Ringing in the new year with a bang

The folks of Vienna sure do like their fireworks. For the past month, we could hear the pops and bangs of small firecrackers almost as soon as it became dark -- which is between 4:00 and 4:30 these days. At times it sounded like a small battle was being waged at the park down the street from our apartment. But until today, we rarely saw any fireworks. Today we've been able to see and hear fireworks pretty steadily since about 6:00.

Apparently, new year's eve celebration (Silvester, as it's called here) is a pretty big deal in these parts. An article on Virtual Vienna Net, a website for expats in Vienna, explains why fireworks play such a big role in Austria's celebration.

New Year's Eve in Vienna is a loud and merry time. This is no accident, but the enactment of an established tradition: in the fourth century Pope Silvester, after whom the night is named in Austria, tried to purge the new Christian church of heathen customs, but the old gods proved to be extremely stubborn. They kept on returning in the form of scheming devils, evil spirits or artful demons, digging their way into people's souls until the man of God realized that one devil best drives out another and using the old believes announced that the only thing they couldn't stand was noise. This is the reason why the New Year is heralded in with pyrotechnics, firecrackers and loud bangs to make sure that it is free of dark spirits.

Hmmm... so those rowdy kids at the park who have been driving me crazy with the firecrackers every night are just trying to keep the evil spirits away? Whatever their reasons, I hope they run out of firecrackers soon.

Brian and I are having a peaceful evening at home this New Year's Eve. I did venture out to the grocery store earlier today -- along with at least 95% of the inhabitant within a 10 mile radius -- but we're not going to head into town. I'll just watch the fireworks from my window.

I wish you all a happy new year!

Downtown

Have you noticed the trend in naming posts after songs? I just can't help myself.



I'm not really sure where "downtown" Vienna is located, but I headed into the city today. Some might say, I went downtown. I don't know if I would say it. I think I have a bit of cabin fever and I just needed to get out for a while.

I've been thinking about sweet potatoes a lot lately and the only place you can find them is downtown -- no, wait -- at the Naschmarkt. This was my first visit since it's been really cold and I definitely noticed that the crowd was smaller. The last time I was there, the place was overflowing with sweet potatoes. You couldn't turn around without bumping into one. But this time they weren't quite as plentiful. I guess I should have bought them during the fall.

Oh well, there were enough. I loaded up on sweet potatoes and bought a new pair of mittens. I have gloves that I like, but I've been wanting a pair of mittens that have the top part that you can remove so you can actually use your fingers. I hope you know what I'm talking about because I'm too lazy to get the camera.

However, I did snap some nice photos at the Naschmarkt. They're not for the faint of heart. If you prefer a little mystery with the food you eat, maybe you shouldn't continue. because there's no doubt with this food.

I'll start you out with some cute bread -- just so you won't have to see anything you don't want to see. Unless, of course, you're just scanning through the photos. In which case, you get what you deserve.

The pig is a symbol for good luck, so you see all sort of pig-paraphernalia around New Years. One of the bakeries at the Naschmarkt was selling bread shaped like a pig's head. Pretty cute, eh?



But just a little further down at the butcher, you can find real pigs' heads. Notice the one on the right has a cigar in his mouth.



Have you ever had shrimp scampi and wondered what it looked like before it was on your plate? Wonder no more.



If you're more of a fish kind of person, here's your dinner. The one on the bottom looks surprised, the one above it is a little angry and the one above that one is just down-right sad.



If you're eating fish in Austria, it may not look much different when it arrives at the dinner table. I'm pretty sure they serve it with the head intact.

I've saved the most disturbing for last. This was actually the first thing I photographed at the Naschmarkt. I've never seen anything like it. I'm not sure what it was, but the hoof is still there!

Oh, I wish...

Are you singing it yet?

Sometimes I wish I had a really nice camera with lots of different lenses and could take all these amazing photos. But then I realize that I would have to actually learn how to use the camera and learn all that photography lingo like aperture and f-stop. And not just learn what it means, but how it affects the photo I'm taking. Plus, I'd actually have to get out and take photos! Not just hop off the u-bahn and snap some photos from the platform.

So I guess it's a good thing I don't have a nice, expensive camera. I don't think I could handle all that other stuff. Maybe one day. And my point-and-shoot does a pretty decent job most of the time.

Here are the latest photos that I took from the u-bahn platform. It's been pretty cold here for a while and the Alte Donau (Old Danube) is frozen over. It's quite a site to see.









If you look at the last one closely, you can see three people on the ice. There are areas where you can ice skate when the river freezes over, but I think these people just went out on their own. I imagine they're wearing shoes -- I doubt you could skate with the snow on the ice. I can't believe they're in the middle of the river! I hope the ice is thick.

Happy Christmas

So this is Christmas.

According to my mom, some people are feeling sorry for us because we're spending Christmas all alone in Vienna. Brian and I thought about capitalizing on this situation and finding a pathetic-looking Charlie Brown tree and posing for a Christmas photo. You know, to get more sympathy. But then we didn't, so I just photoshopped one instead.


But really, there's no reason to feel bad for us. Brian's sister sent us a lovely package, the contents of which allowed us to celebrate The Tradition on Christmas Eve. It wasn't the same without family, but it was still nice.


