Guest Post: My Mama

Dear  Kate,

What an amazing two weeks we have had. I have fallen in love with your little part of the world, honey. Who wouldn’t? You asked me for my impressions a couple of times during our trip and I thought I would jot them down for you.

It all began with a grand impression when you kicked  off our arrival with a soul filling drive over hill and dale as we stood up through your car sun-roof (and Jordan drove very slowly and safely) to experience the full effects of the apple blossoms at their peak of bloom and fragrance. Everywhere we glanced there was another hillside covered with flowering trees!

Another day, ambling down country roads touched something deep in each of us as we encountered bleating baby goats and sheep…bleating at times a little excessively as you lured them into their electric fence…(totally by accident).

I loved our hike through the Black Forest, and it struck me so powerfully that these were in fact the very same woods through which Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel+ and Gretel traversed during their own flirtation with danger. Though I don’t remember reading that they had a close encounter with a wild boar (or maybe just thought they heard one once).

I easily and eagerly fell into your life’s rhythm of getting your bread from the bakery everyday and taking your basket to walk to the market to pick up your fresh produce (Is there a village more suited to Kate Jones than this?)

 It took me a full 10 days to realize that kucken and streusel were not in a breakfast food category, but rather desserts…

Who knew? Who wanted to know?

Several things about those living in Kandern inspired me. One was the high value put on gardening. No matter how small a space, it was made beautified by something in bloom. Every corner, nook and cranny had been cared for in this way.

I also noticed and was inspired by Kandern’s (or more accurately Germany’s) elderly. Of course there were able bodied people of all ages bicycling and walking all the time, but what I loved was how the elderly got out there on their canes and rolling walkers walking the same paths they had been walking all their lives, and likely that their grandparents and great grandparents had been walking all their lives. They didn't seem afraid to fall or to be walking alone– they seemed driven to walk and get outside. And they walked long distances!

Remember the dear man we met upon arriving at Sausenberg Castle? (that castle the we drove to?)  I was blown away that he had actually walked there... from Lorrach! I love that the walking trails all over the countryside have connected these villages for hundreds of years. This is just a way of life here! It's an old way of life that holds on to things of value like spending time outside walking and gardening. I saw many, many people eating and laughing together outside on old tables with plastic table cloths – it didn't look like a Martha Stewart Living magazine – it didn't have to. It was real and the connections were real, and that’s what made it beautiful. I’m sure I am making it much better in my imagination than it really is. But that’s ok – I was on vacation.

It is obvious upon arrival in Kandern that the buildings you see are old (and beautiful). I think that this undergirds a way of life that is old (and to me, beautiful). Living in a village you never have to leave and in which you can walk everywhere; to church, to the market, to the bakery, to school, to your grandparents. It slows life down a bit; you chew on it longer, savor it more. This was very attractive to me. I walked around Kandern a lot looking at the funny shaped houses and gardens – never sure whose garden belonged to whose house.

But whose ever garden it was was very invested in it – they were beautiful! I had so much fun walking all over Kandern while you guys slept in. The cemetery was amazing – a garden in itself – people actually went to the cemetery and took care of the plots – at least during Holy Week.

And in my mind I made it be that the people who watered (with the watering cans at the cemetery for this purpose) valued those who went before them and had a sense of the importance of personal and family history – it mattered – it wasn’t disposable.

On our last night I felt it again as we went up the hill to the war memorial. It was a beautiful place to see the sunset – but I was also drawn to the other side of the hill overlooking the village of Kandern. It was very poignant to me sitting in the shadow of the monument which had a long list of names of those killed at war…an identical list exists in the town square in our Lake Bluff – sons, brothers, husbands and fathers– all who died – all who were deeply missed by those in their respective villages…

I loved what I saw and felt in Kandern; there was a life there that felt deeply connected to the village – I felt it and I loved it. So my darling, these are my impressions of your wonderful village as seen through my rose colored glasses. Thank you for a wonderful trip to a very special place that touched my soul.                    

I love you,

Mom.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Austrian Scones

For the past few months, I've had this nagging feeling that my blog was missing something...I think it really hit me after I wrote the recent post about what Germany sounded like, and thought about writing a post about what Germany smelled like. I'm an "S" on the Myers Briggs personality test, and from what I understand, that means the five senses are really important to me and I experience life largely through the aesthetics of my surroundings. So, that naturally led me to think about what Germany tastes like.

It's no secret that, for me, Germany tastes like bread. Whether it's a soft, buttery, braided roll, a thick, salted pretzel, or a cute little brotchen, crusty on the outside and (preferably) warm on the inside, Germany has a bread for you. And lots of bread for me. How I will ever go back to eating gluten free after this year remains to be seen, but Germany tastes like other things, too.

