Oompah, pah!

Two days after Christmas, as we were all packing for Rome in our pajamas, we heard horns playing outside. Loudly. The kids opened the door, then slammed it and started hollering something about a band walking towards our house, which spurred Matt and I to run and put on some real clothes so we wouldn't look so much like lazy Americans when they got here go see what the ruckus was all about.
We opened the door and were greeted by a very enthusiastic, albeit half frozen, Oompah Band. We stood and smiled back as they finished their song (What is proper etiquette when called outside by a group of local musicians? Are you supposed to tap your toes and share in their enthusiasm or maintain decorum and effect a slightly unaffected look? The neighbors across the drive didn't even come to their door as the band stood on their stoop, so maybe we were breaking protocol altogether by venturing out to face them at all!), then sent the kids in to grab a plate of cookies to pass around. Fortunately our uber-generous neighborhood Oma had made another enormous plate of traditional German cookies for us and we had plenty to share.

As the plate made the rounds I realized we knew the cutie in the white cap below. His Grandmother made all the cookies everyone was munching on! (Probaly another social faux pas!) Matthew (the grandson) lives, as many Germans do, in a house shared by multigenerations. Oma and Opa live on the first floor and Matthew's family lives on the upper two; it's a great set-up! His family is one of the many reasons we want to stay here as long as we can. They are generous, friendly, kind, and exceptionally patient with our noisy, chaotic family! While the kids and I were in the States this summer, Oma and Opa Meier invited Matt over a couple of times for coffee and Oma Meier's fabulous cakes. For as long as I've known him Matt has despised cherries, but he nearly asked Frau Meier to run away with him after eating a slice of her Kirschkuchen! (Never mind the fact that they speak not a word of each other's language - she can throw-down in the kitchen! After we'd been married for a few months Matt confessed that if I hadn't been a good cook/baker he would have stopped dating me!! Good thing I didn't have to rely soley on my sparkling conversational skills!) Frau Meier is a phenominal baker of traditional German cookies and cakes! She sends over platters of piping hot Krapfeln, small yeast donuts almost exactly like what my family called "scones". Yummy! Her rhubarb cake is the first we've tried that we all actually liked! (Who knew rhubarb really was good for something!)
After leaving our house the band wended their way around the corner, stopping to play at each house, and finally ended at Matthew's family's home where Herr & Frau Meier invited them in (for some delectable treat, undoubtedly). I should have grabbed a kazoo and a stocking cap and tried to blend in!! The band can only manage to spread their holiday cheer through half of our village each year, so when they come back in 2010 I'll have my hat and gloves ready!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

I always love the view out our dining room window! I took this photo the week before Christmas and all the snow was melted by Christmas Eve, but it was too pretty not to post.
Snow dingleberries! Otto (and now Sophie, too) loves the snow!! Matt's trained him to go to his bed and eat the snow off his furry little paws after he comes in. So much better than finding little puddles of cold water all over the floors.

J, Schmabbers, and Banana have really enjoyed participating in our Parish's fledgling children's choir this year. Banana, especially, is totally comfortable performing in front of everyone. She's completely lacking in self-consciousness, lucky girl! She insisted on having her own sheet of music and proudly held it upside-down in front of her as she sang. Schmabbers, on the other hand, gets a little silly and nervous, but loves being up there every week. She's even hitting the right notes more consistently! J had his hair cut two weeks ago, so he no longer looks like a hippie. ;) It was a traumatic, but neccessary trip to the barber shop. His hair is so thin and fine I didn't want to be the first one to layer it because any mistakes will definitely show! Now that it's been done, I can do the maintainance cuts to keep the slightly longer, shaggy look he likes.

The children's music was a wonderful addition to a beautiful Christmas Eve Mass. I just love taking the time to worship our Lord before starting the Christmas Day celebrations. The hymns and carols and the reminder of who it's really all about. I can't even imagine how pointless life would be without personally knowning the One who made us, and loves us, and who even rejoices over us with gladness, singing joyfully because of us (Zephaniah). Sadly though, our world is full of people who have been beaten down by hurts and disappointments. People who are feeling rejected and lonely; who live every day without knowning how passionately they are loved by the One who created them. I think most of us have struggled with the dispair, the anger, the cynicism, the feeling of hopelessness that comes from life and the people we care about letting us down. We've all covered our pain and desperation with laughter, drugs, alcohol, relationships, obsessive ambition. We've run hard and hidden well the pain we were drowning in. No one would have ever known what was really going on behind our well-constructed masks. And all the while, we had a Father who loves us unconditionally and whose arms ached to hold us and soothe our hurts ways. A Father who loves us so much He sent his Son to walk among us and show us His love, and ultimately to offer Himself as the required sacrifice for our rebellion. All so that we would be free to run into His arms and find the very things we so futily search for down here. Christmas is a reminder for me to renew my committment to pray for the hurting, confused, and lost people in our world. I was one once, and without the prayers of some very dear people in my life, I would still be one. But I covered it well, and no one would have known, so I pray.....perhaps for you.