And then today, we enjoyed lunch with the Haskews. So you see, we weren't alone after all.

Even Sharkdog had a jolly Christmas.


Merry Christmas!

Christmas eve hijinks

It looks like Sharkdog has found someone who enjoys looking out the window just about as much as he does.

Around Christmas, my family always has sausage balls in the house. Despite my struggle with making peanut butter balls in Austria, I decided to continue with the tradition of making sausage balls. In the U.S., it's quite a simple recipe -- breakfast sausage, Bisquick and sharp cheddar. But everything is a bit more difficult here. First, I've never seen breakfast sausage. Second, I've never seen Bisquick or other biscuit baking mixes. (Or biscuits for that matter. Even KFC doesn't have biscuits!) And finally, I've never seen sharp cheddar -- though I have heard it's available.

So what's a girl to do? I imagine you can guess -- I went over to All Recipes. I used this recipe to transform ground pork (which is readily available and quite inexpensive) into breakfast sausage and this recipe to make biscuit mix. As for the sharp cheddar, I replaced it with mild cheddar, which (gasp) I had to shred myself.


The sausage balls turned out pretty tasty, though not exactly like the ones from the U.S. All in all, I'd call it a success.

Animal kingdom

Yesterday I had hippos on the brain. I know -- hippos -- it seems a little strange. But I ran across this website and had the song stuck in my head the rest of the day. I remember loving this song when I was younger. I can remember listening to it in the car. I'm pretty sure my dad sang along.

So yesterday when I saw cute pink hippos at IKEA, I was seriously considering buying one. But then I saw sharks and decided to get one for Sharkdog. Normally when Sharkdog gets a new toy, he's very hesitant about it at first. He'll dance around it, trying to sniff it without getting too close, and eventually he'll start playing with it. But when I showed him the shark, he tried to grab it immediately. And he played with it for quite a while. He even brought it to bed last night.


In other news, the Rushers started celebrating the holidays a little early. Check out Sharkdog's blog to read about today's happenings.

How lovely are your branches

Sharkdog really enjoys looking out the window. Especially when it's snowing. I'm glad our apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

We didn't get a Christmas tree this year. I kind of wanted a tiny tree just because I like miniature things. But Brian said no way. The conversation went something like this:

A: [kind and innocent tone] Brian, sweetheart, can we get a Christmas tree this year?

B: [loud and mean tone] No, wicked woman. No tree, and that's final.

A: But honey, it's Christmas. Just a small tree.

B: I said no tree. But I'm in a generous mood. You can have a branch.

Ok, so maybe that is a bit of an embellishment. But I do like all of the tiny Christmas trees. And Brian did tell me that I could have a branch. This is probably closer to the real conversation:

[walking past the Christmas tree lot after German class]

A: [casually] Those tiny trees are cute. Do you want to get a tiny tree?

B: [casually] No, I'm not really interested in a tree this year.

[We notice some branches laying on the ground.]

A: What about a branch? Are you interested in getting a branch?

B: Hmm... I like that idea. Yes, you can get a branch.

But I didn't get a branch. I'm pretty sure the guy would have given me a branch, but I didn't want to carry it all the way home on the u-bahn. Plus, I didn't want to try to have the "can I have a Christmas branch?" conversation in German.

Since we don't have a tree, I decided to decorate our crazy lamp. In Austria, Christmas trees are called Chirstbaum (baum = tree), so this is our Christlampe.


Every year, Brian and I get a new ornament. We haven't bought one yet this year, but I'm hoping to stop by a Christmas market tomorrow afternoon. This is the ornament from last year. I think it's my favorite.

The big disappointment

I've been so disappointed with Christmas baking this year. Mainly because I haven't done any yet.

I had big plans of making sausage balls and peppermint brownies. And I wanted to try some new recipes like this Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprint recipe. Or possibly (in my more ambitious moments), this recipe for Brown Butter Spoon Cookies with Jam.

I had good intentions. Really, I did.

But it just hasn't happened. I actually tried to make peanut butter balls. But something went awry. I must have converted some of the measurements incorrectly. It's a little tricky to convert "1 package of graham crackers" into grams of graham-cracker-substitute. (For those in Europe looking for a graham cracker substitute, I used Leibniz Vollkornkekes.) So the peanut butter mixture turned out very sticky and not as firm as it should be. Even after refrigerating it, it was still softer than I'd like.

And I'm not going to start with the troubles I had melting the chocolate. After two failed attempts, I switched over to the melting chocolate you can buy in a little plastic cup. It was a sad day.

After all that trouble, I didn't have the heart to dip a hundred peanut butter balls into chocolate. So I decided to make peanut butter bars instead. I put some foil in a baking dish, added a layer of melted chocolate, stuck it in the freezer to harden the chocolate, added the peanut butter mixture, then added another layer or melted chocolate and stuck it all back into the fridge. It turned out ok, but not as good as I had hoped. Not good enough for a photo.

But here's the recipe if you want to try it. As you can see, the measurements are based on American packaging, so perhaps I'll have to find a recipe with actual measurements for next year. However, I've successfully made this recipe many times in the U.S.

