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Earth Day Cake Pops

Do we need to be reminded once again that Mother Nature always has the last word? She recently hit the reset button big time on global air traffic with little more than a few hiccups through an Icelandic volcano.

Seriously, we humans think we are so smart, important and in control of everything. To an extent, this is true. Just look at all the wonderful things we can do - technology, science, medicine, art....

However, it doesn't amount to anything when it all can so easily be destroyed by an earthquake, hurricane, or a tsunami.

Feeble. That's what we are in comparison.

Or to put it more positively, think about your coolest iphone App, most fabulous software or gadget and then compare it to the awesomeness that is a spectacular sunrise or sunset, a tree in full outrageous bloom or the amazing, colorful and fascinating critters we humans share our planet with... Yep. Trumped again by Big Momma.

She humbles us, Mother Nature.

Dr. B's "FIN"tieth Birthday Cake

When I met my husband (crazy story involving scuba which could be a post on it's own) he had a pair of 20 year old scuba fins he was incredibly fond of. I suspected he would even kiss those fins whan I wasn't looking. That's how much he loved them.

Well, they finally wore out completely on one of our numerous dive trips. Can't remember where - Thailand? Burma? Caribbean? Or was it on one of our numerous trips to the Red Sea?

Anyway, Dr. B was forced to buy some shiny new new fins in the last few years.  While they do the job just fine, he still misses his old ones.  You should also know my husband dives with a computer from 1987.   It works.  He loves it and that's that.

Dr. B is a very low tech diver. He's no Gear Head, my hubby. Not one to jump on the latest scuba toy or suit out there. Of course I am the complete opposite. Still between us, we have six big bags of dive equipment. Six.

 Ok most of it probably is mine.

Candied Bacon, Caramel, White, Milk and Dark Chocolate Chunk Heart Attack Cookies

I know. I know. These are completely over the top. The idea to make them has been in my head for awhile but until now, I didn't have a proper audience for them until recently.

I'll always be a TV producer looking to entertain a target demographic :-)

When Dr. B is home on leave from Iraq, he usually works one overnight shift as an emergency doctor on call for our area. He has done this job ever since I've known him, since he was in medical school, actually. Recently, there was a birthday party for one of his local colleagues, an ER nurse. Many of the local paramedics and nurses were there.

Let me briefly explain how our "911" system works here in comparison to the States. When someone calls 112, (German equivalent of 911) the call is transfered to a call center where a trained person evaluates the emergency to determine if they should send a paramedic or a doctor. That's right, you get a doctor arriving at your home if you need one. All of you in the USA can pick your jaws up off the ground now. Since they implemented this system years ago, the short time survival rate rose significantly. This means an increase in the amount of people who made it to the hospital alive.

Spring Cookies, Animal Stalking Continues and Springtime for Hitler

I am not a Spring person.  Sure I enjoy it, but not like the Fall.  I LOVE the Fall.  Especially Fall in NYC.  I know.  I know.  What type of person prefers weather where everything is dying and dropping instead of blooming and budding?

Maybe it's the fact that in the Fall Octoberfest in Munich, Halloween, my birthday and Thanksgiving all come rolling in one after another. All fun celebrations. To me, Fall is like the gift that keeps on giving. And then full steam ahead to Hannukah, Christmas, and New Year's.

I'm not a total Spring Scrooge. This time of year in our little German Village Near the Dutch Border is definitely an enjoyable experience for a city girl.  The neighbor's newborn lambs and deer.  The bunnies bounding everywhere. The endless parade of creatures in the garden (the pheasants are my fav). The trees budding and flowers in the garden.

Easter Brunch Menu & Some Little Lambs

We had a ragtag family gathering for Easter this year. Usually there is a big egg hunt here on Easter Sunday but no one was around to participate. My twin nieces left for riding camp Saturday. My sister in law, a pediatric nurse, worked the overnight shift at the hospital the night before. So I decided to take on the brunch.  My husband, brother in law, nephew, mother in law, older niece and her boyfriend and a sleepy sister in law celebrated at our place.

Here was my menu:

Prosecco with Aperol - Festive and a lovely color

OJ - Add prosecco if desired :-)

Strawberries and Kiwi Fruit Salad

Breakfast Pizza - From this amazing recipe adapted from the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook via the wonderful SmittenKitchen. FABulous blog, that SK. Also provided me with an excuse to further experiment with my new pizza stone. More about that later in this post.

American Style Pancakes with Maple Syrup
I used a plain old version. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Make a mound with a hole in the middle, crack in the hole add milk, melted butter, mix and you're good to go.

Gesine's Golden Eggs. Check out her GE video tutorial here: If you haven't visited her blog or her new website, Go there.  Also, her book was a great read with wonderful recipes. I highly recommend it.

Luckily, I had an egg shaped pan:

Love this yellow color of the batter:

I followed the recipe to the letter, except for the last step where you roll the eggs in a sugar/cinnamon combo.  I found this in the market the day before:

I added a little orange sugar to the sugar/cinnamon mix.  Gesine has mentioned people won't believe these are not fried like donuts.  She was right, it's the first question my family asked after tasting them.  GREAT recipe.

Iced Lemon Sticky Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze- Recipe here from The Kitchn. These were also delish with a wonderful Lemon kick.  I am a die hard cinnamon bun fan but these made me a convert.

Of course I had to set out a plate of German meats, wursts and cheeses.  It's always a safe bet in case no one likes the food I cook. It's my "US Expat paranoid neurotic what if everyone hates my food" back up plan.

Assorted Rolls and Bread.- When it comes to breads here in Germany, there is no end to the delicious varieties of bread to buy..black, pumpkin seed, gray, spelt... on and on.

From Wikipedia:
Germany prides itself on having the largest variety of breads worldwide. More than 300-500 basic kinds of bread come together with more than 1,000 types of small bread-rolls and pastries. 

Anything I would spend hours making would be blown out of the water with a 10 minute trip to a local bakery. Actually every Friday, our baker comes to us.  He pulls his little truck up to our place, opens up the back, rings the bell and we all go outside to view his lovely array of breads, rolls, cakes and pastries.  I just love that. Note to self - snag a picture next time.

My contribution was adding fresh herbs to butter.

I put Dr. B in charge of selecting the meats and rolls and also recruited him as chief coffee maker. I mean I was too busy crackin' those eggs on top of the pizza.

Italian Easter Cookies

Who doesn't love visiting Italy? In numerous trips there over the years I never had one bad experience. Not one.

Whether I am in Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Apulia, Cortina, South Tyrol, Italian Riviera or Amalfi Coast, as far as I'm concerned, everything is delicious and beautiful in Italy. The sights, the people, the eats, the goods, the spirit, the weather, the language. All of it. Just yum.

I joke with my girlfriends that the fundamental difference between my husband and myself is what we each think would be fun to do with a free weekend.

Me - Shopping and eating in Italy.

Dr. B - Conducting a mass casualty exercise.

Just kidding.  OK, not really.

Vive le Differenze!