Every time I return from Germany, I am in the in-between transition state. Some of me is still in Germany and the other half is trying to readjust to my normal life in California. Visiting Germany has never been a vacation, but more about reconnecting with a deeper part of myself—a part of myself that I left behind many years ago.

Enough of that, let’s talk about my latest trip. Because of COVID, I wasn’t sure I was going until about two weeks before my departure. Because of that, I missed getting my German Rail pass in the mail. I now have an unused one here in the States because it arrived a day after I left. My advice is to buy your pass at the main railroad station in Frankfurt. I don’t know if they sell them anywhere else. The reason I buy a pass is because it gives me the freedom to choose any train at any time. For example, I was able to leave earlier than planned for Berlin because of bad weather. I wasn’t committed to a particular train at a particular time.

​The first week I stayed in my village reconnecting with friends and family I had not seen for over two years. I took care of other business too. Throughout my stay, the weather was beautiful, crisp autumn days with the dimming light of the season in northern Europe. It rained only a few times. One of the highlights of that week was taking my family and friend Monika out for dinner to an Italian restaurant in the nearby town of Northeim. In Germany, even in the small country towns, you will find Italian or Greek restaurants, an Italian ice cafe and a Turkish döner stand. Our food that night was delicious and everybody had a great time.

I left my village  mid-week to spend two wonderful days in Hamburg. I had a room in the Westin, located above the Elbe Philharmonic Hall. This place is phenomenal, a shimmering wave of glass built on a solid brick warehouse. One of the concert halls was built in the middle of the Elbe river. The place has a publicly accessible viewing platform that has amazing views of the city and harbor. This is my second time there and I am always in awe. 

My friend who has lived in Hamburg for decades gave me a grand tour of the city. One of the foods I always have when visiting Germany is Matjes herring. Matjes are young, female herrings who haven’t laid eggs yet (virgins). In Germany, they are served different ways. In Hamburg and northern Germany, you can buy them on a bun. My friend, Elli, showed me where you can buy the best herring buns (Matjes Brötchen). Next to the fish market is the restaurant Rive where we had dinner the second evening. This restaurant offers good food with a view of the harbor.

Hamburg is a major tourist destination and I hope to visit it many more times.

Then it was off to Lüneburg. It is a beautiful and well-preserved medieval town and very livable with a vibrant inner city that has stores for everyone. Read more about Lüneburg and Berlin on a previous blog post. I have visited Lüneburg many times because my niece lives there with her husband and new baby. There is nothing better than holding a tiny baby in your arms.

From Lüneburg, I went to Berlin for a few days. I invited my 16-year-old grand nephew to join me. We had a very good time together. I showed him the city and my friend, Tara, introduced him to Thai food. He loved it. As the oldest of three children, he was an agreeable and delightful travel companion. I enjoyed his company.

I spent one day by myself in Berlin and loved it. It was a beautiful autumn day. I had dropped my grand nephew at the train station and walked from there through the Reichstag and Brandenburger Gate. It was a spiritual experience that took me back decades. Memories flooded back in my mind, images of death and despair. In the 70s, I saw an East German refugee being shot at the wall. 

After Berlin, It was back to my village for a birthday celebration and family gatherings.

​As for COVID, Germany seems to have gotten it together after a very rocky start and no vaccines in the beginning. Everyone is being tracked; you have to show an app or in my case (as a foreigner) a vaccination card to enter a restaurant, theater, hotel and more. For two dollars, you can buy a self-test which is used frequently. I tested myself for the new baby and when I returned from Berlin. Just because I am adventurous doesn’t mean I should endanger my family or anybody else. I never felt unsafe. Everybody wears a medical mask inside and in public places. To re-enter the US, I had to take a PCR test 72 hours before my departure flight, which I did at a local train station. A young, extremely helpful person person downloaded the appropriate app on my phone and I was all set. United has a travel-ready site where I downloaded all the needed information. All I had to do at the airport was to check in my luggage and show my passport. It's important to prepare and do your homework in advance.

All in all, I am so happy I decided to go and would do it again tomorrow. But I was equally happy to be reunited with the old man and the sea.

Thanksgiving is next week. Here are some of my recipes I have used over the years. It has become a tradition with my family to serve my red cabbage for the holidays. And then there is my cranberry sauce, as well as the chestnut, shiitake mushroom stuffing which I have made for many years.If you want a delicious turkey sandwich, try my cranberry ketchup, a real treat.
Here is the link for the recipes.
I wish you all a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving , sharing  good food with family and friends.