Peanut Butter Balls

• 1 package graham crackers (this isn't 1 box, but one of the packages within a box), crushed
• 1 lb box powdered sugar
• 2 sticks margarine or butter, softened
• 1 lb peanut butter
• 1/2 pack chocolate chips
• 2/3 block paraffin wax

1. Mix crushed graham crackers, powdered sugar, softened margarine and peanut butter. Roll peanut butter mixture into small balls (about 1 inch) and refrigerate.
2. Melt paraffin wax and chocolate chips in double boiler, sauce pan or microwave. Stir until smooth.
3. Use a toothpick to dip peanut butter balls into chocolate.
4. Place dipped peanut butter balls on waxed paper and refrigerate.

Monkey on the lam

What's funnier than a sneaky monkey? How about a sneaky drunken monkey?

A hard pill to swallow

Alternative and homeopathic medicine seems to be much more popular here than in the U.S. I've known this for a while, but it really struck me recently during German class. Earlier this week we discussed subjects related to health -- body parts, common health problems, etc. During one of the exercises, we were given a list of health problems and a list of remedies and had to "prescribe" a remedy for each problem. Here are some of the more amusing remedies.

Headache -- drink coffee

Dizzy/light-headed -- eat chocolate

Diarrhea -- drink cola and eat pretzels

And everyone's favorite:
Stomachache - drink cognac

I couldn't sell the cookies either*

I know, I know. I promised some tales of Christmas goodies. But then I got caught up in this little thing called sewing. About two weeks ago, I had a crazy idea to make some Christmas presents. Then I decided to return my sewing machine because I wasn't pleased with it. And when I failed to buy a new one on Saturday as planned, I was left sewing machineless for the entire weekend since EVERYTHING IS CLOSED on Sunday.

Alisha, you're probably thinking, since you didn't have your sewing machine, why didn't you spend the time making those Christmas goodies? Well, it's because I also forgot to buy the powdered sugar and graham cracker-like cookies when I went to the store on Saturday. And the grocery store was closed on Sunday. Weren't you listening when I mentioned that before? I was practically yelling.

Okay, to be perfectly honest there is one grocery store open on Sundays. And it's not terribly far away. If you consider a 10 minutes walk and 20 minutes on public transportation each way "not terribly far away." Which, by the way, I don't anymore. Consider it far away, that is. But an hour to get powdered sugar and graham cracker-like cookies is a bit much. Especially when I have other things, like church, going on the same day. That leaves hardly anytime for candy-making.

But I will go ahead and tell you about a failed cookie making experiment. A while back, someone mentioned Girl Scout cookies on their blog. And that reminded me of a recipe on Top Secret Recipes. (I would link directly to the recipe, but I'm not sure whether that would violate the User Agreement I accepted which includes not distributing the recipe. It's a free recipe -- most on the site are not -- so just search for "thin mints" and you'll find it.) Peppermint is Christmas-y, so I thought I would give the recipe a try and possibly throw them into the Christmas goody mix.

Well, they didn't really work out. I don't blame the recipe. I probably should have added just a touch more water. The dough was very dry and impossible to roll out. So I decided to roll it into a log and slice the cookies rather than rolling out the dough and using a cookie cutter. The cookie dough log was less than appealing.


But I continued. I think the big problem was that I didn't slice the cookies thin enough. After I baked them, they weren't crispy like the middle of a Girl's Scout Thin Mint. They were tasty, just not what I was going for. So in the end I decided to not dip them in chocolate and Brian and I just ate them plain.

I think I may still make some thin-mint type "cookies" for Christmas, but I'm going to stick with the Ritz dipped in chocolate method. I know, it doesn't sound good -- but they really do taste similar to Thin Mints.

* By the way, I never made it past the Brownies, so I didn't have the chance to try to sell the cookies. I'm sure I would have been a success because, really, who can resist the Girl Scout cookies?

Light reading and other ways to learn German

I thought that learning German would be difficult. And it is. But not in the way I expected. You really need to surround yourself with the language in order to learn it. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem -- living in Austria and all -- but it would be quite easy to go through the entire day without listening to a bit of German outside of class.

Don't get me wrong. I hear a lot of German. The announcement on the u-bahn with all the connections at the upcoming stop. The warning that the doors are about to close. Kids playing at the playground we walk past every day. People everywhere on cell phones. But all of that is just white noise. It plays in the background and is easy to ignore.

So Brian and I are trying to be more intentional about listening to the German language. Brian found a nice radio station that has a lot of talk. We generally turn it on while we're working on our German homework or surfing the internet. And I got a library card and have started checking out children's books. I try to read aloud when Brian is out of the house.

And I've just discovered another fun way to listen to German -- watch Scrubs in German. The Haskews recently bought one of the seasons that Brian and I own in English. So I'm quite familiar with all of the episodes. The Haskews loaned me their DVDs and I've really enjoyed watching the show in German.

And it seems to be helping. Brian says that listening to the radio has helped him understand more in class. And I've felt a little more confident speaking to the cashier at the supermarket.

Plus, it's kind of fun learning some of my favorite lines from Scrubs in German.

