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.

Party Soup!

Greetings Everyone and welcome back to New Recipe Sunday. I know I know, I have been absent from blog world for awhile, but with good reason! I have been spending a lot of time back in Cloppenburg with family and friends....gathering lots of new recipes to share with all of you.

This Sunday I am going top tell you about what is called "Oven Party Soup". This is by far the easiest and quickest soup I have ever made. I was introduced to this recipe by my girlfriend Petra, who made it for her birthday party. So that you understand how easy this soup is, Petra threw it together, in between taken care of her three children, cleaning house and getting ready for her house guest--me!

Ingredients:

1 kilo turkey filet
2 large onions, cubed
1 small can of peas, with juices
1 small can of pineapple, cubed and with juices
1 glass of tomato-bell pepper with juices
1 small can of corn with juices
1 small can of mushrooms without juices
1 small bottle of catsup
1 small bottle of Sauce(I used Zigeunersauce/GyspySauce)
1 small bottle of curry catsup
500 ml of cream
250 ml of water

Place all ingredients in the casserole as they are listed. Oven should be at 200° C and this wonderful, easy soup will be ready for your guests in 150 minutes!


Enjoy and thanks for stopping by, hope to see you all again next Sunday.

Homemade Pumpkin pie......no more canned

Well, as many of you know I am ´"from scratch" baker....except for pumpkin pie. Up till now I have been lucky enough to have a can of pumpkin pie filling in my pantry. Well, this year....no can....but I did have 3 Hokaido Pumpkins and my neighbor says to me...."I will cook the pumpkin for you if you do the rest" Of course I say yes and voila....the pie came out more than perfect and oh my God....does it taste good.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com(where else?!)

Homemade Fresh Pumpkin Pie...submitted by Randy

just check the allrecipes.com web site for the recipe.

But till you do....here a picture for you!

Oh and here a glimpse of ALL the pies!

Oreo Cookie pie, Pecan Pie, Apple Pie and my now favorite Pumpkin Pie!

Happy Day Everyone

The year in review....part one

As I write this post, it is the 16th of November.....10:30am......HOW can it already be the 16th of NOvember? Already I feel the pressure and the stress of the holidays upon me and I hate that. THe advent season is to be one of peace, happiness, joy, etc., why is it that I am already counting the days till it is all over? I used to love the holidays....I decorate on thanskgiving, I drive my family crazy with christmas music, I write my christmas letter and make homemade treats for friends and family. Last year I only managed the decorating, this year I fear that I will not even manage that. Who are what is to blame? The job only in part as I am gone most of the day, but I do think I can blame my job alone. With every year I feel like I am sinking deeper and deeper into a big dark hole. So tell me, how do I get out of it? Last year I thought the that having the whole family on one side of the ocean for the holidays was reason enough to celebrate and enjoy....did not pan out. And this year, with no vistors to look forward to, I feel like canceling the whole event entirely.

My plea: help me find the Christmas Spirit.........

Just one more.....Halloween

Halloween has many know is my favorite holiday. And so I would like to share with you just one more of my halloween themed tablescapes from this year.

Posting to Tablescape Thursday
                 The Tablescaper
                 Keeping it Simple

Tooo Yummy to be true

Have I told you about the new cookbook that came in the mail the other day? Well,  amazon.de was kind enough to deliver the latest cookbook from the pioneer woman. Needless to say it made my day and now that I have tried the first 2 recipes out of the book, it also made my Sunday complete.....although....note to self: next time remember the margarittas!

The first recipe I tried out was MANGO PICO de GALLO.....who knew that a mango could be soooooo good?

The second recipe I tried was, BEEF and CHICKEN FAJITAS.....again who knew? Now, I had to adjust this recipe just a touch. A: I did not have Worcestershire sauce, so in my need(on a sunday no stores open) I used Soy Sauce and B: no idea what skirt steak is, so I used beef roulades(long thin pieces of beef which you normally fill and roll up and then fry in the pan and serve with a gravy)

You can find the list of ingredients to both recipes in her new book, titled The Pioneer Woman Cooks--a year of Holidays.

Happy New Recipe Sunday everyone. Please do share your new recipes with us!