Its been a while since I posted and I do apologize. After breaking my ankle in Budapest, my spunk and motivation left me. During my recovery, I was entertained by your blogs and reading them helped me a great deal. Speaking of recovery, I am walking again and I am thankful for every tiny step I take. The last part of my recovery seems to be the hardest, as I am impatient by nature and eager to move on. But I can’t. I have to take it easy, because if I don’t, I am back in bed with my foot elevated, watching Netflix or YouTube. I also had some emotional issues to deal with, like a post-dramatic depression, upon realizing the danger I had been in and its possible consequences. ​

​I baked these cookies because they remind me of the German Elisenlebkuchen, a treat from the German town of Nürnberg. Traditionally, they are baked on wafers and covered with either chocolate or a powdered sugar icing. I didn’t add the wafers and the icing, which makes them less sweet and easier to bake. I also liked the combination of ground hazelnuts and almonds. Instead of chocolate, this recipe uses unsweetened cocoa powder. Like all Lebkuchen recipes, these cookies improve after being stored in a tin for a few days or weeks. They are soft and chewy, and should not be stored with other cookies.

If you feel like a savory treat for the holidays, try my country pâté. It’s a great party pleaser.(click here )

If you are looking for a juicy small bird for Thanksgiving, check out my recipe for dry-brined turkey with silky gravy. I will be making this one for Christmas. Click here for the recipe. ​

For me, sauces and condiments are just as important as the bird. My cranberry ketchup is a wonderful addition for the holidays and I make it every year. Here is a link to the recipe. ​

For those of you who don't want to tackle a whole bird, I have a recipe for turkey parts. Here, I brine the parts overnight, which makes for  juicy and tasty turkey.  If you are interested, click here for the recipe.  ​

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Germany, where I visited friends and family. I enjoyed every minute and would love to have stayed longer. I took six train rides, criss-crossing  Germany. First I went to my family farm for a week. While on the farm I visited some nearby towns. ​

But I am back home in California now, trying to get ready for the holidays. It takes me a good week to adjust. Part of me is still in Germany and the other part is ready to be home here in Santa Cruz. These last days before Christmas will be busy for me. Even with a cold, I managed to bake my favorite cookies and make some persimmon bread. ​

This turkey recipe caters to the cook who doesn’t want the whole bird but only parts of it. If   all you want is a breast and some thighs and legs, this recipe is for you. I am writing this post for people who don’t have the time for an elaborate dinner but still want to have a tasty feast with about four hours of prep and cooking time. It does require a little planning. ​

I came across this recipe last May when I wanted to make a traditional American feast for  my German relatives who came to visit. Whole Foods whole turkeys were very expensive, but they had turkey parts on sale. I always either dry rub or brine turkey meat for tenderness and flavor. In this recipe from epicurious.com the turkey parts are brined overnight in a salt and spice mixture. Put the parts in a sturdy large resealable zip lock plastic bag and add the ingredients. Voila, the next day you dry the turkey parts and roast them for about one and a half to two hours. Now it is up to you to make the side dishes of your choice or have Aunt Mary bring her jelly salad . 
​

My husband and I spent a weekend in our little cabin in the Sierra Nevada. I love to cook in my tiny kitchen so I decided to make him and his oldest friend an early Thanksgiving dinner because I am leaving for Germany on Sunday.  On Thanksgiving I probably will  be eating duck instead of turkey. I was pressed for time and used a bread mix for the stuffing and bought peeled and roasted chestnuts. By not having to roast and peel chestnuts my stuffing was easier to make. ​

Of course you can check out my whole turkey recipe which I have been making for years. If you have time try my cranberry ketchup, it is great on leftover turkey sandwiches. Oh, and don’t forget to freeze some extra packages of cranberries so you can have a feast in May.
I wish you all a relaxing and peaceful Thanksgiving with a lot of good food and company. 
​

For the last couple of weeks I have been baking up a storm. Those who follow me on Instagram and Facebook have seen my photos. Baking cookies has given me some peace in these turbulent times. ​

Because I like to reduce or replace sugar in recipes, some of my cookies were rejected by my tasters. One of them was my German chocolate cookies, the ones that look like paws. I liked them but nobody else did, so I won’t post that recipe. ​

My favorite cookies this year are Basler Brunsli, a specialty of Basel, a city in German-speaking northern Switzerland. These cookies are chocolatey and chewy with the flavors of Christmas. The main ingredients are chocolate and raw almonds (no flour), just some confectioner’s sugar, egg whites, cinnamon and cloves. Both, the hazelnut meringue cookies and the   Basler Brunsli are gluten-free.

​Over the years, I have made several vegetarian Thanksgiving meals with chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy. I lost the recipe for the best sweet potato yeast rolls ever, and I have not been able to reproduce it. Please let me know if you have some good recipes. These days, life has become simpler and I use the recipes that I have on my blog, but I’m still looking for that elusive sweet potato roll recipe! 
My turkey is moist, tender and juicy with a flavorful gravy. Rosemary, thyme, and sage add flavor to both. If you are too busy to read my posts, click on the photos for the recipe. 