The obligatory post

When I told Brian the news, he said, "I hope there will be a post about this." And I told him there would be one. So here it is.

I've been sewing a lot this week. I plan on showing you some of the stuff (oh, it's cute!), but not until after Christmas. I'm not saying that anyone who reads this blog is getting anything handmade for Christmas. I'm not saying that at all. But this is all beside the point.

The point is I've been sewing. And perhaps I've tried sewing a bit more than my machine could handle. At one point, I tried sewing through a stack of about 4 pieces of fabric and 4 pieces of interfacing. The needle got stuck in a weird bendy position and it took a little work to get it out. But I checked the needle and it didn't appear bent and everything seemed to still work fine. So I pressed on.

Well, over the next day or two I noticed the fabric wasn't feeding properly. And it was pulling a bit to the right. And sometimes there was a popping noise. And, well, I didn't want to admit it, but I started thinking maybe I shouldn't have bought a sewing machine at a grocery store.

Last night I told Brian that I was having some trouble with the machine. He didn't say anything. I asked if he wanted to say something about it. He declined.

Today I packed up the sewing machine and returned it to the store. I was a bit nervous because I was afraid I would have to explain the problem in German. But the whole experience was very anti-climatic. After waiting in line for a few minutes, I had my cash and walked out of the store.

I'm hoping to buy a new machine tomorrow. I have projects to finish.

I couldn't resist

You've probably already seen the "Elf Yourself" videos floating around, but I thought this one was more fitting for Brian.

You'd better watch out

Remember how your parents used to scare you into good behavior by threatening to have Santa add you to his "naughty" list. Well, they do the same thing here in Austria. Only it's not a naughty list the parents are threatening.

On December 6th, you're likely to find two characters making their way around town -- Nikolo and Krampus. Nikolo is St. Nicholas. He gives gifts of candy and fruit to all of the good children. But if you've been a bad kid, you might get a visit from Krampus. Here's how one of my friends described Krampus:

Krampus is like the devil. He has black fur, hooves and a long tail. He is very ugly. The bad kids will be beaten by Krampus, who has a switch.

So much for the lump of coal in your stocking. If you're bad around here, you're facing a beating with a switch! And these aren't just empty words. There are some pretty scary looking signs and costumes. I'm hoping to see a Krampus or two tomorrow or Thursday. (Traditionally, Krampus makes his rounds on the 5th and Nikolo makes his on the 6th, but I've heard that they travel together often these days.) Until then, I'll leave you with some frightening pictures from Flickr.


1. Nikolaus und der Krampus, 2. krampus, 3. Perchten Schwadorf 2, 4. Krampus 06' (25)

I had to repost this because the photos weren't showing up. Sorry for the double-post to those of you using a reader.

Wish list -- Christmas edition

Updated -- 1/9.
Thank you for all of the lovely Christmas gifts. I'm rarely very good at coming up with gift ideas for myself. I'm going to try to keep the original Wish List post up-to-date in the event that someone wants to buy me something. Not that I want someone to buy me something. And not that I need someone to buy me something. But I know that this is what people do.

This year, I started a new tradition of making holiday gifts instead of buying them. I'm plan to continue this tradition (that's why I'm calling it a tradition) and am really excited about the ideas I have for next Christmas. I'm telling you this just to say that I also appreciate handmade gifts.

This is a very awkward update. I'm not asking that you send me something, but if you are here looking for ideas, check out the original wish list. Or make something you think I will like. If you think I'll like it, chances are I will. :)

Updated -- 12/4.

I've been asked to update my wish list. Honestly, it wasn't my idea. When I told Brian that someone requested an update to the wish list, he asked, "Was it my mother or your mother?" It doesn't matter. A request was made, and shall be fulfilled.

So, here it is. Some of this was lifted from the original wish list, but some of it is new.

Books
Jesus and the Victory of God, by N. T. Wright

Genesis: Interpretation : A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, by Walter Brueggemann

24/7 Prayer Manual: A Guide To Creating and Sustaining Holy Space in the Real World, by Peter Greig and David Blackwell

Amy Butler's In Stitches, by Amy Butler

DVDs
Seinfeld DVD, Volume 1 (Seasons 1 & 2) and Volume 2 (Season 3), Volume 8 (Season 9)

Scrubs DVD, Season 1, 2, 3 and 6

Any of the Nooma videos (You can buy these at Christian bookstores or online at http://www.nooma.com/)

Food Items and other stuff
Reese's Candy: Miniature Peanut Butter Cups or Reese's Pieces

Peanut butter (I may use most of our existing stash for holiday candies)

Sugar-free Jello powder (Strawberry, Cherry, Lime, Orange)

Velveeta processed cheese stuff -- I can't believe I'm asking for this, but it's the only stuff that makes good cheese dip :)

Plastic ice cube trays -- We've only been able to find the silicone ones here and you can't really pop the cubes out. I think it's slowly driving Brian mad.

------------

That's all I can come up with at the moment. The last time I posted a wish list I was all worried about getting multiples of something (especially the DVDs). But I've decided not to worry about that. We can always re-gift any multiples we receive. :)

Show and tell

Brian is really a sweetheart. I don't say that enough. We're not one of those sappy couples oohing and ahhing over one another all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just not us. But we do have our moments...