As much as I love my fancy-dancy camera, I've been consistently disappointed with nearly every photo taken in low lighting. After two Christmases in a row without a single good picture taken on Christmas Day, I found a forum online in which several other owners of this model have grumbled about the same issue. At least I know it's not a user error! Ironically enough, Matt's cheapo little camera takes beautiful indoor photos, but of course we didn't think to use it until after the day's festivities were over. Sigh....maybe next year we'll have some photos of the kids that aren't orange or blurred or dark. We surprised the kids this year(BIG understatement!!) by getting them a Wii. (Maximum cool points with that one!!) We've all had a blast challenging each other to Guitar Hero, racing, boxing, and Dance, Dance. What a great investment! We were sure that K would feel let-down by a major family gift rather than a big personal gift this year, but she's shocked us by sneaking down to play by herself whenever she can. She's never had a use for video games, and now we can't keep her off it! The kids are looking forward to boxing with their Grandmas!

Whew!!

The holidays are behind us and a new year has begun. December flew by in a flurry of activity and the plans for keeping our blog updated failed miserably! Rather than stress myself out trying to keep on top of this, too, I let it go and just enjoyed the time our family had to spend together. For the past two years we've been hearing about the Weinachtsmarkt at Hexennager, a small village with an intact castle complex 40 minutes west of us.
The market is only open on the 3 weekends preceding Christmas, which has always posed a scheduling problem for us, but this year we finally made it and discovered for ourselves what all the fuss was about. It was really wet and cold the night we went, but it was wonderful! If we're able to be here next year, Matt and I will go alone and enjoy a romantic Christmas light dinner there. :) The medieval castle setting of the market is perfect for strolling and browsing through the artisan stalls by torchlight. Open fires in the common areas provided a welcome opportunity for the kids to thaw their frozen fingers.
We found a stall selling raclette bread, which was a delicious first-time treat for us! Big blocks of Swiss cheese are slowly melted under the raclette heaters, then the top gooey layer is scraped onto slices of rustic bread and sprinkled with herbs and garlic powder. Heaven!!
This guy makes and sells twig brooms. I almost took one home as a decoration. He was great to volunteer to pose with the kids.
So, come see us in December and we'll take you to one of Germany's most beautiful, historic Weinachtsmarkts. We'll even spring for the raclette bread!! ;)

Come take the challenge!

http://lovinfrommyoven.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday, Hot Stuff!

After another 4-1/2 looooong months of being "the older woman", Matt is finally, once again, as old as I am! (I keep telling you it won't last, Babe!) He opted for a big batch of cupcakes rather than an extravagant cake this year, which was really quick and easy for me. (Thanks, Sweetie!) I managed to completely shock the socks off him with his Birthday gift, which was lots of fun. The kids and I drove out to the breeder we bought Otto from to ask about when they might have another litter of wirehair Dachshunds. She happened to have 6 that were 12 weeks old and as soon as I saw them I knew which one needed to come home with us. The kids went nuts at the idea of surprising Dad with a puppy and fell madly in love with her. Matt was shocked and thrilled and completely gave her his heart the first time she climbed up into his lab to snuggle. He's named her Sophie, after Princess Sophie of Prussia. Bavarian dogs need Bavarian names, right? ;) She's adjusting to our busy house really well and Otto's finally starting to around, too. We thought he'd be excited about having a live-in playmate, given the level of unbridled excitement he exhibits when random neighborhood dogs jump into our yard. But, no......Otto wanted nothing to do with her for the first 3 days. Our fierce and mighty protector literally ran from our bite-size little pup. Who's the baby?! My sister, Melanie, has two dogs and experienced a similar negative reaction in her first dog when the new puppy came home, so she was able to give us lots of good advice. Yesterday he sniffed her for the first time and this morning he actually ran and played with her! We're hopeful he'll soon love her, too.

