Sunrise over Kleinmachnow

This mornig I was up and about, getting ready to go nordic walking with Birgit. I was just in the kitchen getting a water bottle ready when I noticed the sunrise. Now, I know you are saying to yourself, what is the big deal about a sunrise, but.......

.........wow, right? Happy Saturday Everyone! I am linking to Pink Saturday over How Sweet the Sound. Be sure to check out all the other great pink. If you have a new recipe you have tried out recently, do come share with us tomorrow for New Recipe Sunday!

Christmas Eve

merry Christmas Everyone! here in Germany we are enjoying Christmas Day #2! that gives me a moment in between cooking to share with you all the first of the tablescapes I created this year.

Hope you all had happy holidays filled with joy and laughter! I will be posting to Tablescape Thursday today.

Even in Winter

Yes, even in winter this family likes to grill burgers and brats outside on the grill! My son and some friends went to the local, well relatively local...living here in Berlin nothing is really "just around the corner"  paintball place. Anyhow, after their fun filled day, the gang came back to our house for hamburgers and brats. Of course I made those out of this world onion strings again (as always none were left over). Seeing as today is new recipe Sunday and considering I had this large bag of potatoes that needed to be used, I decided to try my hand again at making my own french fries.....

........that meant seeing if the Pioneer Woman could help me out!!! Found the recipe, got to work and as with the those onion strings....no french fries leftover.

 

Step One: cut the potatoes into sticks. Soak the potato sticks in cold water for at least 2-3 hours. It is also possible to soak them over nite. Then, drain the water and lay the potato sticks on baking sheets lined with paper towels...blot dry.

Step Two. Cook the potatoes for 4-5 minutes per batch(potatoes should be soft). Oil should be at 300 F.

Step Three. Remove each batch and drain on fresh paper towels.
Step Four.  Increase the heat to 400 F and fry the potatoes again until gold and crisp.
Step Five. Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!

And there they are.....ready to be eaten by the four hundry young men!

(in the backround are the onion strings, just waiting to jump in the hot oil)

Come join us for "New Recipe Sunday"

 

 

Thankful for so much

Maybe I should rename my blog...." I do not know where the time goes...," as I seem to say this a lot!. Yes it is the weekend before Christmas and I am just now getting to posting the pictures of my thanksgiving table! But honestly, the last few weeks have been a blur and I have been going non-stop(I bet I am not the only one too)

The idea for this years thanksgiving table started to form in my brain when I was in Potsdam at the fabric fair. OMG....so much fabric..always a treat to go and see what is available. Makes me want to quit my job and learn to sew!

Anyways..... I found the material for the tablecloth and the rest as they say...is history!

See the truffle on the plate? Homemade chocolate truffles, decorated to match the decor!

Love my crown place card holders....Sabine was our special guest this year. Big shout out to her doctors who let her out of the hospital for a few hours to come to dinner. She had just had some major surgery, but the surgeon let her come when she heard about our dinner.

The next shout out goes to my local florist. She always knows exactly what I want! THese flowers lasted for almost 3 weeks! 

Of course, leave it to me to find chocolates at the store that just happen to match!

My favorite part of this table.......my turkey salt and pepper shaker from Kirstina!

Wishing all of you a happy holday season.....

 

Linking up to: the tablescaper and tablescape thursday
and home sweet home

German Pretzels

Recently I was aksed if I had ever made my own Laugen Brezel(german brezels that have been dipped in a baking soda or lye solution before baking. They are to die for, and you can enjoy them either as a Pretzel or Roll or better yet Crossiant. WEll, up untill now I had not ever attempted to make my own, but now my curiosity was peaked and so I set out to find a recipe.
I found two recipes on Chefkoch.de.  My first two attempts turned out quite well, although I have to admit that there is still tweaking to do. The Pretzel dough defintely needs to be thinner and I need to try out other types of flour. But that is all for another day-another post. Today for New Recipe Sunday I would like to share with all of you the recipes I tried out.

Brezen-The Recipe

500 grams Flour

250 ml Water

1 Pkg Yeast

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Sugar

Sea Salt

1 litre water

3 Tablespoons Kaiser Natron(Baking Soda)

Directions

Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.  Pour the yeast/water mixture into the bowl of your kitchen machine. Add, the flour, salt, and sugar. Mix with the dough hook till you have a nice, dry dough.

Form 6 Pretzels. Now is the time to make the "Lauge". Boil 1 litre to water, reduce heat(just a tad) and carefully add the baking soda. Drop the formed dough into the "lauge". The Pretzel will rise shortly, carefully remove with the aid of a slotted spoon and place on the baking sheet. (Baking Sheet should be well "greased". If you want you can sprinkle the Pretzels with sea salt.

Place the baking sheet in a cold oven and turn the oven to 200 Degrees C.  Bake the pretzels for about 18 minutes. The Pretzels are done when they are golden brown.

 

come share with us a new recipe you have recently tried out.