Over the next few weeks, everyone in our German class has to give a short presentation over their favorite object. A bit like show-and-tell. Brian was up first, but he refused to tell me what he was taking as his favorite object. He said he would probably take one of his books.

When it came time for his presentation, sure enough, Brian pulled a book from his bag. But it wasn't one of the books I was expecting. It was a small book of poetry. His poetry. You see, many years ago when Brian and I were dating, I asked if I could read some his poetry and I made the poems into a book. The book itself isn't all that impressive -- the pages are uneven and the words are crooked -- but it's a pretty special book.

His presentation was very sweet. One of the girls even cried. Then I gave my presentation, which was about one of our wedding photos.

Maybe we are one of those sappy couples after all.

The art of Austrian shopping

I'm just going to come out and say it -- shopping in Austria is strange. If you're looking for a one-stop-shop, well, you're not going to find it. For example, if you're looking for cornmeal, try the drugstore. But if you're looking for medication, skip the drugstore. Any type of medication, prescription or over-the-counter, can only be found at a pharmacy. Do you need cooking spray? Well, you can find it at the grocery store, but out of the six or so chains I've shopped at, it's only available at one.

And while you may not be able to find the groceries you want, you can find some other really strange things at the grocery store. Let's just say that Brian wasn't exactly thrilled the day I came home from the grocery store with a sewing machine. Not because I had bought a sewing machine (I already had permission for that), but because I bought it at a grocery store. I tried to convince him that you can buy nice things at a grocery store by pointing out the Dyson vacuum cleaner at our favorite grocery store. (Because, really, who can deny the goodness of a Dyson?). I'm not sure he's convinced.

Some other things I've seen at grocery stores recently: ski pants, boots, sandwich maker, tool set and, my favorite, a chocolate fountain. These item are usually found in large bins, not on shelves. And mind you, this is a store about the size of your neighborhood Walgreen's. So you may not be able to find what you're looking for, but you're almost certain to find something interesting.

I can be a little crafy sometimes

I've finished my first sewing project. Can you tell what it is?



Why, a coaster, of course!


I actually made four. One coaster would be pretty sad, indeed. I used this tutorial and think it was a pretty good first project. Quick and easy. Next I'm going to try some coasters and matching place mats from Bend-the-Rules Sewing. And I have a few other things I'm going to try to complete before Christmas, but I can't really talk about them yet.

And in other craftiness, I'd like to point you over to my sister's blog, Two Little Princesses. She requested a banner with pink and brown, so I whipped up a little something and stuck it on her page while she wasn't looking. I hope she likes it -- and I hope she doesn't mind that I hijacked her blog to set it up.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my other sister's blog, Just the Two of Us. She designed her own banner after a brief Gimp tutorial by yours truly. But she figured out how to make the photos black and white with just a splash of color all on her own. She's pretty good. Some might even call her a genius.

Utter chaos

Amanda and I made our second trip to a textile shop in a nearby town today. Our first trip was several weeks ago and it was so completely overwhelming that I didn't take any photos. And I can't possibly describe this place without photos.

First, let me say that I have visited many fabric shops in the U.S. I'm not sure what exactly I was doing there since I only recently started sewing, but I've been there. I have a vague idea of how things work and how to find what I want. But this textile shop was like nothing I have ever seen. Take a look.


And this was a tidy aisle! Take a look at some of the other aisles.



Most of the fabric is on these huge rolls you see in the second and third photos. And most rolls do not have any information about the type of material. However, they do seem to be grouped together, which is somewhat helpful. The aisles are incredibly narrow and long. And you can only get in and out of the aisles from one end -- they're not open on both ends. There were two floors of this chaos. I'm sure you can tell why it was so overwhelming on the first visit.

In addition to the huge selection of fabric, the shop also had tons of buttons. No really, tons. I cannot even begin to imagine how many buttons are available.


This is just a small sample of the buttons. There were probably at least three or four walls stacked with buttons from floor to ceiling. Plus several more that were from the floor to about half way up the wall. The buttons were much more organized than the fabric. The colors were grouped together and the buttons were stored in plastic vials with a sample attached to the front. Here, have another looks.


I like the buttons.

There were also lots of ribbons and more zippers than what could possibly be necessary. I should have taken a photo of the zippers. You'll just have to imagine.

Even though there is a whole lot of fabric in this shop, a lot of it is not something you would be interested in using. Well, it's not something I'm interested in using anyways. But there is some nice stuff (at a very nice price) there if you're willing to look. I'll post some of my projects when I get a little more finished.

Our feast

Yesterday Brian and I got together with the Haskews, Hensals, and Lockwoods for a Thanksgiving meal. A girl Kari met in language class also joined us. So there were 9 adults and 5 kids -- a pretty big crowd in my opinion.

The Lockwoods hosted our celebration. I took this during the calm before everyone arrived.
I was really looking forward to this meal not only because I like typical Thanksgiving food, but also because this was the first time I had a big role in preparing a Thanksgiving meal. Our menu consisted of turkey, corn, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, dressing, bread and pies.