Fregolotta, an Italian giant cookie that is easy to make and the perfect ending for this special meal. Click here for the recipe.
I missed my last book club meeting because I was in Germany.  As our next book, our group choose Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, an Australian prisoner who escapes and lives in the underworld of Bombay. It’s a 936-page epic novel about living in the slums, romantic love, prison agony, criminal wars, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas. It’s a huge novel that embraces every human experience imaginable, all framed by a love for India. It was an interesting but long read. I liked it.

Hopefully, I will find some time for baking my favorite sweet treats for Christmas. Last year, I baked up a storm, packed most of it to take to the mountains where we have celebrated Christmas many times. As we left on December 23, I got messages from my niece saying that my 91-year-old mother had fallen down and was on her way to the hospital with a fractured hip. I made my poor husband turn around and was on a plane to Germany the next day, December 24, arriving in Germany on Christmas Day. My mom by then had peacefully passed away with my brother's family around her.  
​I took a tin of cookies with me sharing them at the airline ticket counter and later in Germany. They were a connection to my life in California. Food can be so comforting and nourishing. As long as I can remember, I have baked goodies for the holidays. I don't always bake the same things. My Christmas recipe folder is bulky. Depending on how I feel, I bake different things, some of which I haven't posted yet. For my girlfriend, Marie, I bake the hazelnut 
meringue cookies (click for recipe here). My husband's favorite treat are his mom's sugar cookies that my sister-in-law bakes every year for him. His second favorite are my chocolate chip walnut bars (click for recipe here). I like gingerbread cookies, but nobody else does, so I don't make them very often. My Vienna vanilla nut cookies remind me of my childhood (click for recipe here). ​

​I enjoy making individual graham cracker gingerbread house ornaments with  young children. These cute little ornaments are a lot of fun and children just love them (click  here for the recipe ).
Another staple in my family have been blueberry mini-muffins.These tiny muffins have a crunchy almond sugar flavor with a burst of blueberries and lemon. The recipe comes from an old Gourmet recipe and is my son's favorite.

My turkey has several components. It is dry brined with herbed salt. I then put herbed butter under the breast skin and cover the top of the bird with cheesecloth soaked in butter and turkey stock. I make my own turkey stock the day before, using the neck bone and gizzard. The stock adds great flavor to the turkey and the gravy. 
You will be rewarded for all this work with a great-tasting bird. My photos of the turkey are horrible, as I had no time and it shows. I will replace the photos when I make this turkey again—but in the meantime, bear with me.

There is always something to be thankful for
Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family ​

Christmas is defined by traditions. Making gingerbread houses has been one of mine. 
It began years ago when a friend from school gave me the instructions how to make them. These little hand-made ornaments became an instant hit with my first graders — and from then on I had to make them every year. What I liked about them is that each child had something to take home and share. What I didn't like was having to cut graham crackers to make the houses. I don't know how many late nights I was using inappropriate language while assembling them. I made the houses for my first graders and they decorated them with pieces of candy. Each child would get a bowl with small pieces of candy, some for decorating and some for snacking, Each year, it turned into a fun and joyful activity. 

After I retired from teaching, I would volunteer and often do them in different schools. Wrapped in foil and put in a zip lock bag, these gingerbread houses will last for many years. They are edible, but if you give the children enough extra candy and graham crackers, they are happy to use them for decoration. I think if you make them at home with two or three children (not 20 or more like I did in the old days), you can do all the steps with the children and have fun.  While assembling the houses, make sure you add the bow for the hangers. The frosting will keep covered at room temperature for several days.

For this post, I revised the size of the gingerbread houses. I made them larger, only having to cut the gable for the roof. The graham crackers are easier to assemble and cut if you leave them unwrapped for a couple of days. Divide the candy for the children into individual bowls for each child , leaving about half for snacking. 

I had planned to make them with my girlfriend's grandchildren, but it didn't work out. So here I was having to decorate them myself. Oh well,  you can see the results on the photos ... need I say more?  I will deliver whatever is left to my girlfriend so that she can make them later with her grandchildren. Children are so much more creative, if you just provide them with the right tools, which in this case is a lot of small candy. Some of the candy I bought was too big, so the smaller the better.

Plan on buying at least two packages of graham crackers, because a lot of them will break.
Let the children have fun! These little houses makes a precious gift for grandparents, aunts and uncles, or neighbors.


If you are still looking for a cookie recipe, my Vienna Vanilla Nut Kipferl are a wonderful treat. My Hazelnut Meringue Cookies are light and easy to make. If you want to impress people with your cooking skills for the holidays (or any other time), try my French Country Paté.

