Of Jägermeister! It was 1pm! They had a crazy booth set up, and everyone was enjoying their free drink. I have to admit that Jägermeister in hot chocolate with whipped cream on top is a very enjoyable concoction.

The Squirrel vs. The Gondoliers; or, why you shouldn't get your PhD in Venice

This is an example of the super-fat-completely-unafraid-of-humans squirrels that The New York Baroque Dance Company had to contend with during our residency at Cornell University. They stalked every tree-lined path on campus for students dreamily looking at the sky and thinking about Heidigger with mufins poking out of their pockets. Then they would strike!! Oh, the horror.
When not avoiding these fiends, we spent our time making the adorably funny commedia dell'arte show, Harlequin's Capers. You can read all about it (along with fabulous background information about baroque dance) here in the Ithaca Journal.

After the performance, I went directly to Trieste, Italy for the last installment of The Fairy Queen. I was so happy to see my Italian friends again , and in addition to the joy of jumping around on the stage like a maniac again, allow me to list the other highlights:

1. going to Miramare Castle to smell that special parterre garden air and see a nineteenth century toilet
2. during aperitivo time, eating hand-sliced chunks of prosciutto cotto and drinking good local wine (although I have to admit that I also drank really BAD wine there, too) and then deciding that dinner was unnecessary
3. drinking coffee in a tiny pastry shop where the owner told us all about the supreme goodness of the Illy family

After the shows were over (I only cried a little bit during the last bows), I met Jeremy in Venice!! We had a lovely time, and it was hilarious how both the Italians and the Americans would say "oh, so romantic" when I told them of our plans. It was suitably romantic, but still awfully touristy even in the lowest of the low season. We were quite lucky that it didn't rain because in November there is always the threat of the canals overflowing, called "aqua alta".

Jeremy and I hit all the hot spots: San Marco, where we saw a poor girl being attacked by pigeons (on purpose, her parents were laughing and taking pictures, and she was quite a sport), the Rialto Bridge, the 18th. century museum, etc. etc. We were good tourists and didn't even get lost too much.

Our favorite things:
(lists are so much easier than paragraphs)

1. Sarde in Saor, a Venitian speciality of whole sardines served cold with white wine, sweet onions, pine nuts, and raisins (watch out! I may try to make this!!)
2. seeing boats that deliver all of the food, etc. into the city, along with the garbage boats and ambulance boats-- there are no cars!!
3. We always ate Tramezzini (tiny sandwiches with different fillings) for lunch.
4. lots of quiet walks down narrow, twisting streets

Now, to explain the title. We happened upon a strange ritual near the University-- a girl appeared to have just received her PhD, and she was standing in front a huge poster with lots of tiny print and a picture of her swinging through the trees as a monkey. She was wearing padded hot-pants and a tube on her head, and while she tried to read the tiny text of the poster, her friends shouted "Drink!", threw eggs, and squirted her with ketchup and milk. The next day we saw the same thing happening to a boy, so this was no isolated incident. Ha! I can't believe I missed my chance to squirt ketchup at Jeremy.