I'm always overly picky about the foods I prepare, but everything came out acceptable. The macaroni and cheese wasn't creamy because I wasn't paying enough attention to the recipe and used about twice as many noodles as I should have. But it was still good. I thought the dressing was a little dry, but after eating some leftovers today I think the problem was that the cornbread was a too dense. And I went a little overboard with the bread. I made crescent rolls -- which had been specifically requested for this meal -- as well as cornbread and biscuits. Originally I was making cornbread only for the dressing, but it was so tasty I decided to make a second pan. The second pan was a bit denser and that's the one that ended up in the dressing. If you try the recipe, I recommend that you switch the measurements for the flour and cornmeal (2 cups cornmeal and 1.5 cups flour). I switched the measurements on the first pan, but only had 1.5 cups of cornmeal for the second pan. Also, make you sure mix the batter at least 5 minutes. I should have mixed the second batch longer. Kari and Ira made three pies: pecan, pumpkin and a reduced-sugar apple. I sampled all three and they were delicious.

Okay, enough with the words, here are some pictures.

The feast. This was after everyone had filled their plates. We had enough leftovers for another full meal (and then some.)

Meal time. Click on the links to see the photos in Flickr: 1. Dinner, 2. Kids, 3. conversation, 4. Kari and Zaden

Carli is really growing up. She loves holding Zaden.

Zaden loves to play with the doors on the dog crates. He's growing up too -- look at all his teeth!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and friends!

Giving thanks

I woke up this morning and thought, "Today is Thanksgiving." But it's not really the same when no one else seems to notice that it's a holiday. So today has just been a regular day. Class. Grocery shopping. Cooking. Laundry.

Thanksgiving is usually one of my favorite holidays. Of course, there's the good food, but it's more than that. It has always been a nice time for family. I have a lot of memories of visiting my grandparents in east Texas when I was young. All the aunts and uncles and cousins were there. Being one of the youngest of the grandkids, I never had a chance to graduate from the kids' table. But I didn't mind. The last few years, Brian and I have spent Thanksgiving with his family and grandparents. This year, Thanksgiving just isn't the same without family nearby.

But still, there are plenty of reasons to be thankful. This Saturday we're getting together with the Haskews, Hensals, and Lockwoods for a belated Thanksgiving celebration. I'm really looking forward to it.

We'll even have the traditional Thanksgiving fare. I'm making my mom's dressing, macaroni and cheese, bread and gravy. I really wanted to make squash casserole -- a staple at my Nanny's table whether it was Thanksgiving or not -- but I haven't been able to find squash. But I think I'll have my hands full with everything else, so maybe it's better that I can't find the squash.

I'll tell you how it goes on Saturday. And yes, there will be photos.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Move over Allrecipes

If you've read this blog much, you've probably figured out that I really like Allrecipes. You can find practically anything and the reviews are a great help in deciding which recipe to try. But lately I've run across some food blogs that I really enjoy. It's not just the recipes, but the writing. Like the Gluten-Free Girl blog. I'll probably never make any of the recipes on this blog, but I love reading it. And I love what Oliva at Anything But Spaghetti is doing -- you'll just have to check it out. And I haven't even mentioned the photos yet! Even if you don't like to cook, you'll love the photos. So lovely.

Another one of my new favorites is Organette. Like Gluten-Free Girl, Organette is a good read whether you're going to make the dishes or not. But I'll actually make some of these dishes -- and already have.

Last night I tried the Touch-of-Grace Biscuits recipe. At first, I wasn't sure I would be able to make them because Molly goes on and on about the importance of using Southern self-rising flour and I was sure I wouldn't be able to find it here. Then I read that Southern flours are milled from a soft wheat -- same as European flour. So I decided to give it a try.


And I'm oh-so-glad that I did.

They were so easy and I love that you don't have to roll them out. The whole biscuit-making process is much faster that way. I just used the flour I use for all of my baking and added some baking powder and baking soda since it's not self-rising. (But as I said earlier, the flour here is milled from soft wheat like the Southern brands. If anyone tries this with your run-of-the-mill all-purpose flour, I'd like to know how the biscuits turn out.) I substituted butter for shortening since I haven't quite figured out where to find shortening. And I used a big ice cream scoop to scoop the wet dough into the flour. I also had to use a square baking dish because my round ones are out on loan. I think a round would have given a little extra room, which would have been nice.

So, there you have it. My new favorite biscuit recipe. I have a feeling I'll be making them quite often this winter.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Actually, it's been looking like Christmas around here for a while. I first spotted Christmas candy in the grocery store in September. SEPTEMBER! Decorations started appearing in October. Vendors selling roasted chestnuts showed up about the same time. And now that we're approaching the end of November, the Christmas season is in full swing.

One of the most famous aspects of Christmas in Austria (and I guess in most parts of Europe) is the Christkindlmarkt (literally, Christ-child Market) or Weihnachtsdorf (Christmas Village). All over Vienna, small villages of wooden stalls are set up where vendors can sell their wares -- whether it's wooden toys, hand-painted ornaments, or fresh-baked sweets. Most of the Christmas Markets opened last weekend and the remaining are opening this weekend.