We're thankful for...

Matt -
My family. Especially my darling wife!
That I have a job.
The Church.

"A"'-
iPods
Dad providing money so Mom can make all the food.
Banana cream pie!!
Everything! I can't think of anything I'm not thankful for!

"K"-
Everything except for cold weather. I'm really thankful for the sun and heat.
My family.

"M" -
That God gave His Son for us so that we can actually go to Heaven!
For the Church.
For a wonderful family that can sometimes be boogers, but you always love them in the end.

"J"-
That Miss Julie's kids could be here today.
That Father could come over today.
That God made us.
I'm thankful for a lot of stuff!!
That we had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Wow!! I was full!!
I'm also thankful for the pies!
And for Mom and Dad! Mom and Dad are great.

Schmabbers-
For the cook who did all the cooking today!!
For chocolate and banana pie. And the maple whipping cream that I keep on sneaking!
God!

Banana-
That the Fishers came over.
That the Reddens came over.
That Father O'Grady came over.
I'm thankful for everything God created.

Me-
My family.
My husband, who was so clearly made for me. He knows me completely and loves me anyway.
The security, peace, and wholeness we've found in Christ's Church.
For my godparents living closer! Finally!
For friends. People who "get" me, and encourage me, and accept me.
For our soldiers, who put their lives on the line every day to protect our freedoms.

Laura, Julie and me


We pray you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Whew!! What a wonderful day! Our priest and two of my friends and their kids came over to share our holiday meal with us. 5 adults and 12 kids! ("Crazy?!! I was crazy once...!) We ate and laughed and ate and talked and ate and sang old 70's tunes and ate and laughed and moaned about how much we'd eaten. I think it's safe to say, a good time was had by all. My friend Julie's husband is in the States at school and she and their 4 kids will be moving with him to CO in a few weeks. I'm going to really miss her! Her kids all get along really well with our younger kids. The kids ate and ran off to play dress-up and Dance, Dance Revolution and pretty much left us alone to keep eating and laughing in peace. My friend Laura's two youngest kids are tight, tight buddies of "A" &"K", so they all spent the afternoon hanging out. Laura's hubby is in the States preparing for deployment to Iraq and their oldest son is in his first year of college in the States.

We were so blessed to have our priest accept our invitation to dinner as well. Father O'Grady is new to our parish and we adore him! He's as Irish as his name and an absolute hoot. He loves the Lord and His Church and is good at really challenging us when we're tempted to slip into complacency. We're hoping he can stay here as long as we do!


(Laura, "A", Schmabbers (great look Schmab!), Laura's son "J", "K" (love the expression K!), Laura's daughter "E", Father, Banana)


Here's the rundown of our Thanksgiving menu this year:
Turkey - Duh! Fixed Alton Brown's way - the most unbelievably juicy, flavorful bird ever!

Stuffing - with leeks, mushrooms, and red peppers. Matt goes bonkers for this every year.
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato praline souffle - too much cream and butter to be ever be considered healthy, but too good not to include.
Roasted sweet potatoes and pears with raisins and pecans. This one is definitely healthy and fantastic!
(Even Julie, a self-avowed sweet potato hater really like these. Of course, she really liked the souffle, too....hmmm..how many sweet potatoes have you really eaten before, Jules? ;)
Green beans w/ bacon
Corn custard with tomatoes an fresh basil on top - again, too much cream to be healthy, but oh so good!
Jello salad - the kids wouldn't let me get away with omitting this one
White rolls
Whole Wheat rolls
German bread with fresh chive cheese - Thanks, Laura!!

Then we had 8 pies- two each of four different kinds.

Banana cream and chocolate cream pies. Yum!

If you don't recognize this one, you're not an American and need to log off this site!!



Rustic apple cranberry tart
I enjoy cooking and I really enjoy cooking for people that enjoy good food! My only challenge was getting everything cooked in my tiny little Easy Bake Oven-sized oven. I can only fit one 9x13" pan or one pie pan at a time. I don't know how German's manage to feed their families with such little ovens and sinks. We have a one-bowl sink that my regular size colander fits perfectly side-to-side in. My roasting pan has to be scrubbed in the tub upstairs. But we'll deal with inconveniences like this any time as long as we can continue living over here.