​When persimmons  are in season our local papers are full of recipes from pudding cake, nutted persimmons, sweet potatoes with persimmons, to persimmon chutney. I have made most of them but I'm leaving for Germany on Wednesday. I will freeze some of my ripe persimmons and hope that the ones that are not ripe will last until I return. Back to my persimmon bread, it is loved and shared with all my friends, especially those who supply me with persimmons. The different spices give it a wonderful flavor. I baked it a couple of days ago and still enjoying it, even though I forgot to add sugar. Oops or a blessing, I don't know? All my friends and even my husband who has a distinct sweet tooth enjoyed the sugarless version. I realized my mistake when I put the bread in the in the oven and sprinkled some sugar over them. I recommend you add ½ to 1 cup of sugar even though the persimmons and raisin add a natural sweetness.  I also like baking them in small cake forms because they freeze well and make nice gifts. You can bake them in a regular rectangular bread form. 

Here in California we are blessed with persimmons this time of the year. Originally cultivated in Japan and China for centuries, this fruit now is grown in Italy and other Mediterranean countries and here in the USA. I fell in love with them when I moved to California. They are tasty, fun to eat, and an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. I can bore you with all the nutritional facts but believe me these lovely bright orange colored fruits are loaded with all sorts of good stuff like anti-oxidants, minerals, you name it,  and they taste fantastic. Persimmon season runs from November to February and it is not difficult to find somebody with a tree that is willing to share the bounty.  I have several friends who always share with me.  There are several varieties, in this recipe I'm using the acorn-shaped  Hachiya persimmons. The Hachiya needs to be eaten when they are soft as jelly, otherwise you encounter a bitter, pucker-your-mouth effect.  I usually get them when they are hard and I put them on a plate to ripen. It makes me happy when I share my home with them. I use them in smoothies or just purée them with a banana and a little lemon juice and end up with a healthy and tasty treat. Once ripened the Hayicha has a short shelf life, but they are easy to freeze by peeling and blending them  in a food processor or blender with lemon juice. You will loose the beautiful orange color. I also like the smaller, rounder Fuyu persimmon which can be eaten when they feel like a hard peach. I slice them and put them in salads.

A cookie you can't resist ​

This is definitely a pie for chocolate lovers and the crust tastes like a shortbread cookie. I found the recipe in a German magazine years ago, although the original recipe had twice the amount of butter. This recipe is a keeper and I am going to use this crust in other dessert recipes. Add the chocolate filling and the nutty egg white topping and you will have a dessert you can’t resist. The pie can be kept for several days, so you can bake it ahead of time (great for the upcoming holidays). I'm thinking of baking this recipe in individual pie tins for gifts. Being the hazelnut lover that I am, I'll try using hazelnuts instead of walnuts. And maybe I'll add caramel or Nutella too, although that might be going over the top. ​

These rolls can be filled with any ingredients you choose. I often use hummus instead of a cream cheese spread—or I make them with egg salad—or cheese with salami or ham. Roasted peppers, grated carrots, and chopped olives go well with hummus—and mayonnaise (or any other spread) will keep the rolls together.  My friends have requested these rolls for years and they are easy to transport. They always make a satisfying and filling appetizer. ​

These rolls are  not difficult and you can do them in no time. The rolling part is a little tricky but since they are being cut into slices a little goof up is fine. The trick is to roll them tightly making sure you incorporate the ingredients by pushing them into the bread as you roll it. 
Years ago I used to be able to buy Armenian cracker bread at a local delicatessen. This bread is like a giant cracker. It is no longer available and I now use lavash bread which I buy at Trader Joe's. You can also find them at Whole Foods. There are six rectangular pieces to a package and it comes in a whole wheat version that I prefer. For this blog I used two rolls which makes about twenty 1/2 inch thick sandwiches. Spread the cream cheese evenly in a thin layer on the light side of the lavish bread. Put about four ounces of lox on top of the cheese spread. Add one half of an avocado thinly sliced over the salmon,  add about 1/2 a cup of thinly sliced cucumbers and 1/4 a cup of  thinly sliced red onions. Leaving 1/2 inch on the longer side of the bread with only the spread  will make it easier to roll.  Season with salt and  pepper. Top with about 1 cup of  lettuce and press everything down. Begin rolling the bread at the longer side (think sushi).  Push the ingredients into the bread as you roll it.  Wrap the roll in Saran wrap and store in the fridge for several hours. When ready to serve cut the roll into 1/2 inch pieces and arrange them on a platter.  Decorate with cherry tomatoes and olives. I have made these many times using different ingredients. For an upcoming wedding I will make them with humus because the bride is lactose intolerant. ​