Sunday evening I met Kari and Kim in the city to visit one of the Christmas Markets known for it's "artistic" handicrafts -- whatever that means. But silly me, I forgot to look up the exact address and we were never able to find it. So we headed over to the Rathaus to visit the largest Christmas Market. As we were approaching, before we could see anything expect the lights on the top of the Rathaus, Kim said, "I smell cotton candy!" And she was right. As we approached, the smell was heavenly. I first noticed the scent of candied nuts. I wasn't sure what I was smelling, but it was sweet and sugary and it made me interested in the food stall. (The fact that it was about 7 p.m. and I hadn't eaten dinner yet probably also contributed to my piqued interest in food.)

There were other smells too. Chestnuts roasting. Sausages and various types of fried potatoes. Sweet baked goods. And the punch. I didn't try the punch, but I could smell the berries. One stall had a chocolate fountain and you could get a waffle bowl filled with fruit or nuts or marshmallows covered in chocolate. I tried bananas and pineapples and they were delicious.

Some of the stalls were very nice, but many were a disappointment. Many sold the same items you can find in tourists shops. But then again, this particular Christmas Market is the one most visited by tourists. I'm hoping for more authentic goods at other markets. I liked the stalls with hand-painted Christmas ornaments. The one below is my favorite. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the glass is clear and on the front is a picture of a window and the girl standing in front of the tree is painted on the backside. So when you look at it from the front, it's like you're looking at the scene through the window.


And, of course, I also enjoyed looking at the stalls with Christmas sweets. The heart-shaped cookies you can see hanging from the stall in the picture below are very popular. Well, I see them everywhere, but I've never actually seen someone buy one. I believe you are supposed to buy one for your significant other. (They have messages like "I love you" on them.) They're on a long ribbon, which your significant other can use to wear the cookie around her neck. Maybe someone who is familiar with these cookies can give more details because I'm not sure what they're called or whether I have the story straight.


Even though some of the stalls were a bust, I had a lot of fun checking out the scene and eating the food. I'm sure I'll visit more before the season is over.

In the kitchen

I've always been a box-mix-brownie kind of a girl. The brownies from a box are so easy and they always come out delicious. When you start fooling around with ingredients and trying to come up a brownie from scratch -- well, you're asking for trouble. From-scratch brownies are okay if you're wanting cake. But if you want a brownie, only the box will do.

You can find brownie mix here in Vienna. But there's only one brand. And forget about options -- double chocolate, chocolate chip, cheesecake brownies -- no way! You're not going to find them. The one brand I've seen looks awfully cakey. I'm pretty sure there's an American flag somewhere on the box, but this isn't the type of brownie you eat in the U.S.

But, don't fret, I have found a recipe I like. And I like it a lot. Best Brownies from (of course) allrecipes.com. These are ooey-gooey chocolaty goodness -- and they're almost as easy as making brownies from a box. I usually double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan.

I don't know -- if I had the box mixes available, I might stick with them. But if you ever find yourself someplace that doesn't have box mixes (perhaps your kitchen late Friday night when you have a hankering for some chocolate), you should check out the recipe because you probably have all of the ingredients on hand.

I'm really looking forward to holiday baking -- I have lots of recipes I want to try. So expect to see a lot of food over the next month and a half. And lots of talk about Christmas. Consider yourself warned.

The weather outside is frightful

Well, not really. But we did get more snow. It started yesterday morning around 11 and continued through sometime today. It didn't stick much yesterday. When we left for class today there was a good bit on the ground, but the streets and most of the sidewalks were clear.


Poor Betty, sitting out there in the cold with no protection. We keep meaning to cover her up, but we only think about it when the weather is bad.

On our way home, there was something wrong with the u-bahn. Fortunately, we were stranded in the middle of the city, so it wasn't really a problem. We walked over to Pizza Bizi for some lunch and then headed back to check on the u-bahn situation. On the way, I snapped a few photos around Stephansdom. It's so hard to get a good picture of Stephansdom because it's so large and everything is built up around it.


I just love the thought of a horse-drawn carriage ride in the snow. But in truth, I'd probably just be cold. These carriages were lined up outside Stephansdom.


Notice anything unusual about this photo? The city is doing some work on the section to the left and the scaffolding has been covered with a picture of Stephansdom.


This is the best I could do. You can still see a bit of the fake Stephansdom (the picture covering the scaffolding) on the tower in the left corner.

I think it has stopped snowing, but I don't know whether it will be warm enough tomorrow to melt the snow. It's hard to believe that it's 70 degrees in Oklahoma today. Sharkdog wanted to poke his head out of the window to get a better look at the snow. He was shivering the whole time, but he sure seems to like the snow. For more of his antics, check out his blog.

I can relate

My favorite lines from the most recent episode of The Office:

Stanley: "I took an extra shot of insulin in preparation of this cake today. If I don't have some cake soon, I might die."

Oscar: "Why don't you just have an apple?"

Stanley: "Why don't you just mind your business?"

I know exactly what you mean, Stanley.