For us, Germany tasted a lot like frozen pizza the first month. We were too overwhelmed to do anything but turn on the oven--and even that took a surprising amount of effort. How hot is 200 degrees Celsius, anyway? What do all the settings on our oven even mean? And, oh yeah, the directions on the pizza box aren't in English.

But alongside the frozen pizza, Germany also tasted like yummy homemade meals created by generous new friends who insisted we not bring anything. (And that was probably for the best in our seemingly endless jet-lagged state, barely able to leave the grocery store with food, much less identifiable food that tasted good.) In the first two weeks of our arrival, we probably had ten dinner invitations. I couldn't get over that sweet, tangible way people reached out to us.

Since then, Germany has started to taste like new recipes, for a variety of reasons. Not every food we used to get in the states is easily available in Germany. In case I haven't made it clear, crunchy granola bars are notably missing from this country, as are good salsa and good tortilla chips (according to Jordan) and chocolate chips. And sometimes, even if I can find the same foods, they are more expensive, or just different than I'm used to. My avocado choosing abilities have gone out the window since moving here, which has been tough, because I LOVE avocados. (And on that note--feel free to skip this part if you aren't into avocados--but I think picking out avocados calls for different skillsets depending on where you live. Each time I've made a major move, it's taken about a year of adjustment before I hone my avocado picking skills to perfection again. What would be a perfect avocado in Florida will be far too mushy in Colorado! It's maddening. In Germany, the ones that feel "perfectly" ripe, have already turned brown inside and are starting to rot. And yes, I know the pinterest idea about popping off the little nub to see the color underneath that will tell you if it's past it's prime, but did you read my post about the German grocery store? You aren't supposed to touch the fruit unless you are going to buy it! There are plastic gloves available if you absolutely need to squeeze a pear or sniff a peach. I usually try to stealthily squeeze an avocado while doing the one thumbed nub pop off, but it's hard. Maybe the stress is what's causing me to lose my skills. Anyway.)

Another reason my recipe repertoire has changed, is that my thoughtful friend, Julia, gave me the book "Bread and Wine" which is filled with sweet stories and yummy food ideas. And finally, being in Germany has connected me to new people who have new recipes to share. So, these days, along with some of the usual standbys, I cook things like ratatouille, crepes, and enchiladas (a challenge with the lame salsa, by the way).

But the point of this post is not to talk about dinner foods, or even avocados; it's actually to tell you about the yummiest of treats I discovered how to make this winter. I was introduced to these scones by my friend, Katrina. She is the much-loved history teacher and vice principal of the middle school here at BFA. She made these scones for a staff breakfast and was kind enough to share her recipe. Though she doesn't recall where she learned to make these scones, I have dubbed them, "Austrian Scones", since Katrina grew up in Austria, and that's just the coolest.



My friend Johanna (who is pictured baking with us) and I love these scones so much that when we get together to work out, we usually just end up baking and eating them instead. Jordan loves these scones so much, he keeps asking me when "we" are going to make them again. To be fair, I think he learned that language from me--ie "Could "we" take out the trash today?" "Maybe "we" can change that light-bulb soon?" Personally, I've had a soft spot for scones ever since working at a tea house in college. Really, my love was for the clotted cream, the scones were just an acceptable vehicle for stuffing cream into my mouth. All five of my roommates also worked at this tea house from time to time, and we took turns spying on our boss as she prepared her secret clotted cream recipe, but we never did succeed in getting it. So, I would recommend just whipping up some whipping cream with a bit of sugar, and it will do the trick.

So, with that, I give you my very first blog recipe, Katrina's Austrian Scones. It's even in cups and Fahrenheit, not grams and Celsius, so consider yourself lucky.

Ingredients:                 2 cups flour

                                    ½ cup sugar

                                    2 tsp baking powder

                                    ½ tsp salt

                                    1/3 cup butter

                                    ½ cup whipping cream (I sub almond milk, but cream tastes better, obviously)

                                    1 egg

                                    1 ½ tsp vanilla

                                    cranberries, white chocolate chips, other “mix ins” (the white chocolate is key)

                                    1 more egg for glaze

Directions:

1.    Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
2.     Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3.     Using a pastry cutter, “cut” in the butter. (This part is hard, don't give up).
4.     In a separate container, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla.
5.     Mix the wet into the dry ingredients. You may need to use your hands to knead the dough.
6.     Add in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
7.     Spread on a floured surface. Form into a circle and cut into triangles. (Makes them look very authentic).
8.     Beat the other egg and brush onto the tops of the scones. (Optional, but again, adds to aesthetics).
9.     Bake 15(ish) minutes.
10. Enjoy with clotted cream or jam.