Old Man Winter

This morning when we left for church there was a mixture of rain and snow, but it quickly turned into big flakes. By the time we reached the end of the u-bahn line (about 40 minutes and 10 miles later), the plants and cars were covered in snow. And by the time we got off the bus about 15 minutes later for the last leg of our trek to church, the sidewalks were covered as well. It looked very nice, but I didn't like getting my feet wet.

Several hours later as we made our way home the snow had turned back into rain and the walk to the bus stop wasn't so fun. I've got to get some boots.

There wasn't a lot left by the time we got home, but we might get more tomorrow and Tuesday. Hopefully I'll have my camera with me.

Don't worry about me

You may remember a while back when we all got the awful news that The Office and other NBC shows would not be available on iTunes. This isn't really a huge problem for those of you in the U.S. who can watch The Office on TV or on NBC's website, but for those of us who live outside the U.S. it can be a real pain. Sure, there are plenty of places to watch episodes that have been recorded and uploaded to the Internet illegally. But I like to keep things on the up and up whenever possible.

This is where VeohTV comes in. VeohTV is a program you download that allows you to watch episodes of shows from several TV stations, including NBC. I don't know exactly how it works (even after reading the "How VeohTV Works" page on the website), but it works well. When I hit the play button, it starts playing immediately! No buffering! No waiting!

However -- there are a few drawbacks. There are commercials. Usually one at the beginning and two or three during the episode (depending on the length of the show). But there are commercials on regular TV, so that's not a big deal. The second drawback is that it looks like only the five most recent episodes are available. So you have to stay current. And then the other drawback is that it takes a bit longer for the episodes to show up. For example, The Office isn't generally available until Friday evening or maybe Saturday, but you can find it on those *other* sites Friday afternoon.

But still -- it's a pretty good deal. So don't worry about me and Brian. We're staying current with The Office -- and several other shows.

Getting it done

We get home from school around 3:15. Within the hour, it's pretty much dark outside. Usually when it gets dark so early it makes the days feel really short. But right now it's having the opposite affect on me. And I'm rather enjoying it. It makes me feel like I have a lot more time to get stuff done.

It's a bit past 8:00 right now. Since I got home from school I have...

...figured out how to use my new sewing machine. The manual is in at least 4 languages, none of which are English. While I couldn't find the manual in English online, I was able to find a manual for an older model that seems to be almost identical. I got as far as I could without any fabric to work with -- but that should be remedied tomorrow after Amanda and I visit a textile shop.

...prepared and eaten dinner. Curried Honey Mustard Chicken. So easy and so delicious. I've been thinking about it every since I tried the recipe a month or so ago. I forgot to decrease the amount of butter like reviewers suggested, so it turned out a little saucy. But the sauce is great over rice. And who doesn't like it a little saucy sometimes?

...cleaned the kitchen. Not just washed the dishes, but put away the cartons for recycling and cleaned the counters. I love it when there's nothing on the counter except the things that are supposed to be there -- the bread board, coffee maker and canisters. And in case you're wondering about the towel laying on the counter, I also...

...started on some bread. I love baking bread. This is the Sweet Dinner Rolls recipes. I made them half-size because the last time I made them they were huge. Good for sandwiches, but too big for dinner rolls. You want them to be small enough that you can eat two. :) I used Kräuter Butter (butter with herbs) instead of regular butter on half of these. (You can see the flecks of herbs on some of the rolls in the photo.) I'm excited to see how they turn out.

... completed my German homework. Well, it's almost complete. We have to translate a recipe from our home country into German. I translated the recipe yesterday, but I need to write it out today.

Now I'm off to bake the bread and finish my homework.

When it rains, it pours

Today as Brian and I were leaving for our German class, the postman met us at the front door -- with two packages! And yesterday he delivered a package, too. So that's three in two days!

And look what I found on one of the packages.


In case you can't make it out, it says, "Missent to Sydney Australia." And the shipping address even specified that Austria is in Europe.

I'm not going to detail the contents of all of the packages because I want to show you some things later, but I will tell you that Sharkdog was especially excited about the contents of one of the packages. Emily, a friend and former co-worker, and her family sent Brian and me some candy and cookie mixes and other goodies. And they included some goodies for Sharkdog as well.

Look at that! That one that's called "Bark Bars" -- I love it. It reminds me of Clark Bar and Kramer on Seinfeld.

I'll show you some of the stuff from the other packages later this week or early next week. I promise.

And a special thank you to all of you who have sent encouraging notes or emails or care packages. It's so nice to know that the old adage of "out of sight, out of mind" isn't true. We truly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers and know that you share with us in this ministry.

Feline tendencies

Sharkdog can be a little cat-like from time to time. Okay, most of the time. Maybe it's because we trained him to use a litter box. Maybe not. Here are a few shots of his cat behavior.

When we lived in OKC, Sharkdog loved to lay on the back of the couch and look out the window. Here he is sleeping on the back of the couch. He doesn't get on the back of the couch in our apartment in Vienna, but he has jumped over it a time or two.

Is it normal for a dog to curl up like this? I've only seen cats curl up this tight.

And here are some photos just for fun. The one below shows one of Sharkdog's favorite toys. (His favorite is a shark toy -- isn't that cute?) And the one below that... well, you'